For yesterday’s meeting, our agenda was about a product called AutoMate and Camera Insurance.

AutoMate by The Gadget Works

AutoMate is a really cool hardware and software from The Gadget Works “CEO/CIO/CFO/Janitor” Don French. After spending nearly four years developing AutoMate, he has a great potential tool for photographers. AutoMate are two separate things: a hardware device that is mounted in between the camera and tripod and software that is loaded onto either a laptop or PDA communicating via Bluetooth that allows you to program the hardware and/or trigger manual commands such as firing the shutter or panning horizontally. What AutoMate offers is a much, much simpler way to create extraordinary panoramas like the gigapixel panoramas like Max Lyons. By using a WindowsMobile 6 PDA, you can upload, save, and create “profiles” for the AutoMate hardware to execute. You put in how wide (in degrees) of horizontal panning you want, if you want the images to have any overlap and by how much (in percentages) and then let the machine do all the work of panning horizontally perfectly and vertically while automatically photographing each frame and saving it to the camera’s memory card.

AutoMate isn’t just a panoramic assist, it is also a programmable intervalometer allowing for complex custom programs to create time lapse pictures. One of the cool features of using AutoMate as an intervalometer is that the system sends a wake up pulse at a pre-programmed time that wakes the camera and then fires off the shutter. All the other intervalometer hardware and software require the camera to remain on at all times! Don showed us the intuitive GUI and how easy it is to program custom programs for a variety of uses from panoramic shots to time lapses. AutoMate is relatively easy to setup. There are three sockets: one socket is designed to send a wake up trigger to other items such as strobes (not currently an available option), the middle socket is to trigger the camera’s shutter, and the last socket is to plug in a manual wired remote. AutoMate is powered by four Double AA batteries and also has a DC socket to allow for an external battery source to be plugged into the AutoMate while the main batteries are being changed to save the pre-programmed options. The software is written in VBasic. AutoMate is currently still in beta testing and is open to those interested in being beta testers at a discounted cost of $499. According to Don, after the Gizmodo blog post, he received over 150 beta test request applications in 1 day!

Don demonstrated the AutoMate using his Canon EOS 20D with Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM and it looks and works fantastic! Very, very smooth panning. Don has definitely put a lot of thought and details into this and it shows. Some innovative features is the ability for micro adjustments in case the panning is slightly off. The software looks like there are thousands of combination.

I personally do not do landscape photography, so I’m not that interested in AutoMate, but I do applaud the hard work and the exceptional product that, while still in beta, looks very promising! Thank you for showing us this wonderful product Don! Good luck!

Camera Insurance, A Discussion

The highlight of the night was the discussion on camera insurance. Having camera insurance is important; but having the right insurance is even more important. There are a couple choices depending on what kind of photography you do. If you are a hobbyist or amateur and make no money (not even a cent from time to time), then you can usually add a rider policy onto your home owner or renter’s insurance to cover the cost of damage, lost, or stolen equipment. If you are a hobbyist or amateur who receives money (no matter how little) once in awhile or a professional who is paid, in the eyes of the insurance company, you are considered pro and must get pro insurance, which means higher premiums. One thing that should be mentioned about insuring your photography equipment, especially very expensive equipment, under your home owner’s or renter’s insurance is that you should consider it can be a risk if you make a big claim for loss, stolen, or damage, it can be clause for the insurance company to cancel your entire home owner’s or renter’s policy. $30,000 or less of photography equipment, in my mind, is not worth loosing your home insurance over. Best to get a separate policy just to be on the safe side.

In the meeting, a few people gave examples of what kind of insurance they have relative to what they do. Two professionals have professional insurance, one being Hill & Usher, a company that a lot of professional photographers use. One of the women in our group is insured through State Farm and she recently received a check for the repair cost of a damaged Canon EOS 20D and a hosed Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM from when she accidentally dropped them together on concrete. She said the experience was pain-free, just called them up and explained the situation and they took care of the rest. The one pro who has Hill & Usher let us see his insurance paperwork and contract. His premium is ~$750 annually ($30,000-$50,000 worth of equipment insured) with liability insurance (a big important thing to protect yourself against lawsuits). This being only the base policy, it also comes with rental equipment, pays out for loss profit, etc; seems to be a very good deal for peace of mind. What’s great about photography insurance such as this is that it’s very easy to file and get stuff taken cared of and in a lot of cases, there is no deductible either.

