Canon 580EX-II - Equipment Review

Canon 580EX-II

The 580EX-II was the top of the line Canon Speedlite until the release of the Canon 600EX-RT. For many shooters the release of new equipment opens opportunities for them that had not been practical before as older equipment re-enters the market at 1/3 or even 1/4 of original cost. For many shooters this will allow them the option of adding a powerful E-TTL II flash to their kit that can also function as a master controller for their existing 430EX-II or other Canon Speedlites. 

Many other shooters will be wondering if the 600EX-RT is a better option. Lets take a brief look at that first. Both the 580 and the 600 are capable as functioning as an optical master for the existing Speedlite lines, while the 600 is capable of controlling 5 flash groups and the 580 only controls 3 in optical mode the 600 is also limited to 3 flash groups. The rational behind this limit was probably limit of the older flashes to groups A thru C, however it would have been nice to have the option to use older units in those groups and use 600s in the D and E group in an optical controlled system. The short of it is to gain the added advantage of 600 series flashes at this point in time all flashes have to be 600 series making that set-up much more expensive then using a 580 master with other 580 and 430 units as slaves. Used 580s are now comparable in price to new 430s which makes adding a used 580 to the mix an attractive option.

For shooters that are already using cameras like the 60D and 7D which offer master controller function through the pop-up flash paying an additional $550 for a new 580EX-II was probably not an attractive option. Now you really should consider picking one up used in the $200 dollar range, this is why. The 60D and similar model cameras while capable as acting as a master controller were limited to flash groups A and B by using a 580 as your master controller you now have access to group C as well creating much greater freedom when using speedlites for 3-Point Lighting. For the higher end cameras that already supported all three flash groups the big advantage to having an on camera 580 is when you are controlling flash groups with the camera oriented to portrait format. The common problem the pop-up unit encounters in shooting in this fashion is putting some of the off camera flashes into the shadow of the lens which prevents them from firing. The larger surface of the 580 unit along with the ability to orient it in different directions can allow all of the flash units to easily see the master unit. 

If you are using a higher end camera like the 6D a pop-up option is not available and a 580 is a very affordable option. While it is true that ST-E2 units can be purchased new in the same price point as used 580s, the big advantage of a used 580 is that it gives you one more flash unit. Even with this unit mounted on camera it can provide fill light or be used as a Bounce Flash.

The 580EX-II is still a very relevant option for most shooters. It is a powerful reliable choice and when it comes to the use of other optical units it’s price point makes it a superior choice to the 600 Series.

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Canon 430EX-II - Equipment Review

Canon Speedlite 430EX-II

The 430EX-II is the workhorse for the Canon Speedlite line. Designed to work both mounted to the camera's hot shoe or as a slave fired remotely the 430EX-II brings both power and portability to your lighting needs in a compact and economical package.

The 430EX-II offers full manual control and E-TTL II functionality. In E-TTL II the flash output can be adjusted through the exposure compensation menu and can be adjusted in 1/3rd stop intervals plus or minus 3 stops. In Manuel mode the flash output can be adjusted from full to 1/64th power output in 1/3rd stop intervals. On full power the flash is approximately equal at 6 feet to full sun. This allows the flash to provide adequate fill on bright days or fired in groups to provide enough light to overpower the sun.

The 430EX-II can operate as a slave controlled by EOS compatible cameras like the 60D and 7D with the pop-up flash or through the Canon wireless system controlled by a 600EX-RT, a 580EX-II or an ST-E2 controller. The 430EX-II can operate on one of 4 channels allowing multiple shooters to use the same system without interference and supports three different flash groups allowing the photographer to control a 3 point lighting system from the master unit. The flash can function from 14mm to 105mm of output angle and adjusts automatically to cameras with APS-C sensors. this along with supporting second curtain and hi-speed sync the 430EX-II provides the photographer with a lot of flexibility.

A couple of draw backs, the second curtain flash option is only available when the flash is directly attached to the hot shoe. The menu while similar to both the 580EX-II and the 600EX-RT is not identical to either and of the three is the one I find the most confusing. The easiest work around is to control all of the flashes through the camera menu. This of course requires a compatible camera, most of the current EOS and Rebel lines do support this. The other draw back to this flash, unless you mount the flash in the hot shoe the only way to control flash out put angle is on the flash itself. So while it is possible to control multiple flash groups from the camera some functions still have to be adjusted at each unit.

All in all the flash does exactly what it is designed to do, provide powerful flexible lighting in a compact affordable package. It's ability to work both from the camera or as a slave in multiple flash systems have made it one of the most popular flash units on the market.

