Settling in with a new Canon 7D mark II

After almost six years of loving my Canon 7D camera body, I finally upgraded to a new 7D mark II.  The 7D mk 2 is a great camera--many people refer to it as the little brother of Canon's flagship 1DX body--so I knew I'd enjoy it once I got settled in.  What I didn't know is just how long it would take me to get settled in.  24 hours and about 700 photos after I unboxed it, I wanted to share my first impressions of Canon's premier APS-C camera.

Thoughts on my new Canon SX280 HS camera

Nearly four months after dropping my old Canon SD870IS camera onto a hard gym floor and breaking the lens mechanism, I finally ordered a new point & shoot camera in the form of a Canon SX280 HS.  The SX280 is slightly larger than the SD870, but is still very pocketable.  The big win comes with quite a number of feature improvements that have worked their way into pocket cameras during the five years since the SD870 was made.  Below, you'll find my initial thoughts after playing with the new toy for a little while.

Kenko 1.4x PRO 300 teleconverter DGX

Ever since I upgraded my Canon 70-300/4-5.6IS lens to the shorter, but faster, 70-200/2.8IS, I've missed the extra reach that the 300mm lens had.  A teleconverter has been on my wish list ever since.  With the Sandhill Crane and Bald Eagle photographing season approaching, I decided it was time to bite the bullet.  Despite the impending birding outings, a 1.4x teleconverter seemed to be a more useful multiplier than 2x, so I bought a Kenko 1.4x PRO 300 from Amazon.  I took a few test shots immediately after unboxing it, and wanted to share what I found.

Disassembling a Canon point-and-shoot camera

I've had several Canon point & shoot cameras since we first made the digital leap in late 2001.  Because these tiny cameras were made to be carried around everywhere in your pocket, then tend to have a hard life in our family.  They inevitably end up with some physical defect that prompts me to completely tear them apart in an attempt to fix the problem.  Sometimes I'm successful, other times not.  The process has been very similar every time for 11 years, and I expect that it won't change a whole lot going forward, so I wanted to document it here for you.

Updating the Canon 7D firmware

In late August 2012, Canon released a new major version of the firmware for its 7D body, upgrading it from 1.2.5 to 2.0.0.  This was followed a few weeks later with version 2.0.3, which fixed a few minor bugs.  The v2 firmware added a number of relatively major features to the 7D, and provided an uncommonly significant upgrade to a body that is over two years old.  After waiting a month for other people to beta test the new firmware (a good idea, as evidenced by the release of v2.0.3), I finally upgraded my own 7D from version 1.2.5.

New full-frame DSLR's: are they right for you?

Coinciding with this month's biannual Photokina trade show, Canon, Nikon, and Sony have all released new DSLR bodies which offer full frame (35mm-sized) sensors at a really low price point (US$2000-3000).  I don't typically review brand new gear in the Prairie Rim Images blog, but I've been asked by a few people what I think of these, so I wanted to share my opinions publicly.  The specific models in question are the Canon 6D, the Nikon D600, and the Sony SLT-A99.

Canon product service life expectancy

My Canon Speedlite 430EX died on me recently.  Much to my dismay, I found that Canon factory service no longer repaired that model.  Nor, in fact, would several other third party repair facilities.  This stuck me as odd, because the flash had only been out of production for four years, and although the 430EX wasn't their flagship model, it was closer to the top than the bottom of their product line.  This caused me to do a little digging into the amount of time for which you can expect to have a particular piece of camera equipment repaired, should it fail on you.  This info is especially useful for people like me, who like to save a buck by buying used gear.

Fashionable camera bags

Nobody ever accused me of having great fashion sense.  I once dressed my son for church in plaid shorts & a striped shirt, and saw nothing wrong with it.  I also carry all my camera gear in old bags that I pick up at thrift stores and garage sales.  You, however, may be blessed with a little more style in your wardrobe (and I hope this includes most of you women out there).  If you'd like that style to carry over into your camera bags, your options today are much broader than they were even a few years ago.  Gone are the days when you were stuck carrying your gear in a rectangular, black, nylon bag like those that line the shelves at Best Buy.  Since I've been asked to recommend storage options to several friends lately, I figured I'd post what I've found publicly for your shopping enjoyment.

Err 30 on my Canon 7D

A month or so ago, my primary camera body (a Canon 7D) started locking up on me and throwing an "Err 30" message.  I was instructed to pull the battery and try again, which worked only for a couple shots before the error reappeared.  The battery being used would then show up as being dead.  After going through a couple batteries in just a few minutes, I removed my aftermarket vertical battery grip (a Flashpoint / MeiKe).  With a battery inserted directly into the camera body, the problem went away.  The problem was solved... for a few weeks.

