A welcome ‘feature’ of the 5D.

I mentioned a while back that I was moving to 2gB cards in the 5D, from the 1gB I started with.

The welcome capacity increase and falling price made sense.

With an empty 2 gB card

The 5D continues to dutifully reports room for 120 RAW pictures on a blank card, yet the other day I again noticed how low that estimate is. Obviously, the size of RAW files will vary depending on the scene, but the difference I noted is anything but insignificant.

Apple’s Disc Utility reports available space of 2.039gB on a formatted 2gB Extreme IV card, so that means Canon is assuming an average file size of almost 17mB per image in computing the above count. Nice that they use so large a size as it means they are erring on the side of safety.

Here’s the scoop:

That’s actually 140 images plus a count of two for the containing folders. And there’s still 350mB of free space left! Do the numbers and you come up with a capacity of 171 pictures, or 42% more than that original estimate. Of course, this will vary with the scene photographed, as more detail and color translates to a larger picture file size.

Now that’s a ‘feature’ I can handle any day.

Follow-up:

Check Comment #1 for a very interesting discussion of some of the underlying reasons for varying file sizes.

The pictures I was writing about in this case were studio photos taken with studio flash with just the subject’s eyes critically sharp (the 85mm Canon f/1.8 lens was used and 18″ x 24″ prints were a breeze to make and superb in every way) and everything else pretty much out of focus, so it seems the low ‘sharp content’ correlates with the small file sizes. The 10mB file above was a blank where I pressed the button before the flash was ready to fire, so that would appear to be the base file size of a 5D image. The Comment suggests that, for identical subjects, two lenses of like focal length will result in the one with higher micro-contrast generating a larger file size – an interesting ‘test’ method for this variable.

What’s good and what rankles.

It’s been some two years since I bought my Canon 5D, an appropriate milestone from which to reconsider what is good and bad about the decision.

Since then the price has come down significantly, meaning almost a 30% drop yet, amazingly, with other market segments seeing many model changes since, the 5D remains available and has not been upgraded. I have no idea how sales of this model compare with Canon’s other offerings, and I suppose you could argue that they haven’t made a replacement because sales are very high …. or very low.

I don’t care. It remains a quantum leap in making the picture taking process an easier one. Forget all the mind numbing choices in all those menus, the reality is that the chances of making a technically solid picture, sharp, properly focused and grain free have risen manyfold owing to this superb machine. Plus you can make a perfect print of any size you want from just about any frame. More time for seeing, less for worrying.

Things I like:

• The 3:2 aspect ratio of the frame. I grew up with Leicas. It would be even nicer at 16:9 widescreen.
• The large, uncluttered, near life-size, viewfinder.
• The fact that the depth of field and coverage of a 50mm lens …. remain the depth of field and image coverage of a 50mm lens on a film camera.
• The grain free sensor – the ISO adjustment is just another way of controlling aperture and shutter speed. I never worry about grain. If I need grain, something like this works.
• The great selection of inexpensive Canon lenses – the non-zooms I own are mostly wonderful.
• The lack of shutter lag – as good as a Leica M2 or M3.
• Autofocus. With mediocre eyesight like mine the fabulous rangefinder in the Leicas is improved upon by modern technology. And it’s faster.
• Spot focus/lock/recompose. Never another unsharp studio picture.
• Auto exposure. Another impediment removed.
• Spot exposure measurement for those difficult occasions.
• The reliability. The 5D’s OS makes a Mac look like a dog. You never have to reboot.
• The battery life. Simply incredible. Carrying a spare hardly seems necessary.
• The 85mm f/1.8 EF Canon lens. The Leica Apo-Summicron Asph at a fraction of the cost.
• How all that automation makes use with a 400mm Canon ‘L’ lens so easy.

Things I dislike:

• The bulk. Bigger than my Leica Ms, it’s no joy to tramp around with.
• The noise. Not bad, but silence would be nicer.
• An LCD screen which is unusable outdoors.
• Poor auto white balance indoors but easily fixed with one click in Lightroom.
• The attraction the sensor has for dust. I mitigate that by using (superior) non-zoom lenses, but that’s not the answer. Actually, it’s more the pump design of Canon’s 24-105mm zoom and poor dust sealing in the lens that seems to be to blame here.
• The advertising – that big white ‘Canon’ logo and crass ‘5D’ sticker – both easily fixed with some black tape. You want me to advertise your goods you pay me, OK?
• That criminally inept stock strap. Criminal, as the first thing it will do is make sure your camera falls off your shoulder.
  
