Thanks to Imaging Resource for posting these to YouTube.

Comparing the speed of the Mark III vs the Mark II N:

Live View feature:

Mark III Accesories:

Technorati Tags: Digital Photography, Allen Rockwell,Canon, Mark III

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 09:09 PM | Permalink

I've been dreaming of a new camera that has a few more megapixels than my 30D and the capability to capture more frames per second.

It looks like Canon heard my prayers and is soon to release the Canon EOS-1D Mark III.

The Mark III is a 10.1MP camera that takes 10 frames per second with an AMAZING burst rate of 110 shots in JPG mode and 30 shots in RAW mode. This seems like the perfect sports camera. I can't wait to get my hands on this camera ... I'm not sure where I'll find the $4000, but I'm saving my pennies starting at this moment!!!!

A whole lot more info is available here:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E1DMK3/E1DMK3A.HTM

Technorati Tags: Digital Photography, Allen Rockwell,Canon, Mark III

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 01:01 PM | Permalink

If you have a Canon 1.4x Tele Extender and you find that the autofocus on your lens does not work anymore, here's a trick to fix it.

It is simple. Just place a small transparent piece of tape (or just about any tape... I used blue masking tape) on the last 3 pins of the converter. The tape should be placed on the left hand side of the converter when looking at it from the lens connection side. With these three left pins covered, the converter continues to operate with the AF activated. It works great with the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS.

Keep in mind that your lens will not focus as quickly as you are used to, but it will autofocus. Also when you download your images to your computer you will notice that the metadata for the image will only report the max focal length of the lens, not the focal length x 1.4

Technorati Tags: Digital Photography, Allen Rockwell,

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 01:08 PM | Permalink

Here's a chance for you to learn from my mistake.

I was out shooting last Thursday night at my local airport just to work on my low light (or no light) technique. I was shooting with my Canon 30D and my 100-400mm IS L lens which is not what we call a fast lens (f/5.6 @ 400mm). So I set my camer on aperture priority (Av) mode and cranked it all the way open to f5.6. Then I took a bunch of test shots at various ISO settings until I was able to get a shutter speed fast enough to hand hold and get a decent shot. I ended up at ISO 1600 that night. I managed to get a few decent shots but not too many so I called it quits and headed home.

Continue reading "Photo Tip for after the shoot" »

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 11:41 PM | Permalink

I went to Palm Springs Airport in the evening several days ago and shot about 100 exposures, experimenting with lots of differnent exposure settings, panning techniques, etc. I threw all the shots in the bit bin except for one. I was not too thrilled with the one I saved but I thought I'd post it to flicker anyways. And to my surprise a few people have commented that they like the image.

I think it goes to show that as photographers sometimes we are way too critical of our work. Sometimes we just need to have the courage to put it out there and see what happens.

(click the image to see it bigger on flickr)

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 01:01 PM | Permalink

Suzie wrote to me to ask "I have a question. I am in the market for a circular polarizer filter and was wondering if you could recommend a good brand. The one filter I do have (UV) is a Tiffen and it seems to work fine, but it was kind of pricey - though I do realize good quality glass is important."

Here's my response to her...

Unfortunately the only real answer is; the more you spend, the happier you'll be. I bought one that was kinda cheap at about $80.00 (which I don't really consider cheap) , it's an off brand called "Omega" and it's 77mm for my Canon L series lenses. I HATE IT! I should have spent the $144.00 and bought the B+W brand (or $200.00 for the B+W with 81A warming filter).

Whenever I use the Omega filter (which is never anymore) I would almost always get photos that looked at least very soft, and at worse out of focus and unusable. Also I think the filter lost me about 2-3 f/stops ... B+W claims theirs is about 1.3 stops.

So ... to make a long story even longer, just figure out what you can afford and find the one closest to your price point. I think for the most part with camera accessories you get what you pay for.

For anyone reading this wondering what a polarizer is for, have a look at the photo below.
A polarizer will reduce glare, satrurate colors (especially sky) and it also reduces reflection off water which can be real handy when trying to photograph fish in shallow water.

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 12:00 PM | Permalink

A lot of people are shooting in the RAW fromat, but a lot of people are still asking why they should.  I shoot almost exclusively in RAW and recently I was shooting in what Derrick Story calls "Stupid Mode", not paying any attention to my camer's settings and RAW saved me.

I think this shot really demonstrates the power of shooting in the RAW format.
 
Shooting in RAW does not mean that you go out and take pictures in the nude!  RAW is an image format that most all digital SLR cameras and even some newer point-and-shoot camera support.  The raw format captures and saves every piece of information that the image sensor sees, it does no in-camera post processing and does not compress the image.  A RAW file is exactly what the sensor "saw" when you pressed the shutter button.
 
I snapped the photo above on my way out of a water polo tournament I was shooting and I still had my camera set to shutter priority and a shutter speed of 1/640th to stop the action in the water... combine that with a slow telephoto lens (f/5) and the very dark shade this guy was laying in and you end up with an exposure that looks almost black (straight out of the camera) ... a little adjusment of the exposure slider in Apple Aperture (or Adobe Camera Raw) and a "reject" photo is saved and turned into what I think is a really great shot tha captures an exhausted player napping on the grass.
 
You can try all day to do that with a JPG file and you might, in the end get results that are better than nothing, but you'll never get the results that you would have if you had shot RAW.
 
Like they say ... if the shot is important, Shoot RAW!

Until next time,

Keep shooting

Allen Rockwell

Allen Rockwell Photography

Continue reading "Why Shoot RAW" »

Posted by Allen Rockwell at 03:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)