Now for a horror story of why you should never let any insurance lapse. One of the members was detailing back in 2005 when he was shooting a baseball game, somehow someone managed to steal his camera bag (a Domke J-2) from the press area inside which contained several expensive Canon L lenses, lots of compact flash cards, strobes, and other accessories such as backup batteries. Fortunately, he still had his camera body, a Canon EOS 1D, and a Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L USM, which was mounted all on a monopod. Unfortunately he was in-between insurances at this point, and had let the other one lapsed, so $4500 worth of equipment just evaporated!

I’m going to start researching Hill & Usher and price out what it will cost to insure all my equipment under a separate policy and will post details once I’ve got it all figured out.

AutoMate Gallery Images

The Canon EOS 5D is pretty much about as professional of an digital SLR as you can get. It is one of the few full-frame sensor digital SLRs on the market. It feels very well built and handles like a charm. Plus a CMOS sensor of 12.8 megapixels definitely make for a lot of pixel details, so on paper it sounds quite promising, so how does it shape up in the field and in reality?

First, I must say I’m a bit biased against full-frame SLRs. I know there are a number of people who relish the fact that there are now a couple SLRs (both Canon) that are full-frame sensors similar to the ones found on film cameras. So what are the advantages of a full-frame sensor?

Advantages

1. The focal length of the lens attached to a full-frame slr, such as the Canon EOS 5D, is precise versus the same lens being attached on a smaller sensor that results in a crop factor. So if I was to attach a 24mm focal length lens on a full-frame slr, it is precisely 24mm. But if I was to take that same 24mm focal length lens and attach it to, say an Canon EOS Rebel XTi/400D, the 24mm focal length becomes ~38.4mm because of the 1.6x crop factor.
2. Bigger sensor will resolve higher quality because there is more surface area to gather more light. And in relation to how closely or loosely packed the pixels are on a given sensor, there will be less noise on a full-frame slr versus a non full-frame slr given the same amount of megapixels.
3. Lower noise. This relates to #2, with a bigger sensor that can gather more light because of its larger surface area, less amplification is needed to boost signal thereby producing lower pixel noise.

Disadvantages

1. Cost is considerably higher. More raw materials are needed to produce a larger sensor and a larger body is necessary to house a larger sensor.
2. The weaknesses in cheaper and poorly produced lenses are much more apparent and blaring.
3. Similar issues with the full-frame film sensors: vignetting and softness in the corners.

So what are my thoughts after using the Canon EOS 5D for two weeks so far (which I must warn is no where near enough time to get an accurate feel)?

Weight and Dimension

The Canon EOS 5D is definitely not a light digital SLR. It weighs 810g (892g with the battery), which is about 1.78 pounds. It is quite large in your hands, not quite as large as the Canon EOS 1D line, but definitely bigger than the Canon EOS 20D/30D and hugely bigger than the Canon EOS Digital Rebel line. The exact dimensions are 6.0 x 4.4 x 3.0 inches. Because of the huge grip, it is comfortable to hold and use.

Construction

Much like its younger brothers, the Canon EOS 20D/30D, the entire body is made up of magnesium alloy right down to the EF mount. It is not weather sealed, unlike its bigger brother, the 1D line.

In the tradition of professional level SLR, there is no built on pop-up flash (partly due to the huge viewfinder), so an external flash unit would have to be used. The buttons are slightly different than the Canon EOS 20D/30D. The four buttons (Menu, Info, Jump, and Preview) that are left of the 2.5″ LCD is slightly raised higher than on the Canon EOS 30D. The On/Off switch is also more pronounced. The two buttons on the back upper right hand side is also different than the 30D. The Auto Exposure Lock/Zoom Out button is larger than the Zoom in button whereas on the 30D, it is the reverse being that the Auto Exposure Lock/Zoom Out button is larger and the other is smaller. And the final major difference is the jog dial doesn’t have the Picture Style selection that the 30D has.

Field Test

It’s definitely wild to be able to have a wide angle lens really be a wide angle lens. My walk around lens, the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM is amazingly wide allowing me to capture more than I was able to capture before. The catch-22 to having no a full-frame sensor is that while my lenses are all now wider like it should be, I don’t have the same focal crop I had before. At times I am finding the 70mm focal length on my walk around lens to be lacking that extra little field of view I used to have with my Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D. I find myself switching lenses back and forth more often with my Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM.

