dSLR thread

Stereodude

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I don't see a film SLR, unless you're referring to the RH backrow, with the angular pentaprism housing...though I can't see a rewind spindle, so figured it's just a early model dSLR?
Maybe your seeing eye dog can point it out to you. :razz:

You actually have correctly identified it. It has a big "3" on the front and that should make it painfully obvious.
 

Stereodude

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Manual focusing an AF camera is quite tough. First the viewing screen in the camera has no focusing aids like the split image or pentaprism area. Second AF lenses typically have a very short amount of throw in order to make them focus quickly by reducing the number of turns needed by the focusing motor. Live view helps some, but certainly doesn't solve all the problems.
 

LunarMist

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Manual focusing an AF camera is quite tough. First the viewing screen in the camera has no focusing aids like the split image or pentaprism area. Second AF lenses typically have a very short amount of throw in order to make them focus quickly by reducing the number of turns needed by the focusing motor. Live view helps some, but certainly doesn't solve all the problems.

It depends on the lens. I used mechanical AF lenses for many years on manual focus bodies and often used MF on the early AF bodies that were not very good at AF. The better USM or AF-S lenses generally have a reasonable pitch for manual focus. The cheap little ones are more difficult to handle. Manual focus really sucks on the EF-S Canon bodies, but is not as difficult on DX. I'd still avoid any bodies with small sensors for manual focus. Specialized focusing screens are adviseable when using lenses faster than f/2.8.
 

LunarMist

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Maybe your seeing eye dog can point it out to you. :razz:

You actually have correctly identified it. It has a big "3" on the front and that should make it painfully obvious.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

That one is from 2000 or 2001 - no rewind crank by then. ;)

Have you figured out the others yet?
 

udaman

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meebe u should ask dd if he can see the 'painfully' obvious. I can't even read the red "Rebel", microscopic red blotch is more like it...wait til you need reading glasses SD, then we'll laugh our asses off at U :D.

Wait till you live as long as my mother with cataracts in both eyes, 20/40 in one eye 20/140 in the other, -15 correction, astigmatism, partially detached retina, 'floaters' in both eyes...at an intersection, she can barely see across the intersection to read what the streetsigns say...if you live that long. Painfully indeed :bglaugh:

Can see the angular shape of the mirror housing, that's about it!

Bigger is better, I can just make out the F-1 on this one, no built-in motor drive like a 'modern' Rebel K2 :D

00RtNX-100349584.jpg
 

udaman

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:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

http://www.amazon.com/Gitzo-GT1541T-6X-G-Lock-Traveler/dp/B0019QZPGS/ref=dp_cp_ob_p_title_0

These people should give me some of the drugs they are taking if they think this is a 'sturdy' & 'stable' pod...meeB U can use it as a substitute pole 4 vaulting, lol, that's were the 'flexibility' would be more useful.

I normally use a bigger stronger carbon fiber Gitzo tripod with an Acratech head for my Nikon D2X. I got the 1541T (with a lightweight Really Right Stuff head) for travelling light with hand luggage only. Certainly, my normal tripod better suits the weight of the Nikon with a decent lens, and the 1541 cannot match its strength and stability. However, the 1541 scores so highly on portability that it is well worth considering for situations where saving weight and space is paramount. And for a lighter camera such as the D700 it could be a first choice, as it has all the usual Gitzo virtues of versatility, speed of adjustment, high rigidity-to-weight ratio and high build quality.

It's too flimsy for even a Rebel w/kit lens. $500 piece of junk IYAM

Same pod with 3mm thick walls, of sensible diameter legs, might be sturdy enough and still be portable enough- 1mm tubes are a joke! I'd rather have them put back that 30% weight saving into larger diameter legs, or thicker/more rigid walls.
 

Stereodude

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meebe u should ask dd if he can see the 'painfully' obvious. I can't even read the red "Rebel", microscopic red blotch is more like it...wait til you need reading glasses SD, then we'll laugh our asses off at U :D.
If you were at all familiar with the EOS line of cameras from Canon you'd know that the EOS-3 is a film body and the "EOS 3" on the front of the camera is legible enough.
 

Stereodude

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And for the record there are no deals at camera stores in Shinjuku or Akihabara. The prices on things were completely absurd.

Here are a few examples:
~140,000 yen (~$1478) for the Canon EF 70-200L F4 IS ($1025 @ B&H)
~100,000 yen (~$1056) for the Canon EF 17-40L F4 ($700 @ B&H)

I was also looking for a Buffalo quad channel SLC USB 2.0 drive since Buffalo doesn't sell any flash drives in the US any more (thanks Sandisk), and the few stores that had the quad channel SLC drives (not that many) all basically wanted full MSRP for them. ~34,000 yen (>$350) for the 16GB one. Assuming I needed my head examined and was willing to cough up that kind of dough, I could at least buy it from Amazon.co.jp for 23,800 yen.

