Professional grade camera?

[azza33]

(manarak @ Aug. 28 2010,23:35)
I can't believe I just ordered the Tamron and the Tokina...  

Thankfully, the whole focal range will be covered then!

I think you get to this before me

[Chinaman]

(azza33 @ Aug. 29 2010,05:40) It should be pointed out that the Canon 10-22 EF-S is considered an L series lens in terms of build quality... but as its an EF-S canon won't label it with the L series badge.

That Tokina does seem a good options....

Thanks Azza for pointing that out. I didn't know. Feel even happier about my purchase now ;-)

At this point I can see no particular reason for buying a full-frame camera, so this lens should serve me well. And I thought the price was right when I bought it.

If I were in the market for a wide-angle today, I would certainly consider the Tokina.

[Chinaman]

(manarak @ Aug. 29 2010,04:59) Sorry CM, missed your question about AF and IS.

Yes, the Tamron has both, and the IS has even been praised in reviews. Tamron calls that "VC" for Vibration compensation or something similar.

Agree.
Luckily, I don't see what else I could buy for this camera after I get those.

No problem, Manarak.

So u seem to be set. But with the Tamron going from 18 to 270 which is a hell of a range for a lens, will you ever need the kit lens again? When would you prefer the kit-lens over the Tamron?

Of course this depends on yr photographic habits and it will not be necessary to take pics of lbs in Pattaya, but for other situations you might be in the market for another camera for one of your lenses.

Personally I would not mind an even stronger tele with up to 400 or 500 plus a monopod which still gives you more flexibility than a tripod.

[Chinaman]

(manarak @ Aug. 29 2010,04:59) I saw it offered for 20500 at a Central Festival shop in Patts.

To me it seem that such equipment is pretty expensive at the stores at Central Festival Mall.

I bought my 450D body and 70-300 lens at a small but well equipped camera store on the 3rd floor in TukCom, just to the right when you get off the escalator, and he gave me a good deal. Downside: no proper invoice and therefore no tax-refund at the airport but I still think the difference was considerably more than 7%.

But folks interested in buying equipment had to check that out.

But at the moment the exchange rate is not real in our favor. I would have saved 130 Euro if I had bought those 2 items at home but as I was not going home, I was out of luck. I saved the money on beers, though :-)

[manarak]

(azza33 @ Aug. 29 2010,06:18)

(manarak @ Aug. 28 2010,23:35)
I can't believe I just ordered the Tamron and the Tokina...  

Thankfully, the whole focal range will be covered then!

I think you get to this before me  

fair point ! LOL

[manarak]

(Chinaman @ Aug. 29 2010,08:39)
At this point I can see no particular reason for buying a full-frame camera

There is a major argument for buying a higher spec camera than the 550D: the AF microadjustment.

I feel it is almost criminal by Canon to leave it out on some of their EOS cameras, all the more so as I read that the microadjustment is just a software thing.

[manarak]

(Chinaman @ Aug. 29 2010,08:50) But with the Tamron going from 18 to 270 which is a hell of a range for a lens, will you ever need the kit lens again?

If the Tamron performs as well as the reviews say, I will have no more use for the Canon kit lens.
=> is there anyone here that wants to buy a cheap but good 18-135 Canon IS lens ??

In hindsight, I made 2 mistakes in getting my photo gear together:

- buying a kit. I should have done some more lens research first and bought the body alone

- buying the 550D over the 7D, for mainly 2 reasons among other details:
1) the 550D lacks AF microadjustment for lenses (!!)
2) the AF performance on the 550D is sometimes disappointing

[azza33]

(manarak @ Aug. 29 2010,15:11) I should have done some more lens research first and bought the body alone.

Fortunately for myself i've got the 18-55kit so the mistake was not expensive.

I'm still going to purchase the canon 24-105 L series as my main lens. - I was kinda hoping the price may drop to $1000 for this lens sometime in the next 6 months.

The canon 10-22 is still on my radar tho...

[azza33]

the AF performance on the 550D is sometimes disappointing

You need to run the camera on modes where the auto focus point is selectable - pain in the ass when shooting "natural shots" of the ladyboys.

Alternatively, you can switch to live view on the LCD screen and active face detection to ensure the people shots are in focus.

[Chinaman]

I had no clue what manarak was talking about, so I looked it up.

Here is a thread on microadjustment and I just picked one comments. I am sure there are zillions out there on the web.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums....0807227

"With the Tamron you will not be able to register an individual adjustment value just for this lens - as it is not a Canon lens.
You would have to make a correction for all lenses I believe, but that will obviously affect the other lenses you own.
Of course you can remember the value and quickly dial it in when using the tamron and then rest to 0 when using canon lenses."

