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Soulex posted:Been looking at a variety of lenses for sports photography, and originally I was going to go for a Sigma 120-300. However, the Sports lens is crazy expensive. I was told that a Canon 70-200 2.8L is good enough to run with, and is less expensive. I don't have a real need for an IS or anything, but I wanted to know, is this a respectable purchase or is there something I should hold out for instead. Camera is a Canon 70D. I've shot football for years with an 80-200 f/2.8 (screw-drive, Nikon crop sensor). It works -- they run a lot of plays up the sidelines. I've often wished it went a bit wider, even. The newer self-motorized 70-200 (equivalent to the Canon one you're looking at) is a bit better, though twice the price -- it has an internal motor, so the AF is a bit faster. 200mm is a bit short for baseball and proper futbol, though. Of course I got a 75-300mm the week after football season ended. I'll see how it does next season, I guess. We have a single shared 300mm prime at the newspaper, and one of the guys makes stunning sports photos with it, but I like the flexibility of a zoom. Also a 300 f/2.8 is loving heavy. Basically for daytime sports you want the longest zoom you can afford, to hell with aperture. For Friday night lights, a 70-200mm f/2.8 is a good compromise between aperture and needing a monopod, if you have a body that maxes out at ISO 3200 or less. By "maxes out" I mean "good enough for newsprint" -- the Nikon D2 goes to 6400, but it's too noisy for newsprint there. The stadium lighting is a big part of it, too; one team I cover, I shoot their home games at f/5.6, another team's home field at f/2.8, all other settings the same (ISO 3200, 1/400s shutter).
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May 17, 2014 04:56
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Bad Angus! Bad!
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Goldmund posted:I'm looking to buy my first set of ND filters, but I'm not sure at all what I should be looking for. I can't afford to go all out on B+W filters right now, but I don't want cheap crap that will hurt my pictures either. Is this Tiffen set decent for the price? Do I even need to buy a variety, or is there a "one size fits all" compromise that will work good for most stuff? I use marumi ND's. They don't have a color cast that I can discern and come in slim sizes for much cheaper then b+w. You don't get a brass ring line b+w but the glass and coatings are as good in my opinion. 2filter.com or maybe someone else did a comparison on color cast that the commonly available ND's had. Obviously you can correct for this in post but it's easier not having to do that.
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May 17, 2014 12:48
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Goldmund posted:I'm looking to buy my first set of ND filters, but I'm not sure at all what I should be looking for. I can't afford to go all out on B+W filters right now, but I don't want cheap crap that will hurt my pictures either. Is this Tiffen set decent for the price? Do I even need to buy a variety, or is there a "one size fits all" compromise that will work good for most stuff? I don't use it much but I actually use a 77mm Fotga variable ND Filter. It's cheap, and not anywhere near the cost of other filters. I don't care what anyone says, filled my purpose for timelapse. Under $30 compared to the $150-300 of other filters. Most variable nd filters are super either expensive (if you or have a terrible non fixable colour cost. The cheap hack is to use welding glass. Most people seem at the higher end seem to recommend the Singh-Ray or whatever it is Phillip Bloom uses. (you can probably google it).
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May 17, 2014 16:42
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Thanks for the info guys. I'll be using this mostly on a Tokina 11-16, and I've heard that variable ND can cause some problems at wider angles. I want to make sure I'm covered for a trip to Aruba this fall, so I'm leaning towards grabbing a 9 or 10 stop filter and a 3 stop filter. Singh-Ray filters look awesome, but Marumi is definitely closer to my budget.
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May 17, 2014 18:56
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Goldmund posted:Thanks for the info guys. I'll be using this mostly on a Tokina 11-16, and I've heard that variable ND can cause some problems at wider angles. I want to make sure I'm covered for a trip to Aruba this fall, so I'm leaning towards grabbing a 9 or 10 stop filter and a 3 stop filter. Singh-Ray filters look awesome, but Marumi is definitely closer to my budget. The Singh-Ray has a thin profile version for wide angle stuff. Why do you need the variable nd? I rented one once to do a timelapse of the ocean where I could keep the shutter open long enough to have relatively smooth water. For something other than a timelapse where I needed fine control to maintain consistent shutter I would probably just roll w/ a 10 stop or something.
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May 18, 2014 00:41
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Variable ND can be more useful for shooting video. Otherwise you're probably better off with a set of standard NDs. Anything over 4 stops you might want to look at rectangular slide-in filters, as focusing (and often metering) will not work with something like a 10 stop filter and it's easier than messing with a threaded filter. A holder for those will also let you use grad-NDs.
