-= T2i / 550D users UNITE! (2) =-

Rafa, I was under the impression that auto wb was just fine when shooting in Raw. It looks like I'm going to have to seriously reconsider my shooting methods. I need to get it worked out pretty quickly before this wedding shoot!

AnnieBananie wrote in post #12190125
Of course, if you opt for the viewfinder (as I do), your screen tends to start looking like this:

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oooooooooh boy. What we won't photograph when it's too warm to be outdoors... LOL

Annie, for a moment there, I thought that was a picture of MY screen!

marubozo wrote in post #12191244
I'm excited I finally get to add a bird picture to the discussion! Ok, so there's no technical merit to this photo at all and luckily I had my camera sitting next to me and I could fire off two shots before he flew away. But There was a male and female bluebird pair checking out the bird house I put up in the back yard a few weeks ago. Looks like they may build a nest here so I'll have plenty of photo opportunities this summer.

And here's another sunset to end the day.

Absolutely LOVE this shot!

T2iMdSue wrote in post #12192341
...Mostly, I take outdoor pictures of landscapes. This summer I want to take more bird pics.
If you were to choose a single non-zoom or telephoto lens, which would you choose my budget was bigger?...

Susan,

This is certainly not an easy question... I don't know if you were already with us while I suffered my own lens purchasing anguishes... I debated with myself and listened to advice here for around 3 weeks constantly getting lenses in and out of the equation.

Since everyone's shooting style is unique, I believe the answer for your question may actually come better tailored if you answered some questions! (bare with me, I'll give the answer to what you asked for, but what I would chose may not work best for you)

- Why are you discarding zoom lenses? I ask because I find them more useful and versatile. If its a matter of quality, there are zoom lenses that rival and surpass that of all but the very best primes. If its a matter of luminosity, you have a point! There are no zooms that have f1.2 or f1.4 or even f1.8 or f2. But there are zooms that have f2.8. The f2.8 zooms allow for some low light shooting without loosing the versatility of variable focal lengths. f2.8 is only 1 f-stop slower than f2 and another fstop slower than f1.4. Of course, your answer could be as simple as: I just want to use primes, and that is also OK. I'm just trying the waters here to understand myself why you have narrowed it down to primes. For 'walk around' fast f2.8 zooms, you have at least 6 choices of lenses, from around $400 to up to $2000. You have two Tamrons 17-50 f2.8 one non-VC (IS in Tamron Terms) and one VC, you have a Sigma 17-50 f2.8 OS (IS in Sigmas terms), you have the Canon 17-55 IS, you have the Canon 24-70 f2.8L (a bit longer than the others in focal range, but still some use it as a walk around lens) and you have the Canon 16-35 f2.8L mII. There are also f4 alternatives which are appealing to some (and still faster and with better quality than your current setup) which are the Canon 17-40 f4L and the Canon 24-105 f4L. There are, of course, many other alternatives, I'm just naming the one's I think are what I would use myself.

- What are you planing to use the lens for? This is a crucial question. You mentioned you mostly do Landscape. Now... this is what puzzles me a bit. The more common Focal Lengths for Landscape are the Ultra Wide Angles and Wide Angles... so, in our ASP-C sensor cameras, those are from around 8mm to 28mm tops. Of course, there are those that do landscaping with long telephotos, but those weird fellows (for which I have the utmost envy! ) are few indeed. I don't know if Landscaping with a Prime, specially given the fantastic quality of the Zooms, is the best choice safe that you are going with a fish-eye lens. That said, you may want to keep an eye on the horizon (maybe years down the road) for a recently patented (and not yet even existing) Canon EF-S 11mm f2.0 . Back on topic... so, for Landscaping, I'd really still choose a zoom, and that would be, again for me, either the Canon EF-S 10-22 or the Tokina 11-16. But you also mention birds, which probably require the longest telephoto you can get your hands on! Such a lens would need to be 200mm and beyond (I myself have found that 200mm is not long enough!)... so, for birding, I'd choose something like the Sigma 150-500mm, or the Canon 100-400 or the Canon 400 f5.6L, but you already have a 300mm, so you know better if that fits your bill in the longer focal range.

