Technique Tuesday: The Only Wide Angle Lens You’ll Ever Need!

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Just to bring you up to date, let me tell you what’s happening around here - it’s all good stuff.  Yesterday, I typed the first 2,200 words of my new book, “Make Your Lighting Exciting”.  I just started typing and the words started flowing – a very good thing for an author ;~) 

Anyway, the book in now on the “front burner” an I’m giving it TOP PRIORITY over everything else here at the studio, including daily posts to DPT.  If I’m going to finish this thing by the end of August, that’s how its’ going to have to be the next few months.  The first words I type each day will be for my book – no exceptions! 

Don’t worry, I’m not giving up on the blog for that time period but look for the blog posts to come later in the day.  I figure 2,000 words a day and I can have the book hammered out in no time.  Total words for my Captured By The Light book last year totaled about 65,000 words so you can see I’m on a “tear’ this time around.  Hey, they always say to write your second book first because you know what you’re doing ;~)

That’s the quick update from me today.  How about we get on with a super-cool Technique today.

The Only Wide Angle Lens You’ll Ever Need!

OK, not really but with what I’ve got to show you today you’ll be surprised to see what I pull off with my new Canon 8-15mm Fisheye lens.  The cool thing is that it has little to do with Fisheye photography.  Today it’s all about super- duper extreme wide angle lens photography.  How wide – how about 150 degrees rectilinearly corrected wide angle wonderfulness!  That makes the new Canon lens the new wide angle winner in that department.

OK, so you’re asking, “How in the world can I use a fisheye lens as a regular wide angle lens?”  It’s easy folks, Lightroom 4 and it’s built in lens correction feature. That’s the point of this week’s lesson. Today’s post answer’s the question of what the REAL “Field of View” is for a rectilinearly corrected fisheye image.  OK, I’ll let the “cat out of the box early here. 

Using the Canon 8-15mm fisheye on my Canon 5D Mark III full frame body, I will show you can achieve a true rectilinearly corrected image with a “Field of View” that ranges from 150 degrees down to a still super-wide 133 degrees depending on the zoom setting of the lens.  The studio image below is shot with the Canon fisheye at 14mm corrected in Lightroom showing a 140 degrees “Field of View”! Nothing else comes close to this wide angle feat!

Hopefully I’ve got your attention with this intro.  I’ve spent a lot of today developing and organizing the data and the images for this post.  Why not hit the PLAY button below and enjoy one of my favorite Technique Tuesdays ever.  OK, on slight word of caution – I did get little carried away on today’s tutorial and it does run a little long – about 34 minutes long.  But it’s still worth every minute of you time.  I think (and hope) you get a kick out of the video today.  Enjoy!!

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  I’ve still got to get my 2,000 words under my belt for today – yes, I gave DPT first billing today because I got so wrapped up into putting things together this morning so now I’ve got to get moving.  I’ll plan to see everybody here again real soon.

Adios for now,  David

PhotoFAV Wednesday - Still To Video Mode Switching On Canon 7D

Good Morning Everybody,

Hey, a few quick notes before I get started today.  Don't forget to sign up for the FREE Web-Cast entitled, "Captured By The Light" coming up next week. Here is the link right here one more time.

I'm introducing some of my favorite sections of my new book by the same name so it should be quite an informative seminar on lighting, composition, and flash usage.  We have over 500 people signed up so far!!! Hope you can make it.

Wow!  What an experience I had over at LensFlare35 yesterday during their "LIVE" web-cast on "HD DSLR’s, Fusion, Convergence, Video & Film making." I felt a little like a gold fish in the BIG blue sea.  These guys, Zacuto’s Steve Weiss and Kevin Shahinian are at the top of their field when it comes to video. Be sure to check out their links names above - amazing videos!!!

Steve was talking about his upcoming DSLR shoot out to be announced around March 15, 2010.  They were comparing the new HD DSLRs video capabilities to film - differences and similarities when it comes to shooting real movies.

In the conversation, it was also amazing for me to hear so many production companies that are using the Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 7D for their cameras of choice in film-making productions.  Want a quick example - how about Terminator Salvation - Yep, lots of this film-making was shot with the Canon 5D Mark II. Another story came up about a filmmaker using 15, count them 15, 5D Mark II's and 7D's to shoot a commercial for the Navy.

The list goes on and on - you've got to check out the conversation over at LensFlare35.  The very candid, unedited version of our conversation can be found right here at BlogTalkRadio.com- utterly fascinating!!!

On that same note, but on a much smaller scale, let's get on with today's post.

Still To Video Mode Switching On Canon 7D

Anyone reading this blog knows I a big fan of the video capabilities of the new cameras on the market.  When I got my hands on the Canon5D Mark II over a year ago, I couldn't wait to try the video.

As we all can see, it's been a game changer for professional photographers and film makers as evidenced by the conversations we had at LensFlare35 yesterday afternoon.  Anyway, that said, most photogs are not at the level of a Vincent Laforet or Philip Bloom when it comes to video expertise.

