Category: Canon

Friday Filter Fretting (and a funny)

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Well, I’ve decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on two purchases… first on an ultra wide angle lens that has been noticably missing from my bag thus far. The winner of my internal mental anguish is the Sigma 10-20mm lens. With the free shipping thanks to my NAPP membership, I’ll be picking this up from B&H Photo (which I would probably use even w/out the bonus of free shipping – B&H rocks!). Canon just did not make a wide angle that would fill my needs (nor fit my budget), so this Canon Blogger could theoretically be called a Canon/Sigma Blogger as I have an equal number of both vendor lenses in my gear bag.

The other is an accessory item – a graduated Neutral Density filter. Knowing how expensive they are, I figured it might be a good idea to make this purchase all at once since I know the wide angle will be most most for landscape photography. I am still torn here though between a B+W one or the Tiffen one. I’ll freely admit to not knowing my head from a hole in the ground when it comes to filters, so thought I would make the Friday post a user-driven one. Which filter would be better suited for use with this lens? Both B+W and Tiffen make the 77mm filter in the graduated ND variety, and both are non-coated filters, with a 2 stop loss of light overall and a glass rating of .6 With only a $20 price difference between these I am wondering if there is a certain element (pardon the pun) of distinction between brand names that I am missing. So….what do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments or with me via email (jason [at] canonblogger [dot] com).

Last, but not least, as many photo-types do, here’s the weekly funny from WTD:

Happy Friday, Happy Shooting, and don’t forget to watch your apertures! 🙂

Web gem for Wednesday – go buy some baggies!

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Starting the new year off with a bang, the Wall Street Journal reported this morning that the Transportation Safety Administration has implemented new policies regarding what battery types can be brought on airplanes. The new rule speaks to the Lithium batteries we’ve all come to know and love that charges everything from our cell phones to watches, cameras and laptops. That’s right, your Li-ion batteries are now a restricted item. What are the rules?

Well, it turns out you can have one in your device, so your camera, laptop, cell phone, and other such equipment is safe. You can also carry two spares, provided each is stored in its own sealed plastic bag or the original packaging. Loose batteries, whether in carry-on or checked baggage, are no longer permitted. Lithium content is also restricted now to less than 25 grams. For now, it’s safe to say that virtually all cell phone, laptop, camera, and watch batteries fall well under the limit, including standard AA and AAA batteries. Whether this is per battery or a total of all batteries is somewhat unclear, but from what I have been able to gather, the aggregate total is in reference to the total Lithium content per battery. This is not a definitive piece of information but is the best I can determine from the travel sites (referenced at the end of this post) and other resources.

For those that are curious, I have been able to determine that Lithium content is based on a factor of 0.3 per cell multiplied by the rated capacity in ampere hours. If you look at the back of your batteries, it will tell you certain key information that can be used to determine your total Lithium content. For example, on my Canon XT, the back panel shows that it has a rating of 7.4 volts, with 720 Milliamp Hours. It’s the mAh that we need to use for determining how much Lithium we have. So, if I take the rating of 720 mAh and convert that to regular Ampere Hours (remember your metric system?) I get a value of 0.72 (720/1000). Now, I would use that 0.72 and multiply it by 0.3 to get my total lithium content. So, the XT/XTi batteries have about 0.21 grams of Lithium. Here’s a chart of common Canon cameras, their battery models, and the total Lithium content:

Camera Model

 Battery Model mAh value Ah value Total Lithium content
Rebel XT (350d) NB-2LH 720 0.72 0.216 grams
Rebel XTi NB-2LH 720 0.72 0.216 grams
20D BP-511A 1390 1.39 0.417 grams
30D BP-511A 1390 1.39 0.417 grams
40D BP-511A 1390 1.39 0.417 grams
5D BP-511A 1390 1.39 0.417 grams
1D Mark II NP-E3 1650 1.65 0.495 grams
1D Mark III LP-E4 2300 2.3 0.69 grams
1Ds Mark III LP-E4 2300 2.3 0.69 grams

It should be noted here that the 1D Mark II series of the EOS family did not appear to be a Lithium battery, rather a Nicad battery, so it should be exempt from the new restriction. Regardless, at most, any EOS battery will yield considerably less than 1 gram, so with a total of 3 (one in the body and 2 spares), you are just a hair over 2 grams of Lithium (2.1 to be exact). When coupled with your laptop Lithium content, and cellular phone content, you should still be well within the parameters. As for other devices, I just checked my cell phone and laptop. The former (a Motorola v325i), and that has 880 mAh, so comes in at 0.264 grams ( 0.88×0.3). The laptop comes in a little closer as my Macbook Pro (15”) has an Li-ion battery that comes in at 60 Wh (no milliWatt hours here…), so the yield there is 18 grams of Lithium. I’d read elsewhere that the 17” MBP has a Wh capacity of 68 (or 20.4 grams of Lithium).