Now maybe the stores negotiate some, that wasn't at all clear to me, but with my inability to speak Japanese and the crazy high starting point I wasn't about to even try.

I didn't leave Akihabara completely empty handed though. I did buy a 1GB Buffalo RUF2-S1G-WH (dual channel SLC) for 780 yen (~$8.25) from a place that was closing them out.
 

Stereodude

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I was always under the impression that Akihabara was where you bought cutting-edge stuff, not a location for great deals...
I think it's some of both. From what I saw most places were not selling cutting edge stuff, but cheap stuff. It's quite a fascinating place. You can find little booths (I hesitate to call them shops) that specialize in all sorts of electronics parts. One guy will have nothing but capacitors. Another guy will have nothing but transformers. Another place will have nothing but Hirose connectors. There are lots of places selling surveillance equipment, GPS, and walkie talkie type radios & scanners.

Lots of larger stores selling Anime and related items (figurines / dolls, videos, clothing, etc). There are lots of stores selling computer parts. Some are more high end. Most are towards the lower end bargain segment. There are stores selling models and model kits. There are duty free shops for foreign suckers.
 

LunarMist

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If you were at all familiar with the EOS line of cameras from Canon you'd know that the EOS-3 is a film body and the "EOS 3" on the front of the camera is legible enough.

I was asking the SD how many he could ID. ;)

Oh, no double quotes?
 

Stereodude

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Has anyone ever tried one of these 3rd party timer remotes from ebay?

I have a genuine Canon TC-80N3 remote that works great with my 10D and EOS-3, but I want similar functionality for my Rebel XSi and Elan IIe / Elan 7N. To the best of my knowledge Canon doesn't make a timer / intervalometer remote for those camera. Hence my question about the 3rd party timer remotes.
 

LunarMist

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I don't know about remotes for the cheap cameras. I have the two types of 3-pin Canon remotes, though I normally use the small one. The TC-80N3 is too bulky and I only used it a few times. My remotes are beaten up from dropping and dragging them on the ground.
 

udaman

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critique from the advanced level photogs here?

I did not realize this restaurant critic had his own personal, 'pro' assigned to take pictures for him, of him...damn, how does one get such a job in such a tight market, newspaperwise?

So what do you think? To me just the examples I'm linking are typical of her work, which is to say not very impressive...and she gets paid for this???

JonathanGoldDimSum-thumb-225x337.jpg


You'll note how completely out of focus the foreground is :(. I don't care how intriguing it is to voyeuristically oogle the famous critic, I want to see the *food* as sharp as possible, and it's all blurred :dunno:

Was this on purpose, and if so, what a lousy rational?

Now let's go look at the 'travel' photos from Italy. Presumably she has some control over the size of image displayed on the website, so these are her best from the trip??? Maybe she needs a refresher course with a real 'pro'... I am I being too harsh?

Tell me what you think of the composition and quality of any individual shots (by # or post them up).

http://www.laweekly.com/slideshow/view/28144768/1
 

ddrueding

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Doesn't look exceptional to me. The images that are good are good because they are of something interesting. The shots that aren't of something interesting aren't interesting. But what do I know. ;)
 

udaman

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Doesn't look exceptional to me. The images that are good are good because they are of something interesting. The shots that aren't of something interesting aren't interesting. But what do I know. ;)

Well which ones do you think are interesting? Post them up or link them. Euphemism> 'exceptional' = amateurish? I see poor composition as well as poor technique...what'd ya expect from a beginner, how she got a choice position as a lead photog, or personal photog for an individual writer is beyond me. Surely there are more qualified individuals? Hell, so many amateurs could do better. Maybe she's just not knowledgeable (again, how'd she get a pro job then?) enough to use the equipment competently, to the best of it's limitations?

The table shot, could she not have stopped down? If you were using a D3 @very high ISO, this should be possible/easy, and if you run into diffraction limitations, like we're talking online only images so you don't need high-res, or noiseless images. If not stopped down, then a tilt-shift lens would have done that one. But she's got tons of shots that are all like that, really lot crappy to my eyes. They paid her to go to Italy and that is the result, she's a pro??? Hard to believe! Even with his grotesque 'artist' exaggerated colors, Ken Rockwell could have done much better.