DAZNOTE:  Be sure to check out these guys blogs which are linked above.  Each has an unbelievable amount of information posted.

Most of us like the built in video for its utter simplicity for adding a brand new flavor to wedding/portrait/senior coverages. So what's all this got to do with with PhotoFAV Wednesday?  It all has to do with the video controls.

OK, this is where the "engineer" in me comes out. Check out the first part of the video below.  In this 1:20 minute video I'm showing you the steps necessary to go from "still" to "video" mode. View, focus, pull camera from eye, hit live view button, the start video - WAY to slow and not fluid.

Now check out the second section - it shows me switching modes with the Canon 7D.  View, focus, switch to video, start video, pull camera from your eye and follow the action - super fast and easy. That's why the "mode switching" feature (button layout) is one of my PhotoFAVS for this week. 

Now I can be shooting the action, and then at a moment's notice, switch to video to get a quick 4-5 second video clip of the event, and then be back to "still shooting" in no time.  The entire process is an entirely fluid, efficient motion.

I will admit, switching modes takes a little getting used too, but once you've got it mastered, your video possibilities really start to open up especially for the wedding shooter.  That's why it's one of my PhotoFAVS for today.

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Hey gang, that's it for me today. It's back to real work.  How about I see everybody tomorrow for another episode of Business day Thursday.

See ya' then,  -David

Friday Frenzy: Canon 5D Mark II vs Canon 7D - Which One For Weddings?

Good Afternoon Everybody,

Yes, it is Friday Frenzy around here today.  I know a lot of you are looking forward to receiving your copy on my wedding book.  Good News! We just received 500 copies of my "Captured By The Light" wedding book show up on our doorsteps this morning.  It looks like I'm going to be autographing a lot of books over the weekend. And, it looks like we will be shipping on Monday!! THANKS again for all your patience and understanding as we prepare the books for shipment.

Also, it's official. My book is also shipping from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Peachpit.  Amazon's stock went up yesterday. Heck, maybe it’s because of my book sales ;~)

Remember, you can order an autographed copy from our Digital Resource Center [link] or a regular copy (unsigned) from your favorite bookseller by using the widget on the right ->

Hey, and don't forget to sign up for the free "Captured By The Light" webinar too.  You can do that by hitting the link on the right or by clicking here. I'll be walking you through some of my favorite sections of the book. We've got nearly 150 signed up so far and the room will hold up to 1000, so don't be shy - come on by.

I have to admit, this is all pretty exciting.  Again, my thanks to Scott Kelby for his encouragement and support through the entire book writing process.

OK, time to get on with today's post.  Here we go.

Canon 5D Mark II vs Canon 7D - Which One For Weddings? 

This question keeps popping up on the Skribit widget on the right - yes, I do review each suggestion - and take note of all your emails suggestions as well.  So today I thought I'd discuss the issue in depth.

Hit the "Read More..." link below for the rest of the story.

I bought the Canon 5D Mark II right after it came out back in October 2008.  I loved the much higher resolution sensor (21.1mp), high resolution LCD screen, the new super high ISO's, and the video capabilities.  The camera is currently selling for $2,500 and worth every penny.

I also purchased the Canon 7D the day it became available back in September 2009. I liked the much higher resolution sensor (18 mp), high resolution LCD screen, the new fairly high ISO's, and again the video capabilities.  The camera is currently selling for $1,600 and in my opinion is a "steal of a deal"!

Having said that, let me give you my impressions of both cameras as tools of the trade for shooting weddings. Now I have been a BIG fan of the 40D since it was released.  It was a great wedding camera - accurate LCD screen, decent resolution, decent low noise characteristics, fast and easy to use.

So, right off the bat, I loved the new higher resolution LCD screens on both cameras. It was driving me crazy to shoot both the 40D lo-res LCD along with the hi-res 5D Mk II LCD so I jumped on the 7D when it came along to make that frustration disappear.

Camera resolution is not that big of a deal for me. How many mega-pixels do you need to shoot a wedding?  I think the "sweet spot" is about 10mp anyway. That said, resolution does come into play for family portraits when the final print could be 30x40 inches. 

The 5D is the perfect tool for the portrait photographer, but I really don't need 21.1 mp for weddings.  The fact of the matter is that I usually shoot the 5D Mk II at medium RAW anyway, reserving the higher res setting for large groups only.

I also thought the 5D Mk II's low light focusing was better and faster than the original 5D.  Oh, and I love the video capabilities of the 5D Mk II as well. What a cool feature for any wedding photographer.  Now I can grab snippets of the day for my Animoto shows.

I also loved the 3 custom setting I could use to basically give me 3 cameras in one.  I covered that in a previous post right here.

The high ISO capabilities of the camera blew me away.  I could actually get by shooting at ISO 12,800, albeit a bit noisy but nothing NIK Dfine 2.0 couldn't fix. But, you know, those new high ISOs let me capture images I couldn't get before.

