Almost a dslr: canon s5 setup

[c2thew]

the wide angle lens makes the camera look super sweet.


http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_5145.jpg
My mirror was dirty.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_5147.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_5149.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_5148.jpg

[bjordan]

You should use the self-timer so you can turn it sideways for a profile shot ;-)

[SkedAddled]

Almost, but not quite there.

By the way, your mirror is absolutely filthy, not just dirty. Some housekeeping methods will improve that situation. :rolleyes:

Which adapter tube are you using? Fotodiox? Dealextreme? Lensmate?

[JustShootin']

I have to smile when I see folks wanting to make their advanced compact look like an SLR. It seems that you are concerned about what the camera looks like to other people, when in fact, you should want it to be as un-noticed as possible. The S5 is a fine camera that is capable of taking great pictures. It's not an SLR, and no gadgets you add can make it be one. The good part is, it doesn't have to be an SLR to be a great camera. So why not enjoy it for what it is, and not what you wish it was. By the way, there's many SLRs that wouldn't be capable of taking those mirror shots, simply from the lack of a swivel LCD. Just my opinion of course. ;)

[CRE@TE]

. By the way, there's many SLRs that wouldn't be capable of taking those mirror shots, simply from the lack of a swivel LCD. Just my opinion of course. ;)

Why would you need a swivel on a SLR to take a mirror shot? Just point the camera at the mirror and click! ;)

[JustShootin']

Why would you need a swivel on a SLR to take a mirror shot? Just point the camera at the mirror and click! ;)

Guess I worded that wrong. Of course, the SLR will take a mirror shot. I was just thinking of the second shot, where he seems to be doing it with such ease, and getting a clear shot of his face.

[bjordan]

I have to smile when I see folks wanting to make their advanced compact look like an SLR. It seems that you are concerned about what the camera looks like to other people, when in fact, you should want it to be as un-noticed as possible. The S5 is a fine camera that is capable of taking great pictures. It's not an SLR, and no gadgets you add can make it be one. The good part is, it doesn't have to be an SLR to be a great camera. So why not enjoy it for what it is, and not what you wish it was. By the way, there's many SLRs that wouldn't be capable of taking those mirror shots, simply from the lack of a swivel LCD. Just my opinion of course. ;)

Regardless of my competence or earnest, if I interviewed for a job in shabby clothes, I'll get rejected. Clothes do not affect how I can perform the job, but even if they're fake Armani, they show that I am serious about the job, and that I respect the interviewer. Clothes makes the man.

In some places, you want to be as inconspicuous as possible. But if I take a shot of someone on the street with a compact P&S, they'll think I'm a pervert. With professional-looking gear, they are flattered. If shooting landscapes or architecture, people are more likely to respect you and get out of your way if your appearance is commensurate with your artistic efforts. "Clothes" makes the man. BTW, a "pro-looking" camera is a chick magnet. That's reason enough wouldn't you say?

Dude, your camera looks great. Let's see it from the side.

[Nistelrooydude]

Interesting, or you could just go out and get a real DSLR. ;)

[bjordan]

Interesting, or you could just go out and get a real DSLR. ;)

Going to loan him the cash? ;-) His sig says he's saving...

[Nistelrooydude]

Going to loan him the cash? ;-) His sig says he's saving...

Oh, woops. Should've read the fine print.

[c2thew]

heheh tough crowd. :)

dealextreme, lensmate, fotodiox.... they're all the same thing: a tube adapter. i'm using a dealextreme adapter.

yes the first picture was with a dirty mirror. i realized that it was horribly dirty and wiped it down for the following 2 shots.

the flash is a 580 ex ii, which will eventually move along with my 5d once i find one. the wide angle lens is a century optics .65 with 58mm threads.

just looking at the setup creates the false impression of a pro camera, which was what i was aiming for. i am well aware that it isn't a dslr, but i'm just throwing out the setup to see how even a P&S can look much like a pro. no other reasons implied.

probably the two most important advantages this camera has over a dslr is 1) a rotating flip screen, 2) CHDK, 3) light weight

i'll be getting a 5d in the coming months, so wait for my signature to change!

[JustShootin']

Regardless of my competence or earnest, if I interviewed for a job in shabby clothes, I'll get rejected. Clothes do not affect how I can perform the job, but even if they're fake Armani, they show that I am serious about the job, and that I respect the interviewer. Clothes makes the man.