I also do find that both my lenses are better counter-balanced on the Canon EOS 5D because of its weight than when the two lenses were mounted on my XTi. I don’t find my trigger finger and hand to be as sore because I’m not having to support all the lens weight through the smaller grip. I do find myself garnering more attention these days because everything looks so big now. Before the lens was intimidating for people, but with the 5D now, everyone is just surprised by the sheer size.

Having the extra megapixelage is quite nice. It allows for some amazing crops that I could never have achieved with my Nikon D100. While the Canon EOS 5D only has a 2.8 megapixel advantage over the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi/400D, the differences in the pictures is quite evident. This also further proves that megapixels do not mean everything. I would have personally preferred a faster burst rate (3 frames-per-second), but it has the highest buffer of all the other Canon dSLRs, except for the Canon 1D Mark III, with 60 JPEGs. The XTi could only manage 27 JPEGs at best before slowing down to 1 frame-per-second. The 3fps is quite adequate for most and many occasions, but having an additional 2fps would be great for sports photography.

The ISO noise suppression on the 5D is amazing. When I have to use ISO 800, there is less noise in the pictures than my Canon EOS Rebel XTi/400D at the same ISO level. ISO 800 on the Canon EOS 5D looks equivalent to the XTi/400D’s ISO 400.

Final Thoughts

The Canon EOS 5D is very, very nice, but I wouldn’t buy it. It is three times as much as my XTi/400D and double the price of the Canon EOS 30D, but doesn’t offer enough over the 30D and the XTi/400D to be worth it. But then again the 5D is a very specific niche dslr. It has a full-frame CMOS sensor at about a third the cost of the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II with a few less megapixels also. I would rather spend the extra $200 and purchase the Canon EOS 1D Mark IIn or Mark III over the 5D. But if you need full-frame and top notch ISO noise control, then the Canon EOS 5D is your choice. Full-frame is nice, especially when you need wide angle, but I personally need more reach than I need wide and the 1.3x crop factor of the 1D is a good compromise between full-frame and 1.6x crop factor.

[rating:4]

It took a bit of agonizing trying to decide what would be the replacement SLR to my Nikon D100. I knew for sure that I was making the switch to Canon. Ironically my friend saw it coming before I even realized it. It had just come time to upgrade.

So at first I was not even considering the Canon EOS Rebel XTi/400D because I felt it was too “entry level” SLR for me, so I was considering a used Canon EOS 20D instead. I really wanted the Canon EOS 30D because of the improvements over the 20D, but the cost of the SLR alone would make it difficult for me to have any quality lenses. I was considering a used Canon EOS 30D at one point, but figured it might be too dangerous of an investment considering buying used electronics, too unpredictable when it may just decide to crap out especially without a warranty. So I was considering a Canon EOS 20D again because of its price and it still had many of the features I wanted despite a new model being out. After number crunching, I decided perhaps the Canon EOS Rebel XTi might be a good idea after all.

For the cost vs. what it offers, you can’t really beat the price. I got mine brand new from a Canon authorized dealer, Beachcamera.com, body only, for under $700 dollars.

Weight and Dimensions

They weren’t kidding when they said this SLR was small. It’s practically the size of a larger point-and-shoot, in fact it probably could be confused for a point-and-shoot if not for larger lenses attached. My finger tips feel practically smashed against the lens mount, that’s how tiny it is. At first it was quite uncomfortable to use, especially since I was using a Nikon D100 before, but after you get used to it, its not so bad. I’ve used my friend’s Canon EOS 30D and my Dad’s Canon EOS 5D, and when you have been using the XTi for awhile, holding the other two bigger SLRs feels completely different.

The XTi is very light, almost feels like there is nothing inside. The lightness can be both a good and bad thing. It’s good because you’re carrying less, but it’s bad when you have a big lens attached such as the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM. Without the top LCD, Canon has achieved a SLR the size of mid-sized point-and-shoots, which makes being stealthy easier.

Lighter lens mounted to the XTi is no issue, but when you mount an L lens, it becomes very front heavy. Everything time I have my 70-200mm f/2.8L mounted, I’m bracing the lens rather than the camera.