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May 18, 2014 01:44
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I don't know if I hate this hobby or myself more, I always end up blowing out whatever budget I set. Ended up ordering a Lee's foundation holder with wide angle adapter and the "big stopper" 10stop filter.
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May 18, 2014 18:14
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A variable ND is useful for video, mostly because it's hard to find ND's that can reduce light by 10+ stops unless they're square filters. All the monster dynamic range cinema cameras have their native ISO at 800 and being able to knock down your exposure without using a smaller aperture helps preserve dynamic range and shallower depth of field.
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May 18, 2014 21:59
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1st AD posted:A variable ND is useful for video, mostly because it's hard to find ND's that can reduce light by 10+ stops unless they're square filters. http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/752927-REG/B_W_1066177_77mm_110_Solid_Neutral.html
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May 19, 2014 00:51
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If you like camera stuff (I take it that you do) then I recommend a trip to one of those Japanese super electronic stores. The one I went to today had 2 aisles of straps alone, 2 aisles of camera bags, a forest if tripods, and the brst part of all: tons of canon, Nikon, fujifilm, Olympus, Pentax, etc cameras AND LENSES just laying around, all working, all of which you can pick up and try. Wanna try a 5d3 with a 100-400L, a d800 with a 14-24 f/2.8, or maybe a fujifilm XT1 with 56mm or even a nikon one v3 with a lens adaptor and a 300mm f4 (the sexy white one too)? Go ahead.
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May 19, 2014 14:54
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Goldmund posted:Thanks for the info guys. I'll be using this mostly on a Tokina 11-16, and I've heard that variable ND can cause some problems at wider angles. I want to make sure I'm covered for a trip to Aruba this fall, so I'm leaning towards grabbing a 9 or 10 stop filter and a 3 stop filter. Singh-Ray filters look awesome, but Marumi is definitely closer to my budget. Are you bringing the big stopper to Aruba? Then check out Rogers beach, one of the nice places for long exposure. 
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May 20, 2014 00:03
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Miike posted:Are you bringing the big stopper to Aruba? Then check out Rogers beach, one of the nice places for long exposure. Beautiful! We'll be there for 7 days, and I want to rent a jeep for at least two days to go out and about. Rogers beach is definitely on the list.
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May 20, 2014 02:40
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So I'd like to go full frame without breaking the bank, thinking of going for a Canon 5D classic. I see some listed on Craigslist, is there a guide to stuff I should look out for when buying used cameras? I'm kind of nervous about dropping money and having something crap out after using it for a week. Or maybe I should stick to ebay, where they have stuff in place to protect the consumer? If anyone has any thoughts, I'd appreciate it.
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May 21, 2014 14:51
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Keh is a good choice for buying used gear, I believe everything has a 6 month warranty and their customer service has been really good every time I've needed to do a return or repair.
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May 21, 2014 15:07
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triplexpac posted:So I'd like to go full frame without breaking the bank, thinking of going for a Canon 5D classic. I see some listed on Craigslist, is there a guide to stuff I should look out for when buying used cameras? I'm kind of nervous about dropping money and having something crap out after using it for a week. Check the shutter count. I believe the shutter normally fails at around 100,000 for a consumer camera and around 300,000 for a prosumer camera. I reckon the 5D would be in the latter but not 100% sure. Other things I guess would be sensor dust (if you don't know how to clean it yourself-this is a fixable problem) or any damage to the mirror or sensor. I'd still with KEH for sure though-I hear they're quite conservative and fair with their rating system.
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May 21, 2014 15:15
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Shutter count is only a marginally useful metric. Most cameras are 'rated' for 100k actuations (the 300k is generally reserved for heavy duty shutters in high fps cameras like Canon's 1 series or the Nikon D3/D4) but the failure rate is plotted on a pretty wide curve: http://www.olegkikin.com/shutterlife/canon_eos5d.htm Of course, this is all self reported so who really knows. The 5Dc had a reputation for a faulty shutter and I had one die on me. Best bet would be to ask if the shutter has ever been replaced and try to get one that has. Also ask if it has ever had an er99 code show up. Its a catchall code but it seems like it usually indicates shutter failure. I usually prefer ebay to craigslist because of the protections and, like Mest0r said, KEH owns. Adorama is good for used gear, too. A little more expensive but they back up their used gear for 6 months, iirc. e: The 5Dc is awesome btw, totally the best entry into full frame for the money as long as you're into bare bones stills photography. 800peepee51doodoo fucked around with this message at 20:02 on May 21, 2014 |
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May 21, 2014 19:59
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And in the grand scheme of things, shutters aren't the most expensive things to replace. A friend got a swap on his 5D a few years back for like $250.
