Archive for Gear Talk
Gear Talk: Game Changer
We took the plunge! After months of salivating over this beauty, it’s finally ours. Meet the latest piece of equipment to join the 5byseven.com arsenal, the Canon EOS 1D, Mark IV. We received it just in time for a wedding we photographed this past Saturday. And this beast passed with flying colors. Photos to follow.
At first, I was a bit disappointed that Canon’s latest 1D model was a cropped sensor. But after thinking about it, I figured this camera would use all our prime lenses and leave the other lenses for the 5D, Mark II, a perfect combo for our wedding photography. At 10 fps, high precision 45-point area AF sensor and new AI Servo II AF Focus tracking system, this camera is going to be hard to get off my hand. It’s built like a tank and is noticeably heavier than our 5D. I use it with a Black Rapid R-Strap and Canon hand strap.Â
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Gear Talk: Pocket Wizard flex and mini
We have had a love/hate relationship with this product for a few months now. When we first bought these two units last year, it was advertised with the capabilities of off camera ETTL capabilities with pocket wizard reliability. So the 5byseven team invested in a couple of mini and flexes. However, like many others, we found out first-hand about the RF interference between the 580EXII units and the pocket wizards made them unreliable. My shots were blown out or the flashes would not fire. So we put them back on the shelf for a while, disappointed in their unreliability. However, PW has recently shipped the “RF Sock.” It really looks kinda silly but it works. The idea is to wrap your 580EXII with the sock which prevents the RF interference between the 580EXII and the flex. We finally did some test shots last week with my always-willing nephew, MooMoo.
The photos turned out great. We used a 5D with a 135mm, F/2. What’s great about the mini and flex is that you can shoot wide open at apertures like F/2 and the PW flex is able to sync at higher sync speeds for the right exposures.
We now can see the potential for these little units and are finally feeling confident enough to start using them for our shoots. For more info from the pocket wizard website, click here.Â
The RF shield or “RF sock” wrapped around a 580EXII with a PW flex.
135mm, F/2. 1/500 second shutter speed. Bare speedlite, camera right.
135mm, F/2. 1/500 second shutter speed. Bare speedlite, camera right.
December Newsletter!
Hello 5byseven family, friends and fans! Â We started a monthly newsletter showcasing our projects for the month. Â Seeing how this is the first newsletter we decided to make this a 2009 Review. Â We featured projects we’ve done so far this month and added a little picture summary of the other projects. Â Hope you like! Â If you’d like to see the full newsletter, email me- jenn@5byseven.com and I’ll be more than happy to send it to you. Â The full newsletter has photo clickable links to link you back to the specific project on our blog. Â Happy Holidays!
