Tag: 7D

Saving Money is Always Good

Jason1 Comment

In photography it’s pretty much accepted that you get what you pay for.  If you want super fast glass with pristine optics, then expect to pay for it.  Alternatively, if you’re on a budget, don’t expect apertures in the 2.8 range do bring the sharpest images.  You can also kiss things like Image Stabilization goodbye (Vibration Reduction for the Nikonian crowd).  So, yeah, we all know that photography is a field where you have to spend money.

But, this does not mean you have to spend money unnecessarily.  When there are savings out there to be had, I am all for taking advantage of such opportunities.  Many savings can come from DIY projects.  Here on the blog I’ve done a few DIY projects, not only to save money, but also to experiment.  This kind of experimentation and money saving is almost always a source of creative inspiration, and usually some decent images come out of them!

Then, there are other more obvious ways to save money.  Here I am talking about coupons and rebates.  Most vendors will offer savings periodically in the form of instant rebates, two-fers (buy one get one half off) and other gimmicks to try and get consumers to let go of a little money.  Here is where you can actually get some really good deals if you plan accordingly.  If you know that you will be upgrading your camera body every 18-24 months – then buy during rebate cycles.  The same goes for lenses, accessories, and computer equipment – although with the computer items, there are sales and rebates going on pretty much all the time, so it’s to a lesser extent there.

So, if you are planning on upgrading any photo gear in the near future – take advantage of the Canon rebates.  They are going on now and you can save a few bucks (nothing stellar, $25 on flashes, $100 on the 7D, and some savings on the 5D Mark II) on your purchases.  You might want to move soon because the deals end in early April (the 3rd I think).  After all, saving money is always a good thing!

  • Need the links for the rebates?  Go here to get all the details.
  • Got your own money savings ideas?  Share them in the comments!
  • Or tell me on Twitter!
  • Finally, today is the final day for the March Giveaway so be sure you get your images in before midnight!

Have a great weekend all, happy shooting, and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

Wacom Winner!

Jason1 Comment

For those of you that don’t follow the twitter news and stuff, you may not know that I cut a finger pretty badly late last week.  A visit to the doctor on Thursday pretty much confirmed that I needed to keep from using that hand for at least 24-48 hours.  This meant no keyboard or computer use.  SO Friday, when I started to disobey the doctor (shame on me!), the spousal unit found out and intervened.

Since then, we had a nice little weekend trip to Santa Fe (only about 6 hours away from Denver) with some friends.  We took in the sights, had some nice meals and just a good time all around.  I was without computer/internet most of the time so only was able to tweet briefly over the 3 day weekend.  So, you also did not get that yesterday would be a “no blog” day.  Much like the rest of the blog-o-sphere here in the U.S., a lot of people had similar announcements though, so the lack of a post saying there would be no post was kind of…well, not really needed.

Today, however, things are back in full swing!  To start off, we have a winner in the “Win a Wacom” contest!  As you likely recall, the August theme was “Fun” and the winner would receive a Bamboo Fun courtesy of the good folks over at Wacom.  They have left the decision to yours truly, so, after bringing all the photos into Lightroom for review, I picked what I thought were the top five for a gallery to share here on the blog, and picked a winner from that set.  The winner is:

Win a Wacom Giveaway Winner
Win a Wacom Giveaway Winner

As many will likely ask “Why”, here’s the rationale as to how this image stood out above the rest.  First off, the colors and leading lines of the slide were very creative, and showing a keen grasp of image composition, so these were all really good qualities.  Also, the laughing family coming down the slide definitely showed that they were having fun, which was the theme of the contest, so that was another point in the favor of the image.  Last, but not least, the image met all the other qualifying criteria from the announcement post and over on Flickr, including size specifications, time frame, and all that jazz.  Congrats go out to Michael Whalen (a.k.a. Whalenmdw on Flickr)!  For those of you interested in seeing his entry and more of his work, be sure to follow the link to his Flickr thread here.  Thanks to everyone for participating, and to Wacom for contributing the prize for the August Giveaway.  You can also see all the entries over on the Flickr thread here.  Finally, here’s the gallery of finalists.

In other photo news, Kerry Garrison of Camera Dojo had me on his show last week.  We talked up the Canon 7D pretty good, so to hear that show be sure to stop over to his site and pick up his podcast.  (That show aired on Friday).  As for the missing podcast here at CB, trust me, one is coming out this week!  For the time being though, be sure to stop over to the Camera Dojo website, and grab that feed for your reading and podcast enjoyment!  Thanks to Kerry for having me on the show!

That’s it for today folks.  More news and photo goodness tomorrow.  It’s good to be back, so keep on shooting (we have the September contest underway as we speak, with $500 in retail prizes from Topaz Labs and Thinktank Photo, so be sure to share your images here!).

The Rumored 7D is finally announced! Specs and photos!

Jason18 Comments

That’s right – Canon has announced the 7D along with a couple other new lenses.  Amazing specs on it are here

Here’s a few shots from the Press Room:

Canon 7D front View
Canon 7D front View
Canon 7D Side View
Canon 7D Side View
Canon 7D Back
Canon 7D Back

Lots of specs, but most impressive to me:

  • Spot AF mode reduces the size of a single AF point to focus on small subjects like an animal in a cage.
  • AF Point Expansion mode uses a cluster of AF points adjacent to the selected AF point to automatically assist focusing on moving subjects, such as an athlete on the run.
  • Zone AF divides the 19 AF points into five selectable focusing zones and makes it easier to achieve focus with subjects that are difficult to track with Single Point AF or AF point expansion, such as birds in flight.
  • Fully manual exposure control on the video
  • The built in flash has a speedlight transmitter for controlling EOS flashes like the 580 EX II that I just bought!
  • Live view for both video and still frame work (per request in comments)
  • AND THE PRICE:  $1700 RETAIL!  OH MY GOD!  Definitely counting pennies now!
  • You can also get it with a kit lens (the 28-135 is hardly “kit”) for only $200 more at $1900

CONS:

  • Retains the full frame sensor of its predecessor 5D series (per request in comments)
  • Correction:  This has TWO crop sensors:  THIS IS NOT FULL FRAME

So, what do you think?  Lots of pros, but is it a real step forward when the sensors are the APS-C sized ones?  What do you think?  Would you pay this price for another crop sensor camera?  Sound off in the comments…