The higher ISOs also let me shoot my routine candids at a ISO 800, 1000, 1200, and 1600.  And you know what that means - less flash power needed for each shot which translates into MANY more shots per charge.  I don't even go through a set of batteries these days on a job and I typically shoot A LOT of images.

And lastly, I loved the super wide angle view I could get with my full frame 12-24mm Sigma lens.  A full 122 degrees rectilinearly corrected view - WOW!

Needless to say, the 5D became my wedding camera of choice for a number of months.

Finally the Canon 7D came out last September - I jumped on it. I couldn't wait to put that baby through it's paces. Well, I've been shooting with it for about 5 months and I'm loving it. Here's why in no particular order.

1. Less mega-pixels - remember my 10mp "sweet spot" - 18 megs is plenty big for wedding photography.  Medium RAW gives me 10.10 Mega-pixels (3,888 x 2,592), equal to the 40D's 3888 x 2592 pixel count, uhmmmm...

2. Nice bright hi-res LCD - I'll never go back to the lo-res version on earlier models.

3. The 7D has those 3 custom settings on it too - three cameras in one again.

4. High speed continuous shooting at 8 fps.  Hey, I don't use it often, but it's nice to know I have it when I need it.

5. I love the video options and, the on board mic is better than the 5D Mark II.  The 5d Mark II's internal mic would always pic up some weird internal noises that the 7D does not.  An outboard mic is best, but in a pinch the 7D's mic works just fine.

6. Pop up flash.  OK, I know what you're thinking, "Ziser, get real.  Who uses a pop up flash for a wedding?"  Well, it not for weddings that I want the pop up flash.  I want it for my vacation pics;~)

7. I like the magnification 1.6x factor.  Here is another point where folks think I'm crazy.  What I am is practical.  Now my 200mm lens becomes a 320mm optic and my 300mm lens becomes a 480mm lens - pretty cool for super close up wedding candids.

8. I really like the new button layout on the 7D especially on the video side. Now it's a "piece of cake" to go from still mode to video mode almost immediately and have things in sharp focus.  I'll have to cover that in an upcoming Technique Tuesday.

9. OK, I'm waxing enthusiastic over the 7D, aren't I?  Well, I do love the camera.  I just wish it's noise characteristics were as good as the 5D Mk II's.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still fine with the 7D's lower noise characteristics and I still routinely will shoot the camera at ISO 800, 1200, and 1600. The 5D Mk II is better in the noise department though.

10. I love shooting the 18-200mm IS lens on the 7D.  It's a great all purpose combo for my flash wedding candids.  Remember though that I have room lights set up at my events.  That's why I can get away with using it as my candid lens too.

Somebody's going to call me out for the optically quality of this lens and that I should be using something sharper.  The fact of the matter is that most of the images taken with this camera/lens combo are only going to made into 8x10's maybe 10x10’s at the largest - the 18-200mm IS lens is plenty sharp for that. Hey, I'm just  practical.

Hey gang, that pretty much wraps it up.  So which camera do I prefer for my weddings. Well, both of them.  That's why I own both of them.  OK, now you're going to twist my arm - "OK, Ziser, if you could only get one of the them, which one would you select first?"

I would opt for the Canon 7D first - fitted with 18-200mm IS lens.  Next pic up the 10-22mm wide angle. Now you're covered from 10mm to 200m of focal length.  Take the 1.6x magnification factor in and you'll go from 16mm to 480mm - WOW!

Hey, did you hear that Canon's coming out with a Rebel T2i [link] that uses the same 18mp chip as the 7D, hi-res LCD viewfinder, external mic connection, and shoots HD video too and all for $799$ Too bad it doesn't have an on board sync connection.

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OK gang, that does it for me today.  Sorry for the late post.  We had a few meetings and appointments today I needed to tend to AND all the books arrived.

I'll plan to see everybody on Monday, all the pixels willin'. And, just remember that unlike snowflakes, every pixel in your digital camera is exactly the same;~)

Have a great weekend everybody,  -David

Quick Hit Monday: Wedding Survey; A Visit To Crash's Place; What's Up With The 5D Mark II; Very Quick Color Adjustments

Good Morning Everybody,
Well, we made it back home safe and sound on Friday just in time to kick it into high gear for the start of my Spring Master Class today. We have everyone over to our home this evening for our Welcome Party and LaDawn has been working hard all weekend planting flowers, spring cleaning the deck and successfully getting the place looking great. I looking forward to a wonderful week with the class. I'll keep you posted as the week progresses.

Hey gang, I've got a lot of stuff for Quick Hit Monday today so let's get right to it.

Wedding Business Survey and Wedding Leads
I happened on these two stories at PDN over the weekend - very interesting. The first reports on PDN's survey results on the state of the wedding photography business for 2009. In addition to just listing the results, the article also posted some strategies for photographers on how they were handling the business turn-down for the year. You can give it a read right here.

