ryan_k

<p>TS -<br>

Oh yes, I love my 200 2.8 L. <br>

My style is more of portraiture and candids. For instance, I shot a 1st Communion for a family's daughter this last saturday. The church was large and packed, and the paster restricted movement in the church for photography(although we could stand). The 200 was invaluable from 12 pews back, whereas the 17-40 would have left me, and the family, disappointed with the results. </p>

<p>My Canon 17-40 L.</p>

<p>I wanted wide angle on my 5D, but I hate zooms. Then I realized after doing some fun wide angle stuff that I didn't like barrel distortion at all, or the IQ of the 17-40, so I bought a 200 2.8 L II for some fun landscape work and portraiture. Even bought it for 50 bucks less than I sold the 17-40 for. </p>

<p>I really thought the pictures were a lot weaker than they could've been. Technically, he used 1 snoot or grid spot, and just played around with these people's faces. The issue here, is that it's really hard for me to connect with the emotion of a face of which I can only see 30%. Composition felt odd, and there wasn't enough in the picture to connect with the deep sincere emotion of the holocaust survivors. <br>

Sadly, I liked the article, but not the photography.</p>

<p>Why will you still want full frame?</p>

<p>Better image quality. I know this is beginning to become debatable, but it still holds for now.<br>

Better use of your lenses, or at the very least, using them as they were intended to be used.<br>

Better low light ISO performance. Even the 7D still barely outperforms the 40d/50d in sensor/noise ratio. The 5d and 5dII reign with noiseless colors.<br>

The ability to use shallower depth of field, should you chose it. I'd rather have the option and stop down than not have the option and do nothing.<br>

Pride in ownership? Perhaps... But I would be happy to own the 7D as well, since it has some pretty nice features despite its crop sensor.<br>

The 7d is fantastic for sports and nature. The 5dII is fantastic for studio and ultimate image quality. The 1D series is for sports nature at full professional potential, the 1Ds series is built for photojournalism and outdoor professional photographers. Just because these cameras are designed to a certain crowd, however, does not mean that you can't use them for any purpose you see fit. <br>

In the end, buy a camera. Take pictures. Be happy!</p>

<p>Junior Bride at my last wedding.</p>

<p>-Rk</p><div></div>

<p>Tim -<br>

This is based mostly on the individual lens, so you should do some research (the-digital-picture.com, dpreview, etc) on lens tests to get a good idea for how they perform.<br>

A short answer, however, is this: FF sensors/bodies show the full potential(or shortcoming) of an EF lens as it was designed. Vignetting, corner sharpness, barrel distortion, etc. However, what you gain is superior image quality, shallower depth of field(should you chose it), better noise performance, and no focal length multiplier. <br>

The Canon EF 50mm 1.8 II, for instance, is nearly as sharp as, say, the 70-200 f/4 non IS, and may even be of better Image Quality at f/4 or f/5.6. This is a 100 dollar plastic P.O.S. lens versus a 600 dollar L series (based on street pricing). On the other hand, the new 70-200 2.8 IS II is miles superior to the former two. <br>

Crop or FF, you're looking at a lot of differences, but it's more than just the size of the sensor. Some people place a 50 1.8 on their 5dII and get away with a lot of great shots, so don't feel inferior. On the other hand, don't believe that just because you have a full frame sensor that you can use lower-quality glass and expect the same results as the good stuff.</p>

<p>I would suggest the EF 200 2.8 L for the candid work. It's black(not white and gray) so it is not so obvious that you're taking pics on the street, it is wonderfully sharp at 2.8, and I picked up mine from Keh for US 550.00. You'll also want to pick up a 20-50mm prime as well, so that you can compliment your long reach with a wide angle for architecture. <br>

Primes > Zooms in my opinion. </p>

<p>Michelle -<br>

I'm writing this with the greatest regard to your personal feelings:<br>

You need to spend some serious time learning more about the process of wedding photography and its heavy requirements before venturing into the business further.<br>

Your initial post indicated that you do not have full understanding of your photography equipment. This is apparent, because many, if not all of the responding photographers not only had viable, non-aggressive responses for you, but they also questioned your reason for not knowing in the first place, considering how far you are in the industry.<br>

You need to heed my words carefully, and suppress your pride for even just a moment. Not having the proper equipment(including back-ups, and tertiary back-ups) can result in the complete dissolution of your business. A client can sue you for not having the proper professional product, or failing to produce adequate product, barring any contractual agreement that covers such failures. <br>

Search for a You-Tube video of a woman getting sued (and losing) for terrible execution and misrepresentation of her services, and failure to use proper photographic equipment when promises were made before the agreement. The specific video is a Judge Joe Brown session, and the photographer used a Canon XT(or so) and a kit lens. She promised the bride a much higher quality product, losing money and credibility in the process.<br>

Your initial problem seems to be related to your gear, but I can only speculate that your underlying problem is your knowledge of wedding photography, and what kind of strain it really can be on your equipment and yourself. You need back-ups, you need control over any situation that presents itself, and you need to be able to accomodate for the situations you cannot control. If you feel unprepared for any reasonably possible situation(such as the sun going down during a shoot), you need to rethink your needs. <br>

I really do wish you the best, and hope that these problems are resolved. <br>

However, as other photographers here have written pertaining to the job: If you have to ask, you should have already known.</p>

<p>Crystal,</p>

<p>Based on your submitted photograph's exif data, you were posting using a "normal" exposure mode. This sounds like a program mode, where you don't have as much control as you should in a studio setting. </p>

<p>For this scenario, switch to manual mode, keep your shutter speed at your camera's max sync speed(usually 1/125th to 1/250th) and stop down until you find proper exposure of your knives. <br>

Your backdrop, black, will still become exposed because there is light bouncing off of it. In order to obtain a nice pure black background, you need to create light fall-off. This is created by moving the backdrop further away from your subject, while keeping your light the same distance from your subject. <br>

My suggestion? Pose your knives so that they aren't flat on the backdrop on a table with your camera looking down on them. Angle your shot so that you are down on the ground, shooting horizontally at your knives, and move the backdrop a few feet into the background. <br>

Hope that was clear enough... see if that helps.</p>