Lens Align MK2

Going abroad especially if its a long way away like Japan is for me takes some preparation, Not just in reseach for times of year,places to visit,stay and eat but also in your kit, You dont want to travel 6000 miles and find that you have either left something behind or that something is not working as it should, Last week i decided to purchased a Lens Align MK2, These are a new and version of the Lens Align system, Basically its a target with a ruler attached, You focus on the target at maximum aperture and take a shot, Look at the ruler and it show if you lens is focused properly or if it front or back focuses, If it is front or back focused you can adjust it with modern day cameras that have the micro adjust feature, I have never advised that people play with this feature before as i have always taken it that its for emergency use only, i.e you drop your camera whilst away and it will get you through until you can send it in, But it seems that attitudes have changed and if you lens is only out a few degrees then this is as good a way of sorting the problem than sending it in and paying for it to be adjusted my Canon or Nikon, Its nice to be able to send all your kit away and get it all properly calibrated on the bench for piece of mind but it costs an arm and a leg especially in postage plus the time without all your gear, Last night i had my first chance since getting it to have a play,It was evening and after a quick plat it looked like my D7000 with 70-200 was well out of kilter, i decided to have another go today in daylight and it proved that the low light last night was the problem and today its focus is bang on, There are a few tutorials around so i will link those rather than trying to explain it my self, Lens align has some good videos that show end to end how to do it and its easy if not a little time consuming, Canon users have a great benefit of being able to check the focusing whilst tethered-see Arthur Morris here for details whilst the rest of us could purchase the tethered programmed from Breeze systems here, $80 may seem a lot of money for some snap together cardboard but the first time you use it you will have gotten your money back and have the satisfaction of knowing that your focus system is bang on, I now have a full days testing ahead of me with 2 bodies and 3 long lenses plus 2 extenders, I will let you know the results next time

Dave 

Gear Review - Canon 7D AF System

As I promised a couple of days ago in this blogpost, I would add my views on the Canon 7D AF system based on my experiences 'hands on' with it.  My thoughts are based on comparisons with my 1Dmk111 and I used the 7D in the same vein to ensure true comparison.

The 7D is equipped with 19 cross type AF points, with only the centre point having f2.8 sensitivity, which helps determine my thinking in the way I set up for use with my longer lenses.

In terms of mode, there is One Shot for still subjects, AI servo for moving subjects and AI Focus for still subjects that might move.  I dont tend to bother with AI Focus.  If it had a decent purpose  in life, they would put it on the 1 series, which they don't.

AF points can be selected either singly, grouped by Zone or letting the camera do it for you with Auto.

I have only used single point as it is what I am used to, and allows me to place the AF point exactly where I want it on the subject.

With Zone AF, you can select groups of four points at the top, bottom or on the sides of the group, or the central block of 9.  Again I have not trialled this.  It might work for some subjects, but my concern with long lenses wide open, is that the nearest part of the subject will be grabbed by the group.  This might work OK with a small subject, but for a large bird in flight for example, you could end up grabbing the wing tip rather than the head.

I never bother with Auto, as I like to maintain the control.

An additional option with the single point  mode is Spot AF.  The AF point is actually quite a large area, much larger than the little black or red square in the viewfinder, so for more accurate focussing the Spot AF can allow you to be more accurate.

When I carried out this test in this blogpost, I used AI servo with centre point.

But that is not where it ends.  Many of the better functions hidden away in the Custom functions have been carried over from the 1Dmk111.  These include the AI servo tracking sensitivity, which I tend to use a one click left of centre towards slow, and works OK for me on both the 7D and 1Dmk111. C.Fn 111-3 works better on the 7D in my opinion, and the gull test shots demonstrate that extremely well, again I set it to Continuous for birds in flight.

I didnt have the time to mess about with lens micro adjustment, but I think the only way to get this done properly is by Canon in the lab, with the lenses you intend using on it.  I had this done on the 1D and it helped.  The 7D gives you the opportunity to mess about if you wish and it might worth using the facility to check, and if your lenses are off then send them to Canon to get it done properly.

Dave's recent post covers some thoughts on this in more detail.

One useful little function is the ability to let the camera shift the AF point to the corresponding location when you switch shooting from landscape to portrait format.  For example, if you are using the top right point in landscape, it would become top left when you switch to the top left as you rotate the camera anticlockwise.  With this function, it will keep the top right AF point selected for you.

One change you have to get used to as a 1D shooter is if you want to select the AF assist points.  You don't go into the Custom Functions.

You need to go to the Q in a square button, toggle to the AF area on the back screen, then pressing the M. fn button next to the shutter button, you scroll through to the various AF mode choices, and one of these will give you the AF assist points option.  You need to remember if you want to make the change in a hurry.