Back to rumors, Canon rumors. Since Tannin's selling his 24mm T/S because he wants a tele-macro lens, seems Canon may be announcing a 200mm 3.5L soon. Shoot, and it's a 200mm L series macro, that ought to cost a fortune.



for timwhit, must be a Mac problem, I'm getting http://64.13.226.237/ instead of www.canonrumors.com, when they moved to the new servers :D

Current Lens Talk
The following are lenses that are being bandied about for release this fall.
100 f/2.8 IS Macro
200 f/3.5L IS Macro
70-200 f/2.8L IS II
50-200 f/2.8L IS
24-105 f/2.8L IS
15mm f/2.8 USM Fisheye
The only credible information I have on lenses is the two macros. We’ve always had a hard time getting lens info here at Canon Rumors, this round of rumors isn’t any different.
Bodies
The 60D/7D will be arriving to the real world next Tuesday according to most sources. A couple site August 25 as a possibility.
We’ll also be seeing a new Rebel. Canon will trump the D3000 and keep video in their entry level camera.
Am I the only one who's starting to get confused with all the new model #'s, too many digits... a new Rebel, already, there are so many I can't keep track of them all :confused:
 

LunarMist

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So I ordered up a Spyder3Elite to calibrate my monitors. :mrgrn: With the Bing.com cashback and the $30 rebate it seemed like a pretty good deal.

Not quote sure why you would get that one. Don't you have the EyeOne Display 2, or was that someone else? MacBeth/Xrite is the industry standard with much broader use. Does your monitor support the Spyder directly or do you have to apply profiles at the video card level?
 

Stereodude

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Not quote sure why you would get that one. Don't you have the EyeOne Display 2, or was that someone else? MacBeth/Xrite is the industry standard with much broader use. Does your monitor support the Spyder directly or do you have to apply profiles at the video card level?
I currently have no calibration gear. AFAIK, It's like the rest of the calibration tools and applies profiles at the video card level.

The Spyders seemed a better bargain than the EyeOne products.
 

LunarMist

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Maybe it was David that bought something relatively recently or maybe it was Tony.

Some monitors support sensor calibration directly through a USB port.
 

udaman

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I got the Spyder3 Elite today. I tried it out my laptop. It seems to work well.

Well unless you custom ordered one of the high-end screens from Dell, laptop screens don't have accurate color to begin with, even the best pale in comparison to the purpose designed ($$$) desktop models.
 

ddrueding

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I noticed that even my netbook, after calibration, was pretty darn good. It wasn't as good as my nicer monitors, but it was clearly better, and I would argue "good enough".
 

Stereodude

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Let us know how it works. I'm always interested in new toys for the camera!
It works great, just like the real Canon one I have with the N3 connector. The only real difference is that it's for cameras with the 3/32" remote jack instead of the N3 connector (which Canon doesn't make).

In your case I don't see any reason to pay $130 for the Canon TC-80N3 when you can get a copy of it with the N3 connector for $33.21.
 

Stereodude

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I also picked up an used Rebel XT that I plan to convert to an IR camera. I ordered the Life Pixel Standard IR filter for it. Surgery is tentatively scheduled for some time next week.

They have a DIY guide found here. It looks doable (or I wouldn't have bought the camera & filter).
 

LunarMist

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I had to buy the fancy remote years ago in a store because I had left the simple one at home. Being so bulky it is a PITA. My remotes always get beaten up heavily from dragging on the ground. I only used it for the one week and never again. I don't buy anything on ebay due to the payment situation. Even so, I almost always buy OEM photo products unless there is no alternative or the alternative has a specific feature. I'm not into saving money by buying cheap stuff.
 

Stereodude

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I don't buy anything on ebay due to the payment situation.
You're afraid of PayPal? :poke:
Even so, I almost always buy OEM photo products unless there is no alternative or the alternative has a specific feature. I'm not into saving money by buying cheap stuff.
Hey, if I was using your credit card instead of mine, I wouldn't care about the price either. :bglaugh:
 

Stereodude

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Somehow I don't think my 10D and new Rebel XT will be able to capitalize on the speed of the three 8GB Sandisk Extreme IV CF cards I ordered up last week. After a massive rebate and Bing cashback they'll being just $31 each.
 

LunarMist

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I use the 16GB size, because what will be needed in the next generations (even now with the D3X). I think they are about $200 without a rebate. I don't bother to send in the SanDisk rebates, since they ripped me off twice. (I refuse to send in any other rebates either.)
 

Stereodude

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I use the 16GB size, because what will be needed in the next generations (even now with the D3X). I think they are about $200 without a rebate. I don't bother to send in the SanDisk rebates, since they ripped me off twice. (I refuse to send in any other rebates either.)
I did the Sandisk rebate deal previously on three Extreme III 8GB SDHC cards ($140) and three Extreme III 4GB SDHC cards ($110) and got all $250 from them without any problem. But, then again, I have good luck with rebates. I also keep meticulous copies of everything down to the laser printed & stamped envelopes.

In general I tend to avoid rebates. For example, if I can pay $30 for something with no rebate instead of paying $45 with a $20 rebate then I will pay the $30. However, these post rebate Sandisk prices are pretty crazy for these cards, so it's worth dealing with the rebate.
 
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