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 51 
 on: November 04, 2015, 04:40:05 PM 
Started by Frank Kolwicz - Last post by Frank Kolwicz
I tried a rental Sony a7sii on my EF600/4LIS(II) and 100-400L lenses and noted something funny: when I shut the Sony off and put the system on the seat next to me and started driving and alarming rattling came from the 600! Something in the lens was loose and road vibration made it rattle. Naturally, I stopped immediately and contemplated the situation. The Canon bodies I've owned never did that, so I put a 70d on the lens, turned it on then off and drove on - no rattle. Next I put the 100-400 on the Sony, turned it on then off and shook it - it rattled. Canon body on - no rattle!

Does the Canon system have a "parked" position for the lens internals that is missing when using the Sony? Does the rattle indicate possible damage might be done?

By the way, the Sony A7sii gave much superior low light image quality compared to a 7dii, with both higher ISO ability and higher shutter speed available, but with manual focus.

 52 
 on: October 26, 2015, 06:55:00 PM 
Started by Frank Kolwicz - Last post by Frank Kolwicz
I’ve been using long lenses (600mm +) for more than 25 years, with a few hiatuses due to the expense of keeping up. Lately I’ve concentrated on birds, rather than them being occasional subjects, and that has led me into the upper realms of long lenses – 1920mm maximum effective focal length.

Of course my starting point was a full frame 35mm (film) camera with a 600mm lens, BUT, lots of birds don’t want to be close enough to be reasonably large in the frame for a good image. And, since all I do are birds now, I’ve been stretching for longer lenses to be able to make decent images from distant subjects.

My present system is a Canon 7dii, with an EF600/4LIS (effective focal length = 960mm), plus 1.4x converter (effective focal length = 1344mm), or with a 2x converter (effective focal length = 1920mm). One or another combination of these elements will pretty well cover most jumpy/shy bird situations.

There are times and conditions when I can photograph a large bird, like a Great Blue Heron, at 250 feet with success, but there are other times when working at even 60 or 70 feet yields nothing but blurs. The summer before last I was at wit’s end trying to find out why all my images, except the closest ones, were unusable and I simply didn’t make the connection with atmospheric disturbance – I had never heard or read that heat waves would be a serious problem with the high magnification of a long lens on just about any sunny day.

You, too, must have read a lot of those Africa phototour reports, if you’re interested in long lenses and are reading this: do you remember anyone saying that 600mm and longer lenses are useless in the heat of Africa? A lot of those reports do say they prefer to use shorter focal lengths, but usually they say it’s because you can get close to good subjects with them on safari and/or that the big lenses are very cumbersome in the tour vans and on planes.

Even Canon technicians don’t know enough to suggest that repeated problems are likely due to atmospheric distortions. It took a lot of searching and finally getting Roger N. Clark (ClarkVision.com) in on the problems to finally have someone tell me what was causing my them.

Now that I know to look for it, I can see distortion affecting my images almost every day, certainly every warm and sunny day. There are, however some circumstances when heat waves are minimal and I can expect to get a decent percentage of sharp photos at normal working distances: cold and cloudy days (it’s great to be in Oregon!), early in the morning before the sun has much time to heat things up and, possibly, over water, which may not heat up as much as the land surface and thus subdue the airborne gyrations.

Finally, I have one trick that helps when things aren’t too bad and the subject is still: use LiveView at higher magnification and watch the distortion affect the subject then try to make your exposure(s) at the best instant(s). If I do 10 or 20 frames this way, I might get a couple of good ones even at 250 feet and at 1920mm effective focal length (almost 40x magnification compared to an image at 50mm effective  focal length).

 53 
 on: October 05, 2015, 08:08:28 AM 
Started by KeithB - Last post by KeithB
I can't make any promises for next year. But since Canon is a sponsor of the Fiesta, they have a tent with lots of products to oogle over., with a nice view of the field.

I didn't check it out very closely, but they even would let you borrow equipment if you left them your Drivers License.

 54 
 on: September 16, 2015, 10:34:01 PM 
Started by mjperini - Last post by marcfs
Canon’s Expo was fabulous!!

It provided a strategic perspective on how Canon leverages its R&D across multiple areas/disciplines to create competitive advantage.  A significant competitive Canon advantage is its excellent customer service.  Superior customer service goes hand-and-hand with expanded technology.  This is a strategy where 1+1 = 3.

Canon provided fully operational as well as prototypes to demonstrate its new technology and current capabilities.  The extension of current capabilities is amazing.  The future for photography will be quite extraordinary.  We are seeing major technical leaps in hardware and software (PS, LR. plug-ins).  I would not expect competition to roll-over and let Canon take over.  The beneficiary of this challenge will be the consumer.  Perhaps we may even see consumers returning to DSLRs. Hard to imagine but . . .

