EOS 70D autofocus tracking???

[Bazsl]

Will the phase detect 19 point AF system in the 70D track subjects moving toward the camera at 100 miles per hour in AI Server mode? In other words, is the 70D usable for still photos of aircraft in flight, horse racing and automobile racing? Any references to articles on the 70D AF sustem that discuss its ability to track subjects moving toward the camera would be appreciated. Thanks.

Bill

[ebiggs1]

Printer?

Check this out

Picasa's only big problem is, it isn't Lightroom 5!

[cicopo]

Different people have different needs but I've never found a use for Lightroom. I do most of my editing with Picasa but when it doesn't do what I need then I use Photoshop (currently CS 6). As for having your images hijacked there is no way to prevent it other than not to upload them, however the next best protection is to upload at a resolution which just works on a monitor screen but is too small of a file to print well at anything larger than 4 X 6. A watermark in the important part of the image works too but it also turns viewers off if you intend to share to an audience like I do with the R/C community or my travel forum members. 

As for printing I assume you're looking for a good service to do it vs at home so I'm no help there because I'm in Canada & print at home & have since the 80's. If you did want to do it at home research both Canon & Epson printers. I've been getting great images with Epson but one of the biggest reasons is that I have calibrated my monitor to match what the printer outputs & I've learned to use Epson papers & the correct ICC profiles. If I had bought a Canon printer I'd be using Canon paper. Every brand of paper absorbs ink differently resulting in different looking prints because the printer won't be calibrated for the off brand paper unless you install & use the appropriate ICC profile. 

[garryjames]

Thanks ebiggs1:  I just bought Lightroom 5 and am looking forward to working with it.  Seems that Adobe has all the CA and spherical aberration values for most all current commercial lenses programmed in.  I'm wondering if that will help.  

I was in the process of fine tuning AF when I read on YouTube that one should shutoff CA, IS and peripheral illumination.  So I did and it seemed to help calibrate.  Then I thought, if one focuses better with these functions off, I'd try shooting without them.  ( the system I was using was EF 300mm F4 IS, canon 1.4x III and 6D.)  I thought I might be able to fix things in post with Lightroom.  Results showed pretty significant chromatic aberration, purple fringes on one side of white herons.  All action shots were pretty blurred.  my keep rate had dropped into the single digits.  I did take some good shots of cranes that were basically stationery.  Then I turned on IS-2 and got one dimensional blur.  I guess from now on I'll shoot IS-1 at least.  

Any recommendatiosn regarding shooting with CA and peripheral illumination off or on?  

Another qustion:  How precise do you tune AF.  I had a hard time seeing differences in focus with changes of 2 clicks on the AF bias.  

With High Regards,

garryjames

[garryjames]

Thanks Cicopo:  I took some shots of Osprey to Sam's Club where they print with Epson printers.  I printed 3 @ 8x10 and one @ 12x16.  results were disappointing, highr contrast than on screen and the colors wer significantly darker.   It was a total waste.  

After years of paying crazy prices for inkjet cartridges, and calculating the cost of paper and ink, I decided to let someone else do the printing.  You can get a service to print for about the same cost as the materials, only problem is quality.  I guess if you do your own printing, you can tweak the settings until it meets your criteria.  I was just hoping to turn at least one aspect of the process over to someone else.  Is that a misguided dream?  where do the pros who don't do their own printing have it done?

With High Regards,

Garry

[cale_kat]

They go to a professional photo printing business. Here in Seattle we have a half dozen businesses that serve the photo and graphic arts community. Figure pricing appropriate for commercial work.

[ebiggs1]

I am retired now and I do all my own printing.  I have three photo printers. A Pixma Pro 9500 II, a Pixma Pro 100 and a

HP D 7620.  Years ago when I was in film, I had my own color dakroom.  If you pay for custom printing from outside sources, the cost is not as different.  High quality costs!  It's just a fact of life.

When you are doing the micro focus adjustments, you are using a tripod and a focus test target?  In this case IS should be off.

Anythime you are on a tripod, IS is off.  All the rest of the time it is on.  IS doesn't stop blur or movement form the subject.  It stops blur and camera shake from you.

BTW, never go to Sam's or Walmart for printing.  When I do use a commerical printing service I use a local company or WHCC.

[cicopo]

It sounds like your monitor isn't calibrated relative to the print service, which is VERY common. If you send me a PM I can link you to 2 test files that you can download & have printed. Once they are printed you will need to adjust your monitors brightness & colours as accuractely as your eyes can to the prints & that's the settings you use for future editing. As long as you use the same printing service things should always match after that. 

[cale_kat]

cicopo, With all due respect to your knowledge and experience, it is impossible to calibrate for a store printer. You can get closer and even much better results but you simply can't match color using inkjet technology. If you could work with the technican to calibrate on the spot, pulling print after print until you were satisfied, you might get what you want.

I just mention this because color matching can be extremely difficult. The camera has the capacity to capture more color than printers are capable of producing. The process is made more complicated because the photographer moves from an additive color system (a monitor) to a reflective color system (a paper print) which requires a very big adjustment in visual perception.

The printing service will find that there are even seasonal changes in the printer's performance. Heat, cold, and humidity will have significant impact on inkjet performance. Paper is like a living thing, absorbing and releasing moisture from the air. The best printing companies operate their inkjet printers in a climate controled environment. Printers are given fair latitude to deliver an "acceptable" product under lenient legal guidelines within which they operate.

Just my $.02.

Edited to add, I don't want to sound unreasonable because printing services, by and large, can produce very pleasing results. Pleasing color, of course, is not the same as matching color.

[cicopo]

I agree that you can't get it right on but you can get a whole lot closer using my recommended idea. You will need to use the same place for your prints later but IF you consider just how few people understand just how important it is to edit at the same brightness level their printer outputs. Editing on ANY monitor at it's maximum brightness is WRONG, but very common. If you want to have stuff printed where you have no control you at least need to take some time to analize whether you are giving them bad files or they are just doing poor work. By giving them files designed to print at a correct brightness & which have just about every colour & shade of colour it will show whether or not the printing service is up to par. 

[ebiggs1]

The most important things to get right on your monitor are brightness, contrast and gray-scale.  It is not possibile to match every single color but you can match a single color.  It is actually no different than it was in the darkroom.  And a most often overlooked setting is paper.  Hold a sheet of paper up to your monitor with just a white screen displaying (from PS or whatever post processor you use) and see if they match.  If they aren't the same white, ther is no need to go further as it will be impossibile.

Service like WHCC can and do provide 'custom' professional printing.  It is not cheap neither is home printing but the results are worth it if you want the best.  Sadly, or happily, most people are satified with Sam's or Walmart.

When I print an 8x10 for a cilent, I never give them the first print.  It is simply the cost of printing.  Make your adjustments, (in PS) print and make the tweaking adjustments (again in PS) and re-print.  It's all what you are satified with.