Hopefully you guys enjoy it and get all the info you need to try some flashing…

Let’s start by identifying sand explaining our equipment we use. Here’s the big boy:

So this is an Alien Bee B1600 which is the most powerful cheap manual flash they have and retails for $359.95. Comes with everything you see including the cone. So here’s a breakdown.

1. This is the power slider. Pretty self-explanitory, just slide for more or less power. Recycling time is 2 seconds after a full power discharge. Considering it’s *about 4 times more powerful then a 580EX II, that’s pretty darn good. Also if you didn’t know, the less power you need  the faster it is to recycle. This means if I use the AB1600 at 1/4 or under the recycle time is basically instant which is a huge plus! Especially when Holly and my trigger happy fingers are shooting from the same light.

2. This is the model lamp toggle. #7 which is the actual bulb that lights up for constant light. This is mostly for studios where they turn down the lights to cut down on unwanted ambient light. This way the light stays on like a lightbulb in between flashes so you can see your subject and auto focus. The track button dims and brightens the modeling light depending on the power slider, and the cycle button lets you know when you have full power. After a big flash the model light dims, then gradually brightens until you have full power again. If you are using the vegabond portable battery it is recommended you don’t use the modeling lamp as it degrades the battery very rapidly which I learned the hard way.

3. These tell you what’s going on with your light. the OK light is red until full power is ready to go, and is green when full. The dump button lights up when you turn the power on but that power is not discharged yet so your flash will be brighter then intended. Just hit Test to discharge a flash quickly or just to make sure it’s working. The sync plug is where your MM1 sync cord goes to your pocket wizard.

4. this little hole is for an umbrella stalk if you chose to use one.

5. This cone is the standard attachment that comes with the unit. Not too soft, but small and works when you don’t want to drag out the softbox for a quick shot… Works ok in a pinch.

6. These little pinchers compress 4 little clampers so you can slide on a light modifier and then lock it in by releasing the pinchers.

7. This is the main blub that is putting out all the power (and it’s a lot of power!

(note to self) If the flash unit it on, look away when connecting or disconnecting a Pocket Wizard as it will flash since the sync cords make contact. Being flashed in the eyes that close is really not a good idea and you will be blind for 1-30 seconds =)

One downfall to the AlienBees set up is that you need portable power when an outlet isn’t available. So that means you have to lug around one of these: Vegabond

Here is the softbox we use that was purchased from Paul Buff who makes all Alien Bees and White Lightning products. It’s called the FSB2436 Foldable Medium Softbox

(24″ x 36″) $119

It is very quick to expand and clip on, and has been pretty durable. Just peel back some of the velcro and attach the two pieces. Balance is not an issue with the AB since it sits back unlike the White Lightning which has the stand attachment in the middle of the longer and heavier unit creating balance issues. With any light modifier you have a loss of light (which is why a more powerful flash always comes in handy) This softbox is rated for a 2 stop loss (i think) some modifiers lose more but that’s pretty standard.

PS: If you are going to rent the White Lightning unit (which is basically the same as an AB) make sure you get a MP1 sync cord or you won’t be able to connect it to your pocket wizards.

You can find other things to use on their site, but this has been the quickest for us which is ideal since we move around a lot. I also want to try a beauty or moon dish.

One thing that is essential for bouncing off reception ceilings is a snoot. They have ones you can buy but they are expensive and you loose a lot of power. I made one myself and while I am not done yet, it’s much better then nothing. Pretty easy to make. Just took two thick pages from Holly’s sketch book, cut out the top and bottom for a snug fit, and painted it black so no stray light spills out of the front making unwanted shadows since I stand in front if it. I will eventually make a metal one with a grid inside to direct the flash even more but this does the trick!

The other flashes we use are 2 580EX IIs and a 430EX II when the others are taken up.

We don’t believe in shooting in the standard eTTL mode so when I turn them on i hit the MODE button and go right to M for manual. usually for receptions I start at 1/4 power and adjust from there. If I am bouncing I usually set it to 70 to 105mm to keep the beam focused until it hits the ceiling and disperses. The Pilot light is just saying when it’s ready to fire at the set power amount. To test batteries for this unit I set it to 1/1 (full power) and hit the button. If it’s not recycled within 4 seconds, the batteries are best to be replaced. The front contains the ever helpful AF assist beam and the infrared triggering unit, which I find way too inconsistent since you need a line of site for it to work. I am trying hard to figure out a way to make an AF assist beam work with the Pocket Wizards… more on that later.

This is the connections on a 580EX II. 1. is a booster pack connection for the thing on the right. It houses 8 extra AA batteries which will cut down on your recycle time considerably. We bought 2 before we bought the AB. So we are actually selling them both! See some details here. 2. Is just the sync cord plug which the Pocket Wizards actually come with. The only beef I have had with this is that the cord sometimes has a hard time staying on, or connecting enough to fire… sometimes you have to put pressure on it, but I have put tape on the cord keeping pressure and it works ok. 3. is a threaded connector, that I haven’t found a use for yet but I am sure it’s useful for something! =)

The benefit of buying a 580EX II over a 430EX II is 1. More power and faster recycling. 2. 580EX II has booster and PW connections. With a 430EX II you need a hot-shoe sync cord adapter for about $50. 3. The 580EX II flash head swivels more ways which is very helpful for shooting details, downward with the flash backwards and up.