- This is not a question for you, its a thought from me... I am almost sure I won't buy a dedicated prime until I have a good overall walkaround lens (which I have found on the 17-55) a good telephoto zoom (which I have found on my 70-200) and a good UWA zoom (which will probably be the Canon 10-22). Only after I have those covered would I start thinking of a prime for indoor shooting or an ultra long tele in the 500mm category.

Ok. I'll now answer your question . For me... my ideal non-zoom non-telephoto single lens would be the Canon 24mm f1.4L mII which, at $1700, is ridiculously out of my budget! It resembles the 'normal field of view' of the 50mm on full frame cameras. Next in line would be in the same focal length range... I would pick the Canon 35mm f1.4L which is even more expensive! ... then my pick goes to the either the Canon 28mm f1.8 or the Sigma 30mm f1.4. The Canon used to sell for around $480 a month ago, now its $700! The Sigma is $490, but you are playing the lottery with the lens. You could end up with a great copy, or one that so significantly front or back focuses, that any advantage it could have is thrown to the garbage.

So... to explain my choices for primes: I think that it needs to be good for low light shooting, otherwise my 17-55 is probably better. It needs to be as fast as possible, and as sharp as possible. Its focal length must be within the 'normal' range and therefore be useful in interior settings without needing to go outside the window to include more than 2 faces, so that is NOT a 50mm for me . So... that's why I have my eye on the 24mm~35mm zoom range.

So, that's my very short answer to your question , let me know if you ever want the long one.

Best regards, (and sorry for the extra long post!)
Rafa.

wolfy317 wrote in post #12192685
Rafa, I was under the impression that auto wb was just fine when shooting in Raw...

Wolfy, it is, it actually is! But, for instance, your upcoming wedding: you are going to take in the same church under the same lighting conditions around 300 images! Then another 150 or so of the bride and groom under those shady trees near the church, then 300 more of the guests, tables, speeches, all in the same place and then the party.

For batch processing those, even though AWB would serve, every single picture would have a different WB than the other. So, when you are down-selecting the best choices, you could actually discard one of the best pictures because the camera chose a slighter cooler WB and you see the bride a bit blueish. And choose a lesser picture because it looks actually warmer. While reviewing them, you'll just think one is more appealing than the other, the mind works that way. Believe, it has happened to me!

So, if ALL 300 church shots have the same WB, you are choosing expressions, framings, attitudes, you are not battling with color on your head. Exposure plays the same game... if all pictures are equally exposed (which does not mean they share the same settings!) you would not discard an underexposed image as a bad image. That's why now I use a fixed WB, and I go quickly over all the images roughly fixing the overall exposure. Only then I start down-selecting them.

You then can determine the best WB for the setting and apply it to all the pictures (this is true also if you use Auto WB, though).

At any rate, RAW shooters really need to worry the least about this setting, cause its the one that can be changed without a single issue on post. So, if you feel more comfortable with Auto WB, its just an extra step of matching them all before starting the selection process.

By the way, did you guys find your wife's wedding dress?

Rafa.

AnnieBananie wrote in post #12192114
So? What did you buy?

Just bunch of filters....Lens is a little pricey I thought buying it to retail store is better or amazon atleast I have a warranty,

Peter2516 wrote in post #12191427
Rafa...you should write a book about this, or anything about photography I will be your first customer....I want it sign of course.....

LOL! Thanks a lot, but all this has already been written by much, much better photographers and writers than myself, so I'll point out to the right authors, and I can sign you the books anyways

No, seriously, I really appreciate your kind words, thanks.

