Brand Wars (minor rant)

[MJB DIGITAL]

I'm a little bit timid to post something like this, so let me preface it.
I have shot and do shoot regularly on canon [when i shoot for a studio that requires i use their cameras] and have shot a couple of nikons (film and digital), while I own pentax.....I dont have any real brand loyalty. I just like my pentax best.

That said...

I am going to disallow my assistant from using his Canon xti on any of my weddings. jeez...I hate processing those crap files. Isn't there a saying that says you haven't done any work till you've done hard work? Well, sit down with two or three hundred files out of an xti that you want to turn in to your wedding client.

footnote: my assistants 5d turns in great shots.

second footnote: pentax is rockin. 8) i cant wait to get the 20

peace

[Mallee Boy]

Phew!!
better adopt the brace position mate....they'll be after you.

[ManuH]

Originally Posted by MJB DIGITAL

I am going to disallow my assistant from using his Canon xti on any of my weddings. jeez...I hate processing those crap files.

I'm curious, what's so awful about the XTi ? Maybe it's just a matter of settings? I don't believe there is really a better APS camera than the other when set it up correctly.

[MJB DIGITAL]

during editing, i was noticing a step down in quality from my k10's/his 5d to his xti.

while i was working on his shots, i started to be able to identify which shots were from the xti, and they happened to be the shots that were pissing me off.

all i want to do is turn in the best quality shots possible. if i get him to not use his xti, my product level improves.

[ManuH]

Originally Posted by MJB DIGITAL

during editing, i was noticing a step down in quality from my k10's/his 5d to his xti.

Could it be the lens? the colors? sharpness? I can imagine, RAW was used on all cameras? How do you compare the K10D and the 5D?

[barondla]

I know what your talking about. Have a monitor set up at the store with a tv/card reader. People bring in their memory card and we look at their shots. One guy has a Canon Xt & XTi. The shots are always drab looking and many show close to blown highlights. He has other lenses besides, the kit lens, and is a pretty good photographer. He is able to make them look good after PP. He has seen many of my and another Pentaxians shots. One day he asked me to show him some of my PP tricks. He was amazed to find out how little I know (the other Pentaxian is a wiz at PP). He kind of feels bad about the Canons. He also used to make fun of my Olys untill he saw that the "cropped" format was turning out better looking shots than his Canons.
Thanks
barondla

Check out POINT & SHOOT CONTEST #9 WINNERS in P&S forum. Enter #10. Any type camera except slr. Any brand. Any subject. Enter now.

[JJJPhoto]

Originally Posted by MJB DIGITAL

I am going to disallow my assistant from using his Canon xti on any of my weddings. jeez...I hate processing those crap files. Isn't there a saying that says you haven't done any work till you've done hard work? Well, sit down with two or three hundred files out of an xti that you want to turn in to your wedding client.

Nothing unusual about that. A couple of years ago when I was shooting with Nikon and Fuji cameras I made a rule about assistants needing to use either Nikon or Fuji cameras for the EXACT same reason.

It wasn't so much that the images looked like "crap" but that the images looked VERY different in terms of color, tone, contrast, saturation, etc. and required MASSIVE amounts of work (days or weeks) to make hundreds of Canon photos look similar to hundreds of images that I took with my Nikon and Fuji gear.

The images MUST look similar because when all the images go into the wedding album it looks sloppy and unprofessional if the bride's skin tone looks pink in one photo and orange in the next photo.

I think the images from my Pentax gear look much more like the images I used to get from my Nikon/Fuji gear, which is why I don't have a problem if an assistant uses Nikon/Fuji gear now that I use Pentax ... but I still don't like to mix Canon and Pentax or Canon and Nikon/Fuji unless I have no other choice.

[MJB DIGITAL]

Originally Posted by ManuH

Could it be the lens? the colors? sharpness? I can imagine, RAW was used on all cameras? How do you compare the K10D and the 5D?

yeah we both shot all RAW....

the guy shoots on a 24-70 2.8 L and a 70-200 2.8 IS L mainly. I think he has a 100mm macro that I'm not familiar with, and a really fast fifty. I love his lenses....

We were shooting in a really cool Catholic church. You know that orange colorbalance you get in there sometimes? Well, I loaded his shots up and *expletive here*!!! It looked like a bunch of orange squares in the photoshop browser/bridge. It took hours and hours to get all of that orange out, and I was left with some shadow noise, not too bad. Then, when I needed to adjust levels to get the exposures even, I had more noise.

its SO easy to manual whitebalance on my cams that I may have one or two shots miscolored when I change lighting, but 99% of my shots are good WB. To be honest, I dont know how to quickly change WB on canon, because I always leave canons on AWB when I shoot them

so i think the only problems I have with the xti (speaking of files only as i dont shoot with it) is the color and maybe the dynamic range. but when i go in to fix that stuff, as can be expected on any camera, i have noise. but the shots from canon AWB are soooo orange (except for in daylight) that it was making me grumpy while i worked.

The shots from the 5D were great. Much more dynamic range and less noise. The color balance was very similar to the xti, though. I believe both cameras use the digic2 processor.
If I were to compare the 5D and the K10D I would say that I am suprised at how well the K10D compares to the 5D considering the awesome reputation the 5D has. And likewise, I was suprised at the noise that I did see in the 5D when I did see it. I know the 5D has been a great camera, but this is the digital age, and that camera is like 5 years old eh?

Canon makes some REALLY awesome cameras when you get up to the 5K dollar amount. I would flip (and maybe cry for joy) if someone gave me a 1DsMK3/wide prime......what a superb setup that would be
...then I would sell the combo and buy a freakin car or put a down payment on a house.

I really can't believe how much quality Pentax can deliver at a thousand bucks. Pentax ergonomics have kept me glued to the cameras in more ways than one: during shooting, I dont need to pull the camera from my eye....and I can twiddle all of the controls. And, I'm not switching brands because the cam is so FREAKIN COMFY!!!

[MJB DIGITAL]

Originally Posted by JJJPhoto

Nothing unusual about that. A couple of years ago when I was shooting with Nikon and Fuji cameras I made a rule about assistants needing to use either Nikon or Fuji cameras for the EXACT same reason.

It wasn't so much that the images looked like "crap" but that the images looked VERY different in terms of color, tone, contrast, saturation, etc. and required MASSIVE amounts of work (days or weeks) to make hundreds of Canon photos look similar to hundreds of images that I took with my Nikon and Fuji gear.

The images MUST look similar because when all the images go into the wedding album it looks sloppy and unprofessional if the bride's skin tone looks pink in one photo and orange in the next photo.

I think the images from my Pentax gear look much more like the images I used to get from my Nikon/Fuji gear, which is why I don't have a problem if an assistant uses Nikon/Fuji gear now that I use Pentax ... but I still don't like to mix Canon and Pentax or Canon and Nikon/Fuji unless I have no other choice.

Consistency is the key to making a SET of photograph. I think canon does a good job with skintones....when they arent too orange. But I do NOT think canon can handle a tungsten light/skintone combo. I always see a deep red/orange in canon colors