jerrykur wrote: I tried the 100-400 with both the 5D and the 1DMK2 and I find it is hit and miss. I had people drive at me with cars at 30-50 mph and got about 70% accuracy (very clear license plate) with the 1DMK2 and 60% with the 5D.
I owned a 1D2 and shot it side by side with the 5D for 3 months, including birds in flight. I would have to say my relative AF performance of the 1D2 and the 5D was quite close to your experience.
Greg Schneider wrote: Airshows are generally not a big challenge for an AF system, at least in my experience. Distances near infinity focus and only with small changes in focus distance
With sideways shots, I'd agree. But with a tiny spec of a jet coming straight at you, approaching and entirely filling the frame in perhaps 4 seconds of time, at full afterburner on and 600 mph, I'd have to disagree. The depth of field of a 400mm to 500mm lens is very slim, even near infinity, and almost in focus isn't good enough.
rsg_1 wrote:
I use the 220EX, and get good results, and am hesitant about using a non-Canon flash on the hot shoe as it could possibly damage the body.
I wouldn't be, all dslrs since the 10D can cope with 250V through the hotshoe or pc socket
Moving subjects: Unless the speed is extremely fast (a hundred miles an hour or faster), an object moving directly toward or directly away from the camera is the easiest for AI Servo predictive focus to track...because it's predictable. The 1-Series Mk II models should be better with faster subjects because of faster processors--however the focusing speed of the lens plays here as well. Some lenses can move their lens groups faster than others.
Dim Light: Westfall has also said the 5D is better in low light than the 1-Series Mk II models.
Putting the 1-Series AF system into any consumer camera: It's not just the number of focusing points, but the size as well. Notice how closely the focus points in the 1-Series are to one another. In order to put that many points in a consumer camera, Canon would have to increase the precision of the focusing screen frame substantially, from one with 2-3mm of tolerance in the horizontal plane to <1mm tolerance. That would raise the cost substantially.
This is also, by the way, why the 1-Series has a 100-percent view while the consumer cameras have a 98% or less view--masking down the view in the consumer cameras allows the focusing screen to have 2-3mm of slop in the horizontal plane without showing more in the viewscreen than will be recorded.
Well... after reading 90 pages, 70 of which are complaints, I think the smart thing would be for all of you who pre-ordered to cancel your 5DMKII orders so that I can move up on the waiting list
GregM5 wrote:
Well... after reading 90 pages, 70 of which are complaints, I think the smart thing would be for all of you who pre-ordered to cancel your 5DMKII orders so that I can move up on the waiting list
No, they are just waiting to take delivery so they can re-sell them on the FM buy-sell page for a 20% premium.
Don Clary wrote:
Actually, it was designed so as to NOT compete with 1D3.
Then they shouldn't have come out with it at all. Companies don't come out with models just so that they don't compete with another of their own.
It has its own purpose. And it does very well for that.
You might as well say that the 1D and 1Ds were designed specifically not to compete with each other. They weren't. They were design with specific goals in mind.
Just as the 5D and 5D mkII were.
Besides, the 5D outsells the 1D and 1Ds by a wide margin.
Mel Gross wrote:
Are you sure? I am still reading articles even in Pop Photography, warning about high voltage flash sync.
You may not like the mag, but they do know their stuff.
Yes I had a dialogue with Chuck Westfall on the subject over at Galbraith's. The 10D couldn't take more than 6-10v (from memory), but after that the bodies were made much more robust against voltages.
A modern flash will be fine I'm sure, if not convinced you could contact Sunpak.
I'm not sure which Sunpak flashes you are discussing, but many of them are specifically made to support Canon equipment. I tried a PX40Z on my G9 and it worked fine. But, the small Sunpack flashes are not powerful enough to be used for great bounce results (even if they tilt).
It's the smallest flash unit with bounce capability, and it has a pretty decent Guide Number of 20. Most built-in flash units have a GN of only 12 with no tilt capability. It's essentially for flash fill, and I've shown (on pg 89) that it's strong enough to bounce it off a fairly low ceiling.
The flash is NOT meant to replace your EX580 .... and it's certainly better than a built-in flash.
UCSB wrote:
I'm not sure which Sunpak flashes you are discussing, but many of them are specifically made to support Canon equipment. I tried a PX40Z on my G9 and it worked fine. But, the small Sunpack flashes are not powerful enough to be used for great bounce results (even if they tilt).
dhphoto wrote:
Yes I had a dialogue with Chuck Westfall on the subject over at Galbraith's. The 10D couldn't take more than 6-10v (from memory), but after that the bodies were made much more robust against voltages.
A modern flash will be fine I'm sure, if not convinced you could contact Sunpak.
David
If true, that would be good, but most modern flashes do use 6 volts, or some other low voltage for triggering. So, its only old models that could be a problem.
Are you sure? I am still reading articles even in Pop Photography, warning about high voltage flash sync.
All of Canon's consumer DSLRs from 20D onwards have been good up to 250 volts. The 1-Series has always been good for 250 volts.
That doesn't totally negate the need for care--some older flash units, like the Japanese-made Vivitar 283s could have sync voltages up to 400 volts. But anything made in the last five or six years should be no more than 12 volts--which is the ISO standard. Most are down in the 5-6 volt range.
RDKirk wrote:
All of Canon's consumer DSLRs from 20D onwards have been good up to 250 volts. The 1-Series has always been good for 250 volts.
That doesn't totally negate the need for care--some older flash units, like the Japanese-made Vivitar 283s could have sync voltages up to 400 volts. But anything made in the last five or six years should be no more than 12 volts--which is the ISO standard. Most are down in the 5-6 volt range.
I know about the flashes. It's interesting that cameras and flashes are going in different directions.
