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Digital SLR / DSLR Camera Question / DSLR Thread 2

So Borrowlenses is sending the 24-70 in to Nikon for repair, and gonna let me know how much the cost comes out to.

p233768867-4.jpg

:wow

First reaction was, 'Cool! Nick's reviewing a Lensbaby!'
 
I just picked up a 5D Mark II.

Do you have any suggestions where to buy lenses and what CF cards to use?

I heard Sandisk Extreme III is a good card to buy.

I also have Rebel XSi for sale. Best offer wins.

EOS Rebel XSi Body
2 Battery Pack LP-E5
Battery Charger LC-E5
USB Interface Cable IFC-200U
Video Cable VC-100
Eyecup Ef
Wide Strap EW-100DBIII
EOS Digital Solution Disk
Software Instruction Manual
"Great Photography is Easy" Booklet
"Do More with Macro" Booklet
EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS
EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS
Canon Gadget Bag 200DG
EOS Rebel XSi Guide with Rick Sammon DVD

Where to buy lenses? San Jose Camera is actually pretty good for Canon lens prices. Not as cheap as BHPhoto, but it's a bricks-n-mortar place, so returns are easier if something goes wrong.

Not to be an ass, but, is there any point in selling the XSi? You'll only get what will cover maybe 1 decent lens for the 5D, and it's always handy during shoots to have a spare body...

What lenses are you planning on getting for the 5D?

Oh, I think just use some 266x Kingston 16GB card, think it was $35 at Fry's. Should probably pick up another, but I don't use it to shoot much video (yet). Tho with the upgrade to the firmware and manual aperture control during filming, that's changing...

EDIT - 133x, more than fast enough, even at full res movie, and poop, they've gone up in price:

http://www.frys.com/product/5669251?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
 
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85mm 1.8 would go with the 5dmk2 greatly for portrait use.
50mm 1.8 would be also nice paired up with the mk2, but i
dont like the noisy focusing motor...
if you want a walk around lens, get a 24-105 L to pair it up
with your 5d.

for cards, I only use sandisk. once in a while costco will have
a sale on sandisk CF card for $27, 8GB 30mb/s

I buy my stuff online at bhphotovideo.com

like joe said, keep your xsi as a back up...
 
+1 on the 85 - I just got it, and while it's not L lens quality, it's the best non-L lens I've used for clarity and bokeh quality.

I'd say get the nifty-fifty simply because on a full-frame body, it's very versatile, still very bright, and it's dirt-cheap and compact. A great lens it ain't, but very handy.

I'm split between the 24-70 and the 24-105 - the 105 has that extra reach, but the 70 reviews slightly better, and of course is a 2.8 not 4.0. But no image stabilization, and more expensive.

When I've saved up the pennies, I think I'm going to get the 24 just for outright quality. With that and the 85, I'm pretty much covered in the studio.

Then I'm saving up for the 20mm wide-angle.

I also have a dirt-cheap 28-105, which looks like it's been discontinued. Quality wasn't great, but for snap shots and as a 'walkabout' lens it's OK. Just bad barrel distortion, chromatic aberration - but hey, a $200 zoom lens. At on-screen resolutions it would fool most people, but it got to be grating once you started seeing it's failures.
 
+1 on the 85 - I just got it, and while it's not L lens quality, it's the best non-L lens I've used for clarity and bokeh quality.

I'd say get the nifty-fifty simply because on a full-frame body, it's very versatile, still very bright, and it's dirt-cheap and compact. A great lens it ain't, but very handy.

I'm split between the 24-70 and the 24-105 - the 105 has that extra reach, but the 70 reviews slightly better, and of course is a 2.8 not 4.0. But no image stabilization, and more expensive.

When I've saved up the pennies, I think I'm going to get the 24 just for outright quality. With that and the 85, I'm pretty much covered in the studio.

Then I'm saving up for the 20mm wide-angle.

I also have a dirt-cheap 28-105, which looks like it's been discontinued. Quality wasn't great, but for snap shots and as a 'walkabout' lens it's OK. Just bad barrel distortion, chromatic aberration - but hey, a $200 zoom lens. At on-screen resolutions it would fool most people, but it got to be grating once you started seeing it's failures.


20mm shots...
4744013818_b5936e63ed_b.jpg


4744059404_86242b165c_b.jpg


4745139882_deae32f4cd_b.jpg
 
I think that the 70-200 F2.8 MKII would go even better with the 5DMKII. :teeth

Lol! Yeah, I have to say, I was shooting some party pics with the 85, and when I was looking at them later, was so impressed with clarity, and the bokeh.

At the same party, I'd used my friends 300mm F4.0 for shots I took later on - not even the 'Good' 300mm (he sold his 2.8 :cry ).

Made me REALLY realize the difference between L and non-L lenses... so much nicer than what I thought was 'really really nice'.

One day I'll have a stable full of L lenses...




Rey, thanks for the samples :thumbup

Doesn't look 'fisheye-ey', which is exactly what I want to avoid - very wide angle, not much distortion :cool
 
Was bored and playing around with lenses. Friend shared a link to use ~100mm lens+50mm lens and voila! Macro lens

First image with 18-55 kit lens. zoomed all the way in.
4759684104_015ff0170b.jpg


Second image kit lens + nifty fifty.
4759681114_c87e2567d5.jpg


CHEERS!
 
