[John Bennett]

One of many questions i had from reading this, was do you submit the same image library to each of the magazines, or a different library to each one?

[John Bennett]

My 2c.
You cant really go wrong with either.

That said. Every professional and semi professional and advanced amatuer I know uses Canon 🙂
Next time your at a sporting event, get a sense. Its easy to see the sea of white lenses.

Personally I think its often a matter of comfort zones and people going with what they know. To the best of my knowledge and theres lots of room for error because unless you’ve shot extensively with each theres no real way to know and its then a matter of heresay, this are a few of the more prominantly, often debated differences.

Mounts:
Canon changed their mounts some years ago, Nikon didnt and some say can’t now without totally screwing millions of owners. Have a look at the Canon and Nikon mounts, decide for yourself if the “smaller” Nikon mount is of any matter. Some say it is with heavier lenses.

Noise:
With the exception of the D300, Canon bodies pound for pound do a better job of handling it. Its often a complaint of long time Nikon shooters. I have heard D200 shooters say they are reluctant to shoot above ISO 400. I was fine at ISO 800 with my 30D and with my 1d dont mind ISO 1000 and with a little Noise cleanup can shoot at ISO 1600.

Predictive AF.
Some say Canons better.

Single AF
Some say Nikon is more reliable

Personally I dont think theres any real way to test and proove either.

Weather sealing.
Nikon is way ahead of Canon n so much as caon really only offers it in their pro bodies, wheras its standard with Nikon

Flash:
Nikon. Nothing else needs to be said

Lenses.
Pixel peepers from both camps will swear up and down until they are blue in face that their side is better. I say, put 100 images in front of them from the same quality fo glass and few will accurately determine (greater than 50%) which maker shot which images

Price:
Lenses: Canon seems to have both a larger line up and a cheaper lineup. << This was one of the larger determining factors for me. I looked at Nikons prices for their long lenses vs Canons and made up my mind which system to go with. Bodies: I think Nikon has it right. The difference between their Consumer/Pro sumer/Pro lineups are nicely spaced. Theres a body for everyone. Canon oth doesnt really (imo) have a Pro sumer body.
It goes from the $1200 40D to the $5000.00 Pro bodies, with the exception of the full frame 5d that while priced in between, isn’t really the middle ground but is priced for being a full frame.

All of which to say is. I dont think you can go wrong with either. Each seems to have advantages in different area’s.

[John Bennett]

I dont know Drifter. There are so many makes of filters its hard to keep them straight.
Hoya: You can spend from 75 to $225.00, ditto B+W. Depnds largely on whether or its multi coated and whether or not its “thin”. Thins cool but I dont like the way the caps keep falling off, especially when its 200.00 or more filter. Having a cap come off in the bag and scratching the filter would blow.

Singh-Ray: they start around 200 and go upto 400 or so.

Is it worth that much for CPs?
hard to say imo, I guess ultimately it depends on how much you use and abuse them and what your using them for..Personal enjoyment or regular cover shots.

Single coated Hoyas and B+Ws can be had for about 75.00 retail. perhaps te largest determinent of the cost to you will be your filter size. All else being equal a 77mm CP as in for my 24-70 f2.8 is alot more expensive tan the same filter for 58mm and 62mm lenses.

J

[John Bennett]

Finally had a chance to get an image of a dog streamside.

Unfortunately he didn’t do anything dramatic. In fact everytime I thought he might and I got myself into position to meter and compose, he’d stop what he was doing and come over to say hi as only dogs can. I’d swear he knew I was wanting pics of him 🙂

[John Bennett]

Thats a good point/reminder about metering Zach.
I often use (90% of the time) spot and meter off something in the scene. Sometime the shadows but usually the mid tones. The difficulty sometimes is finding a mid tone although I often try to find some wood ( dock/tree bark etc). When time allows I usually meter off something, take my pic and then check the histogram to get a sense of whether Im underexposing (when metering off darks) or if I have room to the right (mid tones).

Another example might be skies. If I have a shot where thers going to be a fair amount of sky, I often meter/set my SS accordingly, snap a “test” shot/check the histo and lcd for blown highlights..Then adj as neccessary, compose and shoot whatever it is I want to shoot. Of coarse sometimes I brain cramp and forget all of that 🙂

Its just another tool to help us, kinda like indicators, no more and no less.

