The Leap to Full Frame!

"Old School" The Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic

This past week I made a decision. For the past month I have been trying to figure out what my next Camera was going to be. I had already decided to upgrade into something better than my Current Canon 40D that would last me a long time. I was originally going to go with the Canon 5D mk2 with it's Video Capabilities and replace my Canon XL1s video camera that I've been using since 2003. (Unfortunately it is only Standard Definition in an HD world. I also just don't use it very often as I have to pull it out of a big case and set it all up) The idea of having an HD Video Camera built into my Still camera fascinated me. As long as it would allow me to do similar stuff and more than my current set-up I would be happy.

Canon through a curve ball to me on September 1st when they announced the Canon 7D, a cropped 1.6x sensor with HD Video Capabilities that were superior to the 5D's. This began my thinking about the need I had, and what would be fulfill it.

As a Photographer, the Full Frame 35mm Sensor is superior to the cropped 1.6x FOV Sensors that are popular on the consumer / prosumer lines of Canon and Nikon cameras. I already owned a cropped sensor with my Canon 40D. So I was well aware of the limitations it had. The 7D is a beautiful camera with some great Pro-Like features. My final decision maker was that the Canon 7D was a beautiful camera, but it was not yet available with uncertainty of when it would actually be available. It is also an unproven system that may potentially have some bugs in the first few months. Heck you might not even be able to pick the camera up for a few months without Pre-Ordering. Even now the 5Dmk2 is a hard camera to find in stock anywhere.


My beautiful wife Tiffany


Thoughts on the 5Dmk2
What can I say. It's a beautiful piece of equipment.

Coming from a 40D which is now being used as my Backup camera while I decide if I'm going to sell it or not, here are my quick comparisons.

-The Build Quality - It really does feel different, you can tell they have put a lot more into manufacturing this camera than the 40D. The battery door has a metal hinge and release mechanism Vs. the 40d's plastic and pulling until it pops off. The buttons on the 5d are just mushy enough to not accidentally hit them, but feel great under the finger tips. The buttons on the 40D are just there and easy to press. The shutter button feels great under the finger as well with a nice soft springy action vs. the 40d's click, click feeling. The DOF preview button is another big change. On the 40D it is just a button like any other button, it can be easily confused with the pop-up flash button. The 5D has a nice soft springy button that sticks out further and you definitely know when you have found it. I find myself using it all the time now.


Rum & Coke (My Favorite)


-Auto Focus System- This is something that has gotten a lot of criticism from professional reviewers and the photography community. The 5Dmk2 has the same exact focusing system found in the original 5D. It is now over 3 year old Technology. The 5D's have 9 focus points that can handle lenses up to f5.6 (light levels) the center focusing point is a Cross Type sensor that is even more precise with lenses faster than f2.8. It also has 6 invisible (you can not select them or see them on the focusing screen) AF assist sensors that when turned on will help track movement and more accurately achieve focus around the center point. In Comparison the 40D, 50D have Cross Point sensors at all focusing points for lenses that are 5.6 or faster. The center point is Cross Point and more precise with lenses of f2.8 and faster. This may seem like a big deal on paper, but in my real world usage I haven't found too much difference. The Digic 4 Processor of the 5dmk2 helps to achieve focus very fast and accurately. I do find in lower lights that the 40D may be just slightly faster, but it's not that noticeable really. The tracking of the 5D2 seems much better than the 40D if that is your concern.



Our friend Stephanie the Bartender

-Image Quality - Both the 40D and 5Dmk2 are beautiful cameras. They both take a photograph and represent it very well. Don't let anybody convince you that a camera will make you better, because it's a Lie. It's your brain, ideas, and imagination to create that are what can create the most stunning and beautiful photographs. With that aside, the cameras are not equal. The 5D is a more expensive, and better tool. It can do the job easier and better than the 40D. The images coming right out of the 5D are amazing. They look excellent for the most part and I find I do not have to edit them nearly as much as my 40D. High ISO shooting for example on the 40D I am limited by ISO1600 to be even close to usable. On the 5d2 I can shoot up to ISO6400 and still use it for smaller prints. Everybody is talking about Depth of Field. Yes the DOF is shallower and much better on the 5D. It has to do with the distance you shoot from. With the 5D you must get in closer to get the same crop, thus creating a shallower depth of field. I am amazed by the quality of the images coming from the 5D.