  5D and friends. Not a worthless lens hood in sight.

• The fact that I take too many pictures. Digital makes you lazy, less selective. Good digital management in the likes of Lightroom helps. But nothing beats the Delete button.
• That horrid flap.

But, taken as a whole, these really are minor gripes in exchange for the wonderful image quality.

The 5D will likely be updated/obsoleted any day now, but for this photographer it remains the bees’ knees. Would I buy it today in preference to anything else? Absolutely. The improvements in Mark II – sensor dust removal apart – will be visible to academics only. But the 5D (Mk. I or II) only makes sense if you like to make Really Large Prints. For web display even a 2 megapixel P&S is fine.

The Canon 5D. A new era in equipment.

Guess from where!

A wireless remote shutter release is a handy thing to have. I use one with an ancient Olympus 5050 for the Christmas family snap. That Olympus has more shutter delay than you want to know about, so it’s an exercise in frustration. Further, I would guess the much used Oly’s years are numbered (the plastic focus and zoom racks are the first to go in these P&S digitals) and whenever I want to include myself in a landscape picture it means resorting to the delayed action on the 5D (hell to find with all those buttons) and run for it to try and get my Olympian physique placed just so in the frame.

I ruminated about a Canon 5D remote but once I saw the price ….

And that one is wired! OK, so it has a timer and will probably make your breakfast, but at that price I’ll eat at MacDonald’s, thanks. I seem to remember they listed a wireless version for some $500 and if you read on you will cease wondering why it’s no longer available.

I remember thinking about the interminable delay of the Olympus when taking this year’s family snap (it’s been bugging me for years), and checked ePrey shortly after. Well for $10.99 and $11.99 shipping from Hong Kong I decided the risk was acceptable and as I have had nothing but success with the incredible studio flash remote I bought a while back, so I pressed the ‘Buy It Now’ button and forgot about the whole thing.

Well, it arrived today and I must say the gadget is totally awesome! It’s radio frequency, not line of sight, which translates to tremendous, non-directional range. And if interference is an issue (your brand new BMW starts itself and goes off the road, say) you have sixteen radio channels (16!) to choose from.

A CR-2 Lithium battery (provided) goes in the remote and the camera-end receiver comes with a 23A battery installed.

With the antenna extended the range is quoted at 320 feet! I gave up at 105 feet which is the length of my hallway (it’s raining outside so a longer distance was … out of range). With the antenna retracted, which makes the transmitter easily pocketable, I got 75 feet.

A couple of small pieces of Velcro keep the receiver attached to the LCD shade on the back of the 5D.

So if you need a wireless remote for your DSLR because you want to avoid shutter lag or you don’t want to risk a coronary while running into your landscape snap, blow $22.98 on one of these. I have not checked but I would bet that this device is made for most DSLRs out there. Heck, the DSLRs are made in China anyway, no? The picture on the box shows the receiver attached to a Nikon D200 and, if it helps, the inventory check-off tab on the box provides options for five different connectors, though I must disappoint you by disclosing that my Chinese is not up to snuff to make sense of these.

When you press the button on the transmitter, the first pressure gets you a green LED on the transmitter. That means the transmitter and its battery are working. This changes to red to on further pressure to indicate activation but be warned that it changes to red whether you are in range or not. To make the camera end functional, you do have to press the button on the receiver, one of whose LEDs will glow red when you do that. Fear not. The instructions state that the stand-by life of the receiver’s battery is 1,000 hours if you forget to switch it off. Based on my experience with the strobe remote, I tend to believe what they write. Further pressure on the transmitter button will make the second LED on the receiver glow red, indicating it has received the signal to fire the shutter.

Further, by pressing the button on the transmitter for 3 seconds with the camera set to bulb, the camera’s shutter will open and remain open until you press the transmitter’s button again. Use mirror lock-up and we are talking minimal vibration here.

There’s more. Set your camera for continuous shooting, hold the transmitter button for 3 seconds and the 5D (or whatever) will bang away until you press the transmitter button again. Maybe there is an option for making your breakfast after all?

It’s OK, you are not taking a job from an American by buying Chinese – the American can (and does) make more on unemployment.

And yes, every time you try to open that wretched rubber flap on the 5D you will wonder how long it will take Messrs. Canon to Fix That Flap.

One final thought and a word of advice from the instruction sheet, and I quote: “When monitor light glitters, the battery will be vanished, change new battery”. You have been warned.