Hey Gang. It's been a while. My day job has been kicking my ass lately. I'm never home anymore. I finally just said 'fuck it' and scheduled a shoot on Saturday. It took about a half hour to get back into the swing of things, but I like to think that I got it sorted out in the end.

Man, it feels so good to be shooting again. :thumbup

Jade.jpg
 
I'm split between the 24-70 and the 24-105 - the 105 has that extra reach, but the 70 reviews slightly better, and of course is a 2.8 not 4.0. But no image stabilization, and more expensive.

I had to make the same tough choice and just picked up a 24-105 because of the wider range and IS. It's my new walk-around lens and I figure I will eventually buy some prime lenses (like the 50mm 1.4) when I want to go for the outright best image quality. I thought I would sell my 17-40 once I got the new lens but for indoor shots that 17-40 is still a better lens. So now I have the 17-40 for indoor, the 24-105 for general use and the 70-200 f4 for outdoor telephoto use (also have a 1.4x just in case). And of course a nifty 50 until I get that 50mm 1.4...

btw, my 28-135mm is in the grab bag if anyone wants a very good lens for a reasonable price.
 
I had to make the same tough choice and just picked up a 24-105 because of the wider range and IS. It's my new walk-around lens and I figure I will eventually buy some prime lenses (like the 50mm 1.4) when I want to go for the outright best image quality. I thought I would sell my 17-40 once I got the new lens but for indoor shots that 17-40 is still a better lens. So now I have the 17-40 for indoor, the 24-105 for general use and the 70-200 f4 for outdoor telephoto use (also have a 1.4x just in case). And of course a nifty 50 until I get that 50mm 1.4...

btw, my 28-135mm is in the grab bag if anyone wants a very good lens for a reasonable price.

Hey Alex, you're shooting on a APS-C sensor, right?

Is this the 17-40 you have?

Would love to borrow it and see how the distortion is at 20mm - I kinda want to get this, but maybe the zoom L will be better - I figured a prime, even a non L lens, would have less distortion, but will have to do a comparison. The prime is also $300 cheaper, and it's a 2.8 - I've never shot with a really bright wide-angle and I've really liked seeing short DOF in landscape pics, which is a bit rare.

You should just go get the nifty fifty this weekend man! It feels like a toy, so light and short, but you can get some really nice portraits. Just be aware that the bokeh is a little weird when it's between 2.2ish and 5ish - the aperture control is only 5 blades and isn't symmetrical, so points of light blur into hard-edged pentagons instead of smooth circles. Sometimes that can add to an image... sometimes not... but it should be in everyone's bag :)

EDIT - you have the IS version of my cheapie lens, which as I understand it, is actually a very different animal :) FYI, lowest I've seen it is $400 on Amazon, so your price is if anything, a bit low :teeth
 
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Hey Gang. It's been a while. My day job has been kicking my ass lately. I'm never home anymore. I finally just said 'fuck it' and scheduled a shoot on Saturday. It took about a half hour to get back into the swing of things, but I like to think that I got it sorted out in the end.

Man, it feels so good to be shooting again. :thumbup

Jade.jpg

Is it really unprofessional to comment; humina, humina!
 
Ian, get a hold of me before I leave for T-hill Friday evening and you can borrow my 17-40L for the weekend. :D
 
What a fucking shambles.

So, I ordered Photoshop CS5 upgrade, as we already have the CS4 Master Suite - which cost us around $2500.

I even ordered the boxed version, as I like having an actual disk and box with serial number.

Went to install it.

"You have no qualifying products on your system"

WTF????

I input the serial number from the CS4 Master Suite. No joy.

"Please contact support"

Click.

"Please install the Adobe Online Support Application"

Fuck, really?

OK.

Download. Crash.

Fucking great.

Start again.

This time it suggests I look online for my serial numbers. I knew that we'd done that (a rare time we actually registered a product). So, I log in.

"View registered products"

Click.

"You have no registered products at this time"

WTF? That can't be right, I remember doing it.

"Register a new product"

Ok, click.

Enter serial number.

"This product has already been registered"

FUCK.

ME.

Fuck this, call them. Spend 10 minutes finding a number.

Get some woman with the most bizarre southern accent I've ever heard, who cannot obviously, understand anything like a British accent, no matter how thinly I laid it on.

Turns out, you can't upgrade invidivual components from the Master Suite, only the WHOLE FUCKING THING.

The REALLY fucking annoying thing is, originally we were only going to get Photoshop and Dreamweaver, and were considering Premiere. We were talked into getting the Master Suite by the sales rep, as it was barely more than the individual prices, and we were assured we could upgrade components in future. What shite.

And on the sales page for Photoshop, it only says, 'Qualifying upgrade products, Photoshop CS3 and CS4', nowhere does it say, 'except when purchase as part of the Master Suite.'

Cocksucking assmonkeys.

To add insult to injury, when I was transferred to the refund department, the stupid bint cut me off.

Fuck I'm annoyed. You spend MORE money and you have LESS options to upgrade, AND the sales rep lied about it when we made the original purchase.

And of course there's no actual email to send this clusterfuck of an experience to customer service, I'll have to mail the stupid bastards. Or maybe I should just go there in person. Fucking ridiculous.:mad
 
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