*OFFICIAL* general photography conversation thread

[Chewy734]

How is wildlife photography much different than sports photography (other than the obvious need for a faster shutter speed)? Most sports photographers use the same lenses that wildlife photographers use. Is it because they crop less?

[Chewy734]

Canon EOS M Specifications

The Canon EOS M that launches tomorrow will have the following specifications. Beyond the camera, the system will launch with 2 lenses, the EF-M 22 f/2 STM & EF-M 18-55 IS. It will also launch with a new flash, the EX 90 and an EF lens adaptor.
18mp APS-C
DIGIC V
ISO 100-12800 (25,600 Expansion)
3″ Touchscreen 1.04million pixels
Phase & Contrast AF
Video Servo AF
1920×1080 Video 30p/25p/24p
1280×720 Video 60p/50p
MPEG-4, AVC/H.264
SD Card
Adaptor at launch for EF lenses



Now, if only the Canon marketing people would choose a reasonable price for this camera system.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

How is wildlife photography much different than sports photography (other than the obvious need for a faster shutter speed)? Most sports photographers use the same lenses that wildlife photographers use. Is it because they crop less?

With wildlife, particularly birds, you use a big, long lens and then you still crop a ton (50% crop is pretty typical). In sports you're more likely to not need heavy cropping. Both demand relatively high shutter speeds and, up to a point, great high-ISO performance is a big plus (to get both high SS and small aperture for DOF). Shooting field sports (football/soccer) you'll two bodies, one with something like a 70-200mm and the other with a 400mm or 500mm and you'll be right on the sideline. You switch between your long and short lenses as the action moves closer or away.

The nature photographer works to get close and the dream is to fill the frame and not have to crop, but it seldom works out that way. I also carry two bodies, in case something walks near me and a 500mm lens is simply too much. I'll shoot 99% with the 500mm, but occasionally grab something great with the 70-200mm.

All that said, the need to crop with birds and wildlife is the biggest difference between nature and sport. Either body will work for both, but one is better for each usage.

Dave

[MaximusJ]

I love to shoot pictures, but my computer make me hating on processing. So I have tons of pictures to process, but no time to do so. I know I dont have the right tools tho; I guess a Core2Duo 2.2ghz with 4gb ram laptop wasnt made for picture processing after all. Besides, I was at the point where I needed to calibrate my lcd every month or so, and still get the neck pain that goes with "working too much on a laptop".

With the growing size of my catalog, it became ridiculous; waiting 30 seconds to 1 minute everytime I zoomed in or applied a setting to a picture. I was taking me twice to 3 times the time needed to process then to actually shoot.

Here comes the rookie:
I7 CPU @ 3.5ghz
16gb of 1600mhz ram
240gb SSD
2 X 3TB hd in raid 1
GTX560 1gb dual dvi @ 850mhz
Dell 2412M LCD

Cant wait to see the processing times with this beast!

[rodi]

wonder if they'll come out with a fuji xpro1 competitor. it's a shame that their new mount will never house a full frame sensor.

[dcstep]

Maximus, you need a 64-bit OS also.

After you go 64-bit and have your new machine, you might try DxO Optics Pro. On my machine, with only 8GB of RAM, RAW conversion takes 6 to 8-sec. per 25MB image.

Dave

[MaximusJ]

I already got Win7 in 64bit (but currently running it in 32)

[panicos81]

Originally Posted by rodi

wonder if they'll come out with a fuji xpro1 competitor. it's a shame that their new mount will never house a full frame sensor.

rodi have you tested it? compared it to a friends 5d mk2 and the high iso performance is better. also picture quality in the day is better. imagine the same sensor in FF..
i love the fuji..
i also like that i don't have many options on lenses. i got 2 out 3 and thats it.. no need for always searching for equipment (you don't really need).

[rodi]

Originally Posted by panicos81

rodi have you tested it? compared it to a friends 5d mk2 and the high iso performance is better. also picture quality in the day is better. imagine the same sensor in FF..
i love the fuji..
i also like that i don't have many options on lenses. i got 2 out 3 and thats it.. no need for always searching for equipment (you don't really need).

have i tried the xpro1? no, unfortunately.

[panicos81]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

For those of you who missed the special online photography workshop by Zack, I have recoded the video for web streaming. Personally, I think he did an awesome job explaining the basics in Day 1 and then going onto strobe/lighting stuff in detail, with many examples, on Day 2.

I highly recommend watching the series, because I know I learned a lot, and he's a wonderful instructor!

Anyways, here's the skinny...

Foundations of a Working Photographer
user: clworkshops
pw: teachmezack

Thanks to The1 for providing the HD video feed. Let me know if you come across any technical issues... thanks, and enjoy!

hey chewy, are these available anywhere? i need to study..

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by panicos81

hey chewy, are these available anywhere? i need to study..

Yeah, I moved it to consolidate everything... you can access it here:

http://www.ashuc.com/photography/

user: bimmerpost
pw: it's my exact username here (remember to capitalize the first letter)

[Chewy734]

[kamek]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

cute

[MaximusJ]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Maximus, you need a 64-bit OS also.

After you go 64-bit and have your new machine, you might try DxO Optics Pro. On my machine, with only 8GB of RAM, RAW conversion takes 6 to 8-sec. per 25MB image.

Dave

That system is ffffriggin' fast.

I'll wait and update my comment when the catalog will be getting heavier, but with a fresh install, its ridiculously fast.

And the Dell screens are dead gorgeous compared to my faded out laptop screen.

[Chewy734]

Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II field review

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II field review

Arash can be a bit of an a**hole, but he's a fantastic photog and his review is dead on, I suspect. ALL of those shots are hand held, BTW.

Dave

[Chewy734]

impressive... I didn't realize they were handheld.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Arash can be a bit of an a**hole, but he's a fantastic photog and his review is dead on, I suspect. ALL of those shots are hand held, BTW.

Dave

He needs to find a better hosting company. Bandwidth exceeded.

[Chewy734]

doh... plus his site loaded super slow.

[vachss]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II field review

If the magic lens fairy would only leave another $6K under my pillow I'd love to trade my 500 for one of these things. Barring that my hope is that all the cool rich amateurs will decide that the 600II is the new "it" lens and dump their old, heavy, blah 800L's. If I can't trade up to a 600II, finding an 800 for under $9K would console me well enough.

A boy can dream can't he?

BTW. It seems to me that a large portion of the weight savings on the new II series superteles is the elimination of the unpowered protective front glass. This front element could be easily (and relatively cheaply) replaced on the older lenses if damaged. The front element on the new lenses is a high dollar powered optic. I suspect the days of a $500 front element replacement are over.

[Chewy734]

why does the magic lens fairy never visit my house?

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

why does the magic lens fairy never visit my house?

You have to put an old lens under your pillow at night. Duh.