New Powerex Imedion batteries

These days, almost everybody who does a reasonable amount of work with off-camera flashes has switched from traditional alkaline batteries to NiMH rechargeables.  Despite the significant up-front investment, rechargeables definitely save you money in the long run.  The first sets of AA batteries that I bought have been wearing out lately & won't hold a charge very long.  When choosing their replacements, I decided to try a new brand:  Imedion by PowerEx (Maha).  I've only used them briefly so far, but I'm definitely pleased with them.

Canon Professional Services

I've had to make use of Canon Factory Service several times in the five years since I got my first DSLR.  I discussed those experiences in a previous post.  I recently learned that (not surprisingly) Canon has a special program called Canon Professional Services that caters to professional shooters who use Canon gear.  It's a cool program, and anybody who makes money with their Canon camera equipment should seriously look into it.

Postprocessing software for Linux

As a long time computer nerd, I fell in love with Unix variants early on.  I've run Linux as my primary desktop OS since the late 1990's.  While that decision saves lots of money and allows endless opportunities to tinker, it does present problems when you get into serious photography.  Primarily, it restricts your options for photo organization and postprocessing software.  I've played with a few options over the years, and I wanted to share my opinions with you all.

Why format your camera's memory card?

One topic that I've seen come up periodically is how to clear out all the photos from your camera's memory card.  Some say that it's better to simply erase the photos, while others say it's better to completely reformat the card.  I'm a firm believer that unnecessarily reformatting a flash card is a bad idea.  Here's why...

Experiences with Canon Factory Service

Having just received another damaged lens back from Canon Factory Service in fine shape, I wanted to give a thumbs up to the folks who work there.  This is the fifth time I've had to deal with them, and the experience has always been as pleasant as you could hope for, given the circumstances of having a broken camera.

How to use a histogram

Proper exposure typically means that you maintain detail in both the bright and dark areas of the image.  A good way to see the distribution of shades from dark to light is by using a histogram.  Many people have seen a histogram either on their camera LCD or in their photo editing software, but if that little mountain-shaped graph is to be more than just a curiosity, you have to learn what it means and how to use it to your advantage.

Adding a miniphone sync port to a Sunpak 544

I love my flashes, thanks in large part to David Hobby. One of the things that David is constantly promoting is his preference for using 1/8" (3.5mm) miniphone audio cords instead of the older, standard PC-sync cords for syncing flashes. PC jacks are notoriously unreliable as well as ludicrously expensive. Miniphone jacks are both more reliable and dirt cheap. Even better, the Cactus V4 radio triggers that I use come with 1/8" sync ports built in. Unfortunately, none of my flashes came with them. My old Sunpak Auto 544 "potato masher" flash came with a proprietary jack, but when that jack started to flake out on me, I figured it was time to add a miniphone plug to it.

A few of my LEAST favorite things

A couple weeks ago, I wrote about a few of my favorite pieces of photographic equipment.  Those were items that I'd recommend to a friend without any reservation.  Of course, I'm not in love with all of my gear.  There are some items that I must use frequently, but curse them all the while.  While these pieces may work well enough for some, they don't meet my ever-increasing standards, and I'll be replacing them soon.

Why I prefer CompactFlash cards

The card reader in my computer has had trouble lately reading the SecureDigital card from our P&S camera unless the card was seated very securely in the slot. I've gotten in the habit of giving it a firm press when inserting it. A few nights ago, I guess I must have been pushing in at a slight angle, because I heard a crunch as I taco'd my SD card. I apparently seated it sufficiently, because despite the damage, I was still able to pull all the data off the card. This is not the first time I've heard of the data on SanDisk cards surviving catastrophic physical damage.

A few of my favorite things

With Christmas almost here, many of us are compiling lists of equipment that we'd like to own.  To that end, I wanted to mention a few of my own pieces that I've come to really love.  I tend to collect older equipment from various non-retail sources, so I've got a lot of gear piling up.  Some of it works well for me, and some of it doesn't.  The gear listed below is some of my best-loved equipment that I'd highly recommend to friends.

Choosing your first DSLR

Thanksgiving is approaching here in the US, and with it, the abundance of ads enticing us to do our Christmas shopping at their establishment.  Many people will use this opportunity to upgrade their camera beyond their current point-and-shoot model.  With the enormous selection of camera models available, how do you choose the right model?  I'll give you a few guidelines below.