I had a B+W that had never been damaged and it became hard to rotate. Sent it back and was told that it was out of warranty. The tech that I dealt with said he would try to get it as good as he could. When I got it back it was better, but still not good enough. I ended up with a Breakthrough with a 25 year warranty.
The difference in focal length is going to be minimal. The 75-300 and the 55-250 both sound like kit lenses. That being the case, you are not going to see any advantage other than a gain of 50mm on the big end, which is not enough to justify a different lens.
Adorama has used 75-300 kit lenses for 110.00, E-Bay for less than that. Amazon has new ones for 199 with a few trinkets thrown in.
Bill
I have a 24-70 f 2.8, but on a full frame and it is an excellent lens, even without IS, but it would be better with. I use mine mainly for landscape on a tripod or indoor sports (fast shutter speed) so IS is not a huge issue with me. I do have a very good monopod that is handy to use and solves lot of IS issues.
I don't think it would be as versatile on a crop frame camera, as you would give up too much wide. The suggested EF-S 17-55 (27.2-88 equivalent) might be a better choice if you do not plan to ever go to full frame.
Bill
hogesinwa wrote:
The brand is Fancier. No particular attachment to the head. If I remove the ball bit, an Arca just fits on?
Some clamps, Benro for one, have a feature that prevents the camera from coming off of the clamp if you accidentally loosed the clamp knob.. You turn the clamp knob and it stops turning before the clamp completely opens. You then have to pull the knob out and keep turning to get the clamp to fully release. You might see if you clamp has this feature.
Bill
imagemeister wrote:
The BH-02 appears to be a $40 ball head on ebay and APPEARS to take Arca/Swiss - but does not SAY so.
What I read about the BH-02 did not say it took Arca/Swiss. It said that it used the ArcaSwiss concept. Not sure what that means.
It does look like an ArcaSwiss clamp, but hard to tell.
Bill
You can use a grey card to set exposure prior to taking the shot. Make sure the card is at the same angle as the scene you will be shooting so the reflected light is the same. You will find that you need to expose at least 1 1/2 or 2 stops over on bright days. The key is to get the snow white without losing detail. Your camera is going to want to expose the scene as 18% grey which will result is grey snow. If you don't have a grey card you can always check your histogram or just look at the screen to see what you need to do. You can also bracket shots to insure that you get a workable exposure.
As far as aperture, ISO and shutter speed, it will be like any other exposure. Use the settings you need for a correct exposure and the desired effect you want to see, ie. depth of field, stop action, etc.
Bill
I have had a Benro Travel Angel FTA28C with a V2 head for the last 4 years. It works very well for all that I do. My biggest lens is a 70-200 f2.8 II with 2x converter.
On a photo shoot some time back I set the tripod on top of my jeep and drove off with it there. At 50 MPH I saw it skidding across the highway. Stopped and retrieved it and found that the only damage was a little cosmetic scratching. No loss of functionality at all.
Bill
I use one sometimes for running water or fast moving clouds. More often for bright sunlight outdoor fill flash portraits to balance the natural light with the strobe. At least I did until I got the new FlashPoint strobes with HSS.
Bill
I have a 24-105 on my 5Dmk4 most of the time. My Sony A6000 has an 18-135 for about the same focal length , so if I were only taking one lens, that would be it. Beyond that I would throw in a 70-200 with 2x converter.
Bill
Just made a big order from Adorama. 3 big strobes, two heavy light stands and other trinkets. I had several shipping options and one was free. That is the one I picked. I also got a pretty good discount on some of the stuff just by calling and talking to a sales rep.
I just looked at a used Nikon 70-200 and it had a few shipping options, but on that lens, none of the options were free, so you should have been aware of the shipping charge before hitting the "place order now" button.
It has been my experience that Adorama, along with B&H are about the best camera dealers anyone could find.
Bill
Haydon wrote:
Bill, did you find the TTL accurate? Adorama had a killer deal 2 days ago on a kit that I couldn't resist. I'm glad I bought because I won't have to worry about studio disassembly now for outdoor work.
If you got the kit with the umbrella and "C" stand you are going to be happy. The stand is very heavy duty with out too much more weight than my old Buff 3900's and is much more secure. With one or two sandbags on the legs, I wouldn't be afraid to use it in a breeze with the 38" umbrella that comes with the kit. The umbrella is very good with inside defusers and it breaks down and sets up in a snap.
Bill
TTL seems accurate. Sometimes have to do a little + or - exposure compensation on the TTL light if you are shooting a 2nd light for fill as light from the second seems to confuse the TTL a little. I have one Pro, one standard TTL and one manual. Seldom use more than 2, but it is nice to have the third when needed.
Bill
Had a chance to use the new FlashPoint 600's taking photo at the photo booths that were set up at two different Christmas parties. Used one for the main light on TTL and used one on manual with the power adjusted down for fill. They worked great and it was nice to be able to make adjustments from the camera. Also liked the fact that there were no cords involved. That is always an issue when shooting in crowds of people, especially when there is some holiday CHEER involved.
Bill