[John Bennett]

You have to almost beleive the 5D replacement i coming soon.

As for spot. In my line of work transparency and disclosure is everything. How hard would it have been to add a fine print disclaimer that despite being a commercial for the XSI all images were shot with Canons Flahship Pro body..There XSI is not capable of the those football sequences, alteast not at that quality and especially not at night (high) ISOs, probably 1,600. I dontknow if my 1DMKIIn would be 🙂

The first television spot, “Journey,” focuses on the EOS Rebel XSi and was shot primarily with Canon EOS-1D Mark III professional digital SLR cameras.

Other than 1 brief glimpse o f the XSI at the end with a 1DMKIII image of a football player diving into the end zone at night superimposed on the XSIs lcd I might add, theres nothing in the spot to tha has anything at to do with the XSI.

Its all their top of he line Pro Body
🙂

Now maybe its just me but of the millions of people who know nothing about photography, and even less about a makers bodies but I dont think its a leap at all to think there might be thousands of people who are sold on XSIs thinking wow it can do that 🙂 and then endup wondering..Why cant I do that ( a couple months ater)

Hell even automotive ads atleast tell the potential “consumers” that its been shot on a closed coarse with a professional driver and they certailny dont disguse Ferrari engines and chasis for Chevy Cavaliers and Ford Escorts commercials
🙂

Underhanded, yeah I think so.
All it would have taken was a 5 second disclaimer “disclosing” the fact that the images being highlighted werent shot with XSIs but were instead shot with their flagship body. Kind of odd when its a commercial for an entry level body.

[John Bennett]

If you do go the 40 Dusty it will be alot of body for you to grow into. Waiting to see what rebates they announce up here myself.

Cool way to put the add together but Im thinking they wouldnt get those kinds and quality of shots with XSI 🙂 Especially football at night .Cant beleive they didnt even put a wee fine print disclaimer that all shots were with a mkIII and not XSIs.

Gotta love marketing

[John Bennett]

lol Zach.
Been there done similiar myself.

Ive shot an entire day, hundreds of images, only get home and realise theres no card in the body. Have since turned the option to shoot sans card off 🙂 That has saved me twice, in so much as once I clue in as to why the shutter isnt releasing ( main card still in my card reader  at home )I get a spare card out of my bag 🙂

Setting my lens to manual for macro and when next picking up the camera wondering why I couldnt select an af mode and thinking the camera was malfunctioning.

and on
and on

We’ve done it Tim, hopefully you have your solution.

[John Bennett]

Eric.
If you have any questions, or even if come across a specific image that your not sure why its not what you we’re expecting shoot me a pm. Sometimes its usually just a small thing. I’m no “pro” and there are hundreds (if not thousands) of Bird Shooters far more accomplished than I but I have learned a thing or two about it.

One thing that always drives me nuts is people often say..It’s not the car, it’s the driver. Meaning people so full of themselves they think the reason they get such stunning images is simply them.
BS.

Its equal parts imo, sometimes more the driver, sometimes more the car. I’m not going to delude myself into thinking otherwise. That Blue Jay for example is almost impossible with anything other than the fastest focusing body and the fastest focusing lenses. While not impossible its a 1 in a million without the right hardware.

Canon 30D

Want to guess how many hours and how many deletions it took to get that 1 shot???

The 30D is more than capable for *most* bird shooting. It will struggle and is largely incapable of getting small fast movers in flight like Blue Jays, Cardinals and the like but anything bigger/slower its just fine. I used it for a year and in fact its largely the camera I learned on.

The 100-400 L
One of the best lenses on the market imo.
No, its not quite as sharp as the 400 f5.6 L, but the difference is so small as to be rediculous that people slag the lens. When I bought my 400 5.6 I took test shots with my 100-400 and the stores 400 5.6 of telephone poles ( the itty bitty “pebble” like texture) at 50 feet and f5.6 . At normal resolution I doubt anyone could discern any difference what so ever. It wasn’t until I cropped to 100% that I was able to see a difference.

So that then is just a small limition of the 100-400 L and its likely true of any zoom lens vs a prime lens.
They cant hold up to croping as well as the primes.

Birders crop a alot, its simply a result of the constant struggle to have enough reach. I shoot with a Bird fanatic. He owns the 400 f5.6, the 500 f4.0, the Sigmonster 300-800 and 1.4 and 2.0x TCs.

