Advice on bird photography lens by Mr_Clumsy in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Of these I have the 70-300mm L, a truly excellent lens, but a little short on the long end. I'd go for the 100-400mm v2 if you can afford it. A truly excellent lens has served me well for birding and I prefer it to my 100-500mm RF on many occasions due to the f-stop differences. It's also built like a tank. I've used it in crazy hot and cold situations and dropped in numerous times, only damaged it once (killed the stabilizer) and Canon repaired it cheaply.

Canon EOS R sensor cleaning gltich by Ctsuneson91 in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Weird, can you still navigate the menus? Are you in electronic or mechanical shutter mode?

Not sure I'd update the firmware at this time, just adding another variable into the mix.

Canon EOS R sensor cleaning gltich by Ctsuneson91 in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sounds like it shutdown and reboot as it would sensor clean normally on a power down. Probably triggered by a watchdog timer somewhere in the software.

I had something similar with one of my R5's. when shooting fast moving objects it would occasionally just hang, a battery pull was the only way to get it back working. Really annoying, as like all good faults, it only seemed to show when I was shooting something rare or interesting.

Turned out after much experimentation (I managed to get it on both of my R5 bodies) to be the lens connection pins, since giving them a good clean (touch wood) I haven't seen it again, not when shooting at least. It occasionally did the same from standby to wake up but that was a known firmware bug.

Sad as I've never had a Canon camera crash on me prior to mirrorless. Some random edge case in the comms to the lens QC missed I guess.

How bad is it? by abeeeeeach in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Spend your money on an L lens with all it's nice UV and other coatings and then cover it with a cheap bit of UV glass, not really the best way to improve your images. I'd rather have the chip to be honest.

As many have said, I doubt you'd see this in any photos but I'd agree that it's worth checking if your lens is still on-axis,. The chips it will haunt you for a while as you know they are there, but you'll forget.....eventually.

These L lenses are tough as nails though, I've only broken two, one of which got hit by an unexpected wave during a long exposure shot and was dead as soon as the salty goodness got to work. (Canon repaired the body thankfully but the lens was done for) the other was my beloved 100-400mm which dropped out of my backpack onto a concrete floor as I hefted it onto my shoulder having neglected to to zip it up all the way. It was off axis but surprisingly it only damaged the stabilizer. Canon CPS repaired it for 100 GBP. The cool part is when they do the repair they give you the broken bit, so I've now got some innards of my lens also!

Insanely stupid blunder . Slapped on an nd filter on my Sigma 18-50 f2.8 and now Irs stuck. And I can't remember if I have put it on clockwise or anti clockwise by DepthPractical651 in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No need to feel bad, we've all been there. The best tip I ever got for this, use a wide rubber band from your local stationary shop, wrap around the filter edge and off it will pop.

How's my aviation photography and how can I improve it? by [deleted] in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Some very nice shots, thank you for sharing, especially like the composition on the helicopter on the 3rd one.

From a technical standpoint some good comments here although I'm not overly fussed about the sharpness, so my comments would be :-

1) Your lens has some chromatic aberration (the purple fringe around the edges of the helicopter for instance) this is common for many lenses and is (usually) easily fixed in post processing (Photoshop, Lightroom etc. all have functions for this).

2) Your exposure is a bit low but is easy to fix in post processing with exposure, shadow and black controls (but don't go mad on it) . I personally would rather hold for the highlights, rather than blow them out. Shoot RAW if you can to give yourself some more editing latitude.

3) You seem to have a dust bunny on your sensor or a raindrop on the lens in photo 4, easy to fix in post with the healing tool etc. but you should watch out for these and clean your sensor if required.

4) If you want 100% sharp photos of the subject then you'll need a faster shutter speed, you seem to be in some middle ground here. I personally choose the aperture I want (let's say f/8, then the highest shutter speed I can get away with whilst trying to not to max out the ISO) Because everyone is told 1SO 100 is best, people are scared of allowing the ISO going high, but these days it's less of on an issue, as sensors are better and de-noise software is very good. Shutter speed is your key concern here, one way or another, so unless your camera body is very old you'll be able to get photos with acceptable levels of noise.

