Any Photographers?

I'm finding it common that Tamron does a lot of searching compared to Canon as well. Try zooming all the way on a pile of candy on a table while standing about 1 foot away, then watch what the camera does when you try to AF. Canon goes from one extreme to the next on focus and stops trying. Tamron goes to macro, then adjusts back and forth in small increments about 4 times.

Of course, the closer you get to high end with magnesium body parts and such, the quicker they get


And some more pictures! These are with an XSI and the kit lens

This one is my fav. Had to use flash to get the agate to light up.

 

Ha, I'd love to get a high end lens, but I still stick with the lower end because I wory about damaging it too much out in the bush.

I not only find the Sigma does a lot of searching, but it also has a stronger bias for selecting the AF point closest to centre, usually not the ideal choice either. I find myself forcing it to an AF point more than I do with my cannon lenses.

 

Nice to know we have canon cult, but where all the Nikon Guys at.

 

It gets painful when there's animals or people on stage. Then again, my 70-300 didn't get me as far out as I wanted, either. I think down the road I'd be having something like a 18ish-100ish and something that does some real freaky zooming, much greater than 300mm.

If you have a high end, you tend to think about it more and protect it better. If you don't like the paranoia, then keep cheap

This might be a noob response to what you already know, but just in case you aren't already doing this (or for others reading - I didn't know this starting off, for example):

-Point the camera at the spot you want in focus. For people, this is usually the tip of the nose.
-Hold the shutter down 1/2 way for AF
-reposition for composition.

By the way, Have your camera in the right metering mode when doing this. I can't remember what it's called, but for canons the symbol is of a circle with a dot in the middle. This allows the camera to continuously evaluate the light. I messed up before by having mine stuck in spot metering (the symbol is a single dot), which locks in the light evaluation when the shutter is held 1/2 way.

 

YES! with the canon lenses it's easy to tell what quality level the glass is by the colored ring around it. The red ring means that it's a L glass lens which is their top of the line professional lens. Then there is the gold ring, which is their middle of the road "standard" lens. Then there are some with no rings like the 18-55 kit lens that comes with most canon cameras out of the box. I know this sounds funny but these are actually plastic lenses, so they are the lowest quality. That doesn't mean that they are bad lenses, they just aren't the same quality as the glass (obviously).

Here is a perfect example.... Here are 3 Canon 50mm Lenses, each from a different quality level:

Canon EF 50mm f1.2L Price= Over $1,000


Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM Price= around $350


Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Price= Less than $100



I will only buy Canon Lenses for my Canon camera. I have been to many events and witnessed several people having problems with their Sigma and Tamron lenses. I feel that Canon is going to make the best Lenes for THEIR cameras since they are the ones that designed them.

A good website to look at for photography information is www.dpchallenge.com They have a great section of Lens examples... can be found here: http://www.dpchallenge.com/lens.php and if you are looking for very in depth reviews on any cameras www.dpreview.com is a good resource.

 

Very nice writeup, Tightshirts - I didn't know about the ring. I just knew when I picked things up - L series is heaviest and metal.

One other tip I see is that the more expensive the lens, the lower the possible F-stop. F1.2 is a beautiful thing when shooting indoors.

 

this is true, however i find that when shooting at a very low aperture the depth of field is so small that the subject will have a soft focus, so I mainly try to shoot above F2.0 almost all of the time to keep the subject sharp. Another reason that they can get such a low aperture is the physical diameter of the lens is bigger... lower aperture = more light = bigger lens/more glass... here is a side by side pic of the F1.4 50mm next to the F1.2L 50mm

 

I wouldn't let that stop you. It's easy to get insurance on items like this. Especially if you are a home owner. All my camera gear is on a personal items policy under my home owners insurance. For like 5 bucks a month I've got over 3 grand in equipment protected in case of theft/accidental damage/etc...

 

I agree with tightshirts, I only buy Nikon lenses for my Nikon, all components are important, but the optics is where it is at. Buy good glass, you won't be sorry.

 

a couple more. really wish i could afford a real camera

















ok, and now for something completely different

 

I have a friend who is pretty good. She's got some great motorcycle pics. Her work is copyrighted though so I can't link to them.
http://www.kirstengallon.com/

 

Retired newspaper photographer, when the world was film and darkroom. Last several years I taught in my local college--b/w darkroom. Now, shooting for myself...no editors!

 

I use a Sony DSC-H2 6 Mega Pixel with a 12x Optical Zoom. I would not consider myself as professionial by any means. I would probably say Amature in training. That goes for photoshop also.

 

wow, never thought to look on TW for a photography section...

working pro here... mostly women's fashion and entertainment press release stuff...

i am head photographer for a clothing company which covers my bills, but i think i have more fun on my freelance gigs...

not too much of a gearhead, but my primary is a Canon 5D, backup is a Canon 20D, Canon AE-1 for my E-6 and cross process film stuff, Mamiya 645 for medium format, and a Yashica C for shiz and giggles...

some of my fashion stuff...

 

some of my entertainment stuff...

The Hoff




LaKisha Jones from American Idol


Jordin Sparks


Meg & Dia (band)


Scary Kids Scaring Kids (band)

 

As for publish, I have had a number of tearsheets over the years, but haven't gotten around to finding/scanning them all...

Skateboarder Magazine Ad for Ocean Current


Online Tear for Greg Adler of 4 Wheel Parts


Baby Phat Plus Size Poster Ad


Pro Comp Tire Ad for Various Mags

 

very nice! thanks for putting the rest of us to shame though

 

Some great shots, how long have you been a photographer? How are those celebrities to work with.
Gotta love the hoff.

 

sorry... hahah... wasnt trying to show anybody up... but yah, on the photography forums, i see way better shooters out there so i know my place... besides, i dont shoot landscapes or anything other than people so its good to see what everyone else here is shooting... in my industry, one gets that whole label of being femme for being in fashion, so its always fun to see photography in my hobby world...

the Hoff is great guy too... i shot his 2008 calendar for European distribution and his line of greeting cards at Target... funny stuff...

 

it started as a hobby for me back in 1996, then i took the plunge and went pro in 2002...