pipspeak wrote:
Any comments on the focus point visibility that seems to have a lot of folks annoyed?
I much prefer how the AF illumination worked in previous 1D bodies like the Canon 1D Mark IV. Focusing point visibility could be an issue when shooting in very low light. I'm wondering if this could be somehow improved through a firmware upgrade as I know Canon is very aware of it.
Honestly, in most lighting conditions, it never deterred me when shooting for this review.
I wrote about it on the Canon 5D Mark III review.
jcolwell wrote:
Thanks for the thoughtful review, Fred. Are you going to keep your 1DIV? I am. I'll sell my 1DsIII, though.
P.S. I bet I could handhold the 400/2.8L IS II + 1.4x Extender with a Cheetah charging at me, too - adrenalin is a wonderful thing!
Yes, I'm keeping mine.
Although the 400mm f/2.8L IS II is heavier than the 500 II, it's shorter and very well-balanced. Most of the photos on the review were shot handheld.
PetKal wrote:
Good and thorough review, Fred, with balanced and experienced view.
There have been some 1DX reviews on the internet before, however, thankfully, yours is in a different league.
Thanks for the kind words Peter! I have enjoyed our chats!
StillFingerz wrote:
@ Fred, thank you for your nicely balanced, informative review; your 5D3 and D800 side-by-side as well!; beautiful images throughout both posts! A 1DX is out of reach but not the 5D3...early next year cross fingers!
@ Ralph and All,
San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park are just down south of Fred, about 45/50 miles; less than an hour away, about 90 miles; an hour and 1/2 for me. If you ever get to the SoCal area they are both do-not-miss shooting destinations for those Cheetah like wild critters...there is Big-Cats-R-US if you dare
The California coastline ain't to bad either, Fred's San Clemente (it's downtown and pier), Newport and Huntington Beaches; NB's Back Bay, HB's Wetlands, Catalina Island, the LA beaches n canyons, Big Sur, Morro Bay, Missions galore (San Juan Capistrano is wonderful) and others, nor are several inland areas like Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Mammoth, the Sequoias and there's that little valley of ours known as Yosemite!
Born and raised in SoCal, having surfed, sailed, hiked, climbed and now rolling about most of our golden state, I might be somewhat bias to it's beauty...naaaaaaaah
Yes Jerry,
So many places for shooting wildlife close to home. For this review I visited Huntington Beach's Bolsa Chica Wetlands, Bolsa Chica Lagoon Trail, Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary, Safari park, Las Pulgas, and my own backyard.
Enloyable review. Very readable. And validates my purchase of the camera, though the stated need for more reach/poxels resonates with me. Canon will come though. > )
I've been waiting for news of creature activity at Bolsa Chica and Back Bay, and even further south from me before committing to the drive there. It appears that it may be soon.
@ Db, it's been pretty hot lately, a light breeze was nice today, overcast until about 9:30am back about 7ish, waves were 3-5' in HB but fully blown out...there was little IF action at the wetlands or beach; a few kites and planes.
I did not shoot anything worthy of FM, mostly tested tracking with a 50D, 300f4L IS + 1.4X and enjoyed the afternoon and the plethora of non flying birds wondering about the HB pier
StillFingerz wrote:
@ Db, it's been pretty hot lately, a light breeze was nice today, overcast until about 9:30am back about 7ish, waves were 3-5' in HB but fully blown out...there was little IF action at the wetlands or beach; a few kites and planes.
I did not shoot anything worthy of FM, mostly tested tracking with a 50D, 300f4L IS + 1.4X and enjoyed the afternoon and the plethora of non flying birds wondering about the HB pier
Thanks for the report SF, , although does the adage "...the harbinger of bad news.." apply? ;>. As far as shore points go, perhaps the Marima which is closer is worth a visit.
It would be a great convenience if we have a FM site to report on photo ops.
AaronNegro wrote:
I will have to look for that once I get a longer lens. The longest I have now is the 135L.
My lens collection is rather limited nowadays.
Aaron, I was just kidding about the ancient Chinese trick.......you could do a similar effect with 135L which, BTW, is one of the fastest focussing EF lenses, and you know what its IQ qualities are. The "trick" consist of shooting a target thru a rather fine water spray, but as little mist as possible (unless you wanna get a rainbow effect which, BTW, will divert your AF very quickly), with a fast lens wide open, and sunlight on the scene.
Also, you have to set the camera tracking sensitivity to the lowest value available, and then track a moving target as it enters into the spray. Conversely, you can focus on a stationary target such as a kid, and then have someone turn a water hose in front of him/her. Many variations are obviously possible of the basic idea.
PetKal wrote:
Also, you have to set the camera tracking sensitivity to the lowest value available, and then track a moving target as it enters into the spray. Conversely, you can focus on a stationary target such as a kid, and then have someone turn a water hose in front of him/her. Many variations are obviously possible of the basic idea.
This part, I keep playing with the AF on my 5DIII and I am still a bit challenged, the AF is the same in the 1DX. The times I had to play with a 1DsII and 1DIII I was not challenged somehow.
Need to get to know it better and adapt to it soon or I will miss cracking shots
Thanks a million for the trick, knowing Irish weather...I might get the chance for this.
skibum5 wrote:
Ralph, he's from southern California.
It would be weird if he didn't have a Cheetah for his house cat.
Regarding the cheetah - here's what happened:
It was just another sunny California day. I was hanging out in the backyard, and thought I noticed a wild cheetah approaching. I whipped out the camera, fired off some shots as the ferocious animal lunged towards me. Luckily… I had the a lens camouflage on and was able to distract the beast long enough for me to high-tail it back inside to safety.
--
BTW, here is a tip I use quite often. Although it didn't make it into my review, I still wanted to share it with you. (It also works on the Canon 5D Mark III)
It's about registering an AF point on the TOP RIGHT of the viewfinder around the rule of thirds area and then using the AE Lock Button (*) button to call it. Once that point is registered, you use the multi-controller to manually select an AF point in the opposite location (TOP LEFT) but this time use the "AF-ON" button to call it. It becomes very intuitive as the "AF-ON" located on the left calls the "top left AF point" and the AE Lock Button (*) on the right, calls the "top right AF point".
Here are the steps: (Check the images below)
Register an AF point to the "TOP RIGHT". (around the rule of thirds area)
This is done by pressing and holding the "AF point selection button" and pressing the ISO button. You will hear a "beep" to confirm that you have successfully registered your AF point.
If you have already set the the "AF-ON" button as the "Metering and AF start" button, you may skip this step. Otherwise follow these instructions:
Go to camera "Operation" (C.Fn5)
Select Custom Controls
Select the "AF-ON" button
Select "Metering and AF start".
Press the "Set" button
Set the AE Lock Button (*) as an extra "Metering and AF start" button. When you do this, you will have 2 "Metering and AF start" buttons on the back of your camera. On your right, you will have the normal "AF-ON" button and on the left the new "*" button acting as an extra "Metering and AF start" button. Follow these steps:
Go to camera "Operation" (C.Fn5)
Select Custom Controls
Select the "AE Lock button"
Click on "Metering and AF start" and press the "INFO" button
Select "Registered AF point"
Press the "Set" button twice.
Alternatively, (on the 1DX only) you could use the "M-Fn2" button instead of the "*" button for this purpose. This will come in handy if you need to leave the "*" button available to lock metering.
. As far as shore points go, perhaps the Marima which is closer is worth a visit. 
