Double dilemma

I was just digging through my 1Ds mkII and 5D archive. To see, or perhaps better said, to convince myself that Full frame cameras just have that "must have" advantage for me (yeah I mean DOF and a few minor advantages). I think it's not enough to pay more than 3x the price of Canon 30D+Tamron 17-50 2.8 for Canon 5D+135 f2L+Tamron 28-75 2.8. Ok, that was the first half of dilemma. The other is the photo below. It wasn't good enough for first selection that I already posted on the blog - 1st session with Mina. But now it seems kinda interesting. Especially that look, expression on her face. You know, the kind of women expression, that we men can't seem to resolve sometimes...



And there's one more thing, that I just remember that I was thinking about during and after this session. There's still way too much DOF (at f1.8 ofcourse), when shooting full figure or from waist up. So, to hell with FF and paying over 300% more:).

EDIT 30.7.07 21:50: The photo was slightly altered (crop, sharpening).

Are you a risk taker?

Do you do risky, sometimes stupid things in your life? Or when you're taking photos?

Here's one that would qualify. Taking portraits of the most unpredictable and dangerous big cat in Ljubljana ZOO with a 18 mm lens. She's the only one that I was afraid to cuttle (another risky thing to do, but I can't show you that). Image is ofcourse uncropped (most of you already know that because of visible wide angle distortion):

Greetings from Siberia

I'm having a great time, a bit chilly though. But I guess that's better then living through a month lasting heat wave;).

Double rainbow!!!

Hehe, I know you're not used to look at such cheesy shit on my blog, but I'm making an exception today. Besides that it feels right to be cheesy sometimes. Especially now, when I really don't have anything interesting to show you (I haven't had a session for a month or so now).

Anyway here it is:



Oh, it's supposed to be in colour, right?



I don't know if you've noticed, but I've also changed the template. I didn't find any flash templates that work with the new blogger and support google ads at the same time. There were some that work with the new blogger, but all of them hide all the page elements which is fine for all of the categories (labels, blogroll, archive etc) except for the ads, which must be shown on the main side if you want to earn a few bucks now and then. Tell me your thoughts on the colour combination and layout. You can paste a link to a nice template too;).

Ona cover

My photo was published on the cover of today's Ona cover. The cover is not in the best condition, since it went through so many hands on today's set. And my scanner still sucks (colours are off etc). Anyway here it is, the gorgeous brunette on the cover is Tanja, click and click again to see complete sessions.

Camera manufacturers joined their forces

Every company contributed the best component they have in store and this is what came out:D.

A few photos from saturday's wedding

My mean man Fločo was the hair guy. I guess ya all should know the best hairdresser in town by now (retarded session or by this photo which is one of many on this blog)



When her hair was done, the make up artist started doing her thang



The end result:






Below you can see 2x2 similar photos. I've posted two different versions of each. Personally I can't decide which is best. I'll give both versions to the freshly married couple and let them decide.

Min DOF on weddings too? 4 sure, I'm no sellout:P.









Rok&Pika if you're reading this, I hope you're enjoying yourselves as much as possible. Have fun and cya in August.

A few 1D mkII snapshots

I got Canon 1D mkII for a few days (I wanted to take 1Ds mkII, but an error ocurred yesterday and it wasn't repaired yet), so I took it for a spin, to set it up for saturday's wedding. I wanted FF because it's very usable for a backup with 50 mm lens on it and excellent for the romantic shots, because of thinner DOF. On the other hand, the focal lenght for closeups is better on 1D and you can get closer too (crop). I wanted a FF or a 1.6 crop (usable only as a backup). But neither was available. I'll have to do it with a compromise, I guess.

Anyway, a few pics of my dawgs:


Bad ass muthafucka, ain't he?



He couldn't concentrate on a game of strategy that we were playing because of my shutter pressing frenzy

Canon vs Nikon

Now that I'm using both for quite some time, I think I'm qualified to give an opinion. My intention is not to flame any debates whatsoever. Just giving an opinion, that might help someone choosing the right system for his/her needs.

I'll start with Canon, which is the brand of the camera that I own. I've tested the whole lineup, so my opinion will be, more or less, based on the complete lineup, not on a single model. I use Nikon for my job assignments, lately I've been using Nikon almost exclusively. Note that this is entirely and absolutely MY OPINION, I'm not trying to write a review, be objective or politically correct.

Pros:
-excellent sensors, excellent high ISO performance (unbeatable when it comes to 5D and 1D mkIII), high dynamic range
-lots of lenses to choose from, practically all of the lenses come with USM (fast&silent focusing, exceptions are some lenses with micro USM). Mostly reasonably priced. Known for their excellent tele lenses
-Canon is in a league of its own when it comes to pro grade cameras. 1Ds mkII, 5D and 1D mkIII have no real competition
-control wheel on the back of X/XXD series is the best and fastest way to go over menues, for reviewing photos etc
-FF cameras. For all of those who need better DOF control and top notch image quality
-warmer out of the camera colours

Cons:
-flash system works better on Nikon. Not that accurate, prone to underexposing.
-entry level body design
-poor choice of sharp wide angle lenses (below 35 mm)

Nikon:
Pros:
-flash system works better than Canon's, I love the in camera hi-sync setting. So there's no need to switch it on the flash every single time X-sync is exceeded.
-better entry level body design
-better wide angle lenses
-two separate control wheels work great in M mode. On for the control of shutter speed and another for the aperture

Cons:
-the stupidest playback zoom mode I've ever seen (enter button, then you have to hold another and roll the control wheel)
-no AF-S prime lenses. I use 85 1.4 often (editorials, sessions, weddings...) and focusing is often to slow if you need to catch a moment. The good thing about it is that it's not too loud (but not even close to being silent either)
-no FF cameras, only crippled APS-C. That means less variety for the users
-noise control got better with the latest models (except for D2Xs, which is awful at ISO 800, which is the highest ISO setting anyway). But Nikon still doesn't have a good low light camera, with noise levels, that could compare with 5D, 1Ds mkII or 1D mkIII. For all those concert photographers and photo reporters.