He’s ordered Canons new 800mm f5.6

Its just a fact with Birds. You never have enough reach no matter how much you actually have.
************

Does it focus as fast?
No, and thats the reason I ultimately switched to the prime. Alot of what I do and enjoy is fast action.
But thats *me* not the lens. Fact is one day I plan on acquiring another 100-400 L, it’s simply unbeleivably versatile and sweet.

Try stopping down, when theres enough light, to f8. Thats the 1-400s sweet spot.

Odd that my pics taken with it are showing up as red xs but thats why I switched from pbase, that happens sometimes 🙂

[John Bennett]

The Red Tail was taken with the 100-400 L, the other two with the 400 5.6 L

More often than not its little things, that come with time or people pointing things out. Shooting birds isnt as easy as it might seem. Their small (relatively), fast, and often constantly moving.

I’m a fairly firm beleiver that as important as it is to get “good” glass, its hard to buy “bad” glass and often what people say is bad is a result of buying glass that didnt meet their expectations.
Is it right to “bad mouth” a lens becuase its not as fast focusing as some others, when shooting birds in flight or Deer flying across a field? No its just being asked to do too much and while there are better lens suited to tat type of thing, it doesnt make the lens bad.

Same with bodies. Even my 1D has limits, should I question the 1DmkIIn and 400 f5.6 when targetting Tree swallows in flight? Their super fast, super small and erratic. To get 1 good shot I might delete 30 or 40.

The 100-400 L has a bad rep amongst wildlife/Bird shooters and I dont get it. People say its soft, slow and alot of other stufff. I thnik its a great lens., loved mine.

XT and 100-400 L

Same

Same

Is it the lens that bd or is itthat its often asked to do too much or is compared to lenses made almost speciifcally for those task?

the only thing I would ask Eric is what or how much are you sking of the lens/body? Some lenses can handle cropping better than others, some focus faster than others. While the AF capablities of different bodies is different, they can all do it. What differs is how reliably and how often and if you stay within the hardwares limits than .

the rest is practise imo. Its not easy getting focus on small birds even ones that dont fly but flit from branch to branch. Largert Birds, which fill more of the frame need larger DoFs, bu tha can be a prblem due te ned to keep Shutter speeds high, usully higher than 1/500th. Birds, even static shots are rarely actually still and with long glass motion blur is magnified as is “shake”.

there alot of little things like uing center point focus only, keepin SSs high, having a good idea of how much DoF you need given the distance/size of te subject. How much cropping you can get away it, exposing for birds with blacks and whites, exposing the unerside of birds, good BGs, “bokeh” all are little things, that add up and come with practise, like anything else really be it Macro or Landscape or people photography.

[John Bennett]

Lol kendal.
Dont hate the player, hate the game. 🙂

The 30/40D AF is nice as is the XTs and thats why I hesitate to use words like wanting, but the truth of the matter is more and more I felt like its AI Servo was holding me back. A classic example and it happened many times was being out shooting with some guys who had the MKIIN or MKIII and in the extra split second it took me to get focus acquisition, they were ripping off frames. Even the 1D has limits and I lose focus while in Servo or I dont get it fast enough and miss the opportunity but again, relatively speaking, it less an “issue” as with the 30/40 as with the XT. Because sooooooo much of my wildife/avain shooting is fast paced action thats a big issue. If I was more of a static shooter it wouldnt be.

I still lust and dream about that 500 f4
/sigh

Rumor is the MKIIIn is coming this fall. Should that occur you could probably find moderately used MKIIns at a fraction of what they cost new. All the 1D bodies have shutter lives of 250,000 and even if the shutter count is high, replacing one isnt *that* expensive. Problem is finding a seller you can trust.

[John Bennett]

Dusty I get really nervous about suggesting where someone should spend their hard earned coin.

Were it *me*, *Id* get the 40D. To me it currently represents what might be the best value for the dollar on the market and that includes Nikons bodies.

The XSI has some features previoulsy only available in the 40D and some new stuff including the extra 2 MP and is cheaper and on and on.

