*OFFICIAL* general photography conversation thread

[The1]

Originally Posted by dcstep

You've got zoom drift. None of my zooms do that, thank goodness. I saw a band that you put around your lens to combat drift, but I forget where I saw it. It seemed like a simple solution to what, I'd guess, would be an aggravating problem.

Dave

that's why the new 24-70L has the zoom lock. Mostly because the old version liked to drift a little.

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by The1

there might be good reason for that though

I don't own a nikon, so I can't agree or disagree with his results biased or not.

I refuse to believe that not a single Canon camera made it in their top 10 list of scores. Hell, the 7D is not even in the top 50!

[The1]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

I refuse to believe that not a single Canon camera made it in their top 10 list of scores. Hell, the 7D is not even in the top 50!

lol, I just think they are pretending canon doesn't exist

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

I tip my hat off to Nikon, for what looks like a really good camera:

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/New...-a-score-of-95

Although, I still take those results with a grain of salt, since DxOMark's tests have been noticeably Nikon-biased in the past.

The DxO tests are a bit limited because they don't consider real world photography uses of those sensors; however, they do give a relatively accurate presentation of efficiency. It's not a "perfect" way to select a camera body. I like looking at side-by-side images, like DPReview and some others do.

I saw some side-by-side comparisons of the 5D3 and the D800 in-camera jpegs and the Canon blew away the Nikon. That's interesting, but since I shoot RAW, I'd expect anyone using either of those cameras to shoot RAW, I don't really see the relevance. Unprocessed RAW images are also meaningless because no one uses RAW images to print. I want to see Canon processed with DPP and Nikon processed with Nik for starters and then both processed by DxO (I use DxO, you might prefer LR) and make a decision.

Dave

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by The1

lol, I just think they are pretending canon doesn't exist

With Canon having nearly half of the worldwide dSLR marketshare, that's not easy to ignore, imo.

[The1]

Originally Posted by dcstep

The DxO tests are a bit limited because they don't consider real world photography uses of those sensors; however, they do give a relatively accurate presentation of efficiency. It's not a "perfect" way to select a camera body. I like looking at side-by-side images, like DPReview and some others do.

I saw some side-by-side comparisons of the 5D3 and the D800 in-camera jpegs and the Canon blew away the Nikon. That's interesting, but since I shoot RAW, I'd expect anyone using either of those cameras to shoot RAW, I don't really see the relevance. Unprocessed RAW images are also meaningless because no one uses RAW images to print. I want to see Canon processed with DPP and Nikon processed with Nik for starters and then both processed by DxO (I use DxO, you might prefer LR) and make a decision.

Dave

this is where the internet is a let down.

untill a company makes a zip file for download with raw files from each camera for the general public to play with at their own convenience, none of these online tests are really any good. Who knows what kind of pixel manipulation goes on.

[Chewy734]

The RAW converters for the 5D3 aren't really ready yet. Which is why we're only seeing the jpg comparisons right now.

[The1]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

With Canon having nearly half of the worldwide dSLR marketshare, that's not easy to ignore, imo.

and it shouldn't be. But just think of it as all the pretty girls standing in one corner, and then this bomb shell beauty walks in and they all shun her for it by ignoring her and pretending she doesn't exist

I think that's what the Nikon fans are doing when a canon walks in the room

[Chewy734]

is this why Tim and rodi get to shoot all the hot ladies? and people like Badger shoot dudes from craigslist?

[The1]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

is this why Tim and rodi get to shoot all the hot ladies? and people like Badger shoot dudes from craigslist?

and why I can only find mediocre at best girls to shoot

[vachss]

I tend to take the DxO ratings with a grain of salt too, but from what I've seen the current generation of EXMOR sensors from Sony and Nikon really do have about a stop of dynamic range advantage over the same generation of Canon sensors. That said, this is hardly reason for Canonites to get some kind of inferiority complex, dump their kit and trade for the dark side.