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May 21, 2014 20:18
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I got my 5dc off of craigslist. You'll have to google this, because I forget exactly, but one number if the serial indicates if it has the slightly newer LCD or the older one (newer one is better). Asking to try the camera is of course essential. Look in the battery compartment to make sure it is clean. Dusty sensor is not a huge issue because you will need to learn to clean it anyway with this camera, as dust will happen eventually anyway. And just generally talk to the seller about what he used the camera for, if he was the original owner and about a rough shutter count (you can't get the shutter count reliably from the camera because it resets in certain scenarios). I met the guy at Starbucks so it didn't feel as rushed, since I had a lot if questions.
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May 21, 2014 21:55
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Does anyone have some recommendations for a lens with a fairly silent auto-focus? Currently, I shoot videos using my D3200 with the provided 18-55mm lens, but the auto-focus sound is quite loud even with my external ME-1 mic used. I generally shoot fashion/make-up related things, so the ability to move and show fabrics, textures and colour is really needed; however, I generally shoot on my own so I don't have someone to manual focus the camera for me every time I make a move on screen. I've heard good things about Sigmas but I honestly have little knowledge on the fine-tunings of my camera. I am unbelievably inexperienced at this, so if I am asking this in the wrong place, please let me know. 
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May 22, 2014 01:42
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squeee posted:Does anyone have some recommendations for a lens with a fairly silent auto-focus? Currently, I shoot videos using my D3200 with the provided 18-55mm lens, but the auto-focus sound is quite loud even with my external ME-1 mic used. I generally shoot fashion/make-up related things, so the ability to move and show fabrics, textures and colour is really needed; however, I generally shoot on my own so I don't have someone to manual focus the camera for me every time I make a move on screen. I've heard good things about Sigmas but I honestly have little knowledge on the fine-tunings of my camera. The sigma's aren't any quieter than Canon USM on video, I can tell you that. You can hear little clicking noises with any of the normal "silent" focus motors. The only ones that have been totally silent are the STM zooms as far as Canon goes - don't know if the Nikon versions of Sigma's are any quieter, but I doubt it.
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May 22, 2014 01:58
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Mest0r posted:Keh is a good choice for buying used gear, I believe everything has a 6 month warranty and their customer service has been really good every time I've needed to do a return or repair. Keh looks like a good choice indeed! Anyone have any experience ordering through them in Canada?
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May 22, 2014 14:48
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squeee posted:Does anyone have some recommendations for a lens with a fairly silent auto-focus? Currently, I shoot videos using my D3200 with the provided 18-55mm lens, but the auto-focus sound is quite loud even with my external ME-1 mic used. I generally shoot fashion/make-up related things, so the ability to move and show fabrics, textures and colour is really needed; however, I generally shoot on my own so I don't have someone to manual focus the camera for me every time I make a move on screen. I've heard good things about Sigmas but I honestly have little knowledge on the fine-tunings of my camera. There's a thread for video with DSLR. That said, you're best bet might be to get the mic farther away from the camera. I'm not familiar with the ME-1, is there any way you could put it on a boom or something off camera? I'm not sure that Nikon makes any lenses that are quiet enough for video use.
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May 22, 2014 15:32
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triplexpac posted:Keh looks like a good choice indeed! Anyone have any experience ordering through them in Canada? Be prepared to pay a ton for shipping and import fees. I bought a used 70-200 2.8 from them and it worked out to what I'd have to pay here, so it's not any cheaper all said and done, you just get the benefit of knowing you're buying from a reputable source. And just hope you don't have to return it for any reason and re-pay for shipping. edit: Just remembered I also bought a film body from them a couple years ago. Listed price was $40, and it ended up being closer to $100 after shipping and import. CarrotFlowers fucked around with this message at 16:31 on May 22, 2014 |
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May 22, 2014 16:25
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CarrotFlowers posted:Be prepared to pay a ton for shipping and import fees. I bought a used 70-200 2.8 from them and it worked out to what I'd have to pay here, so it's not any cheaper all said and done, you just get the benefit of knowing you're buying from a reputable source. And just hope you don't have to return it for any reason and re-pay for shipping. Hmmm drat, that is annoying. Any chance you remember what service you used for shipping, Fedex or USPS?
