Saturday, December 20, 2008

5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 1: Person

Well last night I was in a large hall taking some candid shots of my son's Cub Scout meeting. This hall is one of the worst shooting situations I shoot in as the lighting is horrible, its dark and the walls have the most God aweful color on them. I always shoot with a flash in this enviornment as a means to compensate for the innate challenges, however, I thought that this time I would give it a shot at high ISO with my 5DII. Below is the first set of what I found.

All these shots were done with my 5DII with 24-105 f/4 L with no post processing, just a conversion of the RAW file to JPG. The EXIF is in tact if you want to review as well. The only changing variable was ISO which as you will see impacted shutter speed. Note: all pics are 100% crops.

(Please Note: the shutter speeds would get a bit lower than the IS on the 24-105 L could compensate for so please be forgiving of any lack of sharpness. Normally my 24-105 L is a very sharp lens.)

ISO 6400:



ISO 12800:



ISO 25600:



So what do you think?

Next Installment: 5D Mark II ISO Test - Part 2: Flag

For my first impressions of the 5DII take a look at the 5D Mark II First Impressions Post.

Friday, December 12, 2008

New Radio Poppers

Well the new Radio Poppers have been announced. Anyone interested in wanting ETTL without the concerns of line of site will be interested in these. Check out the video below for a review or go to the Radio Poppers Blog for details.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

I'm just giddy...

This will be a short post, but I just had to tell everyone that my new Canon 5D Mark II arrived today with the BG-E6 grip and an extra battery. Thanks to Paul at Calumet Photo in Chicago for getting it so soon after release and thanks for shipping it to me in Florida while I'm on business. This way I get to play with my new toy without waiting until the weekend.

Below is a quick pick of the boxes. I'll post some body and sample pics once my batteries finish charging.

Woohoooo....

Monday, November 24, 2008

My dog ate my camera strap

A bit a story I wanted to share...with a little bit of a point.

So, on Saturday I am getting things ready to go to our the Christmas Festival of Lights here in Chicago. Well my POTN Strap (a OpTech strap branded for a photography forum I visit quite a bit) had been off my 40D for a while as I've been using my R-Strap...so off I go to find it. Well, its not where I left it, where could it be? Hmm, asking my wife she says, is it black? "Yes I say." And she tells me our 8 year-old has been using it for some play. No worries I think, he is a good kid and doesn't break things. I go to his room and ask him where it is and he hands it to me, or should I say what is left of it. Ends up he had been using it to play tug of war with our German Shepard. Lets just say there was not enough of this strap left to use.

Here is what it looks like uneaten.



I was heart broken, I always liked the POTN strap, it was comfortable and as a person that normally did not like neck straps, it was the only one I ever found which was usable. Since I needed a neck strap for that day off I go to Calumet Photography to see what I can find. I come across the Domke 1.5" Strap.



It looks so simple in comparison to the POTN strap, however, I love my Domke bags so I figure what the heck, lets give it a try.

I have to admit, I was suprised, this is the perfect strap for me! Just the right size around my neck (I did think the POTN strap was a bit wide), held like iron on my shoulder as do my Domke bags and when hanging the strap next to the camera it did not feel too large. I hate to say this but I may never get another POTN strap.

I'm willing to take any ribbing my forum buddies have to offer me. This strap is that good. Well, thanks for reading I wanted to tell my story. They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.

"My name is Paul and I use a Domke neck strap." There I said it!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

I did it!!!!


I did it, I just had to, I couldn't help myself. As a Canon fan I found the new 5D Mark II very exciting and I've been wanting to go full frame for some time. Well, I caved and pre-ordered the 5DII last week. I'm so excited I just can't stand it. Hence the happy dance.


Sorry for the pointless post, but I couldn't help myself.