If you can spend the money, the 580EX II is very worth it. But a 430EX II should do fine and is better then nothing!

A good tip for the 580EX II while using it on a stand: Set the custom functions to no auto power-off as it can be very frustrating if you go more then 5 minutes without a trigger. Just make sure you turn them off at the end of the night or it will be dead by morning. Just hold the C.Fn button and go to C.Fn 01 and use option 01 to disable.

Here are our triggering apparatuses:

The Bottoms are our Plus IIs (of which we have 3.) Also our Mini TT1 . While the Plus IIs can be used as both a transmitter (on your camera) and receiver (on your flash) The Mini TT1 is for on camera transmitting only. As for pocket wizards, I think the whole TTL features are stupid since we decide what flash output we want so the Plus IIs will be fine for everyone and everything. They are pretty simple though, as long as your channels are the same and you are within 1600 ft. you should have no problems!

Above is the Canon ST-E2 which uses canon’s Infrared triggering system which as I said earlier, is way too inconsistent for me. What IS sweet is that it has the AF assist beam which I despeatly need in many receptions. Problem is the pocket wizards don’t offer that. So I am working on how to get the best from both worlds.

I bought the Mini TT1 both because it is smaller to mount on my camera, and for hope that I could use with the above Canon ST-E2 which has AF assist. I am still working on that but here is what it looks like together.

For some reason I can’t get the pair to trigger all the units on the triggered channel, and being higher then it was designed for, the aAF beam is slightly above the center focus area. For example if I wanted to focus on the flower and the center AF point was on it, the beam is too high to be seen. So I am working on a fix for that, but it sure is a problem that needs to have a solution!

Here is a good thing to help your PWs stay on your lightstand. You can get one here. This is also pretty cool to get some different flash colors for creative lighting (Gel Filters) Just put it right over the flash and you have some color to work with!

Lightstands are pretty generic, I wouldn’t spend much more the $60-70 for a sturdy one.

Also for good softboxes you can use for flash guns like a 580EX II or Sb800 check here for what I know to be for the best option.

That’s all the equipment knowledge I can think of for now hope it thoroughly swelled your brains enough to wait for the next post about using flash with your other settings and how to get a look impossible with natural light!

P.S. If you want to keep me motivated to keep doing these technical articles then you are going to have to help ME help YOU that means anything you buy from the links you click including the one below helps me have time to do what I do! So spend all your moneys! But seriously borrowlenses.com is the only place i rent equitment and has been great from prices to customer service. Please give them a try and you won’t regret it!

We like a lot of people started out as proud natural light photographers. I am not knocking that at all because we still do some really awesome stuff without the flash and I have seen other people use ambient light in amazing ways. But the problem with that is sometimes you can’t control the light and you are faced with a great challenge of making images that look like you should be paid to make them. Like it or not, it’s my opinion that you have a responsibility to your clients to be prepared in every situation whether there is good light to work with or not. Besides, it’s really not as daunting as you think =) I promise I will break you in gently.

My first topic is something I have been experimenting with the last few weddings to get a different and more interesting look at receptions, but it can very easily transfer into our portrait work especially now that I know what things are going to do.

Shooting a reception can be a daunting task if you expect to do a good job anyway! That has been some of the most stressful times during a wedding because there is so many obstacles and sometimes literally 5 minutes to figure it out and make it look epic. The upside is once you know what you are doing and have some cool techniques up your sleeve you can get some mind blowing shots! This portion of our flash series focuses on this technique called backlighting. It’s actually pretty simple to do once you get used to it, but I ran a whole load of tests to see how you get the best looking back light and how to get the most out of your flashes battery capacity and recycling times. Here’s a few cool shots we’ve gotten thus far:

So let me show you how I am setting up these shots:

See the sweet reception venues I get to shoot at? How could I not get awesome shots?!

Anyway, so I have a 580EX II on a stand, an Alienbee 1600 (pointed up at around 45 degrees with a paper snoot attached) behind me both triggered by pocket wizards. We will have another post with all the flash stuff we use so just hold your pants on for now!

So when I scope out a dance floor for shots I look for the most appealing backgrounds, hopefully with some little twinkly lights, or candlelight… So knowing I want to shoot in that direction, I set up my main flash behind me and bounce it over my head for some very soft fill light. Then I just set up the 580EX II across the dance floor so I am for the most part shooting right into it. If I can help it, the backlit flash looks the best when its slightly clipped by someone so the light is cresting them, but it can take a few shots to get it!

See it’s not too hard, just takes a little bit of practice! now lets see what different settings and lenses produce when you backlight.

First let’s test the flash’s intensity effect when I bring up and down the iso or flash output (which after testing both is exactly the same)

For this test I used a 50mm f/1.4 at f/8 increasing power in full stops which for flash would be 1/128th, 1/64th, 1/32nd, 1/16th ect. So in the flashes manual settings if I were to use 1/1 power I would be using the maximum flash power available. So 1/16th power would be, well 1/16th of the flash’s maximum power output.

