review: Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT

Summary: Right off the bat, let me say it – this speedlite, the Canon 600EX-RT (B&H), is going to change the industry. Nothing is going to be the same again.

A speedlite that has radio transmitters built in, has been anticipated for quite some time now. It just makes sense.  So it was just a matter of time before one of the big camera manufacturers did this … and Canon is the first. And they didn’t drop the ball on the rest of the speedlite’s features, or with the functionality of this piece of gear. It’s easy to use, with an obvious menu – even for a complex flashgun like this.

Before the Canon 600EX-RT, we had various options how we could trigger our Canon Speedlites, but right now our option is clear – it’s the the Canon 600EX-RT  (B&H)

About the photo at the top …

I attended another of the shoot-outs arranged by the Hudson Valley Click group. (I’ve used images from their past shoot-outs in various articles here.) This weekend the theme was a Retro-Futuristic CyberPunk, and I had the pleasure of photographing Karyn. And as you can see, her outfit was in fact full-body paint, courtesy by Kelly Torres of NY Body Art.

We were shooting at a disused foundry, which turned out to be a great setting for the theme. I chose to isolate Karyn with a longer focal length, in the one open factory area. There was enough distance to have the background completely melt away.

camera settings:  1/40 @ f/3.5 @ 1600 ISO
Canon 5D Mark III (B&H);  Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)

The majority of the light on Karyn was from the late afternoon light streaming through the windows. I purposely posed her into the light … and then used a  Canon 600EX-RT (B&H) for that rim-light around her and to create a subtle hot-spot behind her. This really helped etch her outline against the out-of-focus background. With the dust in the area, it gave that slight halo effect around her body.

Here’s the pull-back shot where you can see the windows, and where the speedlite was positioned on a breeze-block.

The speedlite was controlled by an on-camera 600EX-RT as the Master.  I had the Master flash’s output disabled so it doesn’t add any light. I just wanted to fire the flash in the distance behind her.

This is the kind of set-up where just using the built-in optical wireless system of a flash like the Canon 580EX II, would’ve been a limitation. It might be just out sight there. Which meant, I would’ve had to use radio transmitters of some kind. This always implies more cables, connectors, cradles, batteries, settings. It’s complicated. With just two Canon 600EX-RT speedlites (B&H), I have the same kind of control … but it is much easier to set up and control.

I didn’t have an ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter (B&H) yet to try out, so I used the on-camera speedlite as Master. I’m a little ambivalent about the separate Speedlite controllers like the Canon ST-E2 or Nikon SU-800. It just seems like you’re half-way to buying a speedlite anyway. Besides, you could always use another back-up speedlite.

I used the speedlites in a basic way here, just so I could enhance the available light.

Related articles on using flash and ambient light:  flash photography concepts

an overview of Nikon and Canon speedlites

When I moved from the Nikon system to the Canon system several years ago – Nikon D2x to Canon 1D Mark IIN – the one thing that truly revolutionized my photography, was that the Canon 580EX Speedlite could rotate 180 degrees to either side. The Nikon SB-800 was limited to 90 degrees in the one direction. That extra90 degrees had a huge impact. I could now be specific about the direction of my light when I used on-camera bounce flash. As I said .. this was huge!

Then Nikon updated the SB-800 to the phenomenal Nikon SB-900 which brought in a lot of extra features, but most importantly, allowed the flash-head to rotate 180 degrees to either side.

Then Canon updated their flash to the Canon 580EX II, and honestly, it felt like a step backwards. The 580EX was so easy to switch from Master to Slave, and back to normal. With the 580EX II though, it felt like I had to relearn how to do this if I didn’t use the flash like this for a few weeks. It was obscure.

Equally obscure was the menu system of the 580EX II. Well, the 580EX was also obscure with the various custom functions which you needed the manual or a cheat sheet to know what they affected. The SB-900 on the other hand, was dead easy to set up with beautifully clear and obvious menu system.

So with the Nikon SB-900 and Nikon SB-910 Speedlight (B&H), it really felt like Nikon was steps ahead of Canon in terms of the ease of use of their speedlights. Definitely in how Nikon allows you to control the individual Slave flashes in discrete levels, made more sense.

But the one area where both systems were hampered, is that their built-in optical wireless systems were limited by line-of-sight constraints. Bright sunlight also affected how well they worked. So you had to resort to various wireless radio triggers to get past these constraints.  Until this bold step by Canon!

Better yet, the Canon 600EX-RT speedlites (B&H) has an obvious menu system with obvious controls. This is important!

Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT features

1. Ease of use.
As mentioned earlier, the previous Canon speedlites where a pain when you had to change custom settings, and had to refer to the manual or cheat sheets. The Canon 600EX-RT changes all that with a clear menu systems, and clearly marked controls. Surprisingly, for such a complex machine, the speedlight is easy to understand if you have some knowledge of the previous Canon speedlights.  I was able to set the two speedlites to Master / Slave modes, and be sure that they were linked, without reading the manual. I like that. Basic functions need to be obvious.

2. backwards compatibility
Another wonderful thing about the way the Canon 600EX-RT works, is that you can use it with cameras prior to the Canon 5D Mark III.  It works just as well with the Canon 5D Mark II, and the other Canon SLRs.<

Also good is that the Canon 600EX-RT works with the older optical wireless controlled speedlites like the 580EX / 580EX II. However, you can’t have it work with both the radio and optical modes simultaneously.

3. High-Speed Sync
On p.51 of the manual it states that for cameras prior to 2011 then the max flash sync speed is one increment lower.  I assume this means that for cameras like the Canon 5D Mark II , the max flash sync speed with the 600EX-RT is now 1/100. In fact, a (!) warning signal appears on the speedlite’s display at any shutter speed higher than that. The manual also states that HSS isn’t possible.

Well, I can confirm that HSS is indeed possible. And from a few tests I have done, it seems like the output takes a small knock at 1/200 and HSS .. perhaps 1/3rd of a stop by the looks of it. At 1/250th, there is a distinct drop in flash output. This is consistent with how speedlites work in HSS mode. So I’m not sure if I am missing something here, but I would have to disagree with the manual on this. HSS is indeed possible with the 5D Mark II, and quite possibly then with other previous models as well.

4. Group mode (Gr)
With this mode, you can control up to 5 groups of flashes, and each group can be set independently to E-TTL or manual. This is only possible with newer cameras, such as the 5D Mark III and 1D-X.  I haven’t tested this mode yet, but will try it out and update via future posts.

5. color filter / gel holder
Similar to the Nikon SB-900 / Nikon SB-910 the Canon 600EX-RT offers a holder for a filter that corrects for Tungsten light. These are keyed to the camera’s AWB settings to adjust the WB of the camera if it detects a gel on the speedlight.

6. flash firing restriction due to over-heating
When shooting in bursts, the flash may overheat. The 600EX-RT limits the tempo with which the flash can be fired, is slowed down to help prevent the flash head from damage from over-heating.

