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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Just a few simple questions...
Robby Gallagher, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Brookings | SD | USA | Posted: 11:44 PM on 06.15.10 |
->> First of all, I was wondering what program I use to tell me what my shutter count is (my accusations or whatever). I have had my camera for two years now and I primarily have shot sports. So I am sure it is getting up there.
Secondly, when I am shooting my 50D my shutter will sometimes stick. But it will randomly, not after a burst or anything. Is something wrong? or is this type of thing normal?
Lastly, I am shooting the Brainerd Lake Area Lunkers baseball games this summer and since I do not have a sufficient amount of glass... I am pairing my 70-200 2.8 with a Kenko 2x extender. My photos are coming out fuzzy and I was wondering if there is something I can do to at least get a little better quality out of my images.
Thanks! |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 12:19 AM on 06.16.10 |
->> 1) http://astrojargon.net/EOSInfo.aspx
2) Do you mean delayed operation - or stick open?
3) In my experience the 70-200 does not take the 2x TC well at all. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 12:27 AM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> robbie, I assume you mean "actuations"? And no a shutter sticking is not normal at any time. and as mark said, a 2x extender works very poorly on the 70-200...and that's even the Canon brand, I shudder to even think what the quality would be with a Kenko? just remember....you get what you pay for with equipment. buying cheap crappy glass will give you cheap crappy results. |
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Max Gersh, Photographer, Photo Editor
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New Castle | IN | USA | Posted: 12:27 AM on 06.16.10 |
->> Robby,
First off, I don't believe you can tell shutter count on the 50D. On the 1 series cameras, it is relatively simple to do in Photo Mechanic.
When you say your shutter sticks, are you sure it is actually your shutter "sticking?" I have seen when a camera has a low battery, sometimes the shutter wont behave properly. When this happens, I would try swapping batteries and see if that helps. Also, if you have a vertical grip, sometimes they can make the camera behave funny. Disconnect and reconnect that (if you have one). Try cleaning all the contacts too. Lens mount. Battery. Grip. These are all things that can make the camera behave erratically from time to time.
As far as getting more reach out of your glass, scrap the Kenko. You have a tremendous amount of resolution to work with. It is feasible to think cropping in on your image will give you a sharper image than shooting through the kenko extender.
Don't waste money on cheap glass to pair with high-end stuff. Your image will always be as sharp as the worst glass it is going through.
Be patient and use the tools you have. You have a good camera, a great lens and a lot of resolution on your side. Position yourself properly and try to wait for action to come to you. When you can spring for it, get a Canon 1.4x for acceptably sharp results. They pop up from time to time in the classifieds. |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 2:05 AM on 06.16.10 |
->> I haven't seen anyone make a decent 2x TC.
Kenko does make a 1.4x that is quite good, known as the Teleplus 300. The cheaper ones they make are crap. |
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Robby Gallagher, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Brookings | SD | USA | Posted: 11:40 AM on 06.16.10 |
->> I just borrow the TC, but the shutter is actually sticking open. It only happens every once in a while but I figured it isn't normal. Any ideas on what I should do to prevent it?
Thanks! |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 2:01 PM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> Get it fixed before it does more damage |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 2:04 PM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> Also...to ask the obvious...when it "sticks open" are you in aperture priority? If so are you sure you don't just have a really slow shutter speed? |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 4:26 PM on 06.16.10 |
->> Oh geez...
Stop down to f/8 or f/11... Everything will be sharp, but if you pick dark backgrounds and light foregrounds it'll work out. Use your histograms. Shoot in manual. Read your camera's manual.
Have canon or midstate camera repair fix your shutter - www.midstatecamerarepair.com.
For basic questions, photo.net will often be much more helpful and less embarassing. This forum is intended for working professionals, who make their income from photography/photojournalism... |
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Michael Fischer, Photographer
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Spencer | Ia | USA | Posted: 7:00 PM on 06.16.10 |
->> Israel, I'm not defending Robby but you did notice the word "student" next to his name?
The powers that run this joint want students to be here; and do a lot of things to help them improve. With any student; there will be questions that have answers that are obvious to you and I. Of course, once upon a time, we asked questions that had obvious answers, too.
Robby, the camera probably needs service unless you've mis-set the camera for exposure. Like many, I only use a prime TC (ie Nikon for Nikon, Canon for Canon...) because the less expensive products produce crapping images. |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 7:35 PM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> Yes, I did. I was simply stating that photo.net would be a better place to get answers to simple questions such as the basic workings of a camera, to prevent embarassment. As you can see, his first post was marked funny 9 times at this point. |
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Jack Howard, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Central Jersey | NJ | USA | Posted: 7:39 PM on 06.16.10 |
->> Sometimes communication issues with a lens can cause the shutter to stick...and a TX can increase that problem. I've seen that on some older cameras in this lineup... Usually a power off and battery removal does the trick to get the camera to reboot and reset all electronic and mechanical operations.
And that Kenko 2x extender turns your f/2.8 into an f/5.6 in terms of light gathering, even though it will still show f/2.8 in the LCD viewfinder display. Crank your ISO up to a higher setting (two full stops-ISO 200 to ISO 800-for example, to compensate for the two full stops the 2x TX adds to the aperture) to keep your shutter speeds fast enough to freeze the action. Most of the noise at higher ISOs is chrominance noise, so you'll get sharp edges (which is luminance information), and be able to throw a little smart noise correction at your shots to compensate for the higher ISO.
