A few days ago, I officially moved into the world of Canon. After shooting Nikon for over a decade, I thought it was time to move into a world of: more appealing tonalities, higher resolution, lighter materials, optically amazing f4 zooms, and a huge bonus; the best tilt shift primes in the world. Actually, I could go on & on why this was the best move for me.
I picked up a 5d mark 2. Many of you shoot this camera. I'm certainly privy to it's strenghts and opportunities, however I'm interested in your landscape settings. I'm up for any advice that can shorten my learning curve with this camera. Your comments appreciated.
Kane
Posted by John Mumaw on January 3, 2011 at 11:29 PM
I use the Custom functions on the top dial (C1, C2, C3) for landscape and star photography.
For example, C1 is my 'landscape' setting and is always set to Aperture Priority, f16, ISO 100, mirror lockup w/2 sec. self timer, etc., etc. All of those settings are changeable in the field, but this ensures that I'll never shoot another image with a higher than intended ISO again because I forgot to change it.
It's also the only way I can find to engage MLU without combing through the menus.
A tip I learned years ago with my first Canon DSLR was to decouple the autofocus from the shutter and put it onto the * button on the upper right rear of the camera. This leaves the half press of the shutter release button to activate exposure metering only instead of combining AF and exposure metering. Can't begin to tell you how liberating that is. Once I engage AF, I can adjust the camera to check exposure throughout the scene without constantly engaging the AF. It takes a bit to get used to engaging AF with the right thumb, but I'll never go back.
Finally, I'm a convert to using LiveView with the camera's DOF preview button to ensure critical focus for optimum depth of field.
Oh, yeah...more and more Canon pro landscape photographers are migrating to the Nikon 14-24 lens w/Novoflex adapter.
Hope ya held onto that one.
Best of luck and light with your new equipment!
Posted by Todd Caudle on January 3, 2011 at 11:57 PM
I use Canon's supplied DPP software for my initial workflow, and I have a ready image in about three clicks. Since the software retains the in-camera picture style settings (but can be altered after the fact), I set it to Landscape, contrast a +1 over default, and sharpness at the default setting of +4. If I'm shooting red rock country/Garden of the Gods, etc., I'll move the color tone slider to the right a click or two, otherwise reds go to the extreme. These settings work for me about 90% of the time.
Welcome to the club, Kane! If i can think of anything useful ill pass it along. Live View is definitely a useful tool, i really must cure myself of laziness (and fear of battery loss--i had three batteries for my 5D but only 1 for the MarkII) and use it more often. I used to use DPP with my 5D, and i will say that the Landscape mode is nice, cant be exactly duplicated in other software, but i migrated to LR for all my RAW work once i made the upgrade, and LR is a much more flexible tool.
Finally pulled the trigger Kane? =) Welcome to the club man. What lenses did you end up picking up so far? As for suggestions, I think John pretty much nailed everything there is to say about it up above. I shoot everything on full manual, but still some great advice. If you have any detailed questions just let me know, otherwise you just start using it and you will figure everything there is to figure out soon enough.
Posted by Jack Garrett on January 4, 2011 at 1:46 PM
Well, I hate to say this but I am dumping my Canon for a Sony A900. I got such an awesome deal through work that I can't pass it up. When I finish, I will have the A900 body with 24.7mp, 24-70 Zeiss lens, 70-200 Sony G lens and 16-35 Zeiss lens....complete package for $4300.00. The same setup with Canon was gonna cost me over $7,000. Three of my co-workers switched to this setup and their pictures are unbelievable sharp. According to the reviews, I think it will be a good choice for me. I just started listing my lenses, flash and stuff on EBay to make the change.
If Canon had not dumped our employee purchase paln, I was headed for the 5D II also...I think that is an awesome camera!
Excellent advice. Question about the Mirror Lock Up; when using MLU, does enabling really make enough difference to add it to a preset? I suppose combining it with a tripod, assures you're getting the most out of lens resolution and sensor resolution.
Question about RAW converting; One of the things I didn't like about Nikon was their Capture NX2 was light years better at RAW processing than Photoshop CS5. Unfortunately NX2 crashes. Meaning, I had no choice to use that slow, always crashing NX2 to process RAW.
Is Lightroom RAW processing comparable to the proprietary Canon software?
I have not installed my Canon software yet. Not sure I even need to.
Koveh, I made my move to Canon the day I saved enough money to convert without losing lens resolution on a 21MP sensor. If I'm shooting 21 MP, then I want the best wide primes out there. That's what I'll miss most about Nikon, their 14-24, 24-70. Both zoom lens take Prime quality photos. I picked up the 17mm tilt shift, 21mm Zeiss Distagon, 24mm tilt shift, 24-105 & 70-200 f4. Should be fun!
