First signs of spring (image)

[mcary]

Went out searching for wildlife today with some success, but this image was my favorite from the day. Spring is certainly on the way.

[Steve Foss]

Nice, Michael. Pretty mood, good exposure, excellent background bokeh.

How did you meter it? I see the whites are not blown out, so did you use exposure compensation or go to manual and underexpose, or which meter setting were you on?

My 20D just died a final death this afternoon at 95,000 shutter actuations, so I'm back to my XT for backup until I can put together a budget for the 30D or a used 1D Mk2n.

[MN Shutterbug]

Powerful shot and I love the composition, but what is it? Also, isn't spring already here?

[Steve Foss]

It's a [me] willow, XT. I was out looking for them up here, but it's just a little early. I think next weekend, probably.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

Quote:

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My 20D just died a final death this afternoon at 95,000 shutter actuations, so I'm back to my XT for backup until I can put together a budget for the 30D or a used 1D Mk2n.

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Steve,i have a buddy who just bought a 1dmk2n a few weeks ago but he is going with a 30d now. He just couldn't get used to the weight of the 1d. i can ask him how many shutter actuations it has [how can you tell?] if you're interested. if not,no prob.

[Steve Foss]

MM, it almost doesn't matter how many actuations on the Mk2n. It's rated to 250,000. Go ahead and give the guy my e-mail address. I doubt I'll have the budget for it, but I've got a bunch of magazine images and print sales in process, and may be able to if it's low enough.

Sorry, Michael, back to the topic.

[mcary]

Steve,

I bought a sturdier tripod today and used the 100-400 at 400mm @ f/14 with an exposure compensation of -2. There was a little extra light on the buds and the background was 100+ yards away. The bokeh was easy - I exposed the shot with no exposure compensation to get a feel and after I saw the results dialed it down two stops hoping to achieve a nice isolation of the subject. Luckily, it turned out much the way I hoped and with the benefit of a slight bit of post processing it turned out almost exactly the way I wanted it. On a bit of a down note, the hawk owl which I claimed would be "a lock" for today proved to be elusive. I did happen across a group of goldeneyes and a breeding pair of hooded mergansers to make up for it though.

And for those in southern MN, spring is still in the process of arriving here in the north. I sighted my first red-wing black bird today as well as heard my first killdeer. I have yet to see a robin, but have heard a northern cardinal. So, we may still have a week to go before we can officially declare spring has arrived despite it being in full force in the lower half of the state.

[Steve Foss]

Mike, that's about what I figured on exposure. It's nice to have a pale subject against a dark background with time to dial things in just so. The deep colored background bokeh does a wonderful job of emphasizing the subject.

[Dbl]

That is a beautiful shot Michael. Steve did you blow the shutter? At the rate I'm going mine will hit your actuations by mid-summer which is why I'm working on a MarkII, not an N though.

[Steve Foss]

No, Dan, the processor is toast. If it was the shutter, I'd think about dropping a few hundred to replace it. If you can get a Mk2 with under 50,000 shutters, you'll still have 200,000 to go, and with the Mk3 coming out, the Mk2 will be two generations ago and will come down even more in price. Not to mention it's miles ahead of the 20D/30D in so many ways, as you already know.

I knew the day was coming but hoped the 20D would last until June, because I've got a wedding shoot booked for Memorial Day weekend, and it's silly to go into a wedding shoot with only one body. If I can't muster the budget by then, I'll just pull in a CPS loan for a second body.

[Dbl]

Ouch...the processor...not a good thing! The MarkII I'm working on is around 9,000 actuations.

[Steve Foss]

Jeez, 9,000? That's like nothing out of 250,000. You go! But don't tell me who has it or I might beat you to it.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

which mark2 are you guys talking about? the N? there are so many variations in the 1d series which is best?

[Steve Foss]

We're talking about the 1D Mk2. That's a couple generations ago. It's an 8 fps 8.2 Mp top-of-the-line at the time sports and other fast shooting body. Since then, Canon has updated it with the 1D Mk2n, which has a few better features but not many. And now, Canon has announced the 1D Mk3, which is an upgrade of great significance from the 1D Mk2n.

The other "1" series out there is the 1Ds Mk2, which is Canon's 16.7 Mp full-frame DSLR, and the top of the line where image quality is preferred over burst rate.

So there really are only two "1" series Canon DSLR lines out there. There's the 1Ds Mk2 and its predecessors, and there's the 1D Mk3 and its predecessors.