What it basically comes down to, is that you now must put your spare batteries in a plastic baggie, and can only tote those in your carry-on. (You cannot transport them in checked luggage.) Here’s my theoretical total Lithium content if I travelled with everything and the maximum number of spares:

Camera: 0.63 grams (0.21×3)

Cell phone: 0.78 grams (0.26×3)

Laptop: 54 grams (18×3)

For a grand total of 55.41

As a means of reference, here’s the links I visited in compiling this post:

Wall Street Journal Article

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119911051123859361.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Mac Owner’s Blog (for MBP 17” numbers):

http://stevenfettig.com/mythoughts/archives/000728.php

Safe Travel (note the <dot> GOV distinction)

http://safetravel.dot.gov/whats_new_batteries.html

Calculating Lithium Content

http://www.rosebatteries.com/pdfs/DOTshipping.pdf

 

 

When I get home this afternoon, I will set this up as a dedicated page so it won’t be archived and add it to the “blogroll” links on the side panel for easy reference. Happy Wednesday all, and go buy some baggies!

 

ETA: The dedicated page is now up and can be found here: Battery Lithium Content

Tuesday Trivia Tickle…

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Well, the Monday Minutiae did not happen as I had hoped (my pillow convinced me to deal with it instead…), so I guess Tuesday will get a temporary trivia tickle (I can’t help it – alliteration is my ”thing”.) Did you know that Canon currently has 64 lenses on their website for purchase as of 12-17-07. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Number of lenses w/IS: 17

  • Number of lenses w/USM: 46

  • Number of lenses at 2.8 or higher: 32

  • Number of dedicated macro: 5

  • Number of non EF-mount types: 4

  • Number of L Lenses: 25

  • Third Generation lenses: 3

  • Second Generation lenses: 9

  • First Generation lenses: 52

  • Digitally Optimized lenses: 2

  • Fisheye lenses: 1

  • Fixed Focal length lenses: 34

I put together a full spreadsheet of all these lenses including their body mount type, focal lengths, aperture size/range, glass quality, IS presence, generation, designation and USM presence. It’s a pretty handy reference, and if anyone wants a copy, feel free email me to request one. I’ll probably post it for download later this evening, so if you can wait until then, stop back to the blog after 4pm (Eastern time) to see if it’s available yet. Tonight I should have the weekly video tutorial finished so don’t forget to mark your calendars tomorrow to stop back and check out the latest. This weeks subject is “Applying an antique effect to photos”, specifically designed for those using Photoshop CS2. Watch the show to see where you can view the same methods for other software platforms! Until tonight then, happy shooting (and surfing)!

The spreadsheet file has been uploaded and can now be downloaded from here: Canon Lens Availability & Features

Alternatively, you can view a PDF version of it here:

Canon Lens Availability & Features

Canon News and Reviews (with a few rebates)

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As an admitted Canonite, I’ve not done much in the way of noting new products Canon has released since the 40D and 1D Mark II have been released. Despite the absence, there has been quite a bit of activity from Canon, including some new point-and-shoot reviews, paper releases, and, (wait for it) the announcement of their fall discounts. In the interests of full disclosure, here is a rundown of some of the latest news from Canon’a Press releases and other sources (in no particular order):

Polished Rag and a Coated Bond Paper are released at the NYC PhotoExpo

Two new “L” lenses expected at PhotoExpo Show: 200mm f2.0 IS and 800mm f5.6 IS

Free Paper Profiles for Canon imagePROGRAF Printers release

New Selphy ES2 Compact Photo Printer

Canon SD870 IS Review

and, of course, Canon’s Fall 2007 Rebates:

85 1.2 II – $125
16-35 2.8 II – $100
70-200 F/4 IS – $75
17-40 f/4 – $50
70-200 2.8 IS – $125
50 1.2 – $100
EF-S 17-55 IS – $70
70-200 f/4 – $40
100-400 f/4.5-5.6 – $100
24-70 2.8 – $80
EF-S 10-22 – $50
85 1.8 – $25
50 1.4 $20
60f/2.8 macro – $30
580 EX II Speedlite – $50

The good news?  They’re all instant from authorized resellers….

