Closest thing to shooting fish in a barrel - 5D2 + 85L

Can this combo take a bad image? Took this rig to a Memorial Day Parade, (God bless our troops, past, present and those who are unfortunately no longer with us) brought home 70-some shots and kept 55. Most that were dropped were doubles or I just didn't like them.

Parade kicked off at 9am EST heading west to east into the sun. Glorious day. Hit 91 degrees F this afternoon. It was pleasant and the air very clear this morning.

Set ISO to 100, lens to f/2.8 in AV mode and let her rip. Here are a few from the parade:

1. These guys opened the parade. Well done, soldier!

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

Great pics.

#5 is an Auburn Speedster. Can't tell if it is a replica or not.

snyderman wrote in post #12506248
Can this combo take a bad image?

send the combo over to me, i'll make it take terrible images all day long

Great photos,love the 1st one

redmenace wrote in post #12506794
Great pics.

#5 is an Auburn Speedster. Can't tell if it is a replica or not.

Thanks! There were many classic cars in this year's parade, but like you said, can't tell for sure. I'd guess original. Thanks for the ID on it.

dave

KCY wrote in post #12507236
send the combo over to me, i'll make it take terrible images all day long

Great photos,love the 1st one

honestly, after looking at all the pics and culling out some that I didn't like, I'm thinking to myself, this thing is like a really expensive point-n-shoot! It's that simple to get great shots with it!

thanks for the kind words on the shots. #1 was my favorite as well.

dave

Well, to be brutally honest, your photos could have been shot with today's p&s cameras. You have not really exploited that wonwrfull lens in those photos you posted. Nice album photos, but any camera / lens could have produced them.

Hogloff wrote in post #12508335
Well, to be brutally honest, your photos could have been shot with today's p&s cameras. You have not really exploited that wonwrfull lens in those photos you posted. Nice album photos, but any camera / lens could have produced them.

Thanks for your comments. Care to follow it up with some A540 P&S samples from a parade for comparative purposes?

dave

If you already have a kick-ass camera setup, why not use it? Knowing the combo well, the 5D2 and 85L can make for some pretty huge and detailed images, especially stopped down. And yeah, the L does cost a wad of cash so that you can get f/1.2, but it's also tack sharp, and is diffraction-free down to f/16, so there is no shame in using this lens at any aperture, for any purpose.

Hogloff wrote in post #12508335
Well, to be brutally honest, your photos could have been shot with today's p&s cameras. You have not really exploited that wonwrfull lens in those photos you posted. Nice album photos, but any camera / lens could have produced them.

To be equally honest, your eyes must not be working as well as they used to. Yes, many other lenses can do sharp f2.8 shots, but no point and shoot can show f2.8 on FF DOF and sharpness.

Kolor-Pikker wrote in post #12509980
If you already have a kick-ass camera setup, why not use it? Knowing the combo well, the 5D2 and 85L can make for some pretty huge and detailed images, especially stopped down. And yeah, the L does cost a wad of cash so that you can get f/1.2, but it's also tack sharp, and is diffraction-free down to f/16, so there is no shame in using this lens at any aperture, for any purpose.

Not understanding your statements. I did use the setup indicated. Is it because I'm not shooting everything @ f/1.2 that I'm not 'using' it? Or not using it correctly in your opinion? Curious about your comments.

dave

Tribute to the IQ of the 5DMKII. Why not let the camera do the work for you? Hey was there amy PP at all?
Thanks
Jeff

snyderman wrote in post #12510125
Not understanding your statements. I did use the setup indicated. Is it because I'm not shooting everything @ f/1.2 that I'm not 'using' it? Or not using it correctly in your opinion? Curious about your comments.

dave

Oops, guess I forgot to click on quote, my comment was aimed at Hogloff.

Hogloff wrote in post #12508335
Well, to be brutally honest, your photos could have been shot with today's p&s cameras. You have not really exploited that wonwrfull lens in those photos you posted. Nice album photos, but any camera / lens could have produced them.

Not every photograph needs to be artsy-fartsy. The camera can often used to capture a moment or scene, to tell a story or make a record for posterity. It's often referred to as photojournalism.

buy2ls wrote in post #12510386
Tribute to the IQ of the 5DMKII. Why not let the camera do the work for you? Hey was there amy PP at all?
Thanks
Jeff

Hi Jeff:

Yes, some pp was done. Sun was getting up there and the air was very clear making for some blowouts. Standard processing was to lift some shadows, tone down a few hot spots, added some contrast to most and a shot of unsharp mask to finish them off.

Otherwise, my standard sports shot post-processing techniques.

dave

Unregistered.Coward wrote in post #12510928
Not every photograph needs to be artsy-fartsy. The camera can often used to capture a moment or scene, to tell a story or make a record for posterity. It's often referred to as photojournalism.

For the OP, did you shoot RAW and post process?

Also #2 is members of the Union Army from the Northern War of Aggression.

Thanks for the Union Army ID. Appreciate it. Always shoot RAW files and do some minor processing. Usually just to clear up the hot spots. The sun was 'full-on' yesterday and most images were shot between 9-10am.

dave