drizz
it's monkey madness!
I'm on a 20D. Recently did the (albeit minor) upgrade from my Rebel XT. It's no 5d Mk.II, but it does a great job!
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Digital SLR / DSLR Camera Question / DSLR Thread 2
- Thread starter gar1013
- Start date
I'm on a 20D. Recently did the (albeit minor) upgrade from my Rebel XT. It's no 5d Mk.II, but it does a great job!
drizz
it's monkey madness!
Thanks. I saw dustin's stuff when a link was posted on strobist q while ago. Good stuff, but I think that I have a different syle and taste than he does. But, I do like how he puts the lighing set up info up for every shot.
edit: By the way, I think that one of the best local photogs is Jennifer Skog: http://www.jenniferskog.com/
She has a fantasticly subtle lighting style. And, she really knows how to make women look beautiful in her budoir shots. I'm hoping to head this direction eventually, but it's hard for guys to break into legit budoir photography because it's hard for woment to feel comfortable with them. That's why I'm looking for a female makeup and hair person to work with.
So, for now, I'm happy to get paid to do dance photography.
This one was from last weekend's shoot:
Great shot, Aris. I'd love to see your lighting setup from something like this.
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
2 Vivitar 285's at 1/2 power lighting up the background
1 Vivitar 285 with a reflective umbrella at roughly 45-degrees on camera left (I think it was at 1/2 power)
1 EX430 @ 1/4 power with a reflective umbrella on a boom stand above and a little in front of them.
Shot at 1/200th & F4.5 (I think)
The background and floor were cleaned up in post. I normally use some tileboard for the floor, but I didn't feel like dragging it all the way to San Francisco. So, I just sacrificed some of my paper. I had to remove all the various footprints in post.
edit: By the way, I still shoot with my Xti and a dirt cheap lens (28-105 f3.5-4.5) that I got on sale at amazon. I spend all my money on lights and light modifiers these days.
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drizz
it's monkey madness!
The Rebel XT/XTi are great cameras. The only real difference between the 20D and the Rebel XT are the Pro-style controls, which really come in handy for me. I still use both bodies, but the 20D is my primary.
As far as lenses go, there are some great non-L lenses out there. My go-to is the nifty 50. That said, however, I do notice the difference between L glass and everything else. Def worth the added chunk of change. Plus, I do intend to go full-frame someday. I've shot on my bosses 5d Mk. II with lots of L glass and DAMN... so sharp every time.
As far as lenses go, there are some great non-L lenses out there. My go-to is the nifty 50. That said, however, I do notice the difference between L glass and everything else. Def worth the added chunk of change. Plus, I do intend to go full-frame someday. I've shot on my bosses 5d Mk. II with lots of L glass and DAMN... so sharp every time.
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Yeah, you're preaching to the choir on that one. I'm saving up for a 5dMkii myself. I promised myself that I wouldn't pony up for it until I earned enough to buy one straight up. I still have a ways to go.
I'm really limited on the live action shoots I can do with the Xti because of the lack of high ISO capability. Right now, anything over 400 ISO is just too grainy for my tastes. For some of the live stage dance performance photo shoots that want I do, I need to be around 2000ISO. I guess I'll just rent the gear in the meantime as the jobs come around.
drizz
it's monkey madness!
Well apparently the 7d's coming out soon too... along with the 60D. So maybe prices will go down on the 5Dii by the time you're ready.
why do you pixel peep alot?..its the content of what your taking!..and my xti is my workhorse...i use it more than my 5dmk2...70-200 is always on the xti and 85 prime on the 5dmk2...get your portfolio goin thats all i can say...
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Pixel peep? What the heck is that? I was just saying that even when I look at the picture not at full size, it's still too grainy for my tastes at anything over 800ISO. That's just personal taste. I HATE grainy pics. It's cool when you do it on purpose, but I don't want that in my pics. I'm fine with the Xti for studio work. In the studio, I can set up the lights so that I can take everything in 200ISO or less. But, I can't use a strobe when shooting performance work without blowing out all the stage lighting. So, I need to be in the higer ISO ranges.
And, why are you assuming that I'm not working on my portfolio? I was just saying that I'm limited on one thing that I'd like to do. It doesn't mean that I'm not still doing multiple photo shoots every weekend with my Xti.
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
i only use iso100 on studio work...and im not assuming your not doing your portfolio...as my theory, work with what you got...
and thats why you use manual power when shooting on event like what you mentioned above so all the highlights wont get blown out...also why not use a off cam flash since you have strobes and wireless triggers?..not unless you dont have the access to...
and why not? you want body parts not be sharp?..
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
That's the thing. Stage lighting is rarely just white. So, unless I have some sort of automatic color filter that changes the strobe lighting to match the stage lighting, I can't use my strobes. It doesn't look good if you blow out all the stage lighting with your own strobes. That is why I need the capability to do it with the camera and lens only.
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
Nope. It's actually pretty rare that I want all the body parts to be sharp. But, it's just my personal tastes.
gotcha...perhaps use gels?..set each one with different gels and different channels on the receiver and you can just switch the signals on your trigger..
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
wannabe
"Insignificant Other"
By the way, here's a good quick example of a couple pics I took last year.
This first one was with the stage lighting only: (I don't have any image stabilization, so it was really hard for me to get a sharp pic.) Notice the graininess of the high ISO pic?
I used a stobe to light this one: (Same couple same performance.)
Yes, the one with the strobe is technically a better picture, but the entire mood of the performance that was set up with the stage lighting is completely gone. I might as well have taken the pic during rehearsal.
If I had a better camera and lens combination, I could have taken the first pic at ISO2000 at maybe F2.8. It would have produced a non-grainy picture as sharp as the second shot with the mood of the stage lighting in the first shot.
Anything less is not something I want to put my name on. All it takes is one set of garbage pics for people to think that you're not worth paying any more. If someone is going to pay me to take pics of their stage performances, I want to give them the best quality that I know I can do. So, for the stage work, I would just rent a 5DMKII and a 70-200 F2.8 IS.
This first one was with the stage lighting only: (I don't have any image stabilization, so it was really hard for me to get a sharp pic.) Notice the graininess of the high ISO pic?
I used a stobe to light this one: (Same couple same performance.)
Yes, the one with the strobe is technically a better picture, but the entire mood of the performance that was set up with the stage lighting is completely gone. I might as well have taken the pic during rehearsal.
If I had a better camera and lens combination, I could have taken the first pic at ISO2000 at maybe F2.8. It would have produced a non-grainy picture as sharp as the second shot with the mood of the stage lighting in the first shot.
Anything less is not something I want to put my name on. All it takes is one set of garbage pics for people to think that you're not worth paying any more. If someone is going to pay me to take pics of their stage performances, I want to give them the best quality that I know I can do. So, for the stage work, I would just rent a 5DMKII and a 70-200 F2.8 IS.
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