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Canon Powershot SX50 HS - Equipment Review

Powershot SX50 HS

I had a chance to use Don's Canon Powershot SX50 HS, it proved to be a very good little camera for the money. He purchased it a few weeks ago for a trip to Europe. He took about 1000 pictures over ten days, so roughly 100 photos a day and was happy with the performance and battery life. Looking through his photos I noticed a number of images taken on auto with the shutter at

1/15 and the ISO at 1600. These images showed very minimal noise and minimal camera shake.

Using the camera on my own I shot several low light high ISO images and was pleasantly surprised with how well it performs up to 1600 ISO, ISO 3200 and 6400 did contain a lot of noise, but at 1600 the noise was very minimal. The camera uses the standard Powershot menus, so if you are familiar with the Powershot line it will be a very easy transition for you. Apart from full auto and manual modes the camera also has Av, Tv, P and two custom modes as well as the full compliment of sports, portrait, fireworks, et all in the scenes allowing for a lot of flexibility for shooters who are not comfortable in full manual mode.

The camera's built in flash performs adequately and switches on and off mechanically based on whether the flash is open or closed. This means that for the novice shooter, even in full automatic mode they can turn the flash on and off simply by popping it open or closed. In manual mode flash power can be adjusted from full to 2/3rds to 1/3rd power. The camera also sports a hot shoe allowing for the use of Canon or third party flashes. This camera does support TTL metering with evaluative, center weighted, and spot metering options. With the attached 430EX II, flash power can be adjusted from the back of the camera from full to 1/64th power in 1/3rd stop intervals. Second curtain sync is supported with both the built in flash and attached flash units. The only disappointing aspect of the flash system for this camera is that it does not support the wireless functions either through the menus or using the on camera flash as a master controller for the system.

The camera's built in lens features a 50x optical zoom giving you a wide angle of 24mm and a telephoto length of 1200mm. The one disappointment is the minimal range of aperture which goes from f4-f8 so the photographers choice of DoF is limited, and more so by the full range of aperture not being available for the full range of zoom. 

Powershot SX50 HS

A few closing thoughts. The movable LCD make shooting at odd angles much more convenient, however the cameras size is too large to easily tuck in a pocket but the frame is compact enough it can be a little tricky keeping your fingers off of the buttons when you don't wish to use them. The main control on the back also packs a lot of controls in a small space, something people with larger hands and fingers may find challenging. All in all it is a very good camera for the price point, it has a ton of flexibility something the hobbyist will enjoy, but particularly since it supports RAW, it has enough power, speed, and flexibility that in a pinch it could easily serve as a back up camera for a pro.

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Canon 600 EX-RT - Equipment Review

600 EX-RT

The 600 EX-RT Is the flagship for the Canon Speedlite line up. This is a very reliable we'll constructed unit. This unit features a redesign in the flash control menus requiring a new learning curve, even if you are a veteran of the Speedlite line. Canon did this with the menus on the 430 EX-II and 580 EX-II models as well which can make mixing these unit together a little confusing if you do not use them all the time. The best way around the multiple menus is to use the flash controls from the back of your camera if you are using a camera that offers this option.

The real mark against the 600 EX-RT is that you can not use a radio transmitter in the mix if you are also using optical units like the 430 EX-IIs and 580 EX-IIs. The 600 EX-RT can control these units, but everything has to be fired optically so you cannot use the radio to fire units around a corner or in a soft box while using the other units in line of site. Everything either has to be radio triggered or optical triggered. Unless you have the budget to replace all of your older units you will still be locked into optical triggering for the unit.

The 600 EX-RT comes with to CTO gels and a gel holder, this is a nice addition to the flash unit as it makes it quick and easy to change gels. I suggest using one of the CTOs to make a template that can then be used to cut gels for the other colors you shoot with.

All in all I find this to be an exceptional unit, with the added benefit of a radio trigger which would ideally free you from the need to use Radio Poppers or some other radio triggering method. Unfortunately in this regard it does fall short in execution.

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Canon 6D - Equipment Review

Canon EOS 6D

With the release of the Canon EOS 6D full frame cameras have been brought to a price point near $2000.00 making them accessible to more people. While introduction of the 6D has made full frame more affordable it still brings a wide range of options to the shooter. However it is not really the step-up from the Canon 7D that I was expecting - it is more like a step sideways.

The full frame sensor and the 24-105mm f4 L lens do capture I higher image quality then the 7D with the 18-200mm f3.5-5.6 EF-S, for most people this gain is not going to justify the $600.00 price difference just between the bodies of the two cameras plus a $450.00 differences in the lens cost. The 6D does bring other value to the table, primarily the GPS and Wi-Fi functionality being built into the camera, but again I do not know that this really justifies the cost difference. 