In some places, you want to be as inconspicuous as possible. But if I take a shot of someone on the street with a compact P&S, they'll think I'm a pervert. With professional-looking gear, they are flattered. If shooting landscapes or architecture, people are more likely to respect you and get out of your way if your appearance is commensurate with your artistic efforts. "Clothes" makes the man. BTW, a "pro-looking" camera is a chick magnet. That's reason enough wouldn't you say?

Dude, your camera looks great. Let's see it from the side.

I wouldn't know about all that, as I've never worked for anyone else. I always wore what I wanted to wear, and make no mistake about it, it was never once a coat and tie. I made a good living for nearly forty years with my cameras. My way may not work for everyone, but it did for me.

As for being a chick magnet, there's better tools than a camera for that!

Yep, I agree, the OP has a fine looking rig there! ;)

[watt100]

good looking "pimped out" S5 rig!

[Nistelrooydude]

good looking "pimped out" S5 rig!

Quite, I also find that it is "pimped out".

[nphsbuckeye]

Regardless of my competence or earnest, if I interviewed for a job in shabby clothes, I'll get rejected. Clothes do not affect how I can perform the job, but even if they're fake Armani, they show that I am serious about the job, and that I respect the interviewer. Clothes makes the man.

In some places, you want to be as inconspicuous as possible. But if I take a shot of someone on the street with a compact P&S, they'll think I'm a pervert. With professional-looking gear, they are flattered. If shooting landscapes or architecture, people are more likely to respect you and get out of your way if your appearance is commensurate with your artistic efforts. "Clothes" makes the man. BTW, a "pro-looking" camera is a chick magnet. That's reason enough wouldn't you say?

Dude, your camera looks great. Let's see it from the side.
Clothes for an interview is irrelevant to how one wants to look with a camera.

[c2thew]

more pictures coming up within the hour. i too find it hilarious how all the accessories cost about the same price of the s5. the wide angle lens, and the 580 ex ii are both a significant amount :cool:.

more pimped pictures uploading

[CRE@TE]

more pictures coming up within the hour. i too find it hilarious how all the accessories cost about the same price of the s5. the wide angle lens, and the 580 ex ii are both a significant amount :cool:.

more pimped pictures uploading

You've not seen anything yet! Wait till you get your DSLR! :)

[c2thew]

oh yeah i know. =D 6% uploaded... hang on

i've messed around with a dslr and have taken some great pictures with my friend's xti's, xsi's, and d80s. the s5 has been an incredible learning camera for me and with CHDK, has allowed me to explore alot of the features a camera can do.

[Collin85]

the wide angle lens makes the camera look super sweet
My mirror was dirty.


It's no dSLR but whatever makes you happy. ;) On the other hand, your Flickr does have some nice pictures - I'm sure you'll be having a blast with your dSLR once you do get it!

Regardless of my competence or earnest, if I interviewed for a job in shabby clothes, I'll get rejected. Clothes do not affect how I can perform the job, but even if they're fake Armani, they show that I am serious about the job, and that I respect the interviewer. Clothes makes the man.

In some places, you want to be as inconspicuous as possible. But if I take a shot of someone on the street with a compact P&S, they'll think I'm a pervert. With professional-looking gear, they are flattered. If shooting landscapes or architecture, people are more likely to respect you and get out of your way if your appearance is commensurate with your artistic efforts. "Clothes" makes the man. BTW, a "pro-looking" camera is a chick magnet. That's reason enough wouldn't you say?

Dude, your camera looks great. Let's see it from the side.

Not really relevant though. Do you want your camera to look a million bucks or do you care about how your pictures turn out? For my shoots I often employ multiple dSLRs around my neck/off the shoulders but I never view their large size and 'professional look' to be anything other than a nuissance which attracts unwanted attention.

[c2thew]

arrgh flickr is giving me errors. photobucket for the save! here are some more pictures

the circle k shiny bounce card is based on the better bounce card idea, though it really only provides more catchlight then the built in catchlight on the 580 ex ii.


total weight of all the this is 11 lbs, which really isn't heavy at all.




http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0369.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0375.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0368.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0364.jpg
in the picture: circular polarizer, yellow tiffen filter, red sunpak filter, raynox 150, century optics .65 wide angle lens, dealextreme tube adapter, 4gb sdhc card, sd card reader from dealextreme ($4), 580 ex ii, microfiber cloth, paint cards from lowes for a "gray card" (it's funny cause it works!), catchlight bounce diffuser, power adapter CA-PS700 (bought off that auction site), nintendo ds case to protect the filters, 8 AA enelope batteries, misc AA Ni-mh rechargables, all stuffed into a CaseLogic shoulder bag.
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0363.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0362.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0361.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0376.jpg


yes, all of the accessories fit in the bag with the exception of the DIY diffuser that i made myself for roughly $3!! (walmart: see link below)

http://super.nova.org/DPR/Design/

attached are my modified/measured designs of the diffuser in the link.