As I mentioned earlier, I used the speedlites in quite a simplistic way here just to enhance the available light. But as an indication of how well the speedlites work and how easy they are to set up, I am quite impressed already. The options and capabilities are endless. This is going to be an interesting piece of gear to explore, and I’ll continue to add more articles relating to it.

My final verdict might be quite a bold statement, but for me, this is an automatic upgrade from the Canon 580EX II. There are so many improvements in the handling of the flash, that it is much easier to use and set up. And then, the cherry on top of it all is the radio control of the slaved units.

You can order the Canon 600EX-RT speedlite from this B&H affiliate link.

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

Stay informed of new articles via the monthly newsletter.
Also join us on the Tangents forum for further discussions.

review: Canon PowerShot G1 X

A good all-around walk-about camera is something I’ve been looking for, for a while now. The Fuji X100 is arguably the most desirable of the compact cameras on the market right now, but only has a fixed lens … and some auto-focus issues in low light. But there are a number of other serious compact cameras on the market now.

As I mentioned in my recent review of the Fuji X10, this year is going to be an exciting year with all the major D-SLR releases from Canon and Nikon, as well as some high-spec mirror-less cameras. The  Canon G1 X (B&H) and the Fuji X-Pro-1 (B&H) and Sony’s two cameras, the Sony NEX-5N (B&H) and Sony NEX-7 (B&H), all looks really good options for photographers who are serious about their  photography, but want more compact options.

I’ve had a loaner Canon G1 X (B&H) for the past few weeks, to see how I like it. What interested me most about the G1X is that the sensor size is just smaller than the Canon’s APS-C sensor. The larger sensor promises better image quality. But a camera is quite often more than the sum of the parts – it should have a feel that appeals to the photographer.

Features and Spec of the Canon G1 X

They key features and specs are:

• 14.3 megapixel CMOS Sensor
• 3.0″ LCD Screen that flips out
• high quality zoom lens,  (35mm equivalent: 28-112mm)
• lens aperture: f/2.8 (wide) – 5.8 (tele)
• Hybrid Image Stabilizer
• Optical Viewfinder
• 1080p 24 fps Full HD Video
• High Dynamic Range Scene Mode
• native aspect ratio is 4:3

… and a bunch of exposure modes, metering modes and white balance modes. And such.

Some of these specs are standard for any camera these days, such as 1080p video. I don’t think we’ll ever see a camera (or smart phone) on the market that doesn’t offer 1080p HD video.

The optical viewfinder is entirely under-whelming if you’re used to something as “oh wow!” as the optical viewfinder of the Fuji X100. There is a diopter adjustment, but as much as I am a photographer used to looking through a viewfinder, with the G1 X it was more convenient to just look at the back of the camera.  The optical viewfinder only shows 80% of the frame, and the lens barrel obscures part of the frame. Really not wonderful.

The lens has a sweet range. Very useful, but the widest aperture at the longer focal lengths become f5.6 and this drops the shutter speed much lower … exactly when you need the faster shutter speed to compensate for the camera shake inherent in using longer focal lengths. The Fuji X10 (B&H), has an f/2.0 – f/2.8 aperture, but with a much smaller sensor.

In using the camera, I found the Image Stabilization to be quite effective.

Oh, and there is a minutely small pop-up flash too. But we won’t mention this.

Handling of the Canon G1 X

If you’re used to the Canon G12, then you’re going to feel right at home with the G1 X. The top plate will immediately be familiar, and also feel familiar. The G1 X isn’t much larger than the G12, except that the G12 lens retracts more.

The LCD screen flips out, making it easy to get images with the camera held high, or from low angles.

The button layout is fairly logical, and easily understood.  The one button that was oddly placed for me, is the “Play” button which is recessed from your fingertip’s touch unless the LCD screen is flipped out.

The camera is comfortably chunky in your hands, and it is as compact a camera as you could make a camera be with this size sensor and lens. The lens retracts so that the camera is only 2,6″ long on the lens’ axis.

The ‘S’ button there on the left-hand side, is a customizable button with which you can access and change any one of 16 settings, including White balance, Drive Mode, Self Timer, ND filter, Aspect Ratio, RAW / JPE, AF Lock.

There is a knurled knob in the front to change the shutter speed when in Tv mode. In Av model, this affects the aperture.  However, when you’re shooting in manual exposure mode, the front knob controls the shutter speed (still), and the aperture value is changed via the rotating dial on the back. Typical of Canon D-SLRs as well. Simplicity.

Simplicity.  Yet, this is a camera where you would need to delve into the manual to figure out all the settings. For example, the focusing modes.

Focusing modes

AF Frame Mode
- FlexiZone – where you can change the position and size of the AF area, and then lock focus.
- Face AiAF – the camera detects faces, and then focuses.
- Tracking AF – for action photos where your subject is moving.

The AF-point zoom feature is interesting. If you hold the shutter button down (without tripping the shutter), an enlarged view of the focused area appears. Nice enough to see if your subject is in focus. However, this feature also interferes with your composition, since part of your subject is now obscured by the enlarged portion. You need to enable / disable this in the menu.  Easy enough to access, but it’s one of those things – this feature is handy, until it isn’t. Then it’s just in the way … but you need to go into the menu to disable it.

Setting the AF Frame Mode, is one of those things where you’d have to go through the manual.

Which brings us to the Auto-Focus performance of the Canon G1 X 

For me, it felt like the camera took a bit too long to grab focus. Since Canon appears to be aiming this camera at the serious photographer market, it just felt to me that the AF wasn’t up to par compared to the build quality of the camera.

Also the maximum shooting rate is a mere 1.6 frames. Very slow for a mirror-less camera.

There is an AF assist beam which helps in low light. However, this is the kind of thing I immediately disable on any camera. And the beeping. Ugh!

While the G1 X does take the Canon speedlites, you only have TTL control in one of the Auto exposure modes.  With manual exposure mode on the camera, you lose TTL flash. That just doesn’t make sense.

Be aware that the G1 X doesn’t focus particularly close, unless if you flip into the Macro Mode … where the AF performance goes down even further.

From the spec sheet:
Wide angle : 1.3′ (0.40 m) – Infinity
Tele setting: 4.3′ (1.31 m) – Infinity

Video:

In playing around with the Video recording mode, it was frustrating that you couldn’t set aperture / shutter speed or ISO to change your exposure. Not even the Exposure Compensation dial on the top of the camera applied. To change your exposure, you have to hit the Exposure Lock Button ( * ) and then dial your exposure compensation via a new menu on the screen. Not entirely intuitive. Once again, it is one of those things you have to delve in the manual for.

The Video quality looked good though.

Image Quality of the Canon G1 X

Now, the sensor is the most attractive thing about the Canon G1 X. The sensor, as mentioned, is slightly smaller (20%) than the APS-C sensors on the Canon D-SLRs. But the pixel count of the G1 X is slightly lower. So this would imply that the image quality from the G1 X should rival the crop-sensor D-SLRs from Canon.  As an aside, the G1 X sensor is 4 times later than the sensor of the Fuji X10.