For ISO, full stops come in 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600ISO ect. So I could change either of those settings alike to get the same results in this aspect.

Remember also that your camera’s distance from the flash will affect the intensity as well. All these shots were from the same distance. I would say the 4th or 5th example would be the sweet spot but it depends on the look you want. So if I wanted the 4th one and my camera was at f/8, 1/180th (shutter speed) and ISO 100 I would need to set the flash power to 1/16th, which is usually what I set it at for this kind of thing (though I adjust my iso through the night)

Next lets take a look at the flash’s zooming function which can be changed on this 580EX II:

Just hit the zoom button and turn the wheel! For this test I did 14mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 70mm and 105mm. To achieve 14mm you will have to pull out the little diffuser thing. I personally only pull it out enough to get 14mm but don’t flip it down. There’s not a ton of difference but I think 35mm looks the cleanest while still maintaining intensity. The zoom setting is much more useful for bouncing up which I will talk about soon.

Probably the most important way to control how your backlight looks is changing the aperture. Since your lens has 5-9 aperture blades to control how much light enters your lens, when the blades contract they become less round which creates a light leak effect so the light bends around the point where the blades intersect. Thus the smaller your aperture is, the more accute the intersecting angle becomes. At least that’s how I understand it… Even if I am wrong, the results are the same!

For this test to keep intensity consistent I adjusted the ISO to compensate for the smaller aperture. Starting at f/1.4 all the way up to f/22.

Since there is other aspects of your image effected when you stop down to f/22 you have to keep some balance usually unless you dont care about ambient light and have a REAL powerful flash. That being said I would say f/5.6 or f/8 would be the best balance of getting the coolest star shape while not sacrificing the other factors in play. If you are confused by that here’s what I mean: If you are in a normal dim reception with a flash you would maybe need the following settings: f/2.0, 1/60th shutter speed, iso 400 with a flash power of 1/4th. To get f/22 and the coolest star you would need to give up 7 (!!) stops in one of the other settings (or split up) that means you would have to set your iso to 51,200, or bump up your flash to full power and then you could make your iso “only” 12,800 which on any camera looks less then ideal. Since flash output isn’t affected by shutter speed, compensating with that doesn’t so much help. So long story short, if you want cool flair f/5.6 or f/8 would be a good value.

On a side note, If you are using a tripod and just doing other stuff where shutter speed doesn’t matter you can do cool shots like this with super small aperture.

This was my 14mm so cool stars come at “larger” apertures like this one at f/11. To compensate I needed to leave the shutter open for 15 seconds. Partly so I could run around a flash the camera with my 580 while the shutter was open! While we are speaking about different lenses, and their flare characteristics, I did one last test for you.

For this test I set the camera to f/16 and set out to see what each lens looked like when flashed directly. The top image is closer to the flash and the bottom is further back. Interesting how the results change. For some reason i decided to leave it at iso 3200 instead of boosting the flash power, sorry for the graininess. also the further away shot was cropped to match the close shot.

The Sigma 14mm can be fussy with direct light especially in the sun but sometimes it comes though. Sure doesn’t like a close flash though!

The Fisheye also struggles with closer flash maybe because both it and the 14mm were flashed at about 1.5 feet, but when you back up the fisheye has some of the cleanest stars!

The 28mm has always been one of my favorites for flair especially in the sun. It really makes some unique flair and changes drastically through the aperture range.

The 50mm has flair that seems would be ideal in receptions especially for epic first dance shots.

The 100mm Didn’t like it so much until you back up a good amount.

Same for the 135mm (even more so) that lens while ridiculously strong in every other area is very weak with direct sunlight or flash. It’s still good if the flash isn’t in the frame like the bottom right image up top.

Personally my favorite flair machine is still the Canon 28mm f/1.8 which has been an EXcellent wide lens especially for a cost effective alternative to the 24mm f/1.4 II. Check out this image I did with it a while back.

So that’s about it for this part of this series! Next I will tackle understanding flash and how it works with you other settings. Should be a good one so bring your brains =)

P.S. If you want to keep me motivated to keep doing these technical articles then you are going to have to help ME help YOU that means anything you buy from the links you click including the one below helps me have time to do what I do! So spend all your moneys! But seriously borrowlenses.com is the only place i rent equitment and has been great from prices to customer service. Please give them a try and you won’t regret it!

We stopped by the Lowepro booth and found a perfect fit for us that I couldn’t pass up!! Our last bag was a Lowepro and I was super happy with it, but hey, this one rolls, AND it becomes a backpack in a pinch!! So many great features that you should really check out here.

That being said I will be selling the old bag when we get home and you can check it out here until I get some better images up. It’s in really good shape though.

Anyway! Here’s some images of all out stuff, and how perfect this new case is!!

I know you want me to tell you what all this stuff is so how about you go to my flickr image since I can tag stuff!

You liked that didn’t you =) It’s ok… Here’s a couple more of the bag.

First thing I did when I got the chance was customize the little velcro dividers to fit everything just right. I think I did pretty good!

Well that’s all the camera smut I have for you… You will have to get your fix somewhere else for the time being. Hopefully we could tide you over for the time being.