Wait, there's more. I also found this second article about the reasonable success some photographers are having with lead generating sites like OurWeddingDay.com and Just Weddings.com. In this business climate, you may want to check out some of the options. Give the article a read right here and see if there might be a fit for your business.

Heading Over To Crash's Place - Interview With Grant Oakes
Blogging buddy, Crash Taylor, started interviewing wedding photogs a number of month's ago - I was honored to be one of those interviewed - and the series has really taken off. This past week, Crash interviewed my good friend, Grant Oakes from Denver. I have known Grant for a number of years and his work is beautiful. Check out his interview right here. Grant also runs Tafota.com, a company that specializes in designer websites for photographers. Grant has a great thing going there so check it out too - tell him I told you to make the visit.

Super In-Depth Review of Canon 5D Mark II
I have to say, this is about the most in depth review of the 5D MkII that I have seen. What I like about this review is the fact that the reviewer covered the setup and use of the radio transmitter for the 5D which I use too. I found it to be about the easiest transmitter in the world to set up. Also covered in depth are the video capabilities of the camera. Yep, all the other stuff is covered too. So if you want a different perspective on the Canon 5D Mark II, this is a nice read. Here is the link.

Quick Color Adjustments In Photoshop CS4
Maybe I should have saved this for tomorrow, but heck, it's Quick Hit Monday, so let's hit it today. I have to admit, I'm just getting up to speed on CS4. I'm kind of a guy that thinks that if its not broke, don't fix it. That's why I'm always late to the latest greatest version of Photoshop. Anyway, there is a really good tutorial on CS4's new features when it comes to making color adjustments. It's only 7 minutes long and worth the peek right here. Hey, after seeing the video, you may decide to upgrade too;~)

Ansel Adams - Rare Video Footage on Visualization
I've been an Ansel Adams fan for years. I even had the occasion to visit with Mr. Adams personally on the phone several years ago - but that's a story for another day. Anyway, fellow blogger, Marc Silber, manages to get permission to present this rare video footage of the master himself. It's only about 2 minutes long but does give an ever so brief look in the creativity of a photographer who is considered a true legend and one of the best. Here is the link.

Hey gang, that's it for me today. I've got my class starting in just about an hour so I've got to run. See everybody tomorrow. -David

It's Revelations Monday: 8 Hours With The Canon 5D Mark II

Good Morning Everybody,
Yep, it's true - I had my hands on a Canon 5D Mark II for about eight hours this past Saturday. I mentioned last week that we had another double-header weekend. By the way, no major accidents, so I feel the jinx is over.

As it turns out, my friend, Mary Mannix, who is also my Canon rep, was in town on business Thursday and Friday and then driving on to Columbus on Saturday. I had to ask, "Could I give the new 5D a quick wedding workout on Saturday?" She said yes, dropped the camera off right before we were to leave for the wedding making me promise to get it back to her by 10 a.m. on Sunday.

What could I say, I had the camera in my hands, so I agreed. Meet with team at 11:30 for briefing and review; wedding - on site at 1:15 p.m.; shoot till 5:15 p.m.; proceed directly to country club to finish Bar Mitzvah coverage and wrap at 11 p.m.; head back to wedding to pick up my team - we leave wedding at 1:00 a.m. and head back to studio. After unpacking gear, grabbing some food and a few cold ones with everybody, I head home, recap the day with LaDawn and finally hit the sack about 3 a.m. Whew! The alarm goes off at 6:30 a.m.; I grab the camera and LaDawn and I head to Columbus where I do a "hand off" to my buddy, Kent Smith. He gets it to Mary on time!

Would I do it again to get my hands on that camera? As a recent high profile political candidate said so many times, "You bet cha' !" The rest of this post is not going to be a blow by blow account of the 5D's capabilities - let's leave that for DPReview. What I do what to share with you are my most immediate observations from my first experiences with the Canon 5D Mark II.

Here we go:

How High Is High When It Comes To ISO?
Everybody knows I'm a speed junkie so for me the big question is how much can I "goose" that ISO and still capture a good picture? So how far could I go with the 5D Mk II? OK, folks - here it is - how about 3 stops higher than 800 ISO!!! Let me re-phrase, as Law and Order Jack McCoy would say, at 6400 ISO, I'd say I see the same noise characteristics as I see currently see on my 40D at 800 ISO. When I run Noise Ninja on both the Canon 40D and the 5D Mk2 file at 6400, I'm am getting the same "noise index" number. That calculates for to me to be the same amount of noise in the two images. Only thing is, one of those images was exposed at 6400!!! That means, dear readers, the the old 800 ISO is the new 6400 ISO!!!! The image of the violinists was exposed at 6400 - straight out of the camera. I've added the histogram for reference.