Elmira is the same model that I used for my initial review of the Canon 5D Mark III high-ISO performance. Using a camera like the Canon G1 X for this type of portrait photography on location, felt clumsy though because I am much more used to working with an SLR. The image quality is great though. This was shot at 800 ISO. The high-resolution file can be downloaded from here. (I did use the healing brush on a few skin blemishes.)

The aperture I used was (according to the EXIF data), f5.8
Now, with a smaller sensor, the apparent depth-of-field is affected. So this would be equivalent to about f11 on a full-frame SLR. Which means, that if you like shallow depth-of-field, you need to look elsewhere than a compact camera.

A camera like the Canon G1 X is much more suited to general photography. A camera to walk around with and explore places with. I strolled along the Highline in Manhattan, grabbing a few frames of people and my surroundings there.

I was able to hold the camera up high over my head, using the flip-out LCD screen to get the composition I wanted. (Shot in manual exposure mode.)

Playing around with how the sun fell on the front of the lens, so I could get flare. The lens seems to be quite resistant against flaring. Even here, it kept the contrast. Impressive.

Again, shot in manual exposure mode to get the exact exposure I want. One quirk of the camera, it remembers your specific ISO for manual metering mode … which could be different than your chosen ISO for the Auto exposure modes.

So it might even make sense to have your camera set to Auto ISO with the camera to P mode … but have a specific ISO setting for Manual exposure mode when you flip into full manual control of your exposure.

The high-resolution file can be downloaded from here.

Moving further afield than the Highline …

The Jessy Carolina Hot Mess, busking in Washington Square Park. (Jessy Carolina is out of frame here.)

The high-resolution file can be downloaded from here.  (100 ISO)

I was quite happy with the results from this camera – the images looked good.

The G1 X also offers in-camera processing of images via Image Effects … something I didn’t play with, but these are options if you enjoy messing with the images in-camera.

There’s a range of effects you can apply to images:
- HDR (where the camera takes 3 images, and combine them for greater tonal range)
- Toy Camera Effect
- Fish-Eye Effect
- Poster Effect
- Nostalgic
- Monochrome
and more.

Canon G1 X – the final verdict

The Canon G1 X was a camera that I was quite keen to try out. The promise of superb image quality from a compact camera is very appealing.

The image quality certainly is there. 800 ISO looked very good, and even 1600 ISO looked good. The lens delivers, and I couldn’t see any softness or anything that bothered me.

The controls and user interface is for the most part quite intuitive, but you will have to go through the manual to get the most out of this camera.

For $800 this camera is positioned at an interesting intersection – low enough in price and with great image quality, to appeal to the serious photographer who wants a camera to carry around. But for a little bit more money, an entry-level SLR with kit lens could be had. A tough decision to make.

You can order the Canon G1 X from B&H via this affiliate link.

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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Also join us on the Tangents forum for further discussions.

initial impressions: Canon EOS 5D Mark III – high-ISO noise performance

I have to confess something first – whenever an important camera is announced, I have just a cursory interest in the specification sheet. The difference between 40 AF sensors and 70 AF sensors … you know, that’s just a number on the paper. It never really tells you how the camera performs. And with the announcement of the details of the Canon 5D Mark III (B&H), there were a number of websites eager to list the detailed specs. Yay! Well, not really.

There might be some interest in the nomenclature, but what does it really mean that the 5D Mark II has the DIGIC 4 proce­ssor, but there’s a new DIGIC 5+ on the 5D Mark III. Those are just names to me. I can’t get excited about it, or even feign interest in the actual name. I’m much more interested in how the camera will actually perform. You can name it anything you want … but does the camera deliver?

Details for the photo at the top:
camera settings:  1/160 @ f2.8 @ 6400 ISO
Canon 5D Mark III (B&H);  Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)  at 170mm

There is real excitement about the Canon 5D Mark III (B&H), since everyone is curious if it is that much of an improvement over the 5D Mark II. I have to say, I really think it is. It’s a massive improvement. The AF is more responsive. The camera *feels* better in my hands. The controls are better laid out … although the right forefinger still does too much work, stretching here and there, all over the top plate.

The first thing that I was curious about, was the high-ISO performance. As a wedding photographer here in the New Jersey / New York area, I often deal with low-light situations. In using cameras that allow for superb high-ISO performance, you can really get results that look far more natural than just 5 or 6 years ago. You can shoot with just the ambient light, or blend a touch of flash with the available light, and still have it look natural. The technique is now really much more flexible … all due to the improvements in camera and sensor design.

I met up with a model, Elmira, in Times Square last night to see how the Canon EOS 5D Mark III fares in low light / high-ISO settings.  In short, beautifully.

Times Square has an incredible mix of light sources. It can be surprisingly bright there, depending on the billboards that are flashing. But this also means the lighting is erratic. So, with that, keep in mind that this is not a studio test, nor a controlled test. This is just a real indication of how the camera performs in mixed lighting that isn’t all that bright.

We rained out a little bit and had to take shelter under an awning.  There were Incandescent style lights, and I adjusted the WB as well as I could via the Kelvin setting.

The image at the top was shot shot there … at 6,400 ISO. The White Balance of the RAW file was slightly adjusted in DPP. The lighting was pretty funky though.
Camera settings:  1/160 @ f2.8 @ 6400 ISO
I used the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)  at 170mm

When the rain eased up, we went back to the open areas of Times Square, and I took this photo of Elmira, with the rain spattered street in the background. But this time, just for fun, I cranked the ISO up to 12800 ISO.  I used the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)  at 85mm

I was shooting at 1/400 @ f/4 at this point because of the bright lights there. So I didn’t actually need that shutter speed, and could’ve used a lower ISO if this was a real photo session. But I was curious about that insanely high ISO:

camera settings:  1/400 @ f/4 @ 12800 ISO
Canon 5D Mark III (B&H);  Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)  at 85mm

I think it looks quite good!

But this is how the image looks as it was resized for web use … and this easily masks the lack of detail that is a side-effect of noise reduction.

Instead of showing 100% crops of various parts of the images, I decided to make the high-resolution JPG files available as a download from this link.  Right-click and save-as will get you the file.

Keep in mind:
- these are the JPGS from the RAW files as processed with Canon’s DPP software. Both images had the WB tweaked a bit. Since DPP follows the camera picture settings, this as close to an in-camera JPG as you’ll get, while still having the flexibility of the RAW file.
- these images had noise reduction applied to it at the default settings in DPP. (See screen-capture below.)
- the images had sharpening applied at the default settings in DPP. (See screen-capture below.)
- I used the Healing Brush in Photoshop to remove a few skin blemishes. (I don’t think it would be fair to anyone to have 22 megapixels show every slight flaw.)