Construction

The XTi is primarily constructed of polycarbonate with magnesium around the lens mount and CMOS sensor. It definitely feels plastic, but don’t let that detract you from how great this camera really is. It definitely is very well constructed and put together despite being plastic. I have my Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM attached to it primarily, and the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM for special events, and it doesn’t feel like the lens mount is going to break off. Take it from a guy, who at times, carries his camera with the 24-70mm or 70-200mm attached via the neck strap slinged on one shoulder walking around. I know some people would cringe at the thought…

I know many people and many sites have commented on how much more comfortable the Nikon D80 and even the Nikon D40 (despite being smaller than the XTi) is. I have held both for a bit and agree that the two Nikons are definitely more comfortable.

Field Test

Because this is my primary (only, currently) body, I use it whenever I need to take pictures. It gets a lot of use and while I don’t baby it, I don’t abuse it either. The body still looks relatively new other than for a few cosmetic blemishes such as my fingertips digging into the rubber inserts to hold the camera.

I always get looks when I pull out my XTi because I have two main lens, the 24-70mm and the 70-200mm both f/2.8 which means big lenses, and the 24-70mm is usually what I have mounted. It looks a bit comical at first, such a small camera but such a big lens.

The small size of the XTi makes traveling with it very easy. I can easily stow it away in my car and carry it with me to snap nice high quality shots. My lenses do kind of negate the smallness benefit of the XTi though…

The 2.5 inch LCD screen is great, I love it, especially since I went from a 1.8 inch LCD screen on the Nikon D100. One major thing I highly recommend doing to protect your LCD is purchasing the Palm Premium screen protectors multipack and applying it to your LCD. You will have to do a bit of measuring and cutting, and it may take a few times before you get it perfect, but it is all worth it. It doesn’t affect the color or view angle of the LCD in any way. Worthy investment.

In the beginning, I figured the dust sensor cleaning feature was a gimmick by Canon, but after a bit of comparison with my friend’s 30D, it does in fact work. I change my lenses much more often than my friend does (he only has one lens…at the moment…), but I have hardly any sensor dust compared to him and he is much, much more careful about how he changes his lenses to prevent dust such as facing the camera downwards to avoid introducing new dust artifacts on the sensor, me, I just plop it off and on.

The battery life is actually quite good. I don’t have an exact count of how many shots you can take before you have to recharge the battery, but I find that I rarely have to recharge the battery. When the battery is depleted, it doesn’t take long to recharge the battery back to full either, some three hours I believe. And in no accident, the Canon NB-2LH battery is compatible with the XT, Canon PowerShot S30/40/45/50/60/70/80, and the Canon G7.

Final Thoughts

While I am definitely overall very happy with the SLR, there are a few points that do irritate me. First and foremost, the limited ISO steps. My ISO choices are: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600. The jump from 400 to 800 is ridiculous! Sometimes I need 600 or around 600 and 800 is a bit overkill. The XTi does do very well in noise suppression, but going from 400 to 800 is a bit much in my opinion. I would definitely like to be able to adjust my ISO in 1/3 steps versus full steps, but I guess this is where entry-level comes into play.

There is no easy way to change the focus point. On the Canon EOS 30D and Canon EOS 5D, there is a little independent mini joystick that you can set to be a dedicated focus point changer. On the Rebel XTi, I have to press the focus point button, then use either the four point cursor keys or the jog wheel near the shutter. This results in missed shots because of having to press the button and then search for where I want the focus point set.

I’m not a big fan of the limited buffer. While the frames per second (3 FPS) is decent, the buffer of 27 high quality JPEGs feels limiting, although there is very few reasons to deplete the buffer. But somehow Nikon’s D40 and D80′s 100 picture buffer seems much more appealing.

If the Canon XTi’s body was made of all magnesium alloy, I think it would be perfect, although it probably would cost almost as much as the Canon EOS 30D.

Also having 10.1 MP is nice, makes having to do drastic crop downs still look pretty damn good.

This camera is definitely worth having as your primary and/or secondary camera. It has many features of the Canon 30D, but at nearly half the price. Eventually I would love to have the Canon EOS 1D Mark IIn or even the newly released Canon EOS 1D Mark III, I probably would still use the XTi a lot. It’s small, portable, cheap, and can use all the lenses so it makes a perfect backup camera or a traveling camera.

[rating:4.5]

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM on Canon EOS Rebel 400D/XTi.

[table=6]

Introduction

From the first time I heard about the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens, I had a feeling it would be a lens I would really like. I was wrong. I am absolutely in love with this lens. It is amazing! From the feel to the picture quality, superb. There are few people who say this lens is way too overrated. Some aren’t as impressed as others and claim that the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 performs just as well for a lot less in price and is smaller, more compact and supposedly the Sigma AF 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DF performs about as good as the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L and better than the Tamron. I personally have not used the Tamron or the Sigma and can’t comment.