For greater clarity on where Canon is going read the Image Resourcing interview with Mr. Masaya Maeda, the Senior Managing Director and Chief Executive of Canon Inc's Image Communication Products Operations located at:

 http://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2015/09/16/canon-maeda-promises-eos-m-enthusiasts-more-aps-c-lenses-new-printers

Marc


 55 
 on: September 14, 2015, 01:21:41 PM 
Started by mjperini - Last post by Bob Atkins
No, didn't get to go this year. I moved from NJ to Maine, and that makes getting to NYC a bit more difficult. In addition to that I was in NYC for the launch of new Tamron lenses a the beginning of the month, so my "trips to NY" budget was spent!

I went to the last Canon expo in 2010 and enjoyed it very much. They certainly do a good job. I think it's as much about looking into the future as a display of current products. The 120MP DSLR is impressive and it's a real working camera, not just an idea or a mock-up.  Hard to say what the price will be or when we will see it, but I'm sure it's creating a stir at Nikon HQ (Maybe Sony too). 4K video is stunning so 8K must be really something. Again it's a product that's maybe 5 years down the line for the average consumer, maybe more. We haven't even really gotten to 4K yet (at least I haven't).

Not sure about their 3D photo printing. Interesting technology, but complex and perhaps not really needed? Hard to say what will be "needed" 5 or 10 years from now though.

Thanks for the report

 56 
 on: September 11, 2015, 06:30:02 PM 
Started by mjperini - Last post by mjperini
This is the first of these I've attended, and a very impressive show of Corporate capability. No expense was spared-- including a working model of yankee stadium, complete with players.
Their message is a complex one, not just for customers and potential customers, but to investors, the press, the scientific community,  potential collaborators on the most complex optical/mechanical solutions , or next generation capture, print and display technology, AND how to turn those technologies into solutions for real world problems.
Having seen this, I think Canon believes that the next big step in imaging, has to be about more than resolution and dynamic range in two dimensions.  It has to extend what is possible to capture and to display.
That means at least some of their work is aimed beyond what we traditionally think of as Photography.   I haven't seen this from many others, especially big camera companies.
This is not necessarily what traditional photography enthusiasts are clamoring for, and Canon is doing it at a time when their traditional photography sensor offerings are not cutting edge.  So it leaves them open to criticism from those who are mostly interested in extending the capabilities of traditional photography (like me---- I love all the stuff they are doing but those things are not my issues)
However, when you see some of the work they produced with the 5Ds it is pretty hard to say 'not good enough' with a straight face.
One of their major focuses was 'Better Storytelling'  which puts the story above the equipment.  Their whole show was organized around themes and solutions. There was no video section or photography section but rather they had their products integrated as solutions into every theme. They also had a lot on basic science, and emerging technologies like virtual reality or textured printing.
They also ad the 120mp camera shooting still life pix tethered to one of their 8k displays. Lots about 8k....
It was not what I expected.  I had thought if they didn't announce some new cameras it would be a missed opportunity.  But I was wrong about that. This clearly wasn't the place for new product announcements. But they did show new technologies and new capabilities, many of which had to do with their incredible investment in new lens technology.   They still need to announce some products but Photo plus would be venue for that.

Not what I expected, glad I saw it, especially in an environment where it was not mobbed with people. I don't know if Bob attended if he did we'll get a better report than this, until then  here is a link to Bloomberg.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-09-11/five-crazy-photography-experiments-from-canon-expo-2015

 57 
 on: August 16, 2015, 12:59:15 AM 
Started by klindup - Last post by klindup
I do use AVG and have done so for several years.  I am still not sure if the problem lay with Windows or AVG but whichever it was, the problem has gone away with no action on my part.  I assume that a subsequent update issued by Microsoft or AVG corrected the fault.

Ken

 58 
 on: July 29, 2015, 03:55:19 PM 
Started by KeithB - Last post by KeithB
I figured it out by reading the manuals

 59 
 on: July 28, 2015, 01:14:02 PM 
Started by KeithB - Last post by Bob Atkins
Good point. I'll check that out and make the appropriate changes to the article!

 60 
 on: July 28, 2015, 01:13:23 PM 
Started by klindup - Last post by Bob Atkins
Sorry Ken, I can't help directly. I've resisted using Windows 8 myself and if I do have to move from Windows 7 I'll go straight to Windows 10.

All I know is that the EOS Utility is supposed to be compatible with Windows 8.1

Are you running the latest version of the EOS Utilty? Have you tried running an earlier version (e.g. the one on the CD that came with your camera?)

If you are using AVG there may be an issue - see https://support.avg.com/answers?id=906b00000004udqAAA

Good luck!

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