These two high-resoluton files should make it quite apparent – Canon has a winner on their hands with the Canon 5D Mark III (B&H). We have a camera that gives surprisingly good results at ISO settings that would’ve been regarded as insanely high, just a few years ago.

You can order a Canon 5D Mark III via this B&H affiliate link.

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

Stay informed of new articles via the monthly newsletter.
Also join us on the Tangents forum for further discussions.

Canon wireless e-TTL flash triggers / radio transmitters

A bridal portrait (taken during one of the photo sessions arranged by the Hudson Valley Click), where it is easy to see the advantage of using off-camera lighting.

The strong back-lighting is used as a way to highlight the background and have the rim-lighting etch our model against the background. Of course, having her turn her back to the sun also helps with not having our model squinting in the bright light. We immediately avoid unflattering hard light on her face. But we then do need to add off-camera lighting of some kind to cross-light her.

I used TTL flash here, since I often find this is the fastest and easiest way to get good flash exposure. The flash was diffused with a white shoot-through umbrella, and I used wireless TTL triggers to control my flash.

Let’s have a look at our current options that we have to trigger the off-camera TTL flash …

1. the simple option – no additional extra equipment

To get to an off-camera flash setup, we need not immediately buy wireless triggers. As a basic entry to the world of off-camera TTL flash, we can use just our Canon gear – another Canon speedlight as master flash to control our slave. Most of the images in my book on off-camera flash, was taken with a setup as simple as that: a master speedlight on my camera (with its own output disabled), controlling the slave speedlight. I’d say this is the most simple way to dip your toes into the water if you’re new to off-camera flash.

There are further options here, such in the case of the Canon 7D, where we can use built-in flash as the master controller. This will surely be included in future Canon DSLRs. We can also use the Canon ST-E2 as the wireless controller.

The main restriction with these simple setups, is that we need line-of-sight between the master and the slave. We have a distance limitation as well. For most photo sessions though, the distance isn’t usually a concern. It’s the line-of-sight thing which can often be a problem. The moment you move ‘forward’ of your flash setup, you risk the master and slave not seeing each other and your flash not triggering.

This is where I do like the Lastolite Ezybox softboxes – you can turn the Slave flash by adjusting the hotshoe of the softbox, and swivel it so that the Slave’s sensor is aimed towards where you are. Then you just need to rotate your Master flash’s head to point towards the Slave flash. But it can be troublesome to continually change the Slave flash’s position on the softbox, and change the orientation of your Master flash in your camera’s hotshoe.

2. the less simple, but more flexible option – more cool toys!

To overcome this, we need to look at the Wireless TTL triggers. There are a number of options. There are two main choices – PocketWizard and RadioPopper. There are also other triggers such as the Pixel triggers. And I’m sure there will be other players on the market in the future. There might even be some available now that I’m not aware of.  But right now, the two main choices are  PocketWizard and RadioPopper … and they happen to be the two TTL-capable radio triggers that I am knowledgeable with.

The challenge that PocketWizard and RadioPoppers had, was to convert the flash system’s control signals as radio-frequency signals. The main difference between PocketWizard and RadioPoppers then is how they decided to approach that challenge. RadioPoppers piggy-back onto the flash system, and just carries the control signals between the master and slave units. PocketWizards insert themselves into the communication between the camera and flash, and takes control of that.

A. RadioPopper Px wireless flash system

The RadioPopper PX transmitter unit attaches with velcro strips (or gaffer tape or rubber bands) onto the Master speedlite or Canon ST-E2 wireless transmitter. Via the menu setting, you set up the controls for it. The default is for Canon. Setting up is really simple. Actually, simpler than the RadioPopper instructions would make it appear.

The RadioPopper PX transmitter reads the control signals as emitted by the Master flash, and converts them into radio-frequency signals. The slave radiopopper then receives and converts the radio-freequency signals back into light pulses for the Slave speedlite … which works just as if it had directly received the light pulses from the Master speedlite.

The RadioPopper receiver unit is mounted via this bracket to the Slave speedlite. You can velcro it down if you want, but the bracket helps for the sensors to align properly. There are notches in the bracket to allow for other units than the Canon 580EX II flash.

Again, setting up is really simple.

The beauty of the RadioPopper units is that they only transmit the signal. They don’t interject themselves into the system. They just carry the signal between the Master and Slave speedlites.

This means that if you have a problem with the Slave not firing, your first recourse would be to make sure that the Canon wireless system itself is firing properly. Then you re-attach the RadioPoppers again.

In my experience so far, this second generation of the RadioPoppers is a robust technology. Meaning, they just work.

While the beauty of the RadioPopper PX units are that they only transmit the signal, their limitation is that of the Canon wireless system. It just isn’t as flexible as the Nikon CLS system. This is where the PocketWizards step up.

B. PocketWizard FlexTT5 / MiniTT1 wireless flash trigger

The PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 (which I’ve featured regularly on this site), is based on a different design philosophy than the RadioPoppers. The PocketWizards are inserted into the system, and they take control of the electronic signals. It’s quite a brave move, and through the various iterations of software updates, have come to work very well, with two strong caveats:

1. I’ve had so many hiccups in using the PocketWizard TT5 units in workshop format with multiple shooters, that I have now moved to the RadioPoppers for my flash photography workshops. More about this later on in this article.

2. The other main problem in using the PocketWizard TT1 and TT5 units, relate to the Canon speedlites themselves. The Canon 580EX and 580EX II and the Canon 430EX (1st version) all generate so much radio-frequency noise, that they interfere with the reception of the signal from the Master FlexTT5 / MiniTT1.

PocketWizard and LPA design have gone out of their way to try and overcome this, and offer a number of solutions to reduce the RF interference generated by these Canon speedlites.
- range-extending solutions, by PocketWizard
- extending the range of the PocketWizard FlexTT5 and Canon 580EX II, by Rob Galbraith

Since Canon did a silent fix of this problem with the release of the Canon 430EX II, we can hope that future Canon speedlites will be rid of this problem. In the meantime, there are various fixes, including having the Canon speedlites modified.
- modifying the Canon 580EX II to reduce RF noise emission, by PocketWizard

related article:
- Flickr discussion on Canon 580EX II failures due to misalignment of the flashtube.

Okay, so there are various solutions to this problem. (Check the linked articles by PocketWizard and Rob Galbraith for thorough explanations.)

The best solution, for the least expense and the minimum of fuss, is the PocketWizard AC-7 RF shield (B&H). According to PockeWizard, it completely solves the problem of RF interference, and it even includes a clamp for an umbrella.

I settled on another option which allows me to use a softbox more easily if I wanted to. This option apparently isn’t quite the 100% effective solution compared to what is offered, but does seem to substantially reduce the RF interference problem.

1. The Flex TT5 and Canon 580EX II need to be separated by a large enough distance. PocketWizard recommends 18″ at least. For this, I use the Canon OC-E3 off-camera TTL flash cord (B&H).

Here is how my off-camera flash setup looked for the image at the top. (As an aside, I used the Canon 5D mark II, and the Canon 24-105mm f/4 L lens for this photo session.)