This lens is my walk around lens. It may seem a bit *big* at first to be a walk around lens on a Canon EOS Rebel 400D/XTi (hell, it’s still not even considered small on the Canon EOS 20D or Canon EOS 30D), but you get used to it quite quickly especially after seeing the the sharpness and performance of the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L

The focal length of this lens on a 1.6 FOVCF (frame of view crop factor) SLR such as the Canon EOS Rebel 400D/XTi is 38.4mm to 112mm, somewhat odd range, but still usuable.

Weight and Dimensions

This len isn’t small. It’s a bit longer than the Canon EF 17-55mm f/2.8 IS and is only a bit shorter than the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L. It weighs 950 grams (or 2.1 pounds), so it’s heavier than the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L, but not as heavy as the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L. The actual dimensions are: 4.9 inches length-wise and 3.3 inches in diameter. It has 13 groups and 16 elements; definitely a lot of glass in this lens! With this lens attached to the Canon EOS Rebel 400D/XTi, I find myself sometimes holding the camera/lens by the lens body rather the grip because it feels a bit more comfortable and I’m not as afraid of dropping this $1,000 lens. I see many people complain about the weight of this lens. It’s not light, but certainly not heavy like Canon’s super telephoto lens, the 500mm and 600mm. Those that complain of the weight don’t seem to appreciate the superior build quality and the picture quality achieved by this fantastic lens.

Construction

Because this is an L lens, it is primarily constructed of magnesium alloy and most certainly feels like it can take a pounding and continue taking great pictures. The barrel that extends is also constructed of magnesium alloy and you can feel how well its built when the barrel is fully extended out. There is virtually no significant wobbling of any kind with the lens when the barrel is collapsed or fully extended. This L lens is black in color, unlike it’s bigger brothers, who are painted in the now famous Canon color, off white (or putty). Because of that, it may not garner glances as quickly as a white L lens usually does, people still notice that it is not a small lens either. When you attach the flower hood (EW-83F), it really stands out.

The focal length ring rotates smoothly and tightly allowing for precise adjustments. It feels great when you spin either the focal length ring or the focus ring. This is definitely an excellent engineered lens. One thing that many people may find a bit odd at first is how the focal lengths work. When the barrel is fully collapsed, it is at its fartherest focal length, 70mm. To use 24mm, the barrel is focused out. I believe part of the reason that Canon designed the lens this way was because of the huge hood. The hood attaches to the body and not the barrel like some other lenses does (for example, the Nikon AF 28-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF) and if 24mm was when the barrel was completely collapsed, parts of the hood would appear in the shot. One added bonus is that with the hood on and the barrel fully extended, the barrel remains inside of the hood still, which is great protection in the unlikely event you drop the lens.

Field Test

I usually have the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM attached to my camera; as it is my walk around lens. There are a few times that I feel a bit limited by 70mm and want to be able to zoom more and other times I feel that 24mm isn’t wide enough.

The maximum aperture of 2.8 allows me to get shots in dimly lit areas, which is a great bonus. This is definitely not a lens I would use for shooting sports because of its limited focal range, but using it for portraits is very satisfying. It creates a very smooth and buttery blurred background (bokeh) at 2.8.

Auto focus is extremely fast on the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L because of ring type USM. It also focuses accurately and does well under low light conditions.

I’m unable to use my built on flash with this lens attached because it will cause very noticable lens vignetting on the bottom center of the pictures. It doesn’t bother me too bad because I try to avoid using flash as much as possible.

Another great thing about this lens is the macro feature. It can focus as close as 1.25 feet, much better than my Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L‘s 3 something feet. While this isn’t quite super impressive, it’s very usable for me. There are times I like to take macro images, such as product images and what not, so I need a good macro lens, which I previously was using the cheapy kit lens, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6.

It’s a great lens with decent focal range. Good enough to spend 85% of the time on my SLR body. The weight isn’t too big of an issue, you get used to it, especially when you see the image quality.

Overall Thoughts

This lens would be perfect if it had Image Stabilizer (IS) on it. There are just some times in some dimly lit areas (such as indoors) where IS would help quite a bit! I highly recommend this lens.

[rating:4.5]