Since Macworld, I've been bugging the folks at Mpix on your behalf,
begging for a discount code for you.

I finally got permission, and you'll get your discount code tomorrow!
It will be good for FREE SHIPPING or a $5.95 credit on overnight shipping THRU FRIDAY ONLY.
Get your images ready to order! Sign up (or log in) and start adding images to your account!

If you haven't yet tried Mpix, this will be your chance to see the awesome quality
and get FREE SHIPPING on your order.

I love the Metallic prints, Press Printed Calendars, and the Custom Hard Cover Books the best:

(photo by Scott Kelby .. he's awesome)

(photos by me & Sallee Photography)

If you want to get a book or a calendar with free shipping, download the software now,
start building it, then order it after I announce the discount code tomorrow!

DOWNLOAD THE BOOK SOFTWARE HERE.

DOWNLOAD THE CALENDAR SOFTWARE HERE.

Here's the 12x18 calendar I made with pictures from our Hawaiian Thanksgiving
(January's picture was taken by Mat from the helicopter)


You can start a calendar with any month you want, too! It's all in the software...

Stay tuned for that code tomorrow!

~Carey

Because of the weather forecast for the weekend,
I've moved the MyFUNCamera workshop to SUNDAY instead of Saturday.

All of the attendees were able to make the change except one.
That means there's ONE open slot for a MyFUNCamera workshop this Sunday, Jan 25th!

BUY IT HERE:

(email viewers, that link may not work from your email program, so go to the blog to click it)

Some workshop info:


I'll be having another workshop in February,
and I'll open that up for reservations later this week.

If you want that slot for Sunday (it's a football-free Sunday!),
act quickly because it will probably be snatched up soon.

~Carey

You know you have a crazy life when:

You're shopping in Costco with your kids...

Something up high catches your eye, so you look up...

You see the signs hanging overhead swaying back & forth & back & forth...

and you automatically think that somehow your kid must be the cause...







and you're right.




Anyone else have a "crazy life" story? please share & make me feel more normal!
~Carey

So far, the 5Deux has performed very well against its predecessor.
For the third installment of THE DUEL, though, the 5Duex loses some ground.

For today's comparison, I am focused on focus.

I've come to the conclusion that the 5Deux has A.D.D.
Sometimes it focuses very well.
Other times, it's slightly disappointing compared to results from the old 5D.
I know the 5Deux can focus well, because I've got proof,
it just doesn't focus well ALL of the time, which is annoying.

Here's a shot of Zak & Jack from the 5Deux:

Here's the same shot with 100% zooms on some in-focus details:


and the same shot from the old 5D:

with the 100% zoom details:


There are times, though, that the old 5D did a much better job focusing.

From the 5Deux, notice the lack of sharpness in the denim & in the XO's of the shirt:


from the old 5D:

noticeable difference, isn't it? ... sigh...

one more example...
5Deux:

and some 100% details:


old 5D:


both of the "insets" are 100% crops of the image.
The old 5D is has a lower-megapixel sensor, so the 100% crop covers mom's whole jacket.
The 5Deux has more pixels, so a 100% crop of her jacket wouldn't have fit
on my blog-friendly image here.
The denim on the old 5D's image is visibly sharper, though.

I'm disappointed that the focus from the old 5D is consistently better.
The 5Deux definitely focuses faster,
but I'd rather have it a little slower and SHARP ALL THE TIME!

I've seen other photographers say that they've had similar results,
so I guess this is pretty common among 5Deux owners.

So, my summary is sadly wishy-washy.
I love the way the 5Deux meters.
I love the speed of the AF, too.
I love the 3.9 frames-per-second for when I'll be doing sports this year.
I love the more robust build & improved weather sealing (not like a 1D, but pretty good).

...but (BIG BUT)...
The focus isn't consistent.
I saw good sharp results, but not in every picture.
True, not every picture I take will be in perfect focus at 100% zoom with any camera,
but the amount of shots with really good sharp focus is lower on the 5Deux.

I'd like to do some manual focus experiments, do my best to get tack sharp focus
on both cameras with manual focus & look at the images at 100%.
I may be able to chalk a bit of this up to "Operator Error," too.
I've been taking pictures with Canon SLRs for a very long time,
but nobody's perfect, and it could be that I'm not doing a great job with the
"focus and recompose" method. I find myself a litlte sloppy with that sometimes.
The old 5D is definitely more forgiving. I have room for improvement for sure!

In conclusion,
the 5Deux did not walk away with a clear decisive victory because of the focus issue.