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Ahhhh the age old battle. Yankees vs. Red Sox, Mario vs. King Koopa, Canon vs. Nikon. When will it ever end? Why should it? Each has good qualities and strategies in order to win certain market shares.

In my opinion, Nikon has better consumer DSLRs but makes sacrifices in certain areas to make things more affordable.

However, Canon is better for the more serious consumer that has plans to grow as a photographer so that is something to keep in mind though making the switch (as we did) isn’t all that difficult.

FINDING THE RIGHT CAMERA BODY

If you want to do things the right way (in my humble opinion) requires knowledge of lenses, and the future of what you hope to shoot and which lenses you may want now, or later on.

This is where it gets a little confusing. I will try and keep it simple. Nikon threw a monkey wrench in the mix when offering cheaper cameras that don’t auto focus with certain lenses.

I think Nikon has the best options for cameras when you don’t have the biggest budget. That being said, let’s start with the Nikon side of things.

NIKON D60

If you are the type of person that can go without a bigger screen the Nikon D60 ($349) is a good way to go. This, however is one of those cameras which doesn’t auto focus with some lenses (the lens has to have AF-S in the name to work) So I recommend this body be paired up with the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S ($199). Which is a great lens that is equivalent to a 50mm which is the best all around focal length. So you can get a great starter kit for $550. The downside to this is that unless you insist on using zooms the AF-S lenses while good are very expensive and the options are very limited. So you could always buy this and use it until you are ready for an upgrade and then ditch it for something better that works with the good lenses.

Useful info: Nikon cameras that require lenses with AF-S: D40, D40X, D60, D3000, D5000.

NIKON D5000

If you really want video and are willing to overcome the previously stated shortcomings of the lens selection your cheapest option is the Nikon D5000 ($650) paired with the 35mm you can walk away with a great camera, lens and video for $850.

NIKON D90

As long as we are talking about video the cheapest option for a nikon camera that will open up the vast Nikon lens collection for use is the Nikon D90 ($769) which is really not much more and a much better handling camera altogether. If you can spend the extra $170, in the long run it’s really worth it.

Now… if you don’t necessarily need video and you would like a camera that doesn’t limit your lens choices, this is your best option financially. Keep in mind these are not the latest and greatest these are all used or refurbished. For a beginner camera, I don’t think it really matters so unless you want to spend a lot of money ya gotta compromise in some areas. If it makes you feel better all these camera offer very similar image quality. The difference is mostly in handling ( functionality, build quality ) and features.

Here we go:

NIKON D1

First is the oldest and cheapest. The Nikon D1 ($144) is only 2.7 megapixels but for the price is really a steal. Yes it only has 2.7 megapixels. But unless you are viewing that image on a 30” display or printing it larger the 8×10, the image this camera produces will blow away any point and shoot (no matter what the megapixel count) and is up to par with cameras 10 times it’s price. Downfalls are the ISO performance, small screen, and a few other things that will still be ok if you are used to point and shoots.

Seriously if you have no money (or want to be smart and spend your money on lenses where it matters) don’t let this camera scare you away. I mean geez for that price it’s worth a shot! By the way this camera used to cost $5,000 and was (i believe) the first professional camera that was relatively affordable!

NIKON D70

Next up is another very good deal and the very camera that showed me the world of photography that I never knew existed!! The Nikon D70 ($255)This camera is pretty old but is very decent for the price! The only thing I really don’t like is the screen. At 2 inches it’s pretty small but like I said if you want to break in cheap this is maybe the best camera to help you do so.

NIKON D80

One more good option if you would like a bigger screen (2.5”) and a much better menu and features the Nikon D80($484) is a very respectable first camera. I almost made this my first camera, but I decided to go with a D200 which has the same image quality but a much more solid body and excellent handling. You can usually get these for a little bit more so they are worth checking out. What sealed the deal for me was using them both side by side at my local camera shop. if you want to feel the difference using a D90 and D300 together is basically the same thing. (though these are much more expensive options.)

Now hopefully you have started to figure out what you may want to look for in a body so all you have to figure out is if you want to buy one of the cameras that limit some nikon lenses, or the bodies that work with them all. here’s what I think are the best lenses Nikon offers on a budget.

These lenses will work on those camera’s that I said needed “AF-S”

Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S ($199)

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 HSM ($439)

Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S ($399)

These are all excellent lenses! Now the problem is, you can’t use these excellent lenses:

I am also a sucker for the fisheye lens, which is NOT AF-S. While those are pretty expensive, just know you will have to upgrade your camera down the road to use any of these lenses. Which, hey, may not be a huge deal. The one thing that kind of sucks is that you cant use the Nikon 50mm f/1.8D ($129) Which is the lens I first bought with my D200. I chose not to buy the kit lens for this reason(s): 50mm vs. kit lens

The 50mm is a very cheap way to get a starter lens to keep costs down but the Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S ($199) may be the better lens anyway and it’s really not that much more.

My other beef with nikon is that they don’t offer any good non-zoom lenses that are wide-angles. They make a decent 20mm but unless you have a D700 ($2200+) it’s actually a 30mm which is really not wide at all. The do make a whole slew of “kit lens” quality lenses but as far as I am concerned they are all garbage and really slow your progress if you want to be a better photographer anytime soon.