The bad news?  No bodies are included this year…

A link to the PDF files is here

Weekend Wrap-up

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Quite a few newsworthy things happened between Friday and today.  The legendary Scott Kelby gives us his top ten (actually 11) blogs to visit – among them those of fellow gurus, Matt Kloskowski and  Dave Cross.  Others that made the list include Moose Peterson, John Nack, and David Ziser.  While it’s always fun to see what others, the best part is that he invites others to post their favorites in his comments section.  Given the visibility of Scot’s blog on the internet, many are obviously taking obvious advantage of the opportunity to shamelessly plug their own sites.  So…it’s become quite an extensive list of blogs, and CB shall take advantage of the opportunity itself here before the day is over.   I’d highly recommend stopping over to see what fun stuff is there for useful info.

In other news, there’s a great tip on Strobist for implementing a ring light in a pinch.

Since this is the Canon Blogger, I should probably give a nod to DPReview on their informative analysis of two new Canon printers, the Selphy ES2 and the ES20 with pretty fair results.  May be worth checking out depending on your printing needs.  Canon’s press release on the products are also available in their newsroom here:  Canon Newsroom

Finally, for the 3 or 4 people that read this besides myself, the weekend trip to Baltimore was a lot of fun.  It was good to see the family, and I got a few neat shots from Camden Yards where the New York Yankees squeaked out a win over Baltimore.

No news for Monday

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Well, that may not be entirely true, as Tips from The Top Floor has a few updates both in audio and video format, so stop over there for some weekyl news and info about Chris’ trip to the great ole U.S. of A. He’s going from CO on to California, and then some other place before finishing up in St. Lucie FL, so if you get a chance between now and Oct. 18th to listen/view – you may wanna do so as now I am even thinking of making my way down there for a few days.

Please also say a prayer for Scott Sherman and Michael Stein from The Digital Photography Show. Before this week I did not know that their affiliation began because both their children are affected by Cerebral Palsy.   Scott’s had to have a surgical procedure this last week, and yet he still managed to find some time to produce the show. Suffice to saw, I would have been long gone and Canon Blogger would not have even been on my radar – so thanks to Scott and Michael and my prayers go out to both of you as you walk this noble path – esp. to Scott given the recency of its impact on his life personally.

Finally, Strobist had a couple cool posts recently, first one about Flickr where you can see your “ranking” on there – serious submitters only though as if it’s less than that, you probably won’t show up many times. Another cool post is about using small off-camera lights to help illuminate landscapes. A neat example is there too, so go check that out.

Finally, another podcast is ready for viewing! I did run out of time for production tonight though, so will have to wait until tomorrow to finish it, but promise a rather lengthy one (about 30 minutes) is forthcoming and discusses quite a few details about working in Camera Raw for your post processing. Stay tuned and it should be online in less than 24 hours! Until tomorrow then…Happy Shooting!

Closing out the week with a new tutorial!

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That’s right, I’ve finally got enough of an act together to record a new tutorial. It’s another Photoshop tip, and this week is kind of a tangential feature of Photoshop, in that it’s not one you would typically use Photoshop to produce as Adobe has other products that perform this function better. There are also other applications on the market that do this equally well, and probably with equal if not better results, but if you don’t have them, PS is a neat alternative, especially for preserving things like drop-shadows and text style treatments like gradients and other stuff commonly associated with Photoshop. In any case, the tutorial is linked at the end of this post. You can download for iTunes from the link as well.

In other news, I also was able to successfully arise early enough to catch a sunrise shoot at Isle of Palms today. I had my trusty Canon XT with me, and I found myself enjoying swapping between the 18-55 kit lens, a Sigma macro lens, and my Canon 70-200 4.0 L The colors were okay, but nothing really spectacular to write home about thus far in my review of the shots. I’ll hopefully have a few to share tomorrow, but in the meantime, enjoy the video podcast. Until next time, Happy Shooting and enjoy the weekend!