My friend Christine Hernandez performing with the Cover Band "Ride"

A Video Digital SLR?

One of the main reasons I was looking to buy a new Camera was for the new Video modes that camera companies are incorporating into dSLR's. It was really exciting to hear that the Canon 5D Mark II could shoot 1080P HD video and be able to get the dramatic depth of field and image quality that rivaled such advanced cameras as "Red". There is an entire website community dedicated to shooting Cinematic Video with the 5D. It is a great camera for doing video, but it has its limitations and I wouldn't suggest this for everybody. The main disadvantage is it is not as Intuitive to use as a dedicated video system. You can buy add on such as the Redrock Micro system which has Accurate Focus pulling systems, shoulder mounts, framing boxes etc. But they can run pretty expensive and you will easily pay more than you bought the camera for. I also would never suggest the 5D, 7D, Nikon D90, or any of the other popular Digital Video SLR's on the market if you are doing Event Videography primarily. You just don't have the same exact control that you do with a dedicated system. Fortunately for me, I do not shoot events anymore and am wanting to make more artistic shorts and photo/video documentaries which these cameras are excellent for.

Because I can not explain the quality of the video as well as you can see it, here is a downsized HD (720P) sample video I shot of my daughter and our neighbor Lilly playing with some Play-Doh.

Conclusion
I may be a well experienced photographer, but there is a "Learning Curve". Coming from the 10 Mega Pixel cropped sensor to the 21.9 Megapixel Full Frame is a big difference. The lenses all look different now. What I was once able to use the Tamron 28-75 for half body to tight headshots, I can now do Full Body to tight* headshots (* though having to stand much closer to my subject) My Tokina 12-24mm F4 lens which is designed for Cropped Sensor cameras has not become obsolete, just a little less useful. I am now limited to the ranges of about 17mm to 24mm anything wider than that creates severe vignetting which is unusable. My 50mm 1.8 is now a real 50mm normal field of view lens instead of an 80mm "Normal" portrait lens. I also anticipate I will be using my Sigma 70-200 2.8 Lens much more.

With that said, I am overjoyed I finally moved into a Full 35mm Frame Sensor camera. With the greater build quality, my better understanding of caring for a DSLR, and the image results of this camera, I will definitely be loving and using this camera for a long time.

Please enjoy the Sample shots all over this post. If you click on the photo it will take you to my flickr page where you can read the elaborate descriptions. For the most part almost all of these are taken straight out of the camera with using Lightroom 2.5 to process the raw file.



My Wife Tiffany modeling for me


Fluffentstein the Cat


Starry Night Sky


Club Soda & Lemon

Good Customer Service, Bad Customer Service?

A Self Portrait I made at a Strobist meet I hosted in March

Hey there everyone. I wanted to get an update out here on the Blog. I've been saying a lot on Facebook that I'll be writing a blog about this or that soon... so I guess I should probably start keeping with those promises. haha


So let me tell you how I picked up a new Canon 430ex II today for $75


Canon 430ex II flash for $75 (Taken with 340ex II on camera)

It all started last night when I got a call from my buddy Gerald Gonzales telling me that the Best Buy store in Burbank had a Canon 430ex II for sale in the case with the "Opened box items, Returned can't be sold as new, etc." He was told that the only thing wrong was it did not include the Cold Shoe Plastic stand with tripod mount. (very cheap item to replace)

So the $299 flash was now $149.

Bad Customer Service
The catch was (this is the problem Gerald had) they have had a theft problem in these cases at our local best buy lately so they have replaced the locks. Now only the Photo Department Manager has the one and only key to this lock. Saturday night he had gone home early with the keys and turned out would not be in today until 1pm.