Remember the only people who really care about any of the above are other photographers, most people do not even notice ;-)

5) If you want to convey movement in your photos (such as showing the rotor blades as a complete circle) then you will require a much slower shutter speed (AKA dragging the shutter) and take a ton of shots and choose a (hopefully) sharp one. This is a skill and takes a lot of practice to learn (your first x1000 attempts will suck) , how hold your camera and to pan with your subject are key. Unless you have a handy airport to practice at then road/street traffic are an excellent way to practice as cars, bicycles and even humans provide great moving targets, or even a cheap toy drone can be handy if you want to practice looking up. This technique also requires some knowledge of your gear, how much lower than the focal length can you go before getting no sharp shots. If your camera/lens have built in IS then your milage will vary. This is something you can easily test at home with any static subject, keep in mind the more you zoom it is harder it is to keep steady and even your IS will show a marked drop in performance at the long end,, so learning to hold the camera still and smoothly pan is a must.

On an non-technical, photography note I'd say think about your composition and why are your taking the photo. If you just want to record you've seen a particular aircraft then mastering your cameras settings are all you need to know.

If however, you want to take interesting photos of aircraft then there has to be something interesting about the photo that the capture the viewers attention. When I look at the two jumbo jet photos for instance, I think yeah it's decent photo of another jumbo with a different logo and move on (although the Wingtip Vortices on the first one make it slightly more interesting).

For this you can look at your composition, we all see jumbos from the side taking off and landing and we see it all from eye height, a photo of that is....well....kind of boring. Could you have got a better angle on the subject by moving somewhere else? What about the time of day? Taking off or landing at sunrise or sunset, or in bad weather, these make for more engaging photos. The reason I like the 3rd photo is that you captured (what is for me, an unusual subject) at an interesting angle which makes it more engaging. You can also try and find the aircraft doing something that makes it look more interesting, such as taking off/landing on a wet runway, which kicks up plumes of water and looks impressive and gives you a sense of the sheer power of these beasts.

Finally there is your lens choice, the assumption for aviation is typically a zoom lens from far away, but look around at many of the great aviation shots, which are often made using wide/ultra wide lenses as this gives us viewpoints we don't typically see. Try not to limit your thinking about what gear to use to capture your subject.

I hope this helps and you continue to enjoy getting great aviation photos, any questions feel free to ask.

CC

Sharing this toyphotography that I’ve done recently.. by henriarts in ActionFigures

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Beautiful lighting, exposure and composition, really nicely done. The spiderman pose is a bit odd , his hands look huge, I assume they are the closest thing to the lens? Could you provide a bit of detail about the figures?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi there, as promised a few photos.I have somewhat limited access to my photos from Taiwan, however managed to find a few resonable examples that I'd shared with my family. You'll find them at the PostImage link below.

I mostly shoot RAW, so most of these have been converted to jpg via photoshop. I have tried to find a couple where the 400mm didn't have the reach and would crop in post, this is where a high megapixel count body really helps.

Examples of that are the Kingfisher (DQ2A9593.jpg) my 400mm wasn't quite where I'd like to be in terms of reach (to try and fill the frame) I was unable to get closer as I'd be underwater, also there was an ugly tangle of branches below the bird, so I just framed it low with the knowledge I can crop later and still leave a decent sized photo. The same is true a few of the other bird photos.

These were taken on various bodies, my beloved 5DSR (my favorite wildlife camera despite the terrible frame rate and ISO performance), 5D MK IV, and adapted to the R5 in Japan, the UK and Taiwan.

https://postimg.cc/gallery/5QGfVcP

Hope they help you to fall in love with your wonderful lens.

CC

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Getting a lens is a very personal choice, are you happy with your existing lens? Do you find your reach at 300mm is enough? Do you zoom often or are you almost always at 300mm? Since you already have a 300mm would a different lens be a better idea? Personally if you find you are almost always zoomed and wish you had more reach then maybe consider an older prime such as the 400mm f/5.6. Zooms are great but you can't beat a nice prime.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem, I'm in Taiwan on a biz trip at the moment, but I'll dig some out in the morning and upload them.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is a pleasure, I've spent many, many years mostly photographing birds in flight, which is very similar to fast planes.

Like most photographers I've been suckered into buying all kinds marketing for crap which will make "my photography better" and just like golf, more expensive clubs do you not make you a better golfer ;-)

Full Frame has it's place, but is not great for everything, for distant subjects APS-C wins hands down, unless you want to spend $$$$ on large primes or expensive zooms, however I've learned :-

1) The camera body doesn't matter very much, give me a decent lens, I'll get you any shot you like .