But I really don’t think Canon will have improved its AF while in “AI servo”. Even in the 40D they claimed “improved” AF and while to my eye it acquired initial focus a wee bit faster than the 30D, its ability to track moving targets while in AI Servo….which is really “predictive focus” was exactly the same. To *me* it was wanting and why I eventually shelled out for a 1DMKIIn. That kind of stuff is important to *me*, as is high FPS ( 3.5 vs 5.0 vs 6.0 vs 8.5) and the ability to get acceptable noise at high ISOs, but what I deem acceptable may be more stringent than the next or maybe the next person simply doesnt need to shoot at ISO 800 and higher very often.

then there are other things like buffer capacity..when you shoot at highframe rates you need larger buffers and you want them to dump faster.

ISO increments

more focus points

etc

The 40D is Canons mid level line between consumer ( XT line ) and the Pro lines (1D).
Its going to be a better body…question is….do you really need/want some of that?

Not for me to say.

/edit add
Should clarify and say.

When I say the XTs and then the 40Ds “AF” is wanting , its not thats its bad or “wanting”. Both are capable of getting shots. It that they were “wanting” to *me* for the type of shooting I often do which is very demanding of the hawrdware.

Rebel XT

40D Buffleheads are small fast movers

The XT I doubt could get that shot

1DMKIIN

The 40D I doubt could get that shot. I know, I spent countless hours and hundreds of frames trying with 30 and 40D.

I got that the first day I was shooting with the 1DMKIIN

[John Bennett]

Ive fished for Musky alot in my life, and have had my shre of up and downs. Love the species.

The area I tend to get them is really LM waters. Specifically shallows, weed, lily and log infested. Not conducive to landing Lunge even when geared for them :). As a result there are some real bruisers and I’ve lost more than I care to think about in there. Ive even been taken on some nice scenic boat rides as they tow me around.

These days, when I go to those area’s its for LM in my toon using my 9ft, 8wt Sage. I’ve had a few follows and each time I whip the fly out of the water faster than you can say Spooled.

That said, I have been giving some thought to potentially buying and using a switch rod. Mainly because it should help me get more line out for the LM. I’m not the best of casters and sitting in the toon, trying to toss soaked bass plugs puts even more of a strain on my weaknesses.

Still I wonder if it would be a good idea to hook into a bruiser and watch as it has its way with my hardware.

Sweet photos Aaron, would love to do that myself.

[John Bennett]

Look forwards to seeing what you come with Ben.

Unfortunately like you I don’t know if my macro efforts wil ever generate a dime. Which is sad because I really enjoy it. The fly fishing mags I buy or peruse rarely (if ever) feature shots of bugs and the few I have seen often are oof, although not always. If it was somethng I thought there was even a small market for I’d pursue it with a vengeance (Flys and Nymphs). So for me its something I do for fun and to help keep other things fresh.

Since my first batch Ive went and bought a small square acryllic Beta Tank. So I have the small aquarium running which I use a temporary “live tank” and then I plan to move a specimen to the Beta tank for shots. Being smaller theres less room for them, which should make targetting them easier and hopefully as well being alot smaller, it will be easier to light although glare, etc will still likely be a problem. My tihnking at this point is that continous lighting, will be better than flash/strobes which can’t help but bounce off the glass/acryllic to greater or lessor amounts no matter what.

J

[John Bennett]

As John mentioned if you start by looking at $900.00 can get you, in Canon theres the XSI or the 30D. The 30D I’ve actually seen for far less used. A used 40D might be had for about that price. The XSI looks like a fantastic entry body. Its got some new features over its predessors and has some new stuff previously only available in the 10 to 40D line.

But where to spend the $$?
Thats a tough call and not one I’d be comfortable suggesting to *someone else*.

The thing to remember is that the manufactorers are always going to keep some important aspects back to separate the lines. Two that come to my mind right off the bat are Noise control and AF performance.

The AF performance, especially “AI servo” in the XT/XTI are not upto the 30/40Ds. Theres no reason to think the XSI will be any better. Likewise as nice as the 40D is, its not as reliable or good as my 1D. I can say that having owned and used all of those.

Ditto Noise. With my XT I hated shooted at ISO 800. With my 30/40D I didnt mind but felt that was the limit. With my 1D I dont hesitate to use ISO 1,000 and if for personal useage I dont mind ISO 1,600.
In the never ending race to add MP the manufactorers keep adding MPs to these small sensors. Their solution to keep noise control the same ( more MPs = more noise) has been to increase the strength of the AA filter. While that keeps the noise at the same level despite the increased MPs it make the images look softer..That means you need to sharpen more in post. I noticed a huge difference between my 30d and my 40D. So while the noise was pretty much the same despite the addition of 2 MP, the AA filter was strengthened and that made the images look softer, which meant I needed to increase the sharpening.

