[Mpy18]

Originally Posted by dcstep

When I search for Celetron on Flickr, look at the amazing stuff that comes up:

http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=celestron&ss=2&s=int

[Itsed65]

Yeah those are pretty amazing! I can't wait until I am retired and can pursue all these different interests. There just isn't enough time in my day right now.

[Itsed65]

Well after shooting osprey Friday afternoon with my 7D and 100-400, I was sort of let down by some of the results. No matter what I try I can't seem to get rid of tons of noise in the sky when I shoot with that camera. I have tried all the tricks I have read, shooting to the right, slightly over exposing, full manual, only standard ISO numbers, etc. I am just not totally satisfied with that body for shooting birds in flight, which is primarily why I bought it.

So this morning, even though my 1D has a filthy sensor and desperately needs a cleaning, I took it back to the same spot, enduring another half mile uphill climb in my wheelchair to compare results. Today I used the 1DIV with my 400 5.6, with the 1.4 tc on it. Even with the tc, the 1D wins hands down (I know I know, it should win of course, I just wish my 7 wasn't so...bad). The files are just so much cleaner out of the camera. This is a 100% crop, meaning I just set a marquee for 1920X1280, the size I usually reduce everything to, and cropped. This guy was pretty high up and I still get way more detail, even on the smaller overall file size and WAY less noise.

20130721-AQ4E9876 by lennycarl08, on Flickr

I guess I will relegate my 7D to shooting trains and stuff until hopefully the MK2 arrives with a better sensor.

[M_Six]

I have the same issue with my 7D. Just not good if you have a lot of sky in the image. Not nearly as crop-able as the 6D either.

[Skooterbrah]

Im a huge photog nut. Been a major hobby of my for the past 2 years. Finally took the plunge into a Canon 5D mkii not to long ago.

[Skooterbrah]

[Skooterbrah]

[M_Six]

Nice work. I look forward to more. Welcome aboard.

[Weebl]

shot the wad and put up a lot of stuff. :-)
I like your saturation levels

[Skooterbrah]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Nice work. I look forward to more. Welcome aboard.

Thanks! Everyone please feel free to chime in/criticize my photos. I'm VERY new to photography and trying to learn as much as I can!

Originally Posted by Weebl

shot the wad and put up a lot of stuff. :-)
I like your saturation levels

Thanks! I love to pull out the vividness in pictures.

[Weebl]

I do to at times but there is a fine line between enough and way too much. A very fine line.

[Skooterbrah]

Originally Posted by Weebl

I do to at times but there is a fine line between enough and way too much. A very fine line.

I checked out your page. Very nice man. Any advice for shooting and post processing with a higher then normal saturation? Anything I could have/should have done diff?

[Weebl]

The only thing I would try with yours is on the landscapes. They look like they would "fit" better cropped as a panorama. Not skinny but some off the bottom.
Others here are better at critique.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Well after shooting osprey Friday afternoon with my 7D and 100-400, I was sort of let down by some of the results. No matter what I try I can't seem to get rid of tons of noise in the sky when I shoot with that camera. I have tried all the tricks I have read, shooting to the right, slightly over exposing, full manual, only standard ISO numbers, etc. I am just not totally satisfied with that body for shooting birds in flight, which is primarily why I bought it.

So this morning, even though my 1D has a filthy sensor and desperately needs a cleaning, I took it back to the same spot, enduring another half mile uphill climb in my wheelchair to compare results. Today I used the 1DIV with my 400 5.6, with the 1.4 tc on it. Even with the tc, the 1D wins hands down (I know I know, it should win of course, I just wish my 7 wasn't so...bad). The files are just so much cleaner out of the camera. This is a 100% crop, meaning I just set a marquee for 1920X1280, the size I usually reduce everything to, and cropped. This guy was pretty high up and I still get way more detail, even on the smaller overall file size and WAY less noise.

I find the noise manageable on my 7D at ISO 800 and below; otherwise, the 5D MkIII blows it away in that regard. I'm not surprised that your 1D spanks it.

Wish list for the 7D MkII: AF system from 5D MkIII and 1-stop better noise performance. That accomplished, it'll be a world beater.

Dave

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Weebl

The only thing I would try with yours is on the landscapes. They look like they would "fit" better cropped as a panorama. Not skinny but some off the bottom.
Others here are better at critique.