Unlike the 1D though, you only have the choice of all surrounding points to do the AF assist function.

As I mentioned in my original AF testing blogpost, the AF system on this camera is quite excellent and very easy to use with consistent results.  However, there is a much greater level of sophistication when stepping up from any of the XXD or XXXD series Canon bodies.  This is why I think many of these users have been having difficulties and blaming the camera.

With some hard won 1Dmk111 experience under your belt, you would be very happy with the results.

This makes the 7D a good back up to a 1 series.

In the next part, I will cover off some of the ISO and noise issues that I see that some people have experienced.  I have not seen these issues based on how I shoot and then post process, so will share my thoughts in the next installment.

So that was our 500th post since we started over a year ago.  How time has flown by.

I have to say I was most upset while writing this particular post as I had got about two thirds of the way through when I lost everything I had typed.  Normally Blogger autosaves, and I believed it had but something went wrong.  So after much gnashing of teeth and a few choice words, I had to start over again.

Anyway we got there.  Looking forwards, I should be able to get out taking some photos over the weekend, so should have some more new material to share with you.  Roll on the lighter nights and mornings too.

Goshawks are on the agenda - if they come close enough

Martin

Autofocus

Following on from Martins post about the 7D it would seem that by reading various forums that the first cameras off of the production line had a few problems and you either got a good one or you got a duff one, Reports of AF problems seem to be sorted by the amount of people saying and showing that they are getting good results, By this i am talking about people taking birds in flight-a true test of an AF system, Photographers who shoot birds in flight on a regular basis need an AF system that is consistent-probably more than in any other form of photography, by this i mean a system that will grab the bird quickly and then keep that bird in focus no matter what the background, The Canon 1D MK3 was a nightmare for this especially when the light was not at its best, A couple of years ago a few of us went to Gigrin farm to shoot the Red Kites,the day was dark and miserable and everybody with a 1D3 struggled. i even stopped shooting. but people with the likes of Canons 5D mk1 or 40D had much better luck, The new 7D is getting some good press now for its AF although overly complicated once set up properly it is getting excellent results and holds its tracking, I haven't tested one but know some good photographers who have put it through its paces, like its AF you need to get the exposure bang on as any playing around in PS will soon bring grain out,Its all very similar to my D300-Excellent AF and my bird in flight camera of choice but if you don't get the exposure spot on even at low ISO you will end up with a grainy image, I used the D300 in New York last week when i was at Jamaica bay and shot a few hundred images of Geese flying over me and across the back of the pond where the background was very messy and a good test of a cameras tracking abilities, I knew the D300 would handle the situation well as i have used it many times in similar situations, One particular Canada goose flew back and forth along the far bank and every time the D300 locked on and tracked without the need to re find focus or pump the shutter button, For bird in flight photography you dont need all the bells and whistles but you do need a good AF system so keep this in mind if you are into that type of photography and are in the market for a new body

Trip Report-South Carolina 2

Hot and Extremely Humid that about sums up the last few days, I have just arrived home and its nice to be back to less humid conditions, The South Carolina coastline is very pretty but a very busy place,Wildlife only getting a look in in designated areas, The area i was first in was better for photography and its a shame i didn't get more time there but its noted and i will make it back at some time, I managed a couple of sessions there and it was very successful and you had chances of shots every couple of minutes so you could get the standard shots and have plenty of opportunities for arty farty shots as well, As i said before i chose the D300 over the D3+1.4x as the AF is faster without the extender and D3 combo and IQ is great under ISO400, I am old school and still try to keep the ISO as low as possible although last week i processed a couple of images taken at high ISO with the D3 and its very impressive and i will come to this in a later blog,The skies were clear so only the first hour or more after sunrise would be worth shooting in as the light after this was harsh although i did some back lit flight shots that worked OK in Bright light, I set the D300 to ISO 400 which is the max that i use it for and this gave a shutter speed of 1/500 or more which was adequate for what i wanted and the wimberley Gimbal head worked perfectly with the 600 F4 making my life very easy for tracking birds, The birds were feeding in the mud next to the river and with the sun behind me i could focus on the trees next to the river so as soon as the birds flew over the on the way back to the nests i was already focused and could track them from distance and shoot when i felt they were a good size in the frame, Even if the birds were closer than the trees by the time i saw them the AF snapped on to them, I would rather focus at distance and then lock onto something closer than focus close and then try to grab a distant subject if that makes sense,
So that's another state pinned on the map and a big thank you to my buddies for allowing me to stay with them and show me around

Dave