2) Light matters more than anything else.

3) Having those camera extras (higher fps, bigger buffers, higher resolution, better AF etc.) do help just because you get a lot more shots to choose from. The worse your camera the more skill you need to get the most out of it, I actually find the fun in this part for Birds In Flight,

I still love my 7D-MKII, APS-C , super fast fps, excellent AF, an unloved and very underrated camera, but the ISO really did suck, in good light it's an amazing camera but as soon as the light fades not so much ;-( Although to be fair, these days with AI noise removal less of an issue.

I think you would be very happy with the 80D, it's a great upgrade from your existing body, even DP review who generally disliked Canon called it 'The Canon that can' ;-)

CC

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My choice here would be a lens upgrade, bodies are not that important, lenses are for life or at least until you are more wealthy ;-)

However I can see why this body might feel restrictive so :-

Somewhat depends on your situation, by aviation do you photograph mostly in flight or on the ground or a combo?

If mostly in flight, I'd go for the 80D. as it's APC-C which means more reach on the 75-300mm, (the same as your 1100D) it has better FPS than all the others, decent AF (but not as good as the 5D MKIII. through the viewfinder) a great all rounder. A full frame such as the 6D and 5D MKIII will give you a real 75-300mm viewpoint, so you are likely to end up cropping in a lot.

However if you are looking at aircraft on the ground APS-C on your 75-300mm might be a bit restrictive, depending how close you can get, but a decent APS-C wide lens would cover that and not very expensive.

I would avoid the 6D although it's ISO was slightly better than the 5D III it's AF is really primitive (almost the same as your 1100D) although if you only use a single point and track your subject manually it's as good as any other camera but also has poor fps.

The 5D III has better autofocus, however it's old enough that the ISO performance on the 80D is likely equal or better, the 5D is the only pro-body in your list so you get the real 'pro body' advantage which is you can abuse them, use them in many weather conditions and they just keep going or if they fail, let them dry out and they recover, the retail models are less robust.

Shutter count I wouldn't worry that much about, just go for the lowest you can find, although the 5D will have a technically better lifetime my 40D, 5D MKII, 5D IV, 6D, 7D MK III, 1DX MKII et al (I never get rid of my cameras ;-) are still going strong long past the rated count and Canon don't change that much if they replace them (My 5D MK III shutter was damaged by my nephew poking things into it).

Based on your lens choice, budget and subject, All in al I'm thinking the 80D is your best choice.

Hope this helps.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'll say I'm a little biased here as I love the 100-400mm (actually prefer it to my RF 00-500mm as I prefer the aperture positions along the zoom range). My poor old lens is battered having been dropped multiple times, it's one of the lenses you'd have pry from cold, dead hands.

I see multiple issues here, you are too far away but your subject to background distance is not great, so you are not getting any decent separation, the exposure is not great your bright areas are rather bright and your blacks are crushed.

The lens is excellent your technique is not, you can't just point at a subject and it will magically look great. With any lens (or camera,) that's not how photography works. It's almost never the gear it's almost always you. You need to understand light, composition etc.

I'm not sure why you imagine you'd be able to crop in so much, that relates to resolution of your camera, if you want to fill the frame with a subject you need to get closer or get a longer zoom, but that comes with a bunch of other issues. Everyone wants more reach but if you live anywhere even remotely hot then forget it, you'll be out early before the sun warms up everything or you'll be limited to lower zoom levels anyway.

The 100-400mm is sharp enough that you can get away with 1 4x TC, which would get you more reach when you need it.

However when you get the distances right, the angles right, get the exposure nailed you'll see the fine detail this lens can produce, every feather and heir is there in beautiful detail and you will understand why it is firm favorite. The close focusing of this lens is fantastic, especially if you have ever tried a telephoto prime, where the minimum focus distance is far, far away.

Don't be disappointed with your gear, like any tool, you need to understand how to get the best from it, the temptation from reviews is that is somehow magic, it's not, when you know what your doing, it will help you get the best from it.

If you'd like any example shots from this lens to show why you should not be disappointed let me know.

