Posted by Aaron Szabo on December 28, 2008 at 7:37 PM
I just had to get out and shoot something yesterday after the rain with my new 5D Mk2, and this was the closest waterfall where I was for the holidays (Harrison). I only had a 50mm, so I shot 3 vertical's for a pano, and a slight crop made it square. The raw files were 31-33mb each and processed tiffs were 120mb each! Stitched and edited PSD is 1.19 GB! YIKES!
Canon 50mm 1.4
@ f16
ISO 100 (it seems you lose to much dynamic range at ISO 50)
Posted by Tom Kennon on December 28, 2008 at 11:00 PM
Hey Aaron glad to hear you got you 5d MK2. Did you get a chance to try focusing with live view?
Posted by Aaron Szabo on December 28, 2008 at 11:22 PM
I've been focusing with live view with my D300 for a LONG time now and I love it! The MK2 live view is even better in my opinion, with Picture Styles applied to live view and the video mode. I do like how you can use the INFO screen on the back to adjust all your settings. High ISO performance feels like the D700 but with more resolution. I also like that you can use the "cheap" RC-1 or RC-5 wireless remotes and the three custom settings are sweet. It also has Mirror Lockup with the self timer (Nikon didn't get that one). This camera should be on top for a while- for the price... DOES ANYONE HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH CANON'S 20-35 2.8 L? From my research it may be their sharpest wide zoom and I'd like be sure before buying.
Posted by Gale Rainwater on December 29, 2008 at 10:05 AM
Hi Aaron congrats on your 5D II the 20-35 was not an L and I beleive it is discontinued. The 16-35L II is canons newest and widest angle zoom. The new nikon 14-24 is considered to be the best wide zoom out. You can read some reviews here.
Posted by Daniel Loomis on December 29, 2008 at 6:59 PM
Have you had a chance to experiment with the video capabilities? There are few controls for manually controlling aperture and exposure, but from what I've seen it takes excellent video with sufficient light. Just curious if you have looked into that feature.
Posted by Aaron Szabo on December 29, 2008 at 11:52 PM
Daniel- I have tried the video mode the Mk2 as that is one of the main reasons for buying it. I think you have the XH-A1 and so do I... The XH-A1 will remain my standard video camera, but if it's dark or if I need macro shots, underwater, green screen keying or any shallow DOF, the MK2 smokes it! It's close to double the bitrate of the XH-A1 and the codec is more efficient. The sharpness is pretty crazy too. You can only shoot at your lowest aperture, f 2.8, f5.6, f 11, f16 and f 22. It's not full manual but there ways to lock settings to where you need them. I will post a link to a video clip soon.
Posted by Daniel Loomis on December 31, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Glad to hear you are experimenting with the video feature. I have read several threads on DVInfo.net that describe the limitations of the camera along with some of the workarounds. Hopefully, a firmware upgrade will be forthcoming to make the camera more manually controllable.
I look forward to seeing your video clips. Post a link when you get them published somewhere.
Discussion
6 repliesCanon 50mm 1.4
@ f16
ISO 100 (it seems you lose to much dynamic range at ISO 50)
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-20-35mm-f-3.5-4.5-USM-Lens-Review.aspx
http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=170&sort=7&cat=27&page=1
I look forward to seeing your video clips. Post a link when you get them published somewhere.
Also: Happy New Year to all!