I'll keep shooting with it, though, because the results are good... great even!
I should probably be more picky and have this focus issue be a "deal breaker,"
but I love the results & the other 5Deux benefits too much.
The focus issue is really clearly visible when you look at images at 100% or bigger,
and even then, the images aren't ruined. They're still very very good.

Hopefully as I keep shooting & keep improving, I'll get more consistently tack sharp images.
And perhaps a firmware update will come out from Canon to help me, too!

Thanks for bearing with me through this 5Duel adventure!
I'll keep posting images and let you know if the 5Deux & its ADD continues to plague me.

Now that I've finished my big 5Duel blog project, I've got a favor to ask you:
If you're a member of OSP (OpenSourcePhoto), go check out the SITE OF THE YEAR CONTEST!
My site, designed by Nick at Spilled Milk, is in the running!
Check out all of the awesome sites there, and vote for the one you think is the AWESOMEST!
(that's a word, I just made it up. so there)

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

~Carey

Here's part 2 of 3 of the 5DUEL.

This part of the 5D vs 5Duex comparison will center around metering and light.
All of the pictures you see here are straight out of the cameras
with NO CHANGES made in Photoshop aside from resizing for the web
and insetting 100%zoom detail areas.
I shot in jpg so that I wouldn't have to do anything to the images before I showed them to you.

I shoot in Av mode 90% of the time at my sessions.
That means I set my f/# and the camera chooses a shutter speed for me.
For the 5Duel, I wanted to shoot just like I do at a normal session,
so I shot in Av mode, mostly at f/2.8.
I'd love to do another 5Duel and shoot in manual mode, but that will have to wait!
(Isn't it true how there's always SOMETHING MORE we want!?)

I always love how my old 5D never blows out bright whites on the beach.
When I got the 1D Mark III a while back, it did not handle whites in full sun as well as the 5D,
so I was really curious to see how the 5Duex would handle bright whites at the beach.
I want a camera that will still let the viewer see detail & texture in white fabric.
If I can see that texture in full sun pictures, I'm a happy camper.
If it's so blown out that the texture is gone, and all I see is bright white, unhappy camper.

Here's a shot from the old 5D:


Here's the same shot with a close-up on Tao-Tao's waistband
(white fabric with lots of texture & eyelets & creases)

You can see in the histogram that nothing got blown out.
In fact, it was a little under-exposed, but that's OK with me.
It would be better to have the end of that "hump" go all the way to the right of the chart,
but this result is better than having all of the white blown out with no detail left.

Here's the shot from the 5Deux:


and the detail of her white pants with the histogram:

There are no blown whites! YAY! The histogram comes to the right edge
of the chart, which is better than the old 5D.
The 5Deux chose a much slower shutter speed, letting in more light,
making the picture brighter, but still not blowing out those whites.
I was using the "evaluative" metering mode, which told the camera to consider the entire
scene and not just the middle/center. That's what I use when I want to be sure to
get the bluest blue in the water and the sky.

Here are two shots where I switched to "center weighted metering,"
which means the camera chose a shutter speed based on the center of the image
and not as much of the background.


You can tell which image is from the old 5D vs the 5Deux.
I love how the 5Deux lets in so much more light, letting their faces light up.
Zak & Jack were backlit for this shot, so I zoomed in.
I put the sun to their backs so they wouldn't have to squint,
and I set the camera to center-weighted metering because I didn't give a rip
about the background being blown out.
With images like this on the old 5D, I have had to do a lot of work in Photoshop,
raising the exposure a bit, probably using some Kubota fill flash, and adding contrast.
I would probably do the same for that image out of the 5Deux,
but I definitely wouldn't have to do as much, which I like!

One more metering example... a detail shot of the sandcastle fort:
(evaluative metering)


You can see that the 5Deux let in a lot more light with a slower shutter speed
and the histogram goes all the way to the edge -- NICE!
The tonal range in that 5Deux image is a lot better than the old 5D.
On its own, the picture from the old 5D is very sweet.

side note:
The histogram from the old 5D shot shows under-exposure,
but remember that some of the most artistic & breathtaking photographs
have histograms that would make you cringe.
That perfect histogram curve isn't the end-all-be-all of a perfect picture, that's for sure!
Sometimes you have to know the rules so you know how far you can bend them!

I still like the sand castle picture from the 5Deux better, though!

The verdict:
I like how the 5Deux meters more than the old 5D.
But I really want to do another duel shooting in MANUAL so I can compare
shots with the exact same exposure settings.

UP NEXT: Part 3, FOCUSING ... stay tuned ...

~Carey