They do make a couple (only) good ultra wide zooms – 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-S ($800) and the 14-24mm f/2.8 AF-S ($1,800) OR you could get their 14mm prime which is pretty good but it’s not AF-S and it costs $1,700!

To be fair as far as ultra wides go Canon isn’t much better at least in the cheap camera realm. This is where you figure out how expensive photography really is!  =)

Bottom line is for nikon, they have great cameras especially for those starting out. They have great bodies that are easy to use and offer great quality. For me the main advantage is their build quality over canon’s cheaper camera’s but I always suggest picking them up side by side and seeing what feels better. Because if you enjoy shooting with your camera you will use it more and you will want to get better. You can always upgrade later. This is why I recommend buying used because resale stays pretty much the same when you do so making it much easier to sell and get better stuff when you are ready!

Now for the Canon side of things.

Canon, unlike Nikon offers only cameras which auto focus with any lens you buy giving them a big advantage especially with beginners who get confused easily. Let’s start with  good bargain cameras.

CANON 10D

The cheapest way to get into the Canon game is probably the Canon 10D ($225)

Which I can’t vouch for since my first canon was the one I have now. All I know is that Holly’s first camera was the Rebel (yes, the first one). It was not very responsive or intuitive which is why I like the nikons a little better. But you have to keep in mind that this is all relative if you are coming from point and shoots you may not notice the difference. Even this little cheap camera has the same sized sensor and therefore comparable image quality to even the newest Canon 7D ($1,700) While the handling and anything else outside of image quality doesn’t come close you can use the same lenses and get very close to the same results in a wide variety of situations.

Maybe a better investment would be the Canon Rebel XTi ($349)

or even a Canon EOS-30D ($499)

which is about the same kind of deal as I talk about earlier between the Nikon D80 and D200. Basically the same sensor, just much better handling and everything else on the 30D. So of course you are going to get what you pay for. Just keep in mind lenses are very important so when possible it is better to invest in better lenses rather then camera bodies.

Now this is where things get a little pricier. One big advantage Canon has over Nikon is that they offer a full frame camera (bigger sensor) that can be had for $1,500 or less if you can wait for a good deal and buy used. Nikon has a D700 that you can get for $2,200 or less if you are lucky but that is quite the price difference.

The bigger the sensor, the better the image quality and going from any of the cameras previously mentioned to a full framed camera  is a whole world of difference in every aspect of image quality.

CANON 5D

Once you use Full Frame cameras there is just no going back. So if you have any way to step up to a Canon 5D mkI ($1,479) just do it.

This is the only time where I would recommend spending more money on a camera and sacrificing lenses. If you really want to go all out, get what we have a Canon 5D mark II! But since they are both full frame I really think the $1,300 price difference would be better spent on lenses.

Back to the real world where 90% of you don’t want to spend more then $1000 when all the dust has settled.

Here are some good lenses Canon has to offer.

The Cheapest way to go is a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II ($99) which has it’s short comings like so-so AF speed but for the price it’s a nice little lens and it still blows away a kit lens. it’s a little more telephoto or “zoomed in” then a 35mm will be for a more all around lens but for most things it works well and is a good starter lens.

This is where Nikon has a bit of an advantage with their 35mm lens. The Canon EF 35mm f/2 ($299) is a hundred dollars more and is not as fast (good in low light, or cant get as much background blur) Also the AF is noisier but not that bad.

Personally I would spend a little extra on the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 HSM ($439) Which is much better in low light and better AF (arguably) either way they are both great lenses and blow away kit lenses.

Another good Canon is the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM ($399) which is more telephoto so it would be better paired with a 35 or 30mm to get a little range. Maybe not necessary to get right away but would be a great addition to anyone. 85mm lenses are known for their sharpness, background blur and make a good portrait or close up (not macro) lens.

That’s a lot of information right? I hope your brain isn’t beyond repair!

I am working as quick as I can to show you why fixed focal length lenses blow away zoom lenses on all fronts. but you have a lot think about right now, so just get a good night’s sleep and come back and we will enlighten you some more =)

As promised, here are my impressions of the new Canon 5D Mark II
versus the Nikon D700. In mind my primary focus is on the 5D.

I have just been taking notes of pros and cons and I guess I will just
expand upon them and see how things go! I am only mentioning things
that are important to me as a wedding/portrait photographer and only
differences that stand out against each other. Surprisingly these are
two very different means to one glorious end. Lets start with the good
news.

Advantages:

The 5D has GREAT Image quality. I never thought 21
megapixels would make a difference, but I don’t know for some reason
there is just a magical quality! It looks especially good in the
screen after you take the picture. Of course thats with jpeg settings
applied albeit how minimal they are when I shoot. There is a lot of
room for cropping, which for me is good since I prefer using primes. I
guess that can be somewhat of a disadvantage for some since you need
the best glass to take advantage of the resolution. Which means big
cash for good glass.

