All the gear, no idea

[dcw@pr]

Yay got a whole load of new stuff this morning!

now I just have to learn how to use it all

luckily for me (unluckily for the couple??? ) I had a wedding to do this afternoon

580EX - HUGE improvement over the 550EX in both performance and ergonomics, and it looks a lot nicer too . Autofocus performance in bad light is poor with the illuminator thing.

50mm f/1.4 - Looks and feels like a piece of cheap tat - I wouldn't be suprised if it fell out of a medium expensive christmas cracker. slow autofocus, especially for a USM lens. But to give it its dues, it performed pretty well - much more contrasty than my old Nikkor one, and the bokeh is a lot better too. Samples...





70-200 f/2.8 IS - What a stonking lens!!!!!!! Can't fault it at all, super autofocus, super sharpness, super contrast, it's got the whole lot. Also this is the first lens that I have ever thought was pyhsically attractive, I must really be a true camera saddo! (To get the best looks you've got to zoom out to 200mm too ) Also it's built like a tank. Sample...

[dcw@pr]

_VTEC_ said:

Probably just me being ignorant, but the focus seems a bit wild on those first two Dave

it's "artistic" and I just can't control that pesky f/1.4

_VTEC_ said:

The last one is borderline ridiculous though. Fannytastic picture.

thanks, it has come out well although the focus is only about 90% right

[dcw@pr]

rude girl said:

I thought the food ones looked good too, though there is a dodgy looking piece of cucumber in the first one. I'm hoping that it's a feature of the dressing, rather than a recent caterpillar visit...

phew I'm glad someone liked them! Even if there is a bit of mutant cucumber in there. Here's another couple in a similar vein







>> Edited by dcw@pr on Monday 16th May 01:43

[dcw@pr]

LongQ said:

My little Pentax does. Haven't tried it yet though. Perhaps I should?

does it really have a food mode?

[dcw@pr]

nighthawk said:

I'd be interested to hear a few more details about the 580, it's currently topping the list of flashguns for my 20D. Re the 50mm f1.4, I was torn between that and the non usm 1.8, but now i've turned from them towards the sigma 50mm f2.8 macro. The wedding shot is a stonker

personally I wouldn't get a non-canon flash and I would always go for the best there is at the time, since it is a very very important bit of kit for me.

There's not a huge difference between f/1.4 and f/1.8 so the cheaper one is definitely much better value for money. However there is obviously quite a large difference when going up to f/2.8 - I wouldn't consider the two lenses against each other, but that depends on if you need/want the extra speedd and more DOF control.

[dcw@pr]

bacchus180 said:

"they all do that sir!"

thanks, that is useful info

[dcw@pr]

simpo two said:

I like them all (well maybe not the salad ones) Very nice treatment of colour and b/w. You've done something to the colour but I'm not sure what - photo filter?

thanks.

the b/w was made from the red channel in both cases (I think!), the one of them walking down the passage is more heavily fiddled with - the edges are darkened quite a lot, basically an artificial vignette.

I haven't "done" anything to the colour apart from use curves to turn up the contrast. However they may look different to you (especially the one of the back of the bride's head) because you will never get a picture out of a Nikon that has that sort of colour. strange but true

>> Edited by dcw@pr on Monday 16th May 10:19

[dcw@pr]

LongQ said:

does it really have a food mode?

Yep!

To quote page 44 of the manual:

"Lets you take appetizing pictures of prepared food".

I kid you not!

If I ever get around to 'preparing' any food I will try to remember to take some comparative shots and post them.[/quote]

fair enough...

i guess it will be just like sports mode but without AF servo