rscheffler Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Yaryman wrote:
No Birds in Flight.
Just a Steeler flying by last Sunday at Levi's Stadium.
Canon 90D - Canon 400mm f2.8 at 4.0 - ISO 200 - 1/1250
I got my hands on 90D to try for a couple weeks and intend to use it for some football, too.
Initial impressions are it's a fun camera to use. It's small but comfortable in the hand (I don't have the vertical grip for it) with good button and dial placement and is responsive. AI Servo speed does slow down a bit depending on what AF parameters are set and the buffer is a bit restrictive (I don't have any of the faster UHS-II SDXC cards).
I also love the WiFi feature and being able to remote trigger the camera via live view on a smartphone or tablet, etc. (I guess this is pretty standard now on all cameras other than the 1DXII.)
Given I'd want to use this camera for some sports work, the DSLR currently seems to be the better option, but for other photography, I'm more curious about the M6II, given it's pretty similar to the 90D.
Coming from a 1DXII (for which a WiFi dongle is $$$), which I intend to keep using as my main action camera, there are a few small details that bug me thus far (I'm sure more will pop up with further use):
- No option to have it automatically switch either the shutter speed or the ISO to keep the same manual exposure value when the aperture changes. In my instance, this would be while shooting action with the 200-400 and flipping in the TC (which I flip between a lot when shooting field sports). But it's also handy when changing lenses. Say, shooting at f/2 with a given lens and switching to an f/2.8 zoom, etc. In this case, that CF setting would automatically bump up the ISO one stop.
- Different aperture values when switching between AV and M. For example, if I'm in manual mode and have the aperture at f/1.4, but the last time I was in AV mode it was set to f/4, when I switch to AV, it jumps to f/4 rather than staying at f/1.4. It's the same with TV and M, where each will be set to a different shutter speed rather than the last one used by the previous mode. Not sure the logic of this, but it initially caught me off-guard. Similarly, when I first shot in in live view, I didn't realize the AF mode didn't carry over from OVF shooting. It was in AI Servo for the OVF, but was in One Shot in live view.
- On the 1DXII I use the Set button to immediately view the image at a given magnification, which isn't an option for the 90D... double tapping the 1DXII's Set button is a quick way for me to view an image without having to search for the small playback button on the back of the camera.
I have the 90D's Set button set to change ISO when it's held down. But there is a funny behaviour here if the camera is set to Auto ISO: you can change the ISO to whatever you prefer, but as soon as the meter turns off, it resets to Auto ISO. That said, if ISO is set manually, when it's changed via the Set button, it remains at the new setting. With the 1DXII, sometimes I use the rear wheel to change ISO rather than shutter or aperture. If the camera is in Auto ISO and I turn the wheel, it changes the ISO and leaves it at that ISO until I change it again. And with the 90D (like every Canon I've used), it's still not possible to scroll directly to Auto ISO below ISO 100; rather the ISO button must be depressed. Why, Canon?
- No protect/rating button, requires menu diving.
Granted, the 90D is in a different 'class' from the 1DXII, the 5D series and apparently even the 7DII, all of which seem to share most of the 'higher end' CF settings.
Something worrying me more is what appears to be slight back focus (at least with this copy) when using AF and live view. I've played around a bit with this in fairly controlled environments and with two lenses: 35/2 IS and 85/1.4L IS. I tried a few different AF point options, including spot AF and it was consistent. I could always improve image sharpness by zooming in and manually tweaking focus. (And why is it with the 90D when zoomed in with live view magnification that activating AF jumps out of magnification?) That said, image sharpness with live view AF has generally be acceptable in most situations, but I was able to consistently improve fine detail sharpness at the intended point of focus by tweaking it manually. Wondering if anyone else has noticed this or is able to duplicate it?
I even tried AFMA, including massive +/- 20 extremes, without any noticeable difference in live view AF focus plane placement (I guess AFMA is strictly for the OVF AF system).
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