The 6D also supports the new 600 EX-RT flash system which allows you to control up to 5 flash groups from the rear of the camera, but without the pop-up flash control of the 7D it is not really a gain. You either have to invest in a radio trigger or use one of the flash units as a master controller and have it camera mounted (or camera connected via cable). So in this case you are pretty much breaking even, especially if you consider that to take advantage of the D and E flash groups you have to invest in $600.00 flash units since the older flashes do not offer these group options. The only real gain this has over the $250.00 430 EXII is the radio trigger, but that can be a very important feature depending on where you shoot.

The area the 6D is really lacking compared to the 7D is ease of control. It does not have nearly as many options right at your fingertips. The 6D has one less custom setting as well. And to top that all off the autofocus system is a little sluggish compared to the 7D, has less focal points, does not remember which point is used in each orientation (landscape or portrait), and is much more difficult to drive lacking the hat switch the 7D uses for its autofocus. In all of these areas the 6D is really a step behind the 7D.

A couple of further aggravations, the built in GPS and Wi-Fi meant the magnesium allow body was not an option requiring the 6D to be manufactured out of plastic. These features, while very handy, also draw heavily on the battery. And with the requirement of a plastic body the 6D sacrifices some of the weather and shock resistance of the 7D. Another dissapointing fact, the 6D has a much slower burst rate as well. So for my money, if I had to choose between the 6D and the 7D - for most instances I would recommend the 7D, a few people will need the full frame or GPS, Wi-Fi options the 6D offers that the 7D does not, and those are the only cases where I would recommend the 6D over the 7D.

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Canon 60D - Equipment Review

Canon EOS 60D

A good little work horse the 60D has been the camera I have primarily shot with since I purchased it in March of 2012. Most of my shooting is in studio for clients that want images smaller then 24”x36” and as such I have not needed the expense of full frame cameras. While I absolutely love the 7D I have been able to save the more expensive body from excessive wear and tear by using less expensive bodies in studio. Prior to the 60D I shoot through three 20D bodies over the last eight years that I have worked professionally.

There are a couple of features introduced to the 60D that are really convenient, the switch to SD memory and the articulated LCD screen. The change to SD format over CF format is just easier since most computers have SD slots built in and Eye-Fi is only availably in SD. This just makes transferring images to computer more convenient. This is a slower format to write to and does limit the cameras burst speeds. The moveable LCD makes shooting at odd angles easer, you no longer need to lay on the floor to get low camera angles and you can see what you are shooting when you are holding the camera above your head (which can be helpful shooting in crowds).

And now for a few things I am disappointed with. The real strike against the 60D as part of the X0D line is the switch to a plastic body instead of the magnesium alloy body from the previous cameras in this line. I still feel that the build of the 60D is superior to the Rebel line but it is still very disappointing to not have the higher quality body that had been a hallmark of the X0D series. It is also disappointing that the 60D will only support 2 flash groups. I believe both of these decisions were made to push the more serious photographers into the more expensive Canon lines.

There are a few other options that are not appealing to me. I would prefer multiple custom setting to the presets for night, landscape, portrait, sports, etc. The 60D only has 1 custom spot on the dial compared to 3 on the 7D. I miss having the one shot RAW option that is available on the 7D, I really believe RAW should be saved for when it is needed, too many shooters rely on it instead of taking an extra moment or two to correct the shot before the shutter is released. Also many other shooting presets are buried in the menus instead of being readily available on the back of the camera as they are with the 7D making changing to adapting shooting needs a longer slower process. 

The 60D also has more “styles” built into the electronics of the camera including conversion of RAW to JPEG. All of this strikes me as a bit gimmicky, these conversion can be done with much more precession on the computer I really do not see a point in them on anything beyond point and shoot cameras. Options that can be fun for people that are not invested in post production software really do not have a place on cameras aimed at people who are.

I know it seems like I had a lot of negative things to say about this camera, but it IS a good work horse and can very easily be an affordable back-up body, or as in my case main body allowing the more expensive body to be saved for when it is needed. At less than $900.00 it can also make a very good entry level DSLR making it much easier to afford some quality glass than the more expensive 7D or 6D bodies.


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Canon 7D - Equipment Review

Canon EOS 7D

A powerful workhorse bringing function and control to your fingertips. The Canon 7D was designed to offer the professional shooters a wide range of shooting options in one complete package. Utilizing Canon's 1.6 APS-C sensor the 7D stands well above Canon's X0D series cameras. Offering photographers wireless flash control, video, incredible burst frame rates, numerous auto focus points, and custom settings it makes adapting quickly to changing shooting conditions a breeze.

