 Tareq M. Alhamrani |
Question about few equipments My questions are the following: 1-What are good cameras for: landscapes, portraits, macro, wildlife, sports? Only Canon model. 2- What are good lenses for question #1 above? only canon as well. 3- I have Flash 580EX, but how can I use it with more power? I mean I got Ni-MH batteries rechargeable but it seems I can't use it for long time and recycle charge is slow, so is there any way or accessory that can make that flash to fire more and continuously? or do you know another powerful flash which can fire alot for let's say more than 5fps without stopping for recharging all the time? 4- What are good models or types of Filters? let's say Circular Polarizing filters and Graduated Neutral Density Filters? using for skies when there are lots of clouds or white bright skies or blue sometimes and sun strong sometimes and so. 5- I am looking to get Studio lighting, so can someone tell me a good lighting kit? I will use it for portraits, still life or products and so, and I can use it indoors or outdoors, so I need some power not something for small room only as I can lower it if I don't need that full power. some advised me to get 800W enough but I don't know if that 800 is enough for all studio lighting indoors or outdoors. Note: I buy all my gears from B&H site only, so I hope if some equipments above mentioned included with links from B&H. sorry for all that question, waiting your answer.
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Jon Close |
1. Any/all the Canon DSLRs are good for all purposes. The 1D Mk II is more specialized for sports with its fast frame rate. 2. Other than the cheapest kit zooms (EF-S 18-55, EF 28-90,...) all of Canon's lenses are terrific. Need to narrow down to a specific function (and camera body) for a specific recommendation. 3. There is no way for the 580EX, or any accessory speedlight, to fire 5 frames per second, except at minimum power output. Besides which, such continuous quick firing will overheat and destroy the flash head. Use studio "hot lights" if you need constant lighting. High capacity (2500+ MAh) Ni-MH rechargeables give the fastest cycling times (<4 sec.). For slightly faster cycling and long life between charges, use the external battery pack, CP-E3. 4. Circular polarizer is a must for certain situations. It's effect cannot be duplicated in digital editing. UV is not necessary, but some people prefer to use it to protect the lens's front element. Neutral Density and Graduated Neutral Density are also useful. Do not bother with any colored or color-correction filters such as Skylight, FL-D, 80-, 81-, 82-, series. Their effects are done much more efficiently in digital with the white balance control. Multi-coated filters with Aluminum (better) or brass (best) rings are preferred. 5. sorry, I'm not qualified to offer an opinion on specific studio lights.
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W. |
@ 3) you can also get a turbo flash pack. It won't produce 5 flashes per sec, but 1 flash per sec, sustained, ought to be possible. Looky here: http://www.qtm.com/Turbo/?res_set=yes&res=1280&resh=900
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Tareq M. Alhamrani |
Thank you very much for your responses. for questions #1,2 and 4 I checked from another websites and got what I need. for #3 still I don't know if these packs can be good replacement or alternatives than rechargeable Ni-MH batteries but I will check more about it, and I thought it is possible as I see ot I thought I see photojournalists firing alot more than 5fps or maybe I am imagining that. still I am waiting answer for question #5 as I got many answers and I have many options and some are good choices but still need more feedback or details about these lightings so I can decide which one to get one time.
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W. |
"#3 still I don't know if these packs can be good replacement or alternatives than rechargeable Ni-MH batteries" If you need a couple hundred flashes per day, everyday!, turbo flash packs are much more cost effective and labor saving than rechargeable NiMH's.
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W. |
"I thought I see photojournalists firing alot more than 5fps or maybe I am imagining that" If you saw a bunch of photogs apparently doing that, you may have seen pre-flashes AND main flashes. That doubles the number of flashes – apparently!
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Tareq M. Alhamrani |
Oh Thank you W. Smith. Just I thought it is not as I thought about it, in fact I can fire more than 5fps if I lower the power of my flash so with highest power I can't flash with more than 2 or 3 in some cases so I don't need full power in many cases, I got that by trial and tests. i will think of those packs someday but still my batteries working great, just I am thinking of triggers or more flashes if I need to control more lights. Now I am still searching about studio lighting kit as I need something powerful and most advised me to get not so powerful kit if it is just for portraits indoor, but I will use that kit for everything not just indoors or portraits. Thanks again and I hope to learn more in Photography.
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Mark Feldstein |
I'm a photojournalist Tareq and frankly I don't know any of my colleagues who work at 5FPS unless they might be photographing a golf or baseball bat swing for a training brochure. 5 FPS is awfully fast, not only for the camera, whether it's digital or film, AND the strobe, even if it's on the lowest power setting. I'm with W.S. I think you may be seeing other flashes going off at the same time. For what it's worth to you, there are two types of batteries I use, and I may have told you this before. The Quantum Turbo that runs either my Vivitar 285HV or Quantum T-2 or T-4 heads, and Underdog Batteries running the drives on my 35mm cameras made by my buddy Jon Falk http://www.underdog-battery.com/index.html IMHO, using nicad batteries for photographic applications these days is like living in the dark ages without electric lights. I don't know of a Nicad that can keep up with the demands of modern electronics gear that requires rapid cycling and recycling, even when they're new and fully charged. At the FPS rates you're talking about, my guess is that you're also eventually going to do in your electronics by using power sources that can't keep up with their demand. As for the location and studio lighting for portraits, while some may be advising you not to get a powerful you may be advised not to spend the extra dough on more powerful lighting but if you are now, or plan in the future to do this professionally, then getting less powerful lights is false economy. Why? Well, IMO, there is absolutely nothing that can be more frustrating than trying needing more light, for a 100 reasons, and not having it available. That includes needing more depth of field or using a light modifier that just requires a lot of watt seconds to give you what you need. When I'm shooting portraits on location, I usually run those Bowens 1500 W.S. monolights I mentioned to you in a 3x4 foot Chimera softbox, usually down at 1/2 power at 750 W.S. That let's me work at distances of about 10 feet from the subject and somewhere between f8-f11.0 which is adequate depth of field for most situations. BUT, if I need to get up to F11 or even higher, all I do is turn the power setting up. No muss, no fuss, no fixing in P.S., no moving lights around, the additional light is just there if I need it. At a minimum Tareq, with light modifiers being what they are these days and paying about a buck per w.s., I'd recommend nothing less for portraits than a light that puts out a full 750 W.S. or a pack system that will allow you a switchable main with 750 W.S., and a maximum of 1500 w.s. per pack. Oh and beware of someone here recommending Britek who also happens to be a Britek dealer. And that's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;>)
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Tareq M. Alhamrani |
Thank you very much Mark. I will buy only that is good and enough for most or all occasions and conditions, I can't expect when and where I need low power or high power so that I better have full high power kit so if I need them all they are available as you said, if I don't need them all power then I can ignore one head or so. Thanks again and still I am not in hurry and I will travel tomorrow to Geneva and Paris. Good luck for me and you all.
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