Another is 1/3 stop ISO. With the XT line your limited to full stop increments, with the 30/40D you get interpolated 1/3 increments, which while its not true 1/3 stop increments as in the 1D lines, its still better to have than choice than not.

Other things like fps, buffering capacity, build construction, etc, etc should be factored in.

But some of the new features sure do look nice.
We’re it me, Id have a hard time deciding between and XSI a 30D or 40D.

[John Bennett]

Id look at Zenfolio as well. I moved from pbase to zenfolio a little over a year ago. Thus far Im more than happy. For $25.00/year I get 1.7 Gig in storage. Its starts at a Gig (basic) and increases each year you renew. Interface is slick as are display options. To give you an idea just how space that is I have 450 photos uploaded and have used 246MB. Mind I dont upload full res images, no purpose really.
Until and unless a day comes when I want my own site its way more than I need at a price I dont even notice.

My page
http://jben.zenfolio.com

Zenfolio home..theres a free trial period
http://www.zenfolio.com

Others worth looking at are Flickr and smugmug although I dont know anything about them

Actually Tim if you did the trial today, you could upload some of those photos and then we’d be able to see the EXIF
🙂

[John Bennett]

Tim.
In order for “us” to read the EXIF from files posted to the net we’d have to have DLd a third party utility that allows viewers to see the EXIF.

Some websites display parts of the EXIF as like mine. If you look in the top right corner of the screen you’ll see abreviated EXIF.  http://jben.zenfolio.com/p397945788/?photo=h173CE26E#389866094  if you hover over the orange exclamation mark that appears in the top right corner of the image, you’ll see most of the EXIF. I also embed my name, adress and other info in the full exif of all my files.

The EXIF shoud show us exacly what mode you were in, the ISO, the Fstop, the SS, metering mode, any +/- EC or FEC, whether or not flash fired and some other info.

All of which may help get to the bottom as to whats occuring.
How old is your body?
If its a malfunction you should be able to get it repaired, it may be a firmware issue or you may be able to get a replacement.

J

[John Bennett]

I don’t disagree with the notion that something other than whats been presented ( an auto mode and + EC) might not be going on.

Carter your right “Exp comp” is redundant when in “M”. You cant dial any in. If your metering a scene and for one reason or another want to over expose or under expose you simply set your exposure values to render an over/under exposed image relative to what the meter is saying is a “proper exposure”.

from the Pentax k10
Metering Modes
1) Green (2) Program AE (3) Sensitivity-Priority AE
(4) Shutter-Priority AE (5) Aperture-Priority AE (6) Shutter and Aperture- Priority AE (7) Metered Manual (8) X speed (9) Bulb

From the K10 manual page 146
Green (auto) mode.
Sets shutter speed and aperature according to a proper exposure

user options.
EV comp: No
Change SS: No
Change f/stop: no
Page: 146

On page 146
Using green mode
Caution: Shutter Speed, Aperature, AE Lock, EV Comp, Aut bracket, Mulit exposure, and flash Comp cannot be used.

http://www.pentaximaging.com/files/manual/K10D_Manual.pdf

Sorry to be such a stickler but auto modes are meant to be, for lack of better words “idiot proof”. The camera is driver and the only auto mode that allows for some user control is “Program” mode, which is identical to “Auto” but allows for some user control. That is to the best of my knowledge universal.

I allow that I dont know everything and stand to be corrected but Id be very surprised to find a camera that allows any user control in auto. The mode is meant to be fully auto, such that anyone can pick it up, point and shoot and a “technically correct” exposure.

If theres truly some +EV in an auto mode Id be contacting the manufactorer.

[John Bennett]

Just a note and why Im sort of puzzled, as the last time Tim did include the exif and the “impossibe” seems to be occurring.

It was on Auto.

[John Bennett]

Well for whats it worth it appears though your camera is over exposing by maybe as much as 2 stops.

I’d contact Pentax and include the above images (with exif data), depending on how old your camera is I want a solution, repair, or replacement. If its not too old I’d contact the retail outlet as well looking for an exchange.

J

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