By the way, glad you enjoyed the fair. Looks from the pictures like a nice setup, though I'm not sure since its hard to tell, but it looks like a lot of old equipment there... was there any new things as well? I am also surprised at the average age of the people in the images... I'd say its 50+, where there not a lot of young people interested in it as well? Perhaps the $20 entry fee was a bit much for the younger generations?

I'm intrigued,
Rafa.

Tonight I've followed the steps from the link provided by Maru and Annie for 100% cropping....nothing special but I thought I'd share my first 100% cropping they call.

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RafaPolit wrote in post #12193000
LOL! Thanks a lot, but all this has already been written by much, much better photographers and writers than myself, so I'll point out to the right authors, and I can sign you the books anyways

No, seriously, I really appreciate your kind words, thanks.

By the way, glad you enjoyed the fair. Looks from the pictures like a nice setup, though I'm not sure since its hard to tell, but it looks like a lot of old equipment there... was there any new things as well? I am also surprised at the average age of the people in the images... I'd say its 50+, where there not a lot of young people interested in it as well? Perhaps the $20 entry fee was a bit much for the younger generations?

I'm intrigued,
Rafa.

You are welcome.

About the camera event you were right it is 50+ average and most of what they have are vintage cameras, collectibles items only about 3 vendors have new things or newer models.

so many good pictures! faved some of them on flickr

DS_Monsoon wrote in post #12191665
I use the Meike battery grip. The normal way it functions is that it will report a full charge up until it is nearly depleted. It will switch from full to 'partial' and I know that low with flashing red is soon to follow. The rate is not linear as it was with just the factory battery installed. It simply drops out to a 'Change Battery Pack' message and shuts off without a problem.

I hope you just experienced a odd bug and nothing serious. Let us know if you have any more issues with it. Also, I may have missed the discussion so which battery grip are you using? Is it the OEM Canon grip or an aftermarket one?

Thx for sharing this info so I'd know what to expect.
Yes I too own the Meike grip like Annie, Peter, Monsoon and many other and I have not witnessed any issues yet. Keep in mind that I'm not a heavy shooter though so usually my battery meter is always full. Some times it could sit for a couple of days may be to a week and I don't even touch it. When I put the batteries in it shows that it's still full. I've never had a half way meter yet. I have used the onboard flash and also the after market flash that I own with no issues. When I know I have a photo shoot coming up and the cam has been sitting for a week, I charge the batteries before hand. I do have a sweet 16 coming up in may and it's going to be an all day event. I have an oem bat and an opteka bat right now and that's how I've been unsing the cam ever since I got it. I did order 2 more opteka bat to get ready for the party. I will report how many pics I took on one charge before changing to the next pare of batteries. Will also report if there is anything unusual or any errors if any. I hope this grip does not become an issue. I love it too much. Well see what happens.

Sandra0655 wrote in post #12192690
Annie, for a moment there, I thought that was a picture of MY screen!

and mine too!:

@ Wolfy: Thanks alot means alot! =) Always appreciated!
@Maru: Wow! I LOVE that sunset shot! I will have to try that! Great work!

I still haven't really gotten together any portrait shoots yet, that will come next weekend hopefully! Will photograph a band and I definitely will use the 50L(And a 580EX II which should be delivered this Monday)! For now, just snapping quick shots, here's another. It's amazing how this lens can make even the most boring objects we see everyday come to life! Also, was trying a more "washed out" look in post =)

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@Rafa and anyone else who was interested in that Carry Speed CS-1 strap, it's apparently now back in stock on amazon:

http://www.amazon.com …1M0NI&colid=2L0​PRGKOWE27E

Of course, they picked a week when I'm totally broke, but this seems to be a good sign, and as soon as I get paid, I'm picking up another to give as a gift to my friend Joan when she comes to visit in May.

Yes, it is available on ebay too and with free shipping(in the US...not sure about other places):
http://cgi.ebay.com …Grips&hash=item​1c1ad6cbf7