~~~~~
And to the 9 totally awesome members of this fine community who marked this original post "funny": I'm sure you were all sprung from the womb fully formed as pro shooters with full knowledge of everything photographic, a trust fund to buy top of the line glass and gear straight from the get-go so you never had to suffer with less than a 300 f/2.8, and the full business sense and market awareness to be driving something better than a 13-year old fourth-hand CRV with 275K miles on it, so go ahead, don't help out an ambitious beginner/student who was welcomed into this community to help them grow as a photographer.
Do me a favor, though: contact me off-list with who you are, so I'll know never to share my advice when you've got a question, OK? |
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Mike Anzaldi, Photographer
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Oak Park | IL | USA | Posted: 8:29 PM on 06.16.10 |
->> jack-
add me to your list. i thought "accusations or whatever" was indeed a little bit funny. am i poking fun or trying to belittle? not in the least. maybe robby was trying to be funny. either way, i don't really care. it was funny, and marked as such.
that said, this is a website that caters to professional photographers. there is nothing wrong with promoting professionalism. a 5 second google search on "camera shutter count" will uncover the industry term 500x faster than posting the same question that has been asked here 300x before.
this site has hosted some pretty heated discussion on spelling and grammar. i think it's okay to encourage the community to raise the bar a little bit on forum topics. this isn't a chat room. it's an information data base. it's okay that Israel is suggesting a more appropriate data base for basic photography terminology.
your defensive rant about trust-fund supported shooters also qualifies as "funny", and will be marked as such. |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 8:36 PM on 06.16.10 |
| ->> *Thinks we're all a bit stressed out today and should go outside and take a breather* |
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Mark Loundy, Photo Editor
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San Jose | CA | USA | Posted: 11:23 PM on 06.16.10 |
->> Jack,
I was the first one. I thought it was hilarious. I understand that it was a mistake, but that did not make it any less funny.
--Mark |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 12:24 AM on 06.17.10 |
| ->> Israel, you did go outside and take that breather? right? |
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Robby Gallagher, Photographer, Student/Intern
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Brookings | SD | USA | Posted: 12:58 AM on 06.17.10 |
->> I just wanted to say thank you to those who helped me out and answered my questions.
Mark- the link you gave me worked great. Thank you very much.
This site is sports photographers. If it were only for "professional" sports photographers, it would state so. I joined this site so I could better myself as a photographer, to learn from professionals, and to show through my photographs, my progress. I will not say I am a beginner, for I know more than what you think. I knew the shutter sticking was not normal, but I wanted to know if others had the same issue and what they did to fix it. |
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Israel Shirk, Photographer, Assistant
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Boise | ID | US | Posted: 1:50 AM on 06.17.10 |
->> Chuck-
Yes! I'm good now! *eats pie*
Robby and others-
Re: "it would state so."
From the join link on the left:
"If you are a photojournalist, a working photographer who shoots sports, a photo editor, an assistant looking for work, or a student looking for an internship - this is a community for (and about) you."
More info here: http://www.sportsshooter.com/news/1279:
"It is meant to be a trustworthy information-rich resource for professional-minded photographers and editors"
So, yes, interns are welcome, but at the same time pros tend not to know a lot about the quirks of cheap Kenko Teleconverters and their compatibility with 40d's; there are other places (specifically photo.net, as mentioned above) where the majority of people work with consumer and prosumer gear, probably have recently used a similar setup, and would be glad to answer questions. I've seen your posts before and know you're not an idiot or beginner, but there are better places to ask the questions you asked in this thread and which would be far more informative. That's my point. |
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Mark J. Terrill, Photographer
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Simi Valley | CA | USA | Posted: 3:02 AM on 06.17.10 |
->> While I agree that Robby could have gotten his question answered elsewhere, I don't really see a problem with him asking it here. He's a member of this site (a student) and something just rubs me wrong about people ganging up on him when they could have spent the same amount of time answering his question in a civil manner. At least it had something to do with photography. There's hundreds of threads on here that have absolutely nothing to do with photography and most seem to have no problem with it, but some have problem with a student asking a valid photography question? This thread could have evolved into something that might have been educational to many here if it had just been allowed to.
I'll be teaching at a sports photography workshop next week and one of the first things that I always tell students is not to be afraid to ask questions. I'd hate for people here to see this thread and hesitate to ask a valid question for fear that they'll be beaten down.
If you don't like the question or think it's beneath you, why not just ignore it and move on? |
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Martin McNeil, Photographer
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East Kilbride | Lanarkshire | United Kingdom | Posted: 6:41 AM on 06.17.10 |
->> For what it's worth, I found Robby's 'shutter accusation' question funny as my mind immediately leapt to the old 'camera never lies' nugget of wisdom.
Whether intentional or accidental on Robby's part, it's still funny... and I'd rather have a chuckle than stress over whether or not SS.com was/is the right place to ask such questions. |
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Mark Peters, Photographer
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Highland | IL | USA | Posted: 8:01 AM on 06.17.10 |
->> Robby -
I would suggest that the best way to get a quick response on gear issues is to use the equipment Q&A, which you can find under the Members Area. Your question will be emailed to other members who have indicated familiarity with the specific equipment you have a question about. Every time I have used it I have several responses quite quickly. Your 50D shutter question would be directed to others who own or have owned 50D's for example.
In addition to Israel's recommendation of photo.net, you may want to check out the Canon Mount forum on fredmiranda.com, which is specifically oriented to discussions of Canon related gear.
On a side note - the Kenko 1.4 pro 300 DG that I owned was every bit as sharp as my Canon version - and when stacked with the Canon (which of course you can't do with two 1.4 Canon's) provided a 1.96x which performed markedly better than my Canon 2X which I sold. |
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Jack Howard, Photographer, Photo Editor
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