When I arrived at the store around 11:45am I went to check out the flash and it was still there and I let the employee's, a couple of college looking guys, know that I was interested in getting it. The one employee, I'm going to call him "Rude Employee #1" told me that the manager who had the key had gone out to lunch and would be back in about 15-30 minutes. I let them know I'd be back.

15-30 Mins later: I come back in the store and still no Manager. I decide to browse around the camera department and check out another case of camera gear. "Rude Employee #1" comes up to me and tells me very bluntly. "Please don't buy that flash" after my questioning him on this I find out he is planning to buy it himself later that day. I speak to him about pre-ordering the new Canon 7D camera and he's less than helpful in that regard. He then announced that with his tech discount he would get $400 off the 7D. (From past dealings with friends who work for best buy, they receive merchandise at store cost. So that gives you an idea of what the mark-up on a SLR is these days)

A very polite and helpful female employee "Helpful Girl" comes up after coming back from her lunch breaks (I think she was an assistant manager of photo department) she finds out what it is we are interested in. She again explains the issue with the key but does assure me that the manager should be coming in around 1pm. She also tells me "We're very sorry for the trouble. We'll try and make it up to you. Maybe we can take like $50 off the price here."

At this point I'm irritated about the key issue, but I'm willing to let it go if they will reduce the price. Then comes the worst part. "Rude Employee #1" says to me as I am leaving "I am going to buy that flash before you come back. It won't be here."

My wife and I decided to take off and come back at 1pm, but as I was getting in my car it dawned on me that I should talk to a store manager. So I called up the Store Manager, a very young and friendly guy named John, and spoke with him. Upon telling him everything that went down he was in dis-belief that one of his employee's would say something like this. He took down my name and number and was going to go take care of "Rude Employee #1" and speak with the photo manager as soon as he got in and would give me a call when I could come in.

Good Customer Service
To speed the story up, after a couple of hours, a phone call and coming back into the store greeting the Store Manager in person I was directed back to the photo department where I met with the Photo Manager, a middle aged suit wearing gentlemen named "David" who was very polite. He apologized for all of the trouble and told the employee checking me out to take 50% off.


In Conclusion
So although it was a big hassle, I did feel great about getting a $299 flash for $75.

I can tell you that I have gotten some moderately bad customer service at Best Buy before, but I've never had an experience like this. It really put a Sour Taste in my mouth regarding the employee's of Best Buy Burbank, with the exception of having to deal personally with Upper Management. I have a Best Buy credit card and routinely use it for good 0% Interest offers, so I may just drive the extra 10 miles to the Glendale / Las Feliz store from now on.


How is the Flash?
That flash is great. It is my first official E-TTL (Evaluative Through The Lens) flash. I have been using a Canon 540ez (A-TTL: Advanced Through The Lens, pre-digital days) Flash since the beginning of 2009. I'm really enjoying the more natural white balance that that 340ex II gives with it's built in sensor. It is very small and light. I was looking for a good small unit to pack in my already overfilled bag for shooting concerts. I will occasionally strap a speedlite on with a Manfrotto Super Clamp while I'm shooting shows to get a nice balanced or artistic off camera lighting. My 540ez is a great flash, but it's very large and takes up a lot of space.

I'm also enjoying that the 340ex II can be controlled directly from the menu system of my camera. It makes life a lot easier than using the silly Custom Fn settings that you need the manual open to decode the settings.

I actually prefer to use Nikon Strobes for doing off-camera lighting, but the ability to us TTL and control the speedlite off camera with TTL using remote mode (New Feature added with the Canon 7d that I'm about to Pre-Order) it makes Canon's line of flashes much more usable and a better investment. Hey for $75 I couldn't go wrong.


Question for everybody
It would be great if any of you have a similar story about bad customer service that turned out well, or great deals you got on camera gear etc. I would love to hear all about it. Let us know!