Here is a crop from the 5D shot with a 50mm Canon f/5.6 @1/60th ISO 400 Below is the same crop with the D700 and a nikkor 50mm at the same settings.
You may be asking, why not show both cameras at 100 percent crop? Well I didn’t to show the advantages of more megapixels. At 100 percent the D700 is much softer the the same crop of a 5D. Here is a sample of the resolution difference:

I wish i could show you larger images, but this blog cant contain it! The differences are a little more subtle when viewed small like this. Which is a great achievement for both sensors since this is an extreme crop! to see bigger files go here

Also something weird it that the same conditions yielded a brighter image from the nikon or is it more contrast? Maybe both? Intriguing nonetheless.

The ISO performance is almost on par with the D700, with twice
the resolution. I never thought this would be possible
jamming this many pixels onto a 35mm sensor, but they have seemed to
make it look pretty good. They do apply a good amount of noise
reduction at higher iso even when shooting raw, but it doesn’t look
too bad. 3200 looks fine but 6400 starts to smudge a little too much
and I try not to use it unless I have to.

The Above is a very cropped image is the 5D with no noise reduction at 6400
and the below image is the same from the D700. Now I am not showing this but the shadow noise is very well controlled with the nikon but you can see a lot of smudging. The 5D has a lot of the red dot noise in the shadows, but is still pretty sharp and contrasty, while the D700 isn’t.
Keep in mind the pixels are smaller on the 5D because its not at 100 percent like the D700 is. Another advantage of more resolution.

Canon has the best prime lenses in the class. (And
the most expensive.) But like I said earlier, that’s what kind of
glass it takes to resolve 21 megapixels! This is one of the main
reasons I switched. You need as much speed as you can get shooting
weddings. The light more often then not, sucks… a lot. So there’s
just no replacement for speed.

For Nikon we have the 50 and 85mm f/1.4 along with the 135mm f/2
For Canon we start out in the range with the 24 and 35mm f/1.4. Then comes the super speed 50 and 85mm f/1.2 topping out with the 135mm f/2
Not to mention all of Canons lenses are recent designs leaving Nikon in the dust in the prime time.

The 580EX II has been somewhat impressive. Though I
haven’t used Nikons flagship flashs so I can’t say for sure if its
better. They have been fairly easy to use, as far as flash goes.

Screen is brilliant, though Nikon’s is just as good.
Not much of advantage but just thought I would throw that out there.
At least Canon is showing a little effort unlike when they tried to
pass an $8,000 camera with a junk screen!

VIDEO 1080p! with external audio out. (good because
the internal mic picks up everything going on around the camera.
especially manually focusing, and noisy IS) Though I haven’t used the
video much it’s a huge, huge plus for a lot of people. I’m sure i
could use it for certain occasions to give me a slight edge. We love
to travel as well, and photojournalism overseas almost demands video
is some scenes. I do wish it auto focussed though. It’s surprisingly
tough to compose, correct exposure and compose. Not made for full time
video, but sure is handy!! Check out this video shot with the 5D Mark II

5D Movie

The 5Ds Auto ISO knows your focal length and sets shutter
speed accordingly. This is a pretty cool feature. We don’t
normally use auto, but if you are switching from a wide to a
telephoto, this can be very helpful to limit iso when wide and still
get a higher shutter speed with a telephoto.

5D doesn’t have internal flash. Why is this a plus?
Well for me I didn’t like it on the D700. I would always bump it, even
with a flash mounted, and I don’t know, it just seems less
professional with a built in flash. I also like the look of the
shorter pentaprism cap.

Much lighter then D700 (1.8lbs vs. 2.2lbs) Yeah it’s
less then a half pound, but every ounce counts when its hanging from
your neck for 12 hours!

ISO expandable to 50 equivalent. I always find myself
wanting more when using fill flash to get blue skies that require very
little exposure. So this is nice! I’m not sure what kind of penalty it
brings being “boost” but I would be interested to know.

The 5D has a dedicated live view button. This is nice
because I would always forget I was in live view on the D700 because
its on a dial. Once I press the live view button on the 5D it goes
back to normal when I’m done. Along those same lines, I have found the
exposure simulation VERY useful because I shoot in Manual. i don’t
have to click off frames trying to get my exposure and white balance
right while my subjects think I am taking a picture.

It has strap ring under grip for more vertical use. I
haven’t dared trying this while on a job but maybe I will sometime.
Then again, I don’t find myself shooting vertically as much as with
the D700 because the grip sucks comparatively. But then maybe thats
somewhat of a plus because I found myself shooting vertically a little
too much.

Strap rings are fixed not floppy. I found this kind
of annoying with the D700. Just a little thing but a nice change.

Lens mount feels slightly more firm and wobble-less
though I still wish it didn’t move at all.

Quiet shutter release. The shutter release sound is
an acquired taste. After hearing the Nikon’s it sounds electrical and
junky and slow. Alas I have gotten used to it, and it is more quiet,
which is good for ceremonies and anywhere else you want to be ninja
like while trying to get candids. I will say the blackout time is
shorter on the Nikon.

ISO reading is always in status bar. Those times with
the Nikon when I find I have been shooting at a higher iso speed then
needed are very frustrating, so this is a nice addition.

More room for fat thumbs in horizontal (but much
worse in vertical) This isn’t a huge deal, because the nikon is still
sufficient but just nice to have a little extra room.