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0118.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0117.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0116.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0115.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0114.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0113.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0112.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0111.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0110.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/IMG_0119.jpg

[c2thew]

"With professional-looking gear, they are flattered. If shooting landscapes or architecture, people are more likely to respect you and get out of your way if your appearance is commensurate with your artistic efforts. "Clothes" makes the man. BTW, a "pro-looking" camera is a chick magnet. That's reason enough wouldn't you say?"

with pro-looking gear, they are more likely to get into the picture or are more likely to tug my arm and ask to get their picture taken. it isn't how you dress that determines whether you are a pro shooter or not; it is more of your prescience when you start telling people how they should squeeze in, drop their elbow.... etc.

"BTW, a "pro-looking" camera is a chick magnet. That's reason enough wouldn't you say?""

here here!

i honestly do care about my pictures, thus my future consideration of jumping straight to a 5d. but for the moment, the accessories outshine the s5 and this is what makes this rig comical.

"On the other hand, your Flickr does have some nice pictures" thanks collin85.

The goal for my flickr is more of a laid-back feel. i've taken some pretty good shots, but they're lost in the hundreds of albums on my computer. too lazy to sort through using picasa. Plus, flickr is a PITA to upload from my computer.

[bjordan]

I guess my point wasn't clear... clothing was just an analogy to say that appearance doesn't affect the quality of the work (camera/photographic or clothing/business), but it can and does make a difference when you can be affected by other people's perceptions of how serious you are.

Forget it... was just trying to tell the guy his camera looks cool and its fine to get excited about it. It doesn't mean your priorities are screwed up as others would imply, and there are legitimate benefits. Peace.

[watt100]

you should have entered the "pimped out" contest thread in the S5 Flickr group - www.flickr.com/groups/canonpowershots5is

you could have won !

at least when you upgrade you can keep some of it like that nice 580 EX flash

[fritzk3]

heheh tough crowd. :)
probably the two most important advantages this camera has over a dslr is 1) a rotating flip screen, 2) CHDK, 3) light weight


...and the BIG advantage a dSLR has over the S5 (I've owned both) is image quality, due to the large difference in sensor size. The S5 does OK but once you've gotten some real quality shots from a dSLR you'll be forever spoiled.

[c2thew]

but once you've gotten some real quality shots from a dSLR you'll be forever spoiled.

tell me about it. while i'm waiting for a 5d package to come my way, i'm still experimenting with my setup. i have off-camera transmitters that i picked up from the internet and i'm learning through trial and error, rather than buying a lightmeter (which is another $140) to get accurate measurements.

man this hobby is expensive.

[c2thew]

These are shots i took with my friend's xti my favorite shots from that day.

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/n30503416_32380919_7058.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h120/c2thew/Canon%20s5%20pictures/n30503416_32380920_8184.jpg

the bunny's name is PJ and has grown to be ALOT fatter over the past few months.

once i took this shot, i KNEW i had to have a dslr.

[HappySnapper90]

You now have bigger accessories than camera unfortunatey. For the the price of your external flash and wide angle lens converter, you could/should have gotten an older dSLR such as the XT that comes with much better image quality.

And for all the other accessories you've gotten, your money and efforts would have gone further for getting a dSLR now since it seems that's what you want and probably where you'll end up. When you get a dSLR you'll ask yourself "Why was I messing around with that S5 for so long?"

[JustShootin']

When you get a dSLR you'll ask yourself "Why was I messing around with that S5 for so long?"

Oh I don't know. I've been using SLR cameras (film, and now digital) for nearly forty years, and I love my S5. I use it all the time.

[ozziepuppy]

I used to have an S5 but I realized right away that I was getting so carried away buying accessories for it that I was spending almost as much as I would for a DSLR, so I took it back to the store within the 14-day limit and got a beautiful XSi. I absolutely loved my XSi but then I decided (a mere five months later) that I wanted one of the xxD series so I have just bought a great previously-owned 30D from a fellow POTN member. The 30D is a dream camera and I am absolutely loving it!

Yet I keep hearing so much about the 5D. . . .:o

[JustShootin']

I used to have an S5 but I realized right away that I was getting so carried away buying accessories for it that I was spending almost as much as I would for a DSLR


Umm, just how many accessories can one buy for an S5? There's the adapter and two or three conversion lenses, and maybe a decent external flash. How much can all that cost compared to just one high quality lens for an SLR?

