JWilsonphoto wrote:
Sorry to hear you're not coming. I had hoped we could finally have dinner!
Not as sorry as I am, my friend. But we can't do everything in life, and I have to prioritize. My MBA is an enormous investment and a one-time opportunity, and the classes I have this term have turned out to both incredibly interesting and insanely high-workload. (Three of them have actual consulting contracts with paying customers as part of the teaching experience, so you can imagine...)
I finally had to admit to myself that it would be incredibly shortsighted to put fun before real work, regardless of how unique the opportunity or how much I love my fun. But photography does not pay the bills for me, so it is what it is, and we all do what we can.
I've run through some regular static shots with mine and haven't had any trouble - I thought I'd try shooting cars going by on the street and see what kind of results i get - but i'm still bringing the 20D to GML as a backup. I'd hate to think I'll be letting my 82 year old dad, (blind in one eye and can't see out of the other) shoot with the Mark III and I'll be shooting with the 20 again... uuugh!
Yeah - those are fantastic! Color saturation and sharp as tacks!
I just went out to test the Mark III with something moving since I haven't had an op to do that yet and with GML coming up - maybe if someone sees something... a little heads up would be nice.
These are shots i just did a bit ago along with the exif data. I shot through about 20 shots - some were motion blur for sure and some were sharp. The cars were about 30 yards away from where i was standing, using a 300 ƒ2.8 on auto focus and IS in mode 1 since i was panning.
That's the thing about this camera, first, it has so much potential, you want it to be trouble free. Secondly, it will perform well on some shots and when you're just about ready to trust it, you get a bunch of junk. I've even caught myself rationalizing that a shot isn't "that soft", which I never have done before and don't want to get in the habit of. I got my retro MKIIN about an hour ago. My plan is to shoot the 1DS MKII and the MKIIN at GML, I'll do some more testing at the event with the MKIII, but I ain't a gonna trust it with the bulk of the event, sorry to say.
Shoot some more moving stuff with yours and see what you think. You'll know after the first day of GML if you're happy with it, the problem is, that's a day gone if you run into what I have. Let's stay in touch up there. Looks like Thursday's weather is "iffy" and the rest of the week looks incredible.
I am so bummed! I had hoped to travel to GML to meet at least a few of you and get some shots of awesome aircraft but it is not to be, I got crashed on my motorcycle and will not be able to travel for some time yet...dammit!
I will be wacthing this thread for your cool stuff though!!
Bagging the $4500 brick is not an option... I'll wait for the firmware upgrade. I can say the still shots are spot on perfcet focus and the images are like no other. I think I'll keep her!
Sorry to hear you had an accident on your bike - when I was in the band a long long time ago - i laid mine down and the other guys basically said - if you want to play in a band - any band - you gotta lose the bike. You can't play with broken or sprained arms and hands. About that time, Duane Allman didn't get the memo...
Rodolfo Paiz wrote:
No takers yet for the free tickets, folks... amazing, but true. And time is running out.
Rodolfo,
It looks like Jim, jbear, and I will all be there. Jim probably isn't going to need tickets. jbear and I are planning on doing general admission. Of course your passes would be an upgrade. But maybe someone else can make better use of your tickets, if they will be there longer? I've decided to just be at the show Sunday. If you get desparate to unload the tickets my email is jonwilker(((at)))gmail.com. Maybe jbear could use them Fri and Sat and I could Sun? Could you sell them online somewhere to recoup your $165?
For those who are going to GML - I'll be the short guy with a camera
I have a green lowepro backpack that I'll be wagging around and be wearing either an R7 golf hat or some weird kacky thing my wife bought me for my head.
Rodolfo Paiz wrote:
No takers yet for the free tickets, folks... amazing, but true. And time is running out.
Rodolfo,
Newbie here so bear with me. I will be attending GML Sat-Sun and would be able to use your tickets.
Just got the green light to go to GML, as originally Reno and GML in the same month was not going to happen. Chose Reno (needed the 'down the shute' unlimited sound fix!) and thought that was it. Just this past weekend my lovely wife was able to work her schedule out so now GML is back in.
Last night just purchased gen admin tickets since grandstand and box seats were already sold out.
Been reading the Canon-mount SLR forum since I decided to go digital and stumbled across this thread while looking for some advice on how to use my 100-400 IS. I was disappointed with the photos shot at Reno with this lens, alot of blurred shots. So two questions; on the 100-400 is using mode 2 handheld and panning the preferred choice? If panning in both x and y, if the planes are changing altitude, would it be better to turn off the IS.
Anyway, sorry for the long winded reply and my apologies if the 100-400 questions are sort of a hijack. I can PM you with my email address if the box seats are still available.
Thanks,
Mark
Hey Mark, hate to tell you this but I just picked up Rodolfo's tickets for my dad to have somewhere to sit during the shows. (He's in his 80s and I've been worried about him standing all day in the sun for three days.)
As to the 100-400 - I have one as well and shot my first airshow about a year ago with it and a 20D. I had OK success with it and I much prefer a zoom to a fixed for these types of events. I assumed the softness in the images were due to the 20D - but I shot another airshow two weeks ago this time with a 300 2.8 and the 20D and the images were a good bit better than with the 100-400. I can't compare the two events as technique probably had as much to do with my results. Tat said - I used the 100-400 on surf photos at the Banzai Pipeline and was very pleased with those shots. The difference was IS mode 1 on surf and mode 2 on the air. That could be the difference. Overall I'm very pleased with the 100-400 - its not the 300, its not even the 70-200 - but its still a great lens.
jbear2000 wrote:
Hey Mark, hate to tell you this but I just picked up Rodolfo's tickets for my dad to have somewhere to sit during the shows. (He's in his 80s and I've been worried about him standing all day in the sun for three days.)
Good to hear that the tickets will be put to good use.
I'll be the guy... let's see... Medium height and build, black short hair, with a Nikon D80 around my neck, likely with a 70-300 lens. With a black North Face backpack plus a small Tamrac black camera bag. If there's lots of sun I'll be wearing a dark brown canvas wide brimmed hat. Probably wearing shorts. There on Sunday. Really looking forward to this.
So how long do you folks usually stay at an air show? I haven't been to one in many years. For GML it looks like a great schedule, from 8 am all the way to 6 pm. But I'm wondering if 10 full hours of standing around in the sun looking at planes might possibly be too long? Perhaps that's heresy.
Just got back from GML. Fantastic show IMHO. Looking forward to seeing some shots from others. Very cool to see so many of the old warbirds in one place. But, the F-22 stole the show for me, AMAZING airplane!
Will post some of mine Sunday, looking forward to lot's of great shots from FM'ers in attandance.
Just spent a small piece of time going through my Mark III shots of GML and though there were some stinkers - my kill ratio was better than expected. Lotta work yet to do but click here for 1/3 of day one! I think center point and single shots instead of servo motodrive was the difference - but who knows?
jbear-
Super photos! You've got some skills. It looks like a great time there. Excellent lighting and sky, too.
I've got to work for a few more hours today and then I drive to Columbus tonight. I'll be at the show tomorrow all day. And the weather looks wonderful.
Any tips for GML tomorrow? And how many photos worth of memory cards would you say to have? I've got about enough for 650 shots in raw format. I'd think that's enough although I haven't been to an air show in 10 years.