The Canon 7D brought the introduction of Canon Speedlite control to the back of the camera. While the ability existed to use Canon Speedlites with earlier models their use was somewhat hampered by the need to set each group manually at the lights or to control them from a 580 EX series or other wireless control for Manuel and ETTL. With the 7D all of the Speedlite groups can be controlled directly from the camera body and fired with the built in flash in both manual and ETTL modes. 

The 7D also brought 1080p video to the DSLR market (it was also introduced to the Canon Rebel line at this time). This was a big 1st step in introducing video to professional DSLRs, but really it still suffers from two big drawbacks. The first is the loss of the auto focusing function while filming maketing tracking moving subjects somewhat challenging. The second is the FAT32 limitations restricting higher resolution video to 4 minute clips.

The 7D is capable of 7-9 frames per second in burst mode and is able to sustain that rate of fire for 126 frames. I am not aware of any other camera firing as fast, giving the 7D an unrivaled ability to capture action in a way never experienced before and allowing the creation of still-motion video by stitching the frames together in video editing software. The biggest draw back to this feature is the ability to effectively light the subject, these fast frame rates require near daylight conditions, limiting you to shooting outdoors or requiring bright continuous studio lighting such as that used for video.

19 auto focus points make it a breeze to get your focal plane spot on to your subject. This is a very helpful option to have when working with a very shallow depth of field. This feature is enhanced with focal point memory, that is the camera remembers the most recent focal point used for each orientation, landscape and portrait, of the camera body.  Combine this with the quick selection hat switch and it makes this camera very quick to focus.

The 7D also has a wide range of programmable modes. Custom shooting modes allow you to save your 3 most common shooting settings to the camera dial, the custom menu allows you to locate your most commonly used menu functions on one screen and if that is not enough the cameras external buttons can be programmed to preform different functions, allowing you to set the buttons to the layout you prefer.

A couple of things I was not so fond of - the use of Compact Flash, it is not a bad format, but is much less convenient then SD. Color modes, not an adjustment to color temperature, but shooting modes that are black and white, sepia, black and white but with a green tint. These are the sorts of features that are added to point and shoot cameras to give beginners a wider set of options without the use of separate software on the computer. I have yet to run into someone who shoots with DSLRs and does not have at least moderately good post editing software, all of which gives much greater control over adjustments to black and white or sepia - or whatever other color scheme the photographer may wish for.

All in all I find the 7D to be a very powerful camera offering a lot of flexibility at your fingertips. Despite a couple of minor inconveniences I find the 7D to be the most adaptable of my cameras and for this reason it is still my favorite camera body to shoot with.


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Canon vs. Nikon

Canon vs Nikon is probably the second most common question I get. It is about as valid an argument as Chevy vs Ford. Both Canon and Nikon manufacture excellent cameras. There are other options as well such as the Sony Alpha series.

There are a few things to consider. As a rule Nikon preforms slightly better in low light, less sensor noise. Canon performs slightly better for high speed subject matter like sports with faster frame rates and slightly better auto focus tracking. But the performance differences are very minor.

The main thing you should consider is how does it feel, do the controls and menus make sense, and does it have the options you are looking for? I am a Canon shooter. This is because I learned on Canon cameras, and now I am very invested in Canon specific lenses and speedlites. When I buy a point and shoot camera I look at Canon first because the controls and menus are very similar, this saves me learning a new system. However the last point and shoot camera I purchased was a Panasonic. Geotagging was a very important feature - really the reason I replaced my old Canon A630. The Canon model at that time preformed very poorly, it was slow to locate its position and the battery life while the GPS was operating was about 30-40 minutes so the feature I was buying the camera for was essentially useless, where as the Panasonic was giving me about 8 hours, a couple of hundred shutter releases and faster positioning.

Yes I bought both and took back the one I did not like, this can be a good strategy if you are unsure what to buy, it lets you experiment with both for a week or so. In my case I bought the Canon expecting it to preform and when It did not I took it back and bought the Panasonic. Fortunately the Panasonic did preform because at the time I did not really have any other options.

If you are looking for point and shoot Cameras there will likely be 6-8 manufacturers making cameras with the options you want in your price range. It is worth researching all of them. At this time there are really only 3 options for DSLRs: Canon, Nikon and Sony. There are other manufacturers but they are not widely supported or as readily available making them much less practical. Sony is definitely worth a look and is the only one of the three that offers geotagging, though Canon is due to release the 6D which is a full frame camera with GPS, WIFI, and uses SD memory. Brining many of the advantages of the Sony series to the Canon line. Features which can be a very handy, especially if you travel. You may feel like this leaves you with more questions then answers, but hopefully now you will know which questions you should be asking.

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