[ozziepuppy]

Easily. I was not just talking about the accessories. I was talking about the camera itself plus the accessories.

[JustShootin']

Easily. I was not just talking about the accessories. I was talking about the camera itself plus the accessories.


Okay, but anyway you slice it, the S5 with all it's accessories still cost pennies compared to an SLR with a few decent accessories. I mean, the SLR body didn't come free you know. At least it's always been that way for me, and I have both. Maybe I don't shop right! ;)

[HappySnapper90]

I used to have an S5 but I realized right away that I was getting so carried away buying accessories for it that I was spending almost as much as I would for a DSLR

Yep, that's why the high end compact digital camera is becoming a thing of the past. By the time even the manufacturer puts in high end features, lens, components, the price would be near if not more than a dSLR that has been out of production for just a short time.

Why spend $500 on a new high end SLR-like P&S that has fair iso400 when you can get a dSLR with decent kit lens for $350-500 that has good iso1600 and gives full resoution instead of the reduced resolution P&S's have due to too many pixels being packed into a tiny sensor.

[c2thew]

well for the cost of the point and shoot i've managed to do fairly well for gearing up and setting up my transition to a dslr.

the reason why the s5 is still superior than an entry level dslr is that it can take video, it's smaller, more compact when just wanting to take impromptu shots, and is capable of running scripts which allow the user to do timelapse photography, motion detection, capture lightning, continuous long exposures, etc etc.

can a xt or xsi do that? nopers. the fastest shutter speed on the canon s5 with chdk is 1/80,000. the advantage of an xt is obviously shutter speed and IQ, and mirror lockup for long exposures. but honestly, video is still important to me. remember, i'm in my early 20's, where friends still do dumb things for the sake of laughs.

lastly, most of my accessories will be transported to the canon 1.4 lens including: raynox 150, wide angle .65, 580 ex ii, and my 3 filters. the camera will then either be sold or kept for it's usefulness of running chdk.

[cdifoto]

You now have bigger accessories than camera unfortunatey. For the the price of your external flash and wide angle lens converter, you could/should have gotten an older dSLR such as the XT that comes with much better image quality.

And for all the other accessories you've gotten, your money and efforts would have gone further for getting a dSLR now since it seems that's what you want and probably where you'll end up. When you get a dSLR you'll ask yourself "Why was I messing around with that S5 for so long?"
Bounced flash on the S5 will beat the pants off the XT and its popup. Noise is irrelevant when your light looks like ass.

[c2thew]

none of my purchases were any regrets. i've learned alot by making small purchases and seeing how they size up to professional cameras and lenses. it's been a great learning experience.

I now know what it feels like to shoot off flash/multiple strobes, see what a wide angle convertor does to a point and shoot, and appreciate the value of a rotating flip screen. i've learned to push the limits of my point and shoot and as a result, will be instantly prepared for almost any camera that falls into my hands.

thanks for reading

[greyswan]

I think what you did was great - exploring the s5 to the max, learning and having fun. Hope you get your dslr soon - I think you're far too creative and energetic to sit still too long once you've reached the limits on the s5.

Cheers, mate, enjoyed the thread very much!

[bjordan]

...lastly, most of my accessories will be transported to the canon 1.4 lens including: raynox 150, wide angle .65, 580 ex ii, and my 3 filters. the camera will then either be sold or kept for it's usefulness of running chdk.

If I advance enough to justify a DSLR, I'll keep my S2 for a backup and the video / timelapse capabilities. I still have my powershot a60 for hikes that would risk damaging my s2. It's lightweight too.

Ever since I rolled my SLR down an Oregon sand dune, I've been afraid to take a good camera into that kind of environment. But, some shots are impossible to get otherwise. This was with my a60 after climbing through sand dunes for a few miles. I wouldn't have the shot if my only camera was pricy::

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=334265&d=1231978599

[c2thew]

dude you went sand duning too?? Nice! i just checked out the kelso sand dunes in the mojave desert last weekend with my friends. it was a solid hour hike from the car to the top. i kicked up some line sand specs on my s5 but i didn't care. i was more concerned about my friend's 40d.

next time i hit up a sand dune, i know to bring a boogie board and not a skim board. I slid on and slid off my board since it had no grip on the top. sand surfing ftw

[bjordan]

This was more of a dune hike, a few miles each way along the beach and in soft sand. Fun sliding down on your rear too. It's out of Guadalupe, CA