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May 22, 2014 16:50
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triplexpac posted:Hmmm drat, that is annoying. Any chance you remember what service you used for shipping, Fedex or USPS? KEH uses FedEx mostly, though I think they have an option for UPS.
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May 22, 2014 16:52
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triplexpac posted:Keh looks like a good choice indeed! Anyone have any experience ordering through them in Canada? Shipping is deadly, no real way around it. KEH has some great prices on gear, and while I've never had to try it myself their reputation for customer service and dealing with things like defective gear or returns is excellent. But unless you're spending several hundred dollars the shipping costs wipe out the benefit of buying from them. I spent $500 for the camera, but close to $600 total after shipping and customs were done with me. On the other hand, I got a camera for $600 that was essentially new-in-box but with a few thousand shutter actuations on it; the various accessories (cables, battery, manual, etc.) were wrapped in their original plastic baggies. I don't know how goddam anal-retentive the previous owner was, because my camera was pristine when it arrived. By comparison, I could have bought a K-5 from PentaxForums.com for around the same price, maybe even for $50 cheaper, but without KEH's guarantees behind it. EBay prices at the time were stupid, like $700-$800 (or more from insane sellers in Japan or Hong Kong) so I am very happy with my KEH experience. Also, minor and subjective point, KEH ships by FedEx ground which I find much, MUCH better to deal with than goddam UPS.
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May 22, 2014 16:55
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OK so I am actually considering buying a Surface 3. I don't have any office space in my place so right now I'm using my gaming laptop on my couch/chair to edit my photos. Basically, I really like the idea of being able to edit my pictures with a stylus, but I don't want to buy a wacom because of the lack of desk area and more attachments floating around is annoying, plus this would let me edit my photos from basically anywhere, e.g., curled up on a couch like a true neckbeard. Now I know a lot of people severely dislike photoshop CC, but at the very least I could install lightroom 5 and my older version of photoshop and be done with it. Would the 216 PPI of the tablet cause any real issues with editing? I'm not planning on throwing down money right now but I sure am thinking about going to their in-store demo in June, preferably with a raw and jpg on an sd card.
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May 22, 2014 16:57
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ExecuDork posted:I bought my K-5 from KEH last September. Painless, essentially - though their website is clunky and has some annoying features (or, lack of features I usually take for granted, mostly regarding filling the forms for shipping and billing addresses and so forth). Thanks for the info! I think I'm going to see if I can just figure something out through Henrys where I can buy a used 5D and pick it up in store, rather than deal with international shipping. At least that way I still get a warranty as well.
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May 22, 2014 17:07
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I find Henry's prices are a bit high, but if you can avoid ~$100 in shipping/customs and get a warranty that probably wipes out the difference. I haven't done the math myself, but that sounds like a good plan.
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May 22, 2014 17:10
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Drewski posted:OK so I am actually considering buying a Surface 3. I don't have any office space in my place so right now I'm using my gaming laptop on my couch/chair to edit my photos. Basically, I really like the idea of being able to edit my pictures with a stylus, but I don't want to buy a wacom because of the lack of desk area and more attachments floating around is annoying, plus this would let me edit my photos from basically anywhere, e.g., curled up on a couch like a true neckbeard. Now I know a lot of people severely dislike photoshop CC, but at the very least I could install lightroom 5 and my older version of photoshop and be done with it. Would the 216 PPI of the tablet cause any real issues with editing? Get a Surface 2 with an actual Wacom digitizer, I think the 3's are using something else and they've crippled the levels of sensitivity. An Intuos 5 small with the wireless kit might also work for you.
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May 22, 2014 17:22
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ThisQuietReverie posted:Get a Surface 2 with an actual Wacom digitizer, I think the 3's are using something else and they've crippled the levels of sensitivity. An Intuos 5 small with the wireless kit might also work for you. I'm assuming you mean pressure levels of sensitivity for the stylus? I was reading here they'd gotten 256 levels of sensitivity with the stylus; is that considered crippled?
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May 22, 2014 17:30
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Drewski posted:I'm assuming you mean pressure levels of sensitivity for the stylus? I was reading here they'd gotten 256 levels of sensitivity with the stylus; is that considered crippled? Older Surfaces were 1024, an Intuos/Cintiq/Cintiq Companion will be 2048. The way you work might notice, you might not. The other thing to research would be how well your version of Photoshop handles non Wacom digitizers. It's possible to be stuck using only 32 bit versions of PS or to lose things like palm rejection because the drivers for drawing surfaces is incredibly archaic.