Turns out, this was the lowest ISO I used all day and night. And, I have to say unequivocally, that it was about the coolest way to shoot for me in recent times. I was able to shoot in extremely low light at a fast enough shutter speed to still get the shot!! Wait, there's more. My main lens was Canon's 24-105mm IS lens - yep, you heard me right - even with the smaller aperture, the super fast ISO still let me get the shot - AMAZING!!!.

I continued to shoot some available light images at the Bar Mitzvah celebration and found that I could still get extremely usable results at, are you ready, at 12,800 ISO!!! Sure I had to run a little NIK DFine 2.0 noise reduction on the image, but it looked fine after that. Check out the image of the young boy on mom's lap. The message here is that the old ISO 1600 is the new ISO 12,800!!!

I ran a few tests at ISO 25,600 - at that ISO the image can look sand blasted in contrasty light, specifically images that have a lot of dark grey and black tonal values. Check out the first image of the dad holding his son straight out of the camera. I then ran this image through Noiseware, lighten it a bit, and color corrected it slightly. Check out the second image here.I think it's a good save and it was shoot at F1.8 @ 1/250 second in the DARK!!!

When I look at other images with the lighter tonal ranges, I received a better result. Look at the straight image with the cell phone - no noise reduction - taken at Bob Evan's restaurant the next morning - not bad. A lot of A/L stuff at weddings has lots of shadows that would make this ISO a bit problematic. Another factor that comes into play is what "color" of light is hitting the subject. In the party pictures above, the strong gelled colors of the party add to the noise issue. It's my guess that this is much less of an issue, even at this 25,600 ISO, in a more neutral color setting. I'll have to run more tests to verify my hypotheses. I wish I had more time to tweak the camera settings to see if I could have ameliorated the noise a bit more too - maybe next time around.

How's It Shoot In Low Light?
OK, keep in mind, I'm using the 24-105mm IS for most of the images I was shooting. I found the 5D Mark II did a fine job finding and locking focus - MUCH better that the first 5D. When I switched to my 50mm F1.4 there was no problem even in very dark areas. I was not a big fan of the first 5D for reception coverage because it just would not focus for me as quickly as say, my 30D or 40D. While I consistently use the 5D for alter return and family groups, I've always switched to previously the 30D and now the 40D for reception coverage.

Shooting Speed
I always have to giggle when I get my 40D inadvertently set on it's high motor speed - it just flys for me. The old 5D was a bit sloooow. The new 5D Mark II is substantially faster than the old one, but still not as fast the 40D in high speed mode. But, let me say, it is fast enough for me to now use it for my reception coverage.

Yes, I did try the video
But only briefly. Here is the kicker - you need one of those new super fast UMDA cards for the camera if you plan to shoot video. Why? Because the camera can't write fast enough to the Extreme III and similar cards. The camera's buffer fills up and the video shuts down when the buffer reaches full capacity. Plan to spend a few bucks on a few fast cards if you don't already own them and want to play with the video. As soon as I get a chance to play with my short little videos, I'll give you an update.

Know Your Computer, Know Your File Size
Here is another instance in this digital technology that makes me smile a bit. Maybe you've experienced it yourself over your last few digital years - the computers seem to run more slowly, plug-ins seem to take more time to run. Heck, even saving the file seems to take twice as long. What's going on here? IT'S THE FILE SIZE!!!!

My first digital camera, a Fuji S-1, created a 3.66 meg file that opened up in Photoshop to about 18 megs. No big deal. My 40D images open up to almost 29 megs - almost a 50% increase in file size. No big deal, we upgraded to dual core Pentiums with 2 gig of ram on most of our machines - things were snappy again.

OK, now get ready to hold on to your hats. The 5D creates a fine res JPEG that is 10 meg BIG and opens up to a 60 meg file in Photoshop. Hey gang, that's a bunch of pixels moving through your computer and network. Jump the layer to do a little retouching and now you are looking at a 120 meg file - layer cake retouchers beware, especially if you are working on a slower machine. I mention it because the larger file size does impact your computer's perceived performance.

I need to note here - I made all my images from the 5D Mark II in JPEG mode because these images were for real clients, Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw don't yet support the camera's file format. That should be happening a few weeks down the road once the camera is finally shipping. I didn't want to jeopardize our workflow around here so I stayed on the JPEG side of things this time around.

Quick Conclusions
I can't wait to permanently get my hands on this baby. The phenomenally high ISO capabilities promise some unbelievable benefits especially to us event shooters. The video capabilities, as I've said before, also open many new doors of opportunity that we don't even yet understand. All way cool stuff - a great big THANK YOU! to Mary for allowing me to take the Canon 5D Mark II for a spin around the track. It's an easy two "Thumbs Up" for me!

News You May Have Missed
I was going to run this last week but ran out of space. If you get a chance, head back over the Crash Taylor's site [link] where he is doing his series of interviews with fascinating photographers. He ran an interview last Tuesday with Christian Pondella, an amazing sports photographer. You've got to make the trip just to see this guys work - unbelievable.