To stop the radio-frequency noise being propagated via the OC-E3 cable, and the battery pack cable, an RF choke is attached around the cables near the 580EX II. (Details about where the RF choke can be ordered, is mentioned in the linked article by PocketWizard.)

Here is the detail shot showing the RF chokes and how the flashgun is attached to the umbrella bracket.

Here is how I mounted the FlexTT5 to the light-stand with a clamp.

Clearer shots of how I connected up the Canon PocketWizard TT5 to separate it from the Canon 580EX II speedlite. The clamp is the Manfrotto 386B Nano Clamp (B&H) and the stud is the Manfrotto 037 Reversible Stud (B&H).

With this setup, I have been able to effortlessly get images like the one at the top of the bridal portrait. With the OC-E3 cord and other attachments, it does take more effort to set up though than using the RadioPoppers.

So why would one choose the PocketWizards over the RadioPoppers then? For me, the main reason would be that with the PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller (B&H), the Canon speedlites can be made to behave like the Nikon flash system.

With the PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller (B&H), you can set the three groups of flashes, and from the camera, turn any of them to TTL mode, or manual mode, or turn them off. You can also set specific levels for the TTL output and manual output. The Canon wireless flash system works with A:B ratios. It does work, but for me it is easier to work with specific levels. With the AC3 unit, I can now change the B group to, (for example), 1 stop less than the A group. I can change one group to TTL, and another group to manual.

This review of the PocketWizard AC3 Zone Controller for Nikon, will explain in more detail exactly how this works. Anyone familiar with how the wireless flash system usually works for Canon, will easily see the differences. For multiple flash setups, this has a clear advantage over the simpler Canon wireless flash setup.

The downside in setting all this up for Canon speedlite to work properly, there is additional equipment expense – the Canon OC-E3 cord; the clamps and so on. Also, it takes a few minutes longer to set up. But it does work very well … for the individual shooter.

For my photography work, I rely on Nikon, and I’m quite happy with the PocketWizard FlexTT5 units for Nikon. For the multiple photographer environment of a workshop, the PocketWizard units (whether for Nikon or Canon) haven’t performed as expected. Apparently with the way that the PW units work, interjecting themselves within the communication train, means that the Slaved unit becomes confused with multiple Master units trying to access it.

For the workshops, I have now migrated to the RadioPoppers with great success. Since the Slaved speedlite just “listens”, waiting for the light pulses, it reacts immediately to any Master flash. The Slaved flash then reacts as well as if the Master flash had direct line-of-sight communication with the Slave flash … regardless of there being multiple photographers.

Final summary:
Both systems work really well, although for the PocketWizard units there is the caveat with the Canon speedlights and RF interference. As mentioned before, the PocketWizard team (and LPA Design) have gone out of their way to surmount this problem. With great success.

The RadioPoppers is the simpler system, and is easy to set up. I have to express admiration for Kevin King’s genius in figuring out how to intercept the pulses from the Master flash, and convert that into radio-frequency signals.

And finally, having spoken to the teams at RadioPoppers and PocketWizards, I have to say I am impressed with their dedication to their work and products.

RadioPoppers can be ordered directly from their site.

The PocketWizard FlexTT5 and AC3 for Canon can be ordered from this B&H affiliate link:

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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Also join us on the Tangents forum for further discussions.

Lea – moving portrait – Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II

Canon just released the Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H), an update to an already highly-regarded lens, and I was able to get a review copy courtesy of B&H. I tried this lens out during a photo session with a model, Lea. Instead of just photographs, I decided to shoot video and create a “moving portrait” of her.

The video footage was shot in Times Square a few evenings ago, just using the flood of light from the billboards.

The initial portion of the clip is just a series of glimpses of Lea through the crowd in Times Square. It was a bit of a battle to get a decent sequence, since people would often stop in their tracks right in front of the camera. Which is okay; I’m just one more person there. An amusing moment was when someone came up to Lea while I was photographing her at a distance, to ask her where she bought her clothes. “Hey lady, we’re working here!” I did actually say that, but just under my breath.

This video clip was edited with iMovie ’11. I slowed the video footage down to 50% speed to make it more dream-like.

The music track is a royalty-free track provided via Triple Scoop Music.
The artists is Sarah J Hyland, and the track is called Mmmhot.

This first section of the video clip is just with the Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)
With the second section (where you can see the cars), I added the Canon 1.4x III extender (B&H) to turn this into an impressive 420mm f4 lens. This placed Lea so far from me that she couldn’t quite see my hand gestures as I was directing her … so she had to wear her glasses. (You can’t politely shout over that distance.)

Even though this short video clip has even less of a story than your average music video, it will show you the compression that this focal length creates for portraits, and how dreamily out-of-focus the background is at f2.8 All sections were shot with the lens wide open. And yes, it’s a “holy macaroni!” impressive kind of a lens. The video footage was shot with a tripod, but I also took some photos hand-held … and the aggressive Image Stabilisation is just as impressive. The images were sharp, even hand-held at 1/100 shutter speed.

Regarding my camera settings for shooting the video footage:

I stayed around 1600 ISO for the most part, but for some sections (not shown here), I dropped it by a 1/3rd and even 2/3rds of a stop. For the section at the end of this clip where Lea is standing at the cars, my ISO was at 2000. But there is more to this …

• With Canon DSLRs, multiples of 160 ISO give the best noise performance. However, I didn’t keep to that guide because:

• I needed to shoot at f2.8 and didn’t want to vary my aperture to get the appropriate multiple-of-160-ISO setting. I wanted to show the look the lens gives wide open. So I kept to f2.8 through-out.

• I wanted to keep the camera at 1/50th off a second shutter speed through-out.There are many articles online which will describe why 24fps gives a film-like appearance. And for specific reasons, it means we need to shoot at 1/50th shutter speed to maintain the 180 degree shutter rule, if we are shooting video at 24fps. So I kept my shutter to 1/50th shooting the video footage.

• Therefore, since I wanted to keep to a 1/50th shutter speed, and wanted to shoot at f2.8 it meant that I had to change my ISO to suit, even though my specific ISO setting might not match the ideal.

equipment used during this shoot:
Canon 5D mk II (B&H)
Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II (B&H)
Canon 1.4x III extender (B&H)

Manfrotto 458B tripod with NeoTec Pro Photo tripod legs (B&H)
Manfrotto 701HDV fluid head (B&H)

More about this tripod:
It features a unique quick-release and lock system for the legs which makes it incredibly easy to set up and collapse again. You simply pull on the legs to extend them, and they automatically lock in position. It is heavier than a carbon-fiber tripod, but the ease of setup made it an easy choice for me as my video tripod.

other articles featuring Lea:
- using direct, bare (un-modified) off-camera flash
- off-camera flash – adding dimension with back-lighting
- NYC photo-shootout redux

If you find these articles interesting and of value, then you can help by using
these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies.   Thank you!