All the Preset white balance settings have their K value next
to them(In the menu). Since it’s harder with Canon to shoot
with manual Ks this may be handy to memorize k value at pre-
settings.

The Custom user mode is pretty awesome! There is 3
spaces on the command dial (C1,C2 and C3) This is great for me,
because you can prepare yourself for different settings beforehand;
not with people waiting, or with you missing the shot! Like when we
run out of the ceremony to get a shot of them walking out of the
chapel, the next place you are trying to shoot is much different. You
can preset the exposure, white balance, iso, pretty much everything as
far as I know. The only drawback is that if you switch settings while
on one of the custom modes at some point they go back to what you
originally set it to in the beginning. If you want to change anything
permanently you have to register it in the menu. But nonetheless a
really cool and useful feature!

With the 5D you can use different sized raw files.
which can be helpful to save room while shooting images you know they
wont blow up. But then maybe you wont have the same cropping ability?
We haven’t really used it yet but it’s a nice option to have.

Disadvantages:

21 megapixels. We have found that shooting with that
much resolution is surprisingly not as easy to edit(At least
creatively). We use Adobe Lightroom 2 and it just seems so far, that
it takes more of everything to affect so many pixels the way we are
used to with the D700. We find ourselves maxing out the slider without
much happening. I don’t know if thats just lightroom not being
powerful enough, but hopefully others are finding the same and will be
fixed sometime in the future. Bottom line, maybe good maybe bad, but
you can get some great results it just takes a lot more effort.

Battery Grip feels cheap and not nearly as good as
the 5D Grip and not even close to the MB-D10. It feels like the old
D200 grip which was even better then the Canon grip. Nikon has a leg
up on that front. Maybe its a marketing choice making the D1s look
like it’s worth the extra money. I know I would pay more for a grip
that felt like the Nikon’s does.

Look how nice the Nikon grip is. The curved thumb, and curved grip show nikon gives a crap how things feel. You can see how soft it is compared to the Canons. I also really like the stalkless design. For some reason both batteries put in the canon drain at the same time unlike the nikon that does one at a time. Who cares? Well sometimes you dont use both batteries so you dont want to have to charge both. With Canon, you dont get that option.

The 5D body’s rubber is not as soft and grippy as D700. (see above). strong> This was something I really loved about the Nikon and it will
be missed! Seems like a no brainer to me Canon. Again, maybe the D1s
has good soft rubber so hooray for capitalism!!

Can’t manually select WB with out going into the menu. strong> THIS is a biggy. I mean come ON! I am a wedding photographer,
I don’t have time to go into a menu for that! What pisses me off more
is that in the 1D series you can assign the “set” button for white
balance but can you in a cheaper camera? Oh no. You gotta pay
thousands more for that! 10,9,8,7… Ok I am calm… they did
make up for it a little by being able to adjust WB in live view where
I can nail it pretty well. But its still much slower then the way
Nikons change Ks manually.

You can’t view last image magnified without pushing play
button first. This is my other big beef. The D700 was awesome
for checking focus. you just press the center button after the shutter
releases, and you are looking at a magnified image, and on to the
next. With Canon, I can assign the set button to review, but for some
reason I have to press the set button even though the image is already
displayed if I want to zoom in. Not to mention after i press the
center button, you have to press the zoom button like 5 times to get
the mag. of the Nikon’s one push. Something that could be easily done
Canon! I hope I am helping them with the next firmware update. Heh,
boy do I wish that was true.

Focus points often get lost in dark situations and
unused points litter the viewfinder. Another thing the D700 is way
ahead on. 90% of the time I use the center point, and on the D700 even
if it got lost in the dark, (which i don’t ever remember happening) it
has the little ( ) things surrounding the focus points to give
you some reference. The 5D also doesn’t light up the focus point as
much when the shutter release is half pressed. I just can’t believe
Canon hasn’t updated their AF from the old one. I’m sure the 1Ds is
much better don’t worry.

Build quality not up to par with D700. It is still
pretty good, but once you handle them side by side you can just tell
the Nikon is a brick! And as I said earlier, the soft rubber is a huge
plus for the nikon. Ergonomics are much better then I thought they
would be on the 5D so at least it’s got that going for it.

Shutter sound is horrible compared to D700. As I said
before, Sounds not nearly as tight or professional, but it is more
quiet. So pick what you would rather have.

Slow frame rate. I don’t use this a whole lot except
for jumping shots and such, so it’s not a huge deal. 8 frames per
second was pretty awesome on the Nikon compared to “3.9”. Good thing I
don’t really shoot sports.

Nikon has worlds more customizable options in a menu
that is easier to use. I expand upon this below. Not a deal breaker,
but really nice to have!

Can’t leave embedded comment or copyright info out of camera. I’m sure you can do this in lightroom or something, but
something nice to have to prove the images are yours.

Cant Keep the backlight “on” lighting the status window. strong> This is pretty annoying. The Nikon’s backlight comes on every
time the meter starts so I can see what I am doing in the dark.
Another easy fix if they were thinking at all.

Can’t reverse main and sub dials. As a D700 user, I
use the front dial for aperture, and the back for shutter speed. And
the highly customizable Nikon even lets me switch! Not the Canon
though… it is donkey backwards. I will get used to it, but man it is
frustrating for now.