Hey gang, that's it for me today. I've got weekend images to check, books to write, and muscles to mend. See everybody tomorrow for another Technique Tuesday. See ya' then. -David

It's Speed Freaks Monday Today: Or Hands On With The Canon 5D Mark II, Sort Of

Good Morning Everybody,
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Things were fairly calm around here - busy, but calm - that is till about 12:30p.m. on Saturday when a buddy of mine called to say say his wife is having a baby, he's heading to the hospital, and could I cover a wedding for him across town starting about 2 p.m.! Hey, 90 minutes to get the batteries charged, line up an assistant, and scoot across town. But, heck, what are friends for!! Anyway, everything came together, I covered things till about 6 p.m. until another mutual photographer friend showed up to take over and cover the reception.

I called my buddy Sunday to see how the baby was doing and to my surprise, the baby had not arrived yet! You know, babies do that sometimes. Anyway, all worked out fine and we got some great images for him.

Hands On With The Canon 5D Mark II, Sort Of
Boy, am I fired up today. Why, well I was doing some DPT blog research last week - you know how it is - one link to the next link, and then to the next. That's where I found myself while cruising Crash Taylor's site after he did that very nice profile on me - here is the link again. Let me say, with much appreciation, and gratitude to everyone for the very kind comments on the profile, too.

Anyway, I was checking Crash's other profiles he has posted and the one right before mine was Damien Lovegrove's profile [link]. Turns out I was familiar with the name because Focal Press asked me to review his wedding book a few months ago. Damien's book contains some really great images. But here is the deal. Damien was one of the few photogs that got to see the Canon 5D Mark II up close and personal in England.

So why am I so fired up? Because my journey led me to so many other sites about the camera with hi-res images and even uncompressed video I could download. I didn't have the camera in hand, but I sure had plenty of it's output and that's what I want to share with you today. Let's take the journey together. Here we go.

The High ISO Journey:
1. First head over to Damien's site, Photonut.com and check out his test images of the Canon 5d Mark II - here is the link.

2. Now scroll down till you see the high ISO images of the bride - he only tested the camera to ISO 6400 - too bad. I'll have more high ISO discussion later.

3. Here is the cool part - click on the actual image and the high res image will download to your desktop.

4. Now to the right mouse click nab of the image and take a look at it up close and personal. I can't show the actually image within this post, because of my respect for his copyright issues.

5. You will be "blown away by what you are seeing at this high ISO - it looks like 800 ISO from the old 5D!

6. Now if you run it through your noise reduction software like Noise Ninja or NIK Dfine 2.0 and take a peek. Be sure your left hand is firmly placed under your jaw to keep it from hitting the ground. The result is unbelievable. Check it out - you'll see what I mean. Oh, by the way, don't hesitate to check out the rest of Damien's site while you are there.

7. Wait, there's more, lots more. Now head on over to DPNotes.com right here. They have a bunch of interesting data and details on the new 5D. After giving it a read, hit the links to Erik Gunnerud Canon 5D Mark II images on that page. You can go right to the 12,800 & 25,600 ISO images.

8. Now it's the same thing as in step 2-3. The high res image will download to your desktop where you can save it and have a peek up close. OK, I see some noise here, but folks, we are talking 25,600 ISO!!!!! To me it looks like my old 1600 ISO images from my original 5D. A quick trip to NIK Dfine 2.0 and, presto, noise is gone. AMAZING- You have to see it to believe it.


9. While we are on the subject of 5D images, check out DPReview's 40 image gallery of 5D MkII images right here. The high ISO images are at the end of this post.

10. I also printed out the images discussed as 8x10's and had my staff view all of them. They were just as impressed.

The Video Journey:
A few weeks ago I did a story suggesting that we should be able to get a decent print from the camera's high-def video [link]. I basically re-sized prints to the camera pixel dimension - 1920x1080 pixels, printed them, and checked out how they looked. At first pass, they looked great. Now I wanted to see how it worked in "real life" with real uncompressed Canon 5D Mark II video. Jump on the tour bus again. Here we go.

1. First, head over to DPReview.com's 5D Video Gallery page right here. You could go to DPReview's full 5D preview page, scroll down a bunch and find two 250 meg+ video files right here. I have to tell you, it's not worth downloading those files - content is weak and it will take half the morning to download. Stick with the short videos I mentioned first.

2. The movies are in Quicktime format and most of us have Quicktime on our computers. Now with your mouse hovering over the first movie - the guy on the bike - right mouse click and Save Target As... 5D movie. It will take a few minutes to download, but after it does, it's your image to view and experiment with.

3. Now here is where it gets interesting. I need to grab a frame from the video so I can test my theory and the cheapest way you can do that is by upgrading to Quicktime Pro which I did for only $30 US dollars.

4. Next I hit PLAY on the movie again and hit pause on a scene that I liked.

5. Under the File Menu, I selected Export. The screen grab here shows this is a PRO feature and you need to be upgraded for these PRO indicators to go away.