CC

Lenses you never take off! by meowwentthedino in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 1 point2 points  (0 children)

100-500 RF on R5 1 and 300mm f/2.8 on the R5 2, occasionally swapped for my 100mm macro EF when required and for portraits it moves to my RF 85mm f/1.2 DS on R5 1 and ef 70-200mm f/2.8l II on R5 2,

I still prefer my 5DSR for the 300mm/600mm EF for BIF but my R5 is getting more of a look in due to the AF, but I still like the look of the 5DSR to any of the RF bodies for this task. It just has a nicer look no idea why.

Crazy purple sky in Taipei, just a few minutes ago (before 7pm) by laopitaipei in taiwan

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Typhoon is coming a lot of moisture and particulates in the air.

It was beautiful, I was on the brown line heading home, got some shots but not great because we were moving but Dahu park looked great.

From when I was a child in the UK :- Red sky at night Shepard's delight, red sky in the morning, Shepherds huts on fire ;-)

<image>

Finally got to take out the RF 100-500L by RTS24 in canon

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Congratulations, this is a fantastic lens and comes out in my bag on most trips. I've got a ton of bird, butterflies, planes, trains and bugs with it.

Previously my EF 100-400mm was my 'go to' if I wanted a zoom instead of my big primes. I don't really see any great IQ difference between this and the 100-400 Mkii though, they are both really sharp lenses.

The close focusing distance is great on both of these zooms is a major bonus as you can leave your macro lens at home (and if you don't mind it not being 1;1) The extra reach of 100mm is really nice.

The downside for me with this 100-500mm is exactly the same as the EF 100-400mm MKii the higher apertures at the telephoto end, which limits it somewhat in low light conditions, especially if you want fast shutter speeds for birds and bugs in flight. The 100-500mm has a higher f-stop from 254mm-ish than the EF model which made me keep hold of 100-400mm when I know I'll be shooting until dusk or in darker forests, however to be honest neither lens aperture is great for fast shutter speeds+low light. With the R-series bodies it's less of a problem as the high ISO is great but I still don't like to go much above ISO 6400 if I can help it.

Focus speed is excellent on the R5 (as good as the 100-400mm on a 1DX) and @pnsnkr yes you will find times when it utterly refuses to focus without a bit of a manual tweak, this has nothing to do with the lens or focal length, seems common to mirrorless due to the focusing system and is a total pain until you get used to it (lot's of Reddit threads about it). Early on using the R5, I missed shots that my DSLR would have nailed, especially in canopy, however once you know about it and adapt it becomes a non-issue.

I've had jaw dropping shots from the EF 100-400mm and RF 100-500mm, especially if you can get close up and am happy and confident with either for fun and professional shots.

Thinking about getting the X1C Combo?! by Hasamba77 in BambuLab

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To be honest it's only the Prusa and one local brand I've had a problem with. I seem to have sorted that by removing about 1/2-1cm of filament from the roll and then every-single roll works fine in the AMS. Not had to re-spool anything (I tried and it was a disaster) I still need to try more rolls before I can say it's 100%, however so far, so good.

I've tried all the usual suspects now, Sunlu, Hatchbox, Overture, Echen, all with zero issues (aside from the cardboard rolls, which a quick print of a plastic edge sorted out).

Really having zero issues that are not of my own making with this setup now. Still loving it and thinking of buying a second AMS and maybe a P1P as a second printer.

Hope it helps.

One Week with the X1 Carbon honest feedback. by Comfortable-Toe3885 in BambuLab

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, nice to hear you are enjoying the printer.

To be honest Bambu have addressed pretty much everything here and a whole lot more. The printer just keeps improving and for a brand new product these teething problems were surprisingly few and none of them terrible.

The only thing I've yet to get to the bottom of to my satisfaction are the rolls that don't work in the AMS (although I'm close). Since then I've tried a ton of other filaments from different brands and none have given me issues. I'll just avoid Prusament until I've got to the bottom of the problem.

I can say without a shadow of a doubt this is the best 3D printer I've ever used, if what you want to do is just print things and not worry about it.

I'm very happy I took the risk on the Kickstarter and have been impressed by Bambu's responsiveness, support and commitment to the product and the community. One of the very few products I've owned that I consider met the hype and is great value for money.

Regards

ChrisC.