I love the composition of the landscapes. Classic compositional balance.

It's interesting to see the views on Saturation. I'd never saturate my own work to this degree, BUT I think it works for you. I think high saturation is like shooting a lot of angles; you have to do to a degree that people know that you really meant it and it wasn't an accident.

My "keep it natural" buddies pooh-pooh high saturation, but I see it selling. Look at the work in a Magelson studio or guys selling landscapes in the mall and they're mostly saturated beyond life like.


Dave

[Chewy734]

Nice shots Scooterbrah. I liked your interior car shots...

I'm with Dave, I like saturation on certain shots, sometimes. I think it works well for you though. Some of those landscapes will look real nice printed on metallic glossy. Looking forward to seeing more of your pics.

Btw, rodi loves selective coloring, so keep those coming.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Nice shots Scooterbrah. I liked your interior car shots...

I'm with Dave, I like saturation on certain shots, sometimes. I think it works well for you though. Some of those landscapes will look real nice printed on metallic glossy. Looking forward to seeing more of your pics.

Btw, rodi loves selective coloring, so keep those coming.

I think with the exception of the flag pic (which is sort of cliche), the selective coloring in these pics is tasteful and nicely done. Very subtle, as it should be.

[dcstep]

I wrote Canon CPS today, asking about availability of a 1D-X to borrow. I also inquired as to whether they might be getting in the EF 500mm f/4L IS-II before year end that I might borrow. Within five-minutes I received response that both would arrive at my doorstep on August 8th. Their web site doesn't show the Series II lenses available, so that was a nice surprise.

I'm already planning to buy either the 500 or 600mm Series II early next year, but the 1D-X is likely a back burner item. Getting both in hand may make it really hard to resist going for both. I've heard that the AF of the 1D-X is one or two orders of excellence above the 5D MkIII, mainly due to higher voltage in the power system and also due to a separate Digic 5 processor dedicated to AF.

I may have to "turn pro" next year and start deducting my photography equipment. I've had a few sales, but I'll need to up the volume to support a possible $20,000 tax deduction. (Good thing that I love wrestling with the dweebs at the IRS).

I suspect that I'll need to take a day or two off work to give the 1D-X/500-II a proper workout.

Dave

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by dcstep

I've heard that the AF of the 1D-X is one or two orders of excellence above the 5D MkIII, mainly due to higher voltage in the power system and also due to a separate Digic 5 processor dedicated to AF.

Dave,

You're gonna wanna keep both. I'm sure parting with that combo will be tougher than parting with $20k. Although, I would've gotten the 600 v2 over the 500 v2.

To clarify though, I don't think the AF of the 1D-X is one or two orders of excellence above the 5D3 (yes, I've used both). However, it is noticeably better. It is noticeably faster with most lenses (those that can take the extra voltage to their focusing system). Additionally, the 1D-X not only looks at contrast when autofocusing, but also color. That makes a huge difference in low-light, and overall accuracy of focusing, imo. But, in all honesty, the 5D3 has a great AF system (the best, excluding the 1D-X) for about half the price.

I wouldn't buy the 1D-X over the 5D3 for its AF, considering its price. That being said, the reasons I bought a 1D-X and love it to death is because it's also noticeably better with its exposure metering, true color rendition, speed, and build quality over the 5D3.

The exposure and colors are generally spot-on with the 1D-X as opposed to the 5D3. I have to do much less editing in post on my 1D-X files than the 5D3 files. The speed is amazing... 12 fps shooting full-frame RAW will be hard to beat. When you factor in the nearly triple shutter life of the 1D-X over the 5D3, perhaps it may be worth the extra money. The build quality... well, I don't know what to say. Compared to the 5D3, the 1D-X is like a tank. The 5D3 feels like a toy now. I have never owned a 1D-series camera before this one, and I must say, I'm impressed. I can shoot in snow, rain, wind, dust, etc without worrying at all. The weather sealing is amazing on it. At a monster truck event, a friend of mine dropped his on concrete steps, by mistake. Nothing happened. The 5D3 would've dented or stopped working, imo. His rare 200mm f/2L IS did have a scratch on its hood though (btw, loved that lens).

[M_Six]

Chewy, if that post above was supposed to talk Dave out of buying a 1D-X, it failed. Hell, I'm ready to get one now.