6. Quicktime gives you a choice to export as a JPEG - that's what I was looking for. The downside was that Quicktime exports it as a proprietary JPEG that only wants to open in the Quicktime viewer - Duh!

7. I change the extension to JPG and now it opens in my favorite image viewer , which happens to be Irfanview. Now save it as a JPEG and it will open in Photoshop,etc. I know this is a hassle.

7a. Scroll to your favorite scene in the movie. Now hit Edit-> Trim To Selection; then File-> Export -> Movie To Image Sequence -> and under Options select JPEG and 1 Frame per second. Press OK and Save. Quicktime will produce a working JPEG - pretty cool.

8. After tweaking in Photoshop or Lightroom I printed it out as an 8x10. Quality was pretty good, and in a pinch, with a decent video grab not showing much motion, it would do just fine.

9. By trimming your video to a short section of perhaps 10 seconds - like during the bridal dance - then repeat 7a using a higher frame rate. This could produce a great sequence of images for a very special page in the bride's album.

10. Enjoy the ride.

Anyway gang, that's my hands on - well sort of - experience with Canon's new 5D Mark II. Boy, if I only had the real McCoy to play with, but that may happen yet, this week, so I'll keep you posted. As Bob Dylan says, "... times, they are a changin'." Me, I prefer, "It only gets cheaper, faster, better!" hey, everybody, that's it for me today. I'll see you tomorrow for Technique Tuesday: High Speed Flash Sync. See ya' then, -David

Quick Hit Wednesday: Crash Taylor, Great Videos Again, and Free Pics

Good Morning Everyone,
And welcome to quick hit Wednesday, a day that is a cornucopia of news, excitement, and just some good information. OK, I was getting a little carried away here, but I really do have some good stuff to tell you about, so let's get to it...

Crash Taylor - Wedding Photographer:
First of all, about two weeks ago I received an email from Crash Taylor, a great wedding photographer from Great Britain. You have got to check out his site right here - very inspirational. He started this series of profiles of passionate photographers from around the world. I was humbled by the fact that he wanted to include me in his series.


Anyway, you can read my profile right here, I'm also inviting you to read the others he has on-line. These are in depth discussions with these photographers which give the reader a wonderful peek into the creative mind - well worth the trip - here is the link. Hey, while you are cruising across the Atlantic, check out more of Crash's wedding photography right here - he has some beautiful, truly great images to view - and the guy's only been photographing weddings a few years! High fives to our man of the day, Crash Taylor.

Canon 5D Mark II Videos:
OK, what's the latest on the Canon 5D Mark II videos? Well dear readers, it brings me great joy to tell you Vincent Laforet's not to be missed video, "Reverie" is back on line at the Canon Site right here. While up at PhotoPlus Expo, I was told about Bruce Dorn's video too. It's wedding based and again is very well done. Here is the link to Bruce's video. Wait, there's more. I also found this post available at Luminous-Landscape. Mr. Reichmann, gives us an intro about the convergence of the technology which he is calling "Combo-Cams". He wraps the video right here with some nice footage created in very low light on one Canadian morning. It too is worth the peek.

Jerry Ghionis' New I.C.E. Society Site:
I took a little time to browse Jerry's site a bit more these last few days and must share that I discovered the site to include some great, emotionally driven images there. Jerry has a wonderful way in which he uses light, even the desert sun which I saw in a Las Vegas segment. He never seems hampered by any situation but always manages to squeeze out the best shot in some impossible situations.

Jerry also has a wonderful eye in putting together exciting compositions, some dramatic, some simple but still very evocative. He always seems to know right where to place the subject in a simple or complex setting. I love too how he brings different lighting textures into his shots, whether they were on the background on even on the subject.

I have to say, I really enjoyed my first visit to Jerry's I.C.E Society site and plan a return visit soon. I would definitely check it out and watch his intro video - be sure to watch the entire video - it will give you a good idea of how he sees, what he sees, and the manner in which he brings it all together. You get all the info on Jerry's I.C.E Society right here - definitely worth the peek.

Free Pictures!
I was cruising PC World magazine last week and came across a story discussing the big drop in print prices on several of the photo printing sites around the net. Here is the link to the first piece on the subject right here. That's a far cry form the prices of 1999 [link]. Heck, I was paying $1.50 for a 4x5 to my lab at the time - boy, have things changed in 9 years! In the followup article which I haven't seen on their site yet, they even mentioned a site that was printing all 4x6's for FREE, and get this, that includes Free Storage and FREE SHIPPING! Here is the link to PhotosFree.com right here.

It sounds too good to be true, but I do see that the site is in BETA. It looks like the principals behind the site have a lot on the ball, so who knows, maybe there really is such a thing as a free lunch. Me, I waiting till the prices drop even more, like they pay me $.05 to even print my pics - OK, just kidding.

