Mk2 basic settings advice please....

[Sunny Alan]

Hi all,
A proud owner of Mk2, but still a student of photography, rather I found it s a never ending course: studying photography. My main pursuit is landscapes and art photography. Always try to take photo in manual mode. In a course of selecting the next lenses apart from the kit 24-105.
Kindly advice:
1. What basic settings are advisable?(I know none are permanent, but diff. with every shot. Still advises like Ken's http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/5d-mk-ii/users-guide/index.htm. I know many pioneers have lots to advise to newbies....

2. Which next lenses?
I know ALL are special, but not practical. My reasoning(right or wrong):24-105 covers a lot, should I need anything between these range, except for wider f-stops? Wont a 50 f/1.4 and 70-200 f4L usm enough? (I reason using a Tripod for any serious, reproduction-intended shot. Hence no costly IS a must...

Thanks for the time in advance...

[Rhossydd]

advises like Ken's http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/5d-mk-ii/users-guide/index.htm.

You can ignore a good chunk of that.
Shoot at the highest resolution.
Shoot RAW format.
(Unless you have a good reason not to)
Leave everything else on defaults until you understand what it does and why you might want to change it.

WRT to extra lenses, it will all depend on what you're shooting, there's no 'best option'. The 24-105 is very good and covers most general situations, so stick with that and learn first. Then add extras when you've worked out what you need for your style.

[Sunny Alan]

Ok.
But I felt the below two are somewhat correct, to follow:

Exposure compensation>>>so under these conditions with highlight optimization ("Highlight Tone Priority) OFF, I'll often set -0.7 compensation. <<<<

And WB alteration (A5 amber and M5 magenta WB SHIFT) too seems correct by logic...

comments, please...

[Walter Schulz]

When shooting RAW camera based white balance settings will be ignored by most RAW converters. They will be used for the RAW-embedded JPEG.

Ciao, Walter

[Sunny Alan]

Are you sure?
If yes, means Ken doesn't *know* this !!

[Walter Schulz]

No, it means you are not understanding the differences between shooting in RAW and shooting in JPEG.
KR shoots in JPEG, therefore his mileage *does* vary.

Ciao, Walter

[Sunny Alan]

Ok, Ok....
Now I know !

Did I ridiculed Ken? Hope he wont mind...

[Walter Schulz]

No, I'm quite sure you don't know *all* the differences yet.

And your question about exposure compensation: It's essential for JPEG not to overexpose because for JPEG there is no such thing as "headroom".

Contrary to most beginners prejudice against shooting in RAW it requires a lot of skills/knowledge/experience to capture a "clean" JPEG in critical situations. My opinion.

Ciao, Walter

[Sunny Alan]

But a FF 21 Mp camera is bought for low res jpeg?
At least 90 % are buying for hires RAW files.

Then a prescription for the 10% user, is published as such 'Settings for Mk2' is leading to misleading, at least for me.

[Walter Schulz]

There is another thread about KR going on in the forum. You may join in, if you like.
I'm not going through the effort pulling his pearls of wisdom out of the mud in his site.

Ciao, Walter

[Rhossydd]

Then a prescription for the 10% user, is published as such 'Settings for Mk2' is leading to misleading, at least for me.

Yes, there's not a lot of respect for KR in the photographic community. eg http://www.luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?topic=62543.0

[Sunny Alan]

There is another thread about KR going on in the forum. You may join in, if you like.
I'm not going through the effort pulling his pearls of wisdom out of the mud in his site.

Ciao, Walter

Dear Walter,
I am no 'Ken-basher', but a photography student, with logical mind.
When one is evaluating a stuff, he must seek and judge "If it do it's job what it intended best for" and teach pupil how best they can set-up, make ready it for "IT'S BEST PERFORMANCE"... and not it's lowest performance. That is a Teacher....

For Mk2, jpeg is not a big job, certainly it is made for 'mega-pixel' outputs. Somebody opt for jpeg output is on his own specific reasons, BUT NOT BECAUSE THE CAMERA IS MADE FOR THAT.

This alone is my point, other vise I admire Ken for his valuable evaluations, but he is no God, not to err.

I hope you got my point and won't scorn at me.....

[stever]

what was this all about?  why would anyone take jpegs with a 5D2?

[Rhossydd]

what was this all about? why would anyone take jpegs with a 5D2?

There are plenty of reasons you might want to shoot JPGs. Space considerations on extended trips, bandwidth considerations if sending by wire, speed at events, too stupid to use a RAW converter......

[Ellis Vener]

Hi all,
A proud owner of Mk2, but still a student of photography, rather I found it s a never ending course: studying photography. My main pursuit is landscapes and art photography. Always try to take photo in manual mode. In a course of selecting the next lenses apart from the kit 24-105.
Kindly advice:
1. What basic settings are advisable?(I know none are permanent, but diff. with every shot. Still advises like Ken's http://www.kenrockwell.com/canon/5d-mk-ii/users-guide/index.htm. I know many pioneers have lots to advise to newbies....

Shoot raw (cr