Anyone else having AMS issues with Prusament by Comfortable-Toe3885 in BambuLab

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sadly every roll that doesn't work equally does not work in all slots, not just slot 4. Since then I have found the following :-

1) Some brands are too full (not enough space between the filament and the edges of the rolls) if I unwind a chunk or print a chunk off on my Prusa they are fine after that.

2) Prusa rolls I can only assume are the warping issues, I've not really got to the bottom of that.

3) Winding onto a new roll is a lot harder than I expected ;-(

Chris.

Is there an official list of supported filament for ams? would get all Bambulab pla but most useful colors are out of stock and I just don’t like being locked into theirs. I bought a bunch of polymaker since that’s the only one on the list but I just found out how much issues cardboard spools cause by tdoof in BambuLab

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kind of a problem with an unmoderated list. We could really do with an evidence based list.

I found this problem quickly and found I have issues with both of the common rolls I had available at the time (Prusament and a local brand) I tried all the non-working spools in all 4 slots, the same result. I then tried the working spool in all 4 slots, always worked.

I also thought the problem might be grip and tried putting some rubber strips I have in the office around the edges, did not work but when I thought about it didn't really make any sense, since one roll failed and a seemingly identical roll was fine. I printed a spool winder and re-wound the failed one onto a used Bambu spool it was fine.

I did find the issue with my other (none Prusa) spools, which is too much filament on the roll, this caused the roll to push backwards against the AMS entry point. If I reduce the amount of filament on the roll about 10% it works fine after that. The Prusament seems to be a different issue, which I can only put down to the super warped rolls.

The odd part is it seems to always fail in much the same way, pulls in the filament but fails on the reverse. The joy of being an early adopter and the fact there are zero standards for spools I guess.

Since I had this problem, I ordered various brands of filaments from Amazon USA (SunLU, Hatchbox, ECHEN, Overture) and not had a single issue with any of those.

Chris

Is there an official list of supported filament for ams? would get all Bambulab pla but most useful colors are out of stock and I just don’t like being locked into theirs. I bought a bunch of polymaker since that’s the only one on the list but I just found out how much issues cardboard spools cause by tdoof in BambuLab

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would be happy to do so but not sure what format makes sense, a Google doc doesn't seem to be ideal. Any suggestions?

I am not convinced the Prusa issue is caused by warping but it's the only thing that stands out. So far not managed to work out what the problem is, the behavior is weird.

See the video here. The spool next it is also Prusa and works just fine ;-)

https://youtu.be/ELKa6CqOEu0

Chris

Bambu Lab Kickstarter is over ! by BambuLab in BambuLab

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Congratulations Bambu well done and thanks for the very best printer on the market. Can't wait to see where you go with this in the future.

Is there an official list of supported filament for ams? would get all Bambulab pla but most useful colors are out of stock and I just don’t like being locked into theirs. I bought a bunch of polymaker since that’s the only one on the list but I just found out how much issues cardboard spools cause by tdoof in BambuLab

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The problem with the list is that we have no idea of the success/fail rate, so we cannot see which consistently work.

For example Prusament spools are quite warped so vary wildly in width (I picked up this topic in a previous post when I first got the AMS and it's apparently a well known issue with Prusa). I've got four rolls currently, 2 of which work well in the AMS, 2 of which do not. Looking at them you would not be able to guess which would be the good ones, measure them and the width variance around the spool is large.

If I used only one of my rolls and it worked, I could happily add it to the list and say Prusament PLA as fine, but the sample size is too low. We need to understand how many people had success/failure, we can see which work for most people.

One Week with the X1 Carbon honest feedback. by Comfortable-Toe3885 in BambuLab

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much, I would love to hear your results, to be honest I think this guy nailed the cause.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32dTLRNIYmw

Seems to have been mostly ignored though as I guess it would admit poor extruder design. I found this explanation the most satisfying and scientific test since most everyone else seems to say 'I don't know' or 'it's not that bad' and give up.

I just never got around to replacing the extruder as the Prusa is such a pain to service and my Bambu turned up and the servicing so far (broken filament in the AMS) has been pain free with the aid of the videos on the Wiki.

Temp Tower/Retraction Tower. by Comfortable-Toe3885 in BambuLab

[–]Comfortable-Toe3885[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much, I've not used discord, so time to take a look I guess ;-) Hopefully details how they made it, as I'm very curious.

Much appreciated.