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May 22, 2014 17:42
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Keh's shipping for Canada is expensive but fast, their items are cheap, and their rating system is amazing. I bought a $180 BGN lens from them. Shipping came out to $40, and customs and brokerage came out to $26. However I got a lens with flawless optics the next day.
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May 22, 2014 17:55
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ThisQuietReverie posted:Older Surfaces were 1024, an Intuos/Cintiq/Cintiq Companion will be 2048. The way you work might notice, you might not. The other thing to research would be how well your version of Photoshop handles non Wacom digitizers. It's possible to be stuck using only 32 bit versions of PS or to lose things like palm rejection because the drivers for drawing surfaces is incredibly archaic. Now see this is why I would just not deal with the hassle and go with the newest version of photoshop CC that is surface 3 optimized. If it's already designed to work together, why mess around with other options? Obviously for greater sensitivity etc, so this is another very good reason for me to wait until their demo event in June before making any decisions. This is really good info; thank you very much.
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May 22, 2014 18:03
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I would *strongly* suggest you actually give it a try before plunking down whatever money MS wants for a surface. This is the company that made the non-pro surfaces and were surprised nobody in the universe loving wanted them.
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May 22, 2014 19:14
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powderific posted:There's a thread for video with DSLR. That said, you're best bet might be to get the mic farther away from the camera. I'm not familiar with the ME-1, is there any way you could put it on a boom or something off camera? I'm not sure that Nikon makes any lenses that are quiet enough for video use. I'll take the question over to that thread and get some second opinions, but the moving the mic is a great idea and I know you can get something to extend the ME-1's range so that's something I'll look into. Thanks for the responses!
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May 22, 2014 19:25
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I think doing real editing on laptops and tables is very painful and inaccurate. I went from dell desktop with 20" screen (1 year) to 15" MacBook Pro (4 years) to now a 27" iMac (for the past 1.5 years) so I've been around the block. I've also worked some on the iPad on the road. For one, the screens are too small to see all fine details. Sure you can zoom, but that really slows you down. The bigger the screen the better, at least up to 27/30 inches. Secondly, those little screens, even the good ones are hard or impossible to calibrate. My MacBook changed colors slightly depending on what angle I was viewing the screen at. The MacBook screen was pretty good, but maybe things have gotten better. As for the ipad I don't think there is a way to calibrate it. I can't talk of the surface because I know very little about it, but I don't have high hopes for hardware calibration. As for editing, I only do global slider adjustments and cropping 95% of the time. Just doing that, I find I much prefer working on a big screen desktop. When I do more intricate edits, I can't imaging doing it on anything else (especially if I was using a Wacom tablet). As for selection edits (picking the best shot) it's a lot easier when you can see the photos side by side. I have started using my ipad for editing and I do like using it, however, I find it only good for editing a quick shot here or there. Mostly for stuff on the road that I want to share on Facebook. I can't imaging doing any real serious editing on it (picking winning shots or changing the photo). With all that said, if there is a way you can dock your surface or laptop or whatever to a large monitor, you can have the best of both worlds. The only issue you're left with is storage, which can be dealt with by external hard drives. I could have gotten a MacBook and docked it to the monitor, however I don't think I really need a laptop anymore. I have never been in a situation where I had to edit my photos in a remote location(aside from a quick one off on the iPad) Memory cards are cheap and I'd rather spend my time shooting when I'm out somewhere. That's why I went with an iMac. Yeah I use apple stuff but it shouldn't matter what you use.
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May 22, 2014 23:50
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The Thinkpad W-series have built-in color calibrators and the high-end screens are supposed to be pretty nice. Not cheap by any means, though.
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May 27, 2014 05:26
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A friend wants to know which telephoto he and his brother in law should get for their kids' sports. He has a NEX 5N, and the brother in law has a Sony Alpha. Any recommendations for the two? They're squarely in the amateur camp. Image stabilization is high up on their list of wants, as well.
luchadornado fucked around with this message at 15:46 on May 27, 2014 |
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May 27, 2014 15:27
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Sony 70-300G or 70-400G, but will require the LA-EA2/4 for his NEX. The former is affordable enough for your average amateur, the latter is expensive but worth every cent.
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May 27, 2014 16:35
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