Creating PDF files in Photoshop

Software updates for Canon 40D vis a vis Adobe

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Adobe has released raw converter updates for both Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom to incorporate more bodies and their algorithms, the 40D being one of the most noticeable (for me) among them.  For anyone using these software programs, the downloads are available at the Adobe website:

Photoshop:

Windows Download

Mac Download

Lightroom:

Windows Download

Mac Download 

Helpful note:  Owners of CS2 and earlier PS versions should not attempt to update with this raw converter – it’s meant for CS3 users only…

Top Five Reasons I am getting the Canon 40D

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It wouldn’t be a year in photography without at least one of the Big Boys of photography world (those boys being Canon, Nikon, Olympus and Pentax) announcing some new piece of equipment that sets everyone off, racing to give their money away so they can have the “latest and greatest” that money can buy. As a technology buff, I am particularly susceptible to this tendency, so I always have to take a step back and look at my current setup, as well as the rest of the options available before I can pull the trigger (or trip the shutter, since we’re using “photo speak” right now).

So…I set out to look at the major features in the EOS line since that’s where my lenses are. Within my price range (under $1500) are the XTi, 30D, and 40D. I also included the 20D in my comparison because even though it’s been discontinued, it still is available through online auctions and various community forums for sale, and the spec sheet is readily available online (I used the specs from B&H). Given the number of options, even within the Canon line, I had to set some minimum. So, I told myself that in order to make it worth the expense, I would need to see at least 5 major features/reasons in order to justify the purchase. I defined a “major” feature/reason as something that either represented more than a 15% increase in numerical value, or a feature that was completely lacking in my current setup.

With my benchmarks set, and my expectations in place, I put together the following chart for the consumer/entry pro level EOS bodies that Canon offers:

chart

The benchmarks indicated the following results:
• XTi – 2 features/reasons: Discarded
• 20D – 3 features/reasons: Discarded
• 30D – 5 features/reasons: Candidate
• 40D – 8 features/reasons: Candidate

With two pretty clear favorites, I looked at the differences between the two, and the 40D does seem to have enough of a distinction (3 features) from the 30D to justify the increased expense (Mega Pixels, screen size, and Frames/sec). What also tipped the scales for me in my decision was that since I don’t buy new bodies as regularly as some, as there have been 3 new releases since my last purchase. That being the case, I will probably be better served by getting the newest one so that it can last as long as my XT has (3 years).

For those with other Canon bodies, a similar system could be used to determine whether an upgrade is justified, depending on what you are looking for. For those with Nikon bodies looking to upgrade, the decision-making process should likely be weighed within your own DSLR system, but the principles used above could be applied equally there as well. As for Olympus, Pentax, and Sony – what are you guys smiling at? (Something tells me they will be following the lead of Canon and Nikon but at lower price points down the road…)

Size doesn’t always matter…

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As I bide my time for the Canon EOS 40D to come to a B&H store near me (online), I have been slowly find flaws with my current body – the Canon EOS 350D (a.k.a. the XT).  When invited to a high school football game last night, one of my Canon camera buddies lent me a second body so I could have a wide angle and a zoom at the ready for changing situations without having to swap out lenses on a single body.  As it turned out, I pretty much stayed on the zoom the entire night, but that’s not the interesting part.

What was interesting was the performance results.  The body I was lent was the EOS 10D, which has much more of a heft to it.  Since it was incompatible with the EF-S lenses, I had to put the kit 18-55 on my XT, and my 70-200 (f4.0) went on the 10D.  After adding a 550EX flash, the setup was quite heavy.

For the first half I noticed that the buffer in the 10D took about the same time to fill up as the XT, which seemed odd, as I knew that the 10D had a smaller pixel count (6.3 versus 8.1)  and both are rated at about 3.0 fps.  What amazed me though, was the write speed once the buffer was filled.  The 10D took as many as 30 seconds to write all images to the card, where if I was on the XT, I would have been shooting again in 10 seconds.  By the second half I had switched back to the baby XT (size wise)  for its superior Megapixel count and write speeds.  Turns out, the size doesn’t always matter…