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  #21  
Old 26-07-2010, 06:26 PM
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hotspur (Chris)
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re camera/lens selection.

A lot of thought has to go into these decisions,the user has to really have a good understanding of what fields of interest they want to do well in, in photography,and buy kit that is suitable for that,and they need to do lots of homework.

I too have spent over 8K in the last 12 months on gear,just over a year ago I had a 300D 17-85 and 75-300.Its all gone now,but it got me started.

I ended up with the 450D and recently a 50D,make no mistake,camera bodies are disposable items,including a 5d.

Its the lenses that are very important,those high end EF-S lenses and L grade lenses are worth every cent.

It took me a while to figure some of my lenses needs,and not so long on others.

My 400 mm L F 5.6 is my first lens,I am mainly interested in birding and some aircraft photography,so this lens on a cropper,remember that times 1.6 bit,and I can get some good pics with a crop and this lens.

My next lens is the 17-55 F 2.8 zoom,yes it expensive,but they colour that this lens gives,wow.Previously I had 18-55 kit and 17-85,there is a vast difference between these and the 17-55 F 2.8.

The other lens is a 70-200 F 2.8.a large lens,more of a 'special purpose' lens,do not use it as often as other two,but the bokeh,oh how gorgeous!

So,I have most general ranges covered,17-55,70-200 and long 400.

I also have a 60mm F 2.8 macro,these are gorgeous,lots of fun,easily L grade pics.

The only item I would like to buy sometime in future is a 10-22 wide view lens.

I can not understand the recent trend for camera manufactures to put video in DSLR bodies,it is about as useful as a chocolate camp oven,The only reason I can figure is its a sales gimick,to get more sale in the general public,i.e shop keeper can say it has video function,a bit like 'yes.it has built in flash",another useless feature.in DSLR bodies.

So really its entirely up to the requirements of each individual as to what gear they need.One thing I did learn its best to keep to in house lenses,i.e
stick with Canon or Nikon or Pentax,if you have one brand stick to it.Those non camera brands,IMHO really are not quite as good as the camera brand ones.I'd rather pay a bit more and have the lens last ten or more years.

So really those lenses are long term,bodies come and go.

Hope this helps.Chris
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  #22  
Old 26-07-2010, 07:19 PM
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Octane (Humayun)
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Parts of Iron Man 2, parts of the new Harry Potter film, and the entirety of the season finale of the last series of House MD were filmed with the 5D Mark II.

H

Quote:
Originally Posted by hotspur View Post
I can not understand the recent trend for camera manufactures to put video in DSLR bodies,it is about as useful as a chocolate camp oven,The only reason I can figure is its a sales gimick,to get more sale in the general public,i.e shop keeper can say it has video function,a bit like 'yes.it has built in flash",another useless feature.in DSLR bodies.
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  #23  
Old 26-07-2010, 07:55 PM
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CAAD9 (Adam)
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Chris,

very insightful observations regarding your lenses. Thanks. Camera bodies as disposable items. Ok....never thought of it that way....WOW!

I have to come to the defense of the movie function in DSLRs. I love it. Was the main reason I took the 550D over the cheaper 50D body. Which is obviously better built.

I think the videos you shoot with digital cameras are priceless. For me they tend to be 30-120 seconds, you capture the moment, more often than not humorous.

In my experience video camera videos tend to be tedious, boring, oh so long and contrived. The DSLR, you have it with you, most people don't even know you're shooting and you get gems! For all social butterflies I highly recommend it.

Cheers.
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  #24  
Old 26-07-2010, 08:24 PM
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Originally Posted by CAAD9 View Post
In regards to the distortions I am seeing, I suppose at A3 it may not be visible. However when I blow my photos up to full size on the screen, around the corners I notice that the straight lines such as building begin to be curved. Is this what you call vignetting?
No, that's not vignetting. Vignetting is a falloff of illumination at the edges of the frame. Even good lenses may show vignetting when wide open.

It might be barrel or pincushion distortion you are seeing. Zoom lenses will usually show some amount of barrel distortion at their widest focal length and pincushion distortion at the longest focal length. Both types of distortion are easy to recognize once you know what they look like -- google up some pics. The good news is that you can correct barrel or pincushion distortion in many image processing packages.

There are other more exotic forms of distortion but hopefully your problem is a simple one!

Cheers,
Rick.
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  #25  
Old 27-07-2010, 12:31 AM
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acropolite (Phil)
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Quote:
Peter - thanks for the reply. In regards to the distortions I am seeing, I suppose at A3 it may not be visible
If you load Canon's DPP you can correct for distortion. Don't understimate DPP, it does a far better job of raw processing and print handling than photoshop.
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  #26  
Old 27-07-2010, 07:47 AM
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hotspur (Chris)
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re camera gear

Humayan, the infrence I made was'nt that I thought the video in new DSLRs was of low quality,just to me,I felt it was not useful for regular photographers.

I notice a few debates on this,some people love it some hate it.Interesting to hear that a 5D was used to shoot those movies.To the OP.

RE bodies and lens gear,one person will never have everything,and photography is about being in the moment and making the best of what gear
you have got or chosen.Necessity is the mother of invention,and not having everything forces you to to be creative,and to use natural eye.

It is such stretching that makes us grow creatively,At the end of the day,ENJOY whatever lens/camera you buy and get out and USE it,you will
be suprised what you can do,and along the way discover what you really prefer.

Cheers Chris
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  #27  
Old 27-07-2010, 06:49 PM
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Rick, I think that would be barrel distortion then. Thanks for the time to describe the two phenomena.

Phil, thanks for the tip about DPP. I looked through my canon utils and sure enough I have it. Now I have another journey ahead of me.

Cheers.
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  #28  
Old 30-07-2010, 04:29 PM
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Astrobserver99 (Rob)
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Well, I have a 40d and decided to add a Tamron 18-250mm zoom to it as a travel lens...it made sense to have a single lens for all situations instead of fumbling around changing lenses. Plus it's a terrific lens and the price has dropped considerably since first arriving. I already have several primes plus the 18-55 Canon Kit lens which are all good widefield astro lenses.
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