Extra dynamic range (smoother blacks at low ISO and maybe a bit less noise at high ISO) would be nice, but what kind of pictures we can obtain depends a lot more on the sort of lenses that are available (an area where Canon still has an advantage). Furthermore Canon and Nikon have swapped places in sensor quality several times over the years - and each time photographers seemed to produce great pictures from each system.

Body features are nice, but you choose a camera system for the lenses.

[Chewy734]

Good Nikon lenses are just as good as the L lenses from Canon, imo. The only areas I believe Canon has them beat is with their tilt-shift lenses and their super-telephotos.

[vachss]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Good Nikon lenses are just as good as the L lenses from Canon, imo. The only areas I believe Canon has them beat is with their tilt-shift lenses and their super-telephotos.

Nikon makes great lenses. In some areas like wide angles zooms they surpass the Canon equivalents. But Canon just has a broader range of lenses available.

I shoot with a 300/4IS all the time: no Nikon equivalent.
I shoot with a 65mm MP-E all the time: no Nikon equivalent.
and I hope to get one of the wide TS-Es sometime soon: no Nikon equivalent.

I also shoot a lot with the 24/1.4II and 500/4IS, both of which Canon has had for years and the equivalents of which Nikon has only started to produce in the last few years.

Canon has definitely forced Nikon to up their lens diversity game recently, but Canon still has a distinct edge.

[The1]

the future will be interesting to watch.

the 200-400mm F4/1.4TC lens has my curiosity, but I won't be paying the price for it if the rumours are anywhere close to accurate. Time will tell. I hope the rumours are far off base.

[remmib]

Originally Posted by dcstep

My 70-200mm f/4L IS has great bokeh, IMHO:

Shot at f/9, BTW.

Dave

Yes, if the background is far behind, but for shots like this, f/4 is too slow.

135L f/2


50 f/1.4

[M_Six]

^^^^^^And there's a lens Nikonians would die for; the 135 F2L.

[remmib]

Originally Posted by M_Six

^^^^^^And there's a lens Nikonians would die for; the 135 F2L.

Probably my favorite lens, even if it's a bit long on my crop 7D, the 135L on a 5D must be fantastic.

[The1]

Originally Posted by remmib

Probably my favorite lens, even if it's a bit long on my crop 7D, the 135L on a 5D must be fantastic.

It is fun on the 5DII I just need to find more uses for it. I think I put it on the 7D once and was like "wow, that's a bit too close"

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by vachss

I tend to take the DxO ratings with a grain of salt too, but from what I've seen the current generation of EXMOR sensors from Sony and Nikon really do have about a stop of dynamic range advantage over the same generation of Canon sensors. That said, this is hardly reason for Canonites to get some kind of inferiority complex, dump their kit and trade for the dark side.

Extra dynamic range (smoother blacks at low ISO and maybe a bit less noise at high ISO) would be nice, but what kind of pictures we can obtain depends a lot more on the sort of lenses that are available (an area where Canon still has an advantage). Furthermore Canon and Nikon have swapped places in sensor quality several times over the years - and each time photographers seemed to produce great pictures from each system.

Body features are nice, but you choose a camera system for the lenses.

I've only seen comparisons of D800 to 5D MkII jpegs, but the Canon actually looked superior to me in that sample. The problem was, those were jpegs. i'm waiting for a comparison to jpeg produced from RAW, processed in DPP, Nik, LR and DxO.

DxO had the 5D2 "superior" to a 50+mp Hasseblad, and it probably is so in certain respects, but you'd pick the Hasselblad image every time.

You're right, lenses are a big reason that I chose Canon.

Dave

[Chewy734]

don't ask...

[The1]

what is? sorry, when someone says "don't ask", I have to ask...

[spanner1751]

Here is an IR picture from way back when I was in Korea. I scanned the negative, converted it to positive, and retouched it to fix all the dust spots. I've always liked the IR effect, especially B&W. I bought an IR filter for one of my digital cameras, but it's so dark that the exposure takes several minutes. With the trade winds here in Hawaii, that's going to make it difficult to take pictures of foliage and trees.
I was going to get a camera modified for IR, but thought that I'd try just the filter first. I don't know if that method is going to work. Has anybody else dabbled in digital IR photography?