Can’t change file naming. This was nice for Holly and
I because we could tell who shot what by the prefixes on the file I
liked to use RRP_xxxx.NEF or R27 yatta yatta… not a big deal just
again, nice to have.

Doesn’t have interval timer shooting. This is a
feature that is really awesome if you like time lapse. You can’t
program a release schedule like on the nikon. Hope you have a
timer…Kind of weird that they don’t have that… set it and forget
it for the nikon!

No option to shoot compressed or lossless RAW (d700
has 23mb 14-bit lossless uncompressed files) I am guessing that the
Canon shoots compressed raw files because they are pretty consistently
25MB give or take. If they were uncompressed they would probably be
like 35MB. It may be a bigger deal to you more then me because they
don’t offer 12-bit like the Nikon, but they make up for it with the
sRAW file sizes.

Deleting a photo is a 3 step process for every image.
Unlike the Nikon which you can double push the trash button as fast as
you can. Canon makes up for it by letting you erase select images. For
example, you go through and check them off and delete all the selected
files at once. Which is almost better because you can uncheck
something you didn’t mean to check. You can’t un-delete something!

Cant Switch ISO as fast but not a big difference.
With the Nikon you Hold the button and turn the dial with two opposite
thumbs simultaneously. With the Canon you push with your index, and
then turn the dial with the index.

Well that’s about all I have found… There is a lot of differences
don’t you think? Seems like the companies would adapt the smaller
advantages just as much as the big selling points. It seems to me that
Canon puts all their resources into sensor and lens development, while
Nikon took more time to refine every aspect of the body to be more
useful when shooting making it a joy to use. But then they are way
behind on lens development.

Really they are 2 great cameras! I would say if you don’t need the
resolution, video, or super fast primes, get the D700 you will love
it! If you DO need those things there’s just no better then the 5D. I
am very demanding of cameras, and wish there was much more improvement
with the Mark II generation, but I may just have the wait for the
fourth generation 1Ds update, and hope they don’t go pixel crazy, and
work on ISO performance. One can only hope. Now I just have to save up
6 grand for a set of L primes! Wish me luck! And Feel free to comment
on any fixes for my problems or add any plus or minuses.

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This article is a comparison of 2 lenses that new people should consider when buying a DSLR whether it be a canon, nikon, or even a Pentax.

When I bought my first D200 I had read that the 50mm 1.8 was a lens every photographer should have. I didn’t know why, but I figured it was the same price as the 18-55 and they say it was a much better lens. I still have that lens but I bought a 1.4 to get a little more blur and a 2/3 stop speed advantage (at weddings you need all you can get!)

It took me a while to figure out why it was so much better. Maybe because I wasn’t used to the slow 18-55. I wondered, could it really be THAT much better in low light? I have done some test shots to show you just how much more you can do with a 50mm. For the particular test I will be using my 50mm f1.4, which has quickly become my favorite lens which I use for 80 or more percent of my shots.

These few shots were taken at dusk where I could demonstrate the low light possibilities

All these shots are streight from camera. That camera being a Nikon D700.
Also I am using the same lens insted of an actuall 18-55mm because I dont own one. but at 50mm or 55mm the maxium aperture is f5.6
So this test is only to show the low light capability where is would be identical.

You can see the only setting changed here is the aperture. The 1.4 has a 4(!!!) stop advantage! 1/60th is aguably the lowest shutter speed you would want to use without getting blur at 50mm. Therefore at this light and the 18-55, this shot would be impossible handheld without cranking up the ISO.

To get the correct exposure with the 18-55mm you would need to compensate with ISO, or a lower shutter speed. this next shot
demonstrates that.

Now you may be looking at these shots like ok, my camera goes up to 3200 iso. But keep in mind, unless you have the luxury of a full frame D700 your shots will bare a lot of grain, and lose a lot of detail and contrast. There is just no substitute for speed.

Also if you bring the shutter speed down to a quarter of a second, I don’t care who you are your image will be blurry unless you use a tripod as I am here.

So now you know how much speed matters. If that wasn’t enough to convince you, we can talk about sharpness! the 50mm lenses are up there with the sharpest lenses nikon makes. To even be close to the sharpness achieved by the 50mm you would need to stop down to f/8 which number one is very slow, and 2 you loose any background blur.

So to recap,

50mm pros

-4 stop speed advantage
-loads of backround blur wide open
-very sharp from f/2.0 and up
-better build quality and looks much cooler =)

50mm cons

-fixed focal length

18-55mm pros

-wide to telephoto range
-ummm good for.. stuff… sorry I got nothin’.

18-55mm cons

-4 stops slower the 50mm
-not sharp until f/8
-not enough background blur
-feels cheap

I guess really it depends on what you do. For me, I am a wedding photographer, that doesn’t like to use flash, and likes a lot of sharpness and blur. If you plan on shooting weddings at all don’t even bother with any cheap zoom lenses unless you plan on getting really good at flash.

If you buy one of these lenses, I can tell you they are at their best when you use them at f/2 and as close to your subject as you can stand. The blur creates a magical effect that will wow anyone if your composition is good.