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review: Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fisheye zoom (lens review)

Venturing out again after posting a few initial test images with the Canon EF 8-15mm f/fL fisheye zoom lens, I tried for a more diverse range of images to show what this lens is capable of … and also compare it with the Canon 15mm f2.8 fish-eye lens to see how the brand-new zoom lens stacks up against the older fixed focal length lens.

I was brave enough to try this lens at 15mm for some funky urban portraits of a model, Kate. Bendy! The trick here is to keep as even as possible and not tilt the lens up or down, or else you risk making your subject look cartoonish. So I crouched down a bit, and worked at belly-button level, keeping the camera as level as possible.

I think the image works, but I do believe a fish-eye is a limited lens in terms of portraits. Even full-length portraits. As mentioned in the previous article on this lens, the fish-eye look can quickly feel over-done when there is a great number of images with the same look. The distorted view that a fish-eye gives, tends to pulls too much attention to the lens’ effect itself.

camera settings: 1/250 @ f5.6 @ 320 ISO

Next up, I photographed dance performers working at a promotional event.

When zoomed to 8mm on a full-frame camera such as the Canon 5D mk II (B&H), the lens gives this surreal circular image. The field of view is an impressive 180 degrees. It’s near impossible not to get your own feet or shadow in the image.

With this, I do believe the Canon 8-15mm fisheye zoom will end up being used as a dual focal-length lens when used on a full-frame camera. Photographers will either use it at (or around) 15mm where there is no vignetting, or go for the full effect. Inbetween focal lengths show a very specific vignette, with the image cut off by an ever-increasing black circle.

As an example, here is an image shot at 12mm and the distinct black vignette is there. Without it appearing as that circular shape, it just looks intrusive to my eye.

But the beauty of using a camera with a high megapixel count, like the Canon 5D mk2, is that you can crop your image and still end up with a high-resolution photograph. (Here is the same image, cropped down to 13 megapixels, losing the black edges to the frame.)

Of course, on a crop-sensor camera the Canon 8-15mm f4 fisheye zoom comes into its own, offering a much wider view than the fixed 15mm f2.8 fish-eye lens would. Then you have the full range of the zoom available to you .. from fish-eye to just bendy. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a crop-sensor Canon DSLR to try this lens out on. Just the 5D mk2.

camera settings: 1/250 @ f11 @ 320 ISO

For these shots, I had to get all the way down on the ground. Here I am showing a few images to the dancers so they would have an idea of what I was aiming for, shooting so close-up to them.

Urban landscapes become surreal, such as this art project, shot from below …

camera settings: 1/250 @ f8 @ 640 ISO

A more normal viewpoint of the same:

This is where I believe the strength of a fish-eye lens lies … in turning the more mundane view into something quite spectactular:

camera settings: 1/80 @ f5.6 @ 1250 ISO

I really like this lens, even though I mostly used it at 15mm. The images are crisp, and of course, have that phenomenal depth-of-field typical of this type of lens.

camera settings: 1/500 @ f8 @ 640 ISO

The f4 aperture isn’t a slow aperture for this type of lens. Besides, you can’t really work with shallow depth-of-field with a fish-eye lens.

The Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fisheye zoom lens (B&H)

Optical performance of the Canon 8-15mm f/4L fisheye zoom

The Canon fisheye zoom lens has superb optical performance. Towards the edges of the frame, some chromatic aberration can be seen, as well as some image softness. I did a few comparative test shots with the Canon 15mm f2.8 fish-eye lens (B&H), and the fixed focal length lens is ever so slightly sharper. There is very little optical smearing to be seen at the edges.

Here’s the thing though about fish-eye lenses – they have such a distorted view, that scrutinizing high-resolution images for optical flaws is …. well, counter-productive. It is heartening to know the fisheye zoom lens is crisply sharp, and close to the fixed lens …. but the final choice in deciding between the zoom and the fixed lens, will most likely hinge on price, and whether one would need the zoom capability.

Instead of posting 100% crops of a few images, I have placed a few high-resolution images in a download folder. It’s a simple view of the Meat-Packing District from the Manhattan Highline there. I didn’t use a tripod, so there is some slight variation between the images, but there’s enough detail there to give a realistic idea of the zoom lens’ optical capability. (The images are named in an obvious way.)

In my estimation, I’d say this lens is super-sharp. Use it with confidence.

final summary

And that about sums up my verdict … this lens is of top quality. It is a fun lens with a unique focal range.  And I predict it is going to sell like hot-cakes.

(Also check out my initial review of the Canon 8-15mm f/4L lens, for more images.)

This lens can be ordered from B&H via this affiliate link: Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fish-eye zoom

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initial images – Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fisheye zoom lens (review)

I got my hands on the brand-new Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fish-eye zoom (B&H) today, and I just had to try it out. And what better place than Times Square in Manhattan. Enough tall buildings and billboards to fill the frame of a lens that gives a 180 degree view! Now, before I continue, I have to admit that even though I have a fish-eye lens in my bag, (the Nikon 16mm f2.8), I only occasionally use it. I feel that a fish-eye lens can be over-used very quickly when it draws too much attention to the distorted view that the lens gives, rather than the photograph’s content. That said, I haven’t had this much fun with a new lens in a long, long time!

[ updated: review of the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fisheye zoom ]

While the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fish-eye zoom (B&H) can zoom between those two extreme wide angle views, I think it will essentially be used as a dual focal-length lens. At 8mm it gives a circular view of 180 degrees as seen in the top image. At 14-15mm it gives the classic fish-eye look. (For the images here, I used the Canon 5D mk II (B&H).

In-between those two focal lengths, you can see the frame intrudes into the image area, without giving that neat circular effect. In-between focal lengths will have large areas of black, as the lens zooms wider than the image area of a full-frame camera. So I do think that most photographers will use this lens at those two focal lengths for most of the time … 8mm and 15mm.

For comparison, here is the image at the top at 8mm, compared to the image at 15mm. (I have cropped out the black edges of the 3:2 ratio frame of the circular image, to give me a 1:1 image within which the circular image makes more sense.) Also note that we’re seeing 180 degrees there! If I had been able to steady myself properly while looking straight up with this lens on my camera, then we would’ve seen sidewalk right around the edges of the frame.

camera settings: 1/80 @ f5 @ 1250 ISO

Here is the full-frame of a circular image, compared to how I had cropped out the sides, just in case someone was wondering what the actual image would look like as it comes out of your camera. (It’s the same photo, just cropped in Photoshop.)

camera settings: 1/40 @ f4 @ 1250 ISO

Everything takes on a surreal aspect when viewed as a 180 degree circular image. Here is the well-known ceiling of the sidewalk area of the big McDonalds just off Times Square.

camera settings: 1/100 @ f5.6 @ 1250 ISO

shot at 15mm:

shot at 13mm … and you can see the black corners as the image is being zoomed wider than the image circle created by the lens.

shot at 8mm (as cropped in PS) … and that’s the building behind me that you’re seeing at the top of the photo:

camera settings: 1/25 @ f5.6 @ 1250 ISO

We’ll come back to this lens with a more in-depth review, but here are my overall first impressions:

• this is an exceptional lens. It is sharp! Even the extreme edges are sharp. It suffers none of that image softness that plagues the edges of photos taken with the Canon 16-35mm f2.8L II.
• the lens cap design is innovative. It clips on and off. (Nikon could take note here with the Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 lens cap that just slips on and off.) As an aside: the lens hood has to be removed for the 8mm focal length.
• the lens is not that much larger than the Canon 15mm f2.8
• the lens focuses surprisingly close – a mere 6.2″
• finally, this is a fun lens.  Optically superb, and fun to use. What else more could you want from a lens.