Seems that it only works reliably with primes but also seems like opening a can of (new) worms. Are you sure you gonna need that???

I still think that a good photographer - and I am not saying that you are not, manarak! - can take interesting pics with any cam. The more technical it gets, the more headache it causes.

So, why is microadjustment that essential?

[manarak]

(azza33 @ Aug. 29 2010,18:47)

the AF performance on the 550D is sometimes disappointing

You need to run the camera on modes where the auto focus point is selectable - pain in the ass when shooting "natural shots" of the ladyboys.

Alternatively, you can switch to live view on the LCD screen and active face detection to ensure the people shots are in focus.

yeah, I do that already.

I have no difficulty focusing subjects that are already easy to focus by themselves.

In some situations, I have to rely on phase detect AF, and the 550D's AF performance is mediocre when it comes to focus on my children running around or other moderately fast moving things.

Another pain in the ass is that on the 550D, only the center AF point is bidirectional, all the others are horizontal or vertical.

[manarak]

(Chinaman @ Aug. 29 2010,18:59) I had no clue what manarak was talking about, so I looked it up.

Here is a thread on microadjustment and I just picked one comments. I am sure there are zillions out there on the web.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums....0807227

"With the Tamron you will not be able to register an individual adjustment value just for this lens - as it is not a Canon lens.
You would have to make a correction for all lenses I believe, but that will obviously affect the other lenses you own.
Of course you can remember the value and quickly dial it in when using the tamron and then rest to 0 when using canon lenses."

Seems that it only works reliably with primes but also seems like opening a can of (new) worms. Are you sure you gonna need that???

I still think that a good photographer - and I am not saying that you are not, manarak! - can take interesting pics with any cam. The more technical it gets, the more headache it causes.

So, why is microadjustment that essential?

Well, it is essential because of the number of lenses that are not calibrated to the body's AF.

I have read a lot of stuff on bodies and lenses in the last 2 days, and it seems problems of body/lens miscalibration are becoming more and more common.

And factory specs are somewhat loose on the consumer-grade gear, such as crop-sensor cameras and lenses for such cameras.

This means that even if you buy an L lens for your camera, the L lens will probably have been calibrated correctly by Canon with much less error tolerance than for the consumer grade lenses, but it still doesn't guarantee that your camera body is also calibrated correctly, so that there is a risk of shooting slightly out of focus pix even with a L lens.

I read a lot about my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens.
Of course at f/1.4 the focusing problems are exacerbated.

But using my Sigma lens, almost all my shots were either "very soft" or slightly OOF, except the landscape shots.
Using a focusing chart, I found out that my camera/lens combination is front focusing by 22mm (see my other thread specifically about the Sigma lens).

The problem here is that I don't know how much front focusing is due to the camera and how much to the Sigma lens.
I also tested my 18-135 kit lens, and the result is 10mm front focusing at f/3.5, which is probably within factory specs.

But is the kit lens 0 and the body -10 ?
Or is it body -15 and the kit lens +5? That would explain why the Sigma lens on that body performs poorly.


So how would microadjustment help me?

I could just set the adjustment to +22 when I use Sigma lens, and to +10 when I use the kit lens to get crisp sharp pix when using the phase detect AF.

No need to send camera and lenses to the service center.


Instead, without microadjustment, I now have to send all my lenses to the service center with precise instructions on how to calibrate it, praying that the service center will perform the service for free, to correct a problem that maybe isn't their fault at all.

Normally, people would send in their complete set of camera and lenses to adjust them perfectly.

but I don't feel like sending in everything and being without camera for 3 weeks or more.

[azza33]

(manarak @ Aug. 29 2010,23:54) In some situations, I have to rely on phase detect AF, and the 550D's AF performance is mediocre when it comes to focus on my children running around or other moderately fast moving things.

Another pain in the ass is that on the 550D, only the center AF point is bidirectional, all the others are horizontal or vertical.

I assume you have used the ai servo and ai focus modes etc?

Does that make a difference when shooting moving images?

I did this in phuket on a fast moving tuk tuk and got great shots of a moving object taken on continuous shots.

Admittedly, its easier to keep the auto focus points over such an object to maintain focus.

[manarak]

Yes, I use AI Servo and of course it is better than the one shot or the other supposedly "intelligent" AF setting.

But even using AI Servo, only 1 picture from 3 or 4 is really sharp if shooting at close range.
I suppose you were some distance away from your tuktuk