Where are my Photos?

Friday, August 31, 2012

1D-X Firmware Upgrade 1.0.6. Installed

Canon issued a firmware upgrade for the 1D-X on August 28, 2012.

http://www.canon.com.au/Support-Services/Support-News/Firmware-Updates/EOS-1DX-Firmware-Update

The upgrade fixes:

1. A bug that stopped some micro adjustments being saved.
2. Some back focusing issues when used with some lenses.
3. The Error 80 Issue.
4. A problem with the dual CF cards when one is pulled out and reinserted.
5. A bug where micro adjustments are not recorded properly in the EXIF data.
6. or adds a feature that displays a "O" or "X" to indicate a file transfer working using WiFi FTP.

No problems upgrading. Need to check any improvement with the focusing.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 IS L v 70-200mm f2.8 IS II L + 2x Extender III

Just picked up a new Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS L II Lens and was keen to try it out with the Canon EF 2x Extender III.

First things first.

1. It fits. Some have suggested the extender doesn't fit this lens. It does.
2. The AF works fine on the 1D-X body. Unlike using the extender with the 100-400mm L Lens the AF works fine on the 70-200 its quick and sharp. I tried it on the 7D and can confirm the AF is a lot slower - It does a lot more hunting for focus.

So what about image quality?

Here's the 100-400 at 400mm ISO 800 and 1/6 sec f5.6

Here's the 70-200 at 200x2 = 400mm ISO 800 and 1/5 sec f5.6 (The extender reduces the aperture by 2 stops)


Hard to pick the difference.

Here are 2 shots on a tripod at 100% crop this time shooting at ISO 100 1/250 with a speedlite.

The 100-400


The 70-200 with 2x Extender



The 70-200mm with extender doesn't look as sharp as the 100-400mm? But wait.

You will notice the images cover the same area of the map yet one is smaller than the other. The camera body sits closer to the subject when the 100-400mm is being used on the tripod because the tripod foot on the lens sits closer to the body of the camera. The 2x Extender has the effect of putting a spacer between the back of the lens and the camera - pushing the body back. This wouldn't have been the case if I had fixed the tripod plate to the body rather than the lens foot.

So lets do that again. This time the Body is fixed to the Tripod.

100-400mm

 70-200mm + 2x Extender

Can't split them?

Here's a 200% crop side by side. the 100-400mm is on the left. The 70-200mm + 2x Extender is on the right.


So the 70-200mm with 2x Extender on the 1D-X could replace the 100-400mm at full zoom. The downside with that setup is that 250mm the 100-400 is at f5.0 where as at 125mm 2x = 250mm the 70-200mm with 2x Extender will be at f5.6 - Admittedly not a big sacrifice if you can't afford the 2 lenses.

I will be keeping my 100-400mm for now. With the 2x Extender on that I get a 200-800mm Lens and on the 7D (Although I have to use Manual Focus or Live View AF) I get a whopping 1280mm. Even at f11 this is a very credible and affordable Super Telephoto option.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

1D-X Low light high ISO Performance

My daughter had the annual "Battle Of The Bands" school house competition today. The venue was a local church.

There was no natural light and the stage background was a black curtain.

Being a school event I had been to before I knew there could be no wandering around with the camera. So I would confined to the back of the auditorium with my trusty Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L Series lens. Not the fastest lens in my kit but I was going to need the reach.

Last time I shot this with my 7D at ISO 6400. At that time the lighting was brighter and the stage had a white background.

I got there on time and found a slightly elevated seat in the back. A few test shot showed me there was no way I could get the shutter fast enough at 6400 so I bumped the 1D-X up to ISO 10,000. The IS on the 100-400mm lets me get away with a slightly slower shutter than might otherwise be possible with handheld shots. So I switched to TV (Shutter Speed Priority) set the shutter to 1/320 and shot off over 200 frames.

Most shots were under exposed but I was happy with that look.

The low light performance of this camera is awesome. I used no extra noise reduction in PP (Post Processing) and only a few tweaks. What you see in the photo and link below is close to straight off the camera.

All shot at 10,000 ISO, 1/320 Full Zoom (400mm) [Edit: The shot below was taken at 260mm] so f5.6 in very low light.

Here's the best shot. And the link below is to the best 4 pics of the day.

Battle Of The Bands 2012 Violin

Link Here

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

New Domain - vitamirus.me

I've continued the journey increasing my brand today by registering a domain in the vitamirus name so I've setup this to go straight to to my smugmug homepage.

Its a nice feature of smugmug that they allow you to use your own domain.

so try www.vitamirus.me

And thanks to Crazy Domains for a very efficient registration service.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

1DX's First Outing

It was a dull day but I wanted to get out with the new piece of kit and try it in the wild.

I went for a quick walk along the river near home to see what was out.

I probably had the ISO up too high at 4000 to start with - I still haven't developed a good habit of checking all settings on the camera before and/or during a shot.

Anyway came away very happy with the new camera's performance.

I was using the AI Servo mode to see how it went tracking birds.

I think that will take some getting used to. It does a pretty good job but occasionally jumps to tracking something else. I will need to fiddle about with the different cases that the new AF system on the 1Dx has.

Bottom line is I still have a lot of learning to do but came away with some nice shots. This Canon body is going to be a fantastic tool to use.

You can check out the best 4 by following the link below:

http://vitamirus.smugmug.com/keyword/1dx#!i=2020300271&k=whzTrXg

Here's my favorite:

Check out the fly this bird is catching and the bird's legs through its wings.

Gotcha

Friday, August 10, 2012

1D-X Arrives

Its here!


Now to set it up and try it out.

First impressions. Well its ugly - but you don't buy a 1D-X for looking at. Its for what it does when you look through it.

The ISO performance is amazing. Took a couple of test shots indoors low light and Wow! very impressive.

I'll post some shots as soon as I have something to show.

Stay tuned.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Canon 7D Firmware 2.0.0. Upgrade Done

Downloaded and installed the new Canon 7D Firmware 2.0.0 today. All done no issues.

Haven't had a play yet.

Friday, August 3, 2012

BBF - (Back Button Focusing) - I like it.

I've been using BBF exclusively for many months now and love it.

It allows me to use the AI-Servo mode for focusing but control when it is active totally independent of when I take the shot.

So I can choose to focus on a person's eyes but quickly recompose the shot without having to choose a new focus point.

I can quickly have the effect of using manual focus without changing any settings.

Now that I am used to it I could not easily go back.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Canon 1D-X on the way

I took the plunge today and ordered a new Canon 1D-X.

I also ordered a 70-200mm f2.8 L USM IS II lens.

Together with a spare battery and 2x 32GB Lexar 1000x cards it was an expensive phone call.

I used Ted's Camera Store in the CBD who I have sourced most of my gear from.

In terms of non-grey imports they gave me (again) the best deal I could find.

The lens is on back order so I expect to pick it all up next week sometime.

Stay tuned.