This lens can be ordered from B&H via this affiliate linkCanon EF 8-15mm f/4L fish-eye zoom

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these affiliate links to order equipment & other goodies. Thank you!

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review: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM

Courtesy of B&H, I had a copy of the brand-new Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II lens to play with for review purposes.  The lens is touted to have improved optical quality, faster auto-focusing, and much better stabilization than the much-loved previous version of this lens. Using the lens on different shoots and walkabouts and tests, I got a fair idea of how the lens performs.  In short, the lens is all that .. faster, sharper and with better image stabilization.  Noticeably so.

The bokeh of this lens is pleasant.  Easily seen in this portrait of my little model, where she is busy collecting feathers.  (And to go off-topic for a moment:  shallow depth-of-field is not the same as bokeh.)  Anyway, this lens has pleasant bokeh. Other lenses might render the background even smoother, but the bokeh in this image above isn’t harsh and intrusive.  The image above was shot at f3.2

My main disappointment with the lens is that it looks so much like the previous version.  The focusing grip is slightly different, and the lens is a touch longer by a few millimeters.  They are quite hard to tell apart. The disappointment would come in that no one would really know you had just spent a small truck-load of money on a new lens.  Unless they bothered to read the numerals on the front lens barrel.  At least Nikon had the courtesy to make their new lens look substantially different.  Easier to swagger with the new gear. ;)

But the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II (B&H)  is definitely a good-looking chunk of glass!

Let’s see how else this lens might impress us ..

The lens, even on a classic Canon 5D, follows focus fairly easily on a moving subject.
I had enough frames in focus to be happy with the results.
1/500 @ f2.8 @ 500 ISO .. with the lens zoomed to 200mm
As you can seee, the bokeh isn’t entirely smooth if you look at the way the branches were rendered.

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My personal opinion is that lenses in the range of the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II (B&H) are ideal for portrait photo sessions.  Flexible, and with a wide enough aperture to render the background without distracting detail.  Of course, that depends on your composition too.

Available light in the cafe;  1/50 @ f2.8 @ 400 ISO .. with the lens zoomed to 125mm
As you can see, the image is crisp even at such a slow shutter speed.

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Video light; 1/200 @ f2.8 @ 800 ISO .. with the lens zoomed to 110 mm

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I roamed around Birdseye, IN, one afternoon, photographing interesting details in some of the unoccupied buildings.  Again, the range of this type of zoom is perfect for picking out details, or zooming wider to encompass more of the scene.  This found collage appealed to me – random decaying items within multiple frames, and  bust of John Wayne.
1/100 @ f5.6 @ 400 ISO .. with the lens zoomed to 90 mm

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The minimum focusing distance of the mk II lens has been every so slightly improved.
It now focuses as close as  3.94′ (compared to the previous 4.6′)
Zoomed to 200mm, you can get surprisingly tight images.
1/160 @ f5.0 @ 400 ISO

This photo below shows but a small section of the astonishing decor and architecture of the West Baden Springs Hotel at French Lick, IN.  This is part of the vast central dome in the hotel. And the colors gradually change!  (Click on the photo for a larger version of the image.)
1/50th @ f4 @ 800 ISO … with the lens zoomed to 200mm.

The one big feature of this newer version of the lens, is the improved Image Stabilization.  Here I shot hand-held at 1/50 @ 200mm .. and the majority of my images were crisp.  Quite impressive. The Image Stabilization is definitely more aggressive than the mk 1 version of this lens.

I then decided to push it even more. Here’s a test shot of part of the hotel facade inside, but shot handheld at  1/5 @ f2.8 @ 1000 ISO

.. and here is a 100% crop of a central portion of the image:

Truly impressive for 1/5 of a second hand-held!  About half the images I shot were this sharp.  Keep in mind that we’re dealing with the lens wide-open, so the optical quality isn’t at the peak either.  On top of this, I shot at 1000 ISO which is starting to push it a little on the classic Canon 5D.  Even then, this might be a good illustration of the sharpness you could expect in low light at very slow shutter speeds, hand-held with this lens.  This improvement alone makes this lens a strong contender for an immediate upgrade.

Finally, let’s look at how the optical performance of this lens has been improved.

By the way, at f2.8 there is vignetting, as you can see from this cropped screengrab of 2 images next to each other as displayed in Adobe Bridge.  (The two images were direct-from-camera JPGs.)

This is typical for zoom lenses used wide open, and wouldn’t concern me.  In fact, I often add even more vignetting to portraits.

For the lens sharpness test, and to compare the mk 1 and mk 2 versions, I photographed the side of this building.  I could then look at how the detail in the shutters and windows were shown.

This is at 70mm, and you can see there is a fair amount of barrel distortion.

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At various focal lengths, the mk2 version was sharper than the mk1.  As it would hopefully be.
Here are two examples, all from in-camera JPGs with sharpening set to minimum.

A:  from this framing ..

A: 100% crop of the left hand side: Canon 70-200mm f2.8 mk 1

A: 100% crop of the left hand side: Canon 70-200mm f2.8 mk 2

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B:  from this framing ..

B: 100% crop towards the bottom left hand side: Canon 70-200mm f2.8 mk 1

B: 100% crop of the left hand side: Canon 70-200mm f2.8 mk 2

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In both those comparisons, you can see that the newer lens has a sharper image with better contrast at f2.8

Overall assessment of the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II

The lens clearly shows improvement over the previous version of the IS lens;
- improved sharpness when used at wide apertures,
- image stabilization is quite impressive now,
- autofocus is faster.

While these might seem like incremental improvements, for some photographers these changes will add up to make this lens an obvious upgrade.  For other photographers, the mk1 version will remain their workhorse lens.  For photographers that are working in low light, and would need the improved sharpness and contrast at wide apertures, and would need the more aggressive stabilization, the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II will be a compelling lens.

If you would like to purchase this lens, it is available from B&H at this link:
Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS II

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Canon E-TTL flash settings – Average vs Evaluative flash metering

With TTL flash, (or E-TTL, as Canon call their specific flavor), the camera and speedlight working together according to various algorithms to control the flash exposure. The E-TTL flash exposure will therefore depend on various factors – the tonality of the subject and scene; the brightness of the scene; and how the camera interprets the sections of the metering pattern.  Other factors quite possibly also includes data from the lens.   How these factors inter-relate, we can only make educated guesses; and many photographers have taken time and effort to do test shoots to see how the cameras and speedlights work.