Hey gang, that's it for me today. Have a great one and I'll see you for a really good Business Day Thursday tomorrow: Nickel, Dime, or Dollar Approach To Selling. See you then, -David

Hold On To Your Hats And Check Out A Real Photographer's Hands On Experience With The Canon 5D Mark II - It Will Blow You Away!

Hey gang, there has been a ton of buzz happening out there with the introduction of CS4 and Canon's new 5D Mark II - it's been all over the web so I let it slide here at DigitalProTalk - that is until now. I'm specifically speaking of Canon's 5D Mark II. We all knew it was coming and now it's here - well, almost - it's real anyway.

Nikon and Canon have been leapfrogging each other for years with Nikon getting the biggest jump lately. Well, now Canon has hit it out of the park with their introduction of their brand new 5d Mark II.
My Canon rep sent me this link to Vincent LaForet's 72 hour hands-on experience with the 5D Mark II. Give Vincent's provocative article on his blog a read right here - really interesting and mind blowing info! Wait, there's more. It's this next link that will blow you away. It's seems Vincent really test drove the new 5D Mark II's video features. I have to say the results are stunning! You must check out the video right here. Be sure your right hand is firmly placed under your jaw before viewing - simply unbelievable!!!

Hey everybody, that's it for me today. Next week, I'm going to answer a number of the Skribit questions that have been piling up so stay tuned. I'll plan to see everybody tomorrow for a new Business Day Thursday article; "Running Scared!" See ya' then. David

Three For The Road - Monday

Hey gang, my morning turned into an afternoon and I'm still trying to make it a short day after this 4 day stretch of shooting. So, let me leave you with a couple of cool things to check out, then I'm on my way to look into some new tera-byte hard drives to back up all the RAW files I shot over the last 96 hours ;~) I just saw this over at Chris' site, I checked it out and they are way cool. They're are called "Totally Rad Rockin' Actions" - here is the link. I love the interface of their site - pick a picture, then the action, and presto - there's the result - all petty cool - definitely worth the peek.

Also, hot from the "rumor mill" - Canon 5D Mk II just a few months away! OK, OK - it was a teaser but here is the rest of the story. Check out the post over at our buddies - 1001 Noisy Cameras - they are "rumor city central" with all the rumor and real info about the upcoming Photokina show right around the corner. Yep, there are plenty of rumors, and the new Canon 5D Mark II (or Canon 7D) are in the middle of the fray. Let me add my two cents worth too. Hit the link to my post "New Canon 7D" and scroll down to Roy Allen Stag's comment. Roy just posted last week and he hints that Canon may have let the "cat out of the bag." But, then again, who am I to spread rumors. Wait, wait - there's still more. With all the cards these last 4 days, I decided to try Delkin Devices new Image Router. Man, is this thing a time saver. Just follow the instructions for installing it - takes about 2 minutes - pop in your four flash cards and start downloading. When all the lights stop blinking, just eject the card, pop in another card, and start the next down load til you get to the bottom of your card pile. Very convenient, fast, and efficient - highly recommended!

Hey everybody, that's it for me today. I'm planning on just hangin' for the rest of today, taking it easy, and and enjoying our beautiful 70 degree day here in Cincy. I'll see everybody back here tomorrow for a very cool lighting tutorial. Adios, David

I Don't Want To Start Any Rumors, But...

New Canon 5D Mark II in August - yep, that's what I'm reading. Check out the extensive post over at 1001 Noisy Cameras right here. They have a bunch of links to lots of sources.

The best one I read though was over at the On-Line Photographer. This post is apparently an official leak directly from Canon. Here is a quick blurb, "The real news is that the full 31-MP is reserved for a "big print" mode, usable only up to ISO 800; the real meat is a half-rez 15.5-MP mode in which the camera gives it highest image quality and best high-ISO performance. In this mode, the camera is said to better the sharpness and resolution of cameras that have no anti-aliasing filters (think Leica M8). The 4D will be 19% lighter and approximately 30% smaller than the current 5D. Although the eventual cost will be $2,995."

You can read the entire story right here. Looks pretty cool to me, but I am concerned about the post date - but, I'm not trying to start any rumors or anything ;~)

New Canon 7D

OK - that's the latest rumor over at Crave's Blog. Seems someone caught a newly issued UPC Code going to Canon for a new camera proposed to be their new upgrade from the 5D. How do people find these stories. Anyway, read at your own risk of buying into the rumor mill. If you Crave this kind of news, the entire story is right here. I've got to hit the road and do some more real work, everybody have a good one. See you tomorrow. --David

Heard It Through the Grapevine - New Canon 5D MarkII

Canon 5D Mark II Coming November 2007? Not that I want to be the one spreading rumors, but I just saw this yesterday and the source seemed reliable. The story was posted over at Photography Bay's web site. You can read the whole story right here. Besides news like this, the site is pretty darn good for other posts as well, like Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz exhibits in Washington DC - a nice set of links over there - and rumors to :~). Stop the presses, Here is another link over at Engadget.com with the same news. What's a photog to do??? Check it out here.