I have a question with regards to super-teles. I was daydreaming the other day and looking at a 400mm f2.8 IS II. Using a 2x TC would give you 800mm @ f5.6 with IS, which seems very attractive. What are your reasons for going with the 500 f4 IS over the 400 f2.8? Wouldn't the speed of f5.6 vs f8 be useful? Or does the added reach outweigh that?

[dcstep]

Thanks for the advice Chewy. Have you used your 1D-X with any of the S-II Canon super-telephotos?

What I've heard about the 1D-X vs. the 5D3 is that its AF superiority is in manhandling super-telephoto lenses combined with the new Series III TCs. I've read that the 1D with a 500 or 600mm S-II lens and a 1.4x TC-III is almost as fast as the 500mm S-I bare on a 5D3. I've also been told that the 600mm S-II, combined with the 2.0x TC-III is faster than the Series I lens with a 1.4x TC-II. We'll see. For birds in flight, that'll be a huge advantage, if true.

The file quality on both cameras is excellent, but slightly different, and I don't care too much about increased build quality. I've shot my 5D3 at -14F and with snow and rain falling, no problem. I do a lot of shutter actuations, but nothing like a pro. I'm about 10,000 every six-weeks. When the shutter goes, I'll send it into CPS with $500 and get a new shutter. I think that my buy/no-buy decision will rest entirely on AF function.

Dave

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Chewy, if that post above was supposed to talk Dave out of buying a 1D-X, it failed. Hell, I'm ready to get one now.

I have a question with regards to super-teles. I was daydreaming the other day and looking at a 400mm f2.8 IS II. Using a 2x TC would give you 800mm @ f5.6 with IS, which seems very attractive. What are your reasons for going with the 500 f4 IS over the 400 f2.8? Wouldn't the speed of f5.6 vs f8 be useful? Or does the added reach outweigh that?

I guess to be perfectly honest when comparing the two, I should mention the negatives of the 1D-X. There are only 3 that I can think of (other than the obvious price difference):

1. The "silent" shutter mode isn't really silent. The 5D3's silent mode was awesome, and I miss that sometimes.
2. The 1D-X seems to attract dust like Badger attracts men... ok, it's not as fun without him being here. How about... as rodi's beard attracts hot models?
3. Apparently you've heard about the recall regarding oil spots o the sensor due to it's lubrication system... well, think of it as BP is getting ready to unleash another oil spill.

Other than that it's much much better than the 5D3 in every other way imaginable.

Getting back your question, you can tack on a 2x TC on the 500 v2 to get 1000mm at f/8. Same goes for the 600mm v2, except now you get 1200 reach. The 400mm is heavy as hell (not to say the others are light) because it's f/2.8. The other thing you wanna ask is how often people shooting at super-tele ranges need the extra stop of light? My guess is, probably not often enough, since they are shooting in good lighting conditions.

Originally Posted by dcstep

Thanks for the advice Chewy. Have you used your 1D-X with any of the S-II Canon super-telephotos?

What I've heard about the 1D-X vs. the 5D3 is that its AF superiority is in manhandling super-telephoto lenses combined with the new Series III TCs. I've read that the 1D with a 500 or 600mm S-II lens and a 1.4x TC-III is almost as fast as the 500mm S-I bare on a 5D3. I've also been told that the 600mm S-II, combined with the 2.0x TC-III is faster than the Series I lens with a 1.4x TC-II. We'll see. For birds in flight, that'll be a huge advantage, if true.

The file quality on both cameras is excellent, but slightly different, and I don't care too much about increased build quality. I've shot my 5D3 at -14F and with snow and rain falling, no problem. I do a lot of shutter actuations, but nothing like a pro. I'm about 10,000 every six-weeks. When the shutter goes, I'll send it into CPS with $500 and get a new shutter. I think that my buy/no-buy decision will rest entirely on AF function.

Dave

Well, I haven't used the super-teles yet. If you want to rent one and send it my way, I'll be happy to test it out.

That being said, of all the wildlife photogs I admire, those that shoot Canon want to shoot with the 1D-X and 600mm v2 combo with the v3 TCs. There must be something really good about that combination (good enough to offset the price).

At that rate, you'll be able to shoot 4-5 years on the 1D-X before asking for a replacement shutter system. Keep in mind it's carbon-fiber, so I'm sure it'll be more expensive than $500 on the 5D3.