To make things even more interesting, Canon offers two modes of E-TTL flash metering: Average and Evaluative. This is set on the camera body via the custom functions.

The way I understand this to work, is that with Evaluative flash metering, the Canon camera takes the ambient light into account when calculating the flash exposure. With Average flash metering, the flash metering would appear to be de-coupled from the ambient metering, and the camera is less biased by the available light.  (I’m quite willing to be corrected on this.)

So which E-TTL flash exposure mode to use? Average or Evaluative?
In the end, I work in a fairly simplistic way …

With Canon I mostly keep it to Evaluative TTL flash metering. I then adjust my flash exposure compensation to taste. I do this by pre-judging the tonality of my subject and scene, and making an educated guess as to how much FEC would be needed. Then I fine-tune this by looking at the image on the camera’s preview.

This does strongly imply that you have to ride the FEC as you check your results while you shoot. Shoot, check and adjust.

Ultimately you HAVE to get used to how your camera and flash responds, by getting familiar with your equipment and shooting a lot. This to me is the key point here .. being able to roughly predict how my camera will react, and what the flash exposure would be like as a result, and dialing in a certain amount of FEC before even taking the shot.  It comes with experience and shooting a lot.

The general approach:
Keep to Average TTL flash metering mode if the flash is a dominant light source.
Change to Evaluative flash metering when the flash needs to act as fill-flash or when the flash is in relation to the ambient light .

This is the approach as generally advised on various websites and forums, and is how I used to do it with the Canon 5D / 1D mk II / 1D mk II N / 1D mk III

I would be change between the two modes, picking Average TTL Metering when the flash was a dominant source of light … and Evaluative TTL Metering when I wanted fill-flash, or needed the flash exposure in relation to the ambient exposure. With the Nikon D3, I would just use TTL BL mode and adjust from there. Since TTL flash metering is dependent on the tonality of your subject / scene (and all the other factors), you will have to ride your FEC anyway.

I mostly kept my Canon D-SLRs set to Evaluative flash metering, just riding my FEC higher to make up for the difference between how the camera.

My take on it is that I am better of using one of the modes the majority of the time, and get a feel for how my camera and flash would react. Rather that, than jumping between the modes, and hoping the camera and flash will sort it out, without much input from me as the photographer.

Once again, this means that there has to be some familiarity in how a specific camera and speedlight works together. This, for example, is how I noticed that I needed to adjust the FEC on my D3 bodies differently than I was used to on the D2x and D2H … which was close to what I was used to on the Canon D-SLRs I have used.

As an example – One instance where I know I would need to dial in a lot more flash exposure compensation, is with a back-lit subject.  The Canon flash system seems to be easily influenced by strong back-lighting, especially in Evaluative TTL metering mode.  So I would instantly dial in at least 1 EV more on my FEC in that case, as a start.

So whichever TTL flash exposure mode you use, for the same situation, you’d just set your FEC to different values … and still get correct exposure in an iterative way by:
- pre-judging the amount of FEC you might need,
- taking the image, and then looking at your camera’s preview,
- and making a visual judgment of how much more or less FEC you would need.

We need to accept a certain flexibility in our technique … as opposed to expecting that by meticulously analyzing how our camera and speedlight work in test situations, that we could get every image perfectly exposed from the very first frame. I believe this one of those areas where there is a danger of over-thinking it and expecting real world situations to fall withing specifically anticipated behavior … when it is much simpler and better, to simply adjust your FEC as you need, on an on-going basis while you shoot.

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The specialty of a macro lens is in allowing you much much closer to your subject than a normal optic would .. with the ease of continuous focusing from infinity to the closest distance.  No need to screw in additional rings or lenses or reverse your lens.  A macro lens works as a close-up lens, and as a more usual optic.  And that’s the versatility of it.

hands-on review: Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS lens

The main feature of the new macro lens is that it offers stabilization.  Now this might not seem such a big deal to photographers who work with a tripod and photograph more static subjects – but the moment you want to shoot on the move, and play around fluently with your composition and angles – then using the lens hand-held becomes a huge advantage.

Instead of photographing the usual macro subjects – flowers and insects – I decided to test the Canon 100 mm f/2.8 IS macro lens (B&H), during a portrait session with a model, Annisa.  

In the photo above, my settings were 1/200th @ f3.2 @ 400 ISO.  In testing the lens with and without the IS enabled, there is a clear difference in the crispness of the (handheld) images.  There’s no doubt that the IS works, and is a major improvement on the previous generation of this lens ..

Of course, I had to machine-gun the series of images to get a few images which were critically sharp.  This is because the depth-of-field was minimal at f3.2 at such a relatively close focusing distance.  If I merely breathed, or the model moved ever so slightly, the photograph would be out of focus.   That I had to do this was no fault of this exemplary lens, but rather a by-product of the way that I chose to shoot – handheld.   The stabilization will definitely help with camera shake, but won’t affect how sharp my subject appears due to subject movement .. or my own movement towards or away from my subject, however small a distance it might appear to be.

One more photograph of our model, but this time at  1/100th @ f4 @ 400 ISO

[ click on the photo for a larger image ]

… and it is super-sharp on her one eye, while in an enlarged view,  her mouth goes gently out of focus at such a short focusing distance.   Once again, the lens’ stabilization is without a doubt a huge boost here in the results you can achieve.

I used the Canon 7D camera (B&H) for this photo session. (A review on this camera will follow soon.)

Specifications:

Minimum focusing distance: 12″ / 0.31 meters
Filter size: 67mm   (the older lens has a filter size of 58mm)
Weight:  1.38 lbs / 625g  (ever so slightly heavier than the previous lens)
Length:  4.8″ / 123mm   (a fraction longer than the previous lens)

Optical performance:

The optical performance of this lens is very impressive!  This lens is sharp.  Even at f2.8
The edge-to-edge sharpness is superb, as you’d expect from a macro lens.

auto-focus performance:

Theis updated lens focuses noticeably faster than its predecessor. Macro lenses have a tendency to be slow to focus because of the extreme range that it can focus – hence the focus / distance limiters – but this lens has a very firm response when you initiate auto-focus. Fast and assured.

Controls:

The lens offers the usual controls via the buttons on the left-hand side of the lens barrel:
 - focusing ranges,
 - auto focus / manual focus
 - stabilization on / off

Final thoughts:

If you want / need a stellar macro lens for your Canon camera, and would also like it to double up as an effective portrait lens, then this is it!  Optical performance is truly great, and the lens handles well and offers stabilization.  This is as good as it gets.

If you are interested, this lens is available as a rental from LensProToGo, 
or if you’d like to purchase this lens, it is available from B&H and Amazon:

Canon 100 mm f/2.8 IS macro lens (B&H)

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