Posted by John Mumaw on January 5, 2011 at 7:21 AM
"Question about the Mirror Lock Up; when using MLU, does enabling really make enough difference to add it to a preset? I suppose combining it with a tripod, assures you're getting the most out of lens resolution and sensor resolution."
I think that you answered your own question, Kane. Why not squeeze the last bit of quality out of your camera/lenses when it's as easy as turning a dial? As noted earlier, when used in conjunction with the 2 sec. timer, you needn't press the shutter twice to engage MLU and take the shot.
"Is Lightroom RAW processing comparable to the proprietary Canon software?"
A lot of folks seem to prefer DPP for it's better conversions, but prefer the much wider variety of options available and 'close enough' conversions in ACR (LR). DPP and NX2 don't need to make a 'best guess' for their respective RAW file conversions as does ACR. Seems that both camera utilities are slower, clunkier and more much prone to crashes than ACR. The ability to save the ACR converted RAW file as a Smart Object in PS is a fine feature if you need to take the image file back to ACR for more fine tuning.
Posted by Jesse Speer on January 5, 2011 at 1:40 PM
I'm a huge fan of Lightroom, so I will recommend using Lightroom along with Canon's lens profiles. The profiles are wonderful, I've found. Instantly takes care of distortion, CA, etc. You have an impressive arsenal of Canon lenses -- you will enjoy them!!
John's custom AF tip is a good one. Thanks John!
Posted by Jon LaBass on January 5, 2011 at 3:55 PM
That's a fantastic tip, John! I didn't know you could decouple the autofocus from the shutter so I'll have to play with that one. I also use the C1, C2, C3 dials so I don't forget any important settings after shooting non-landscape.
Posted by Jack Garrett on January 5, 2011 at 5:23 PM
I decoupled my autofocus last year and that makes a big difference. It is buried in one of the submenus but if you can find it John, give it a try.
Congrats on your choice of a fine camera. I'm one of those co-workers that Jack mentions shooting with a Sony a900. I made the switch from Nikon after waiting forever for a D700 upgrade!
Discussion
14 repliesI picked up a 5d mark 2. Many of you shoot this camera. I'm certainly privy to it's strenghts and opportunities, however I'm interested in your landscape settings. I'm up for any advice that can shorten my learning curve with this camera. Your comments appreciated.
Kane
For example, C1 is my 'landscape' setting and is always set to Aperture Priority, f16, ISO 100, mirror lockup w/2 sec. self timer, etc., etc. All of those settings are changeable in the field, but this ensures that I'll never shoot another image with a higher than intended ISO again because I forgot to change it.
It's also the only way I can find to engage MLU without combing through the menus.
A tip I learned years ago with my first Canon DSLR was to decouple the autofocus from the shutter and put it onto the * button on the upper right rear of the camera. This leaves the half press of the shutter release button to activate exposure metering only instead of combining AF and exposure metering. Can't begin to tell you how liberating that is. Once I engage AF, I can adjust the camera to check exposure throughout the scene without constantly engaging the AF. It takes a bit to get used to engaging AF with the right thumb, but I'll never go back.
Finally, I'm a convert to using LiveView with the camera's DOF preview button to ensure critical focus for optimum depth of field.
Oh, yeah...more and more Canon pro landscape photographers are migrating to the Nikon 14-24 lens w/Novoflex adapter.
Hope ya held onto that one.
Best of luck and light with your new equipment!
If Canon had not dumped our employee purchase paln, I was headed for the 5D II also...I think that is an awesome camera!
Question about RAW converting; One of the things I didn't like about Nikon was their Capture NX2 was light years better at RAW processing than Photoshop CS5. Unfortunately NX2 crashes. Meaning, I had no choice to use that slow, always crashing NX2 to process RAW.
Is Lightroom RAW processing comparable to the proprietary Canon software?
I have not installed my Canon software yet. Not sure I even need to.
Thanks,
Kane
A lot of folks seem to prefer DPP for it's better conversions, but prefer the much wider variety of options available and 'close enough' conversions in ACR (LR). DPP and NX2 don't need to make a 'best guess' for their respective RAW file conversions as does ACR. Seems that both camera utilities are slower, clunkier and more much prone to crashes than ACR. The ability to save the ACR converted RAW file as a Smart Object in PS is a fine feature if you need to take the image file back to ACR for more fine tuning.
John's custom AF tip is a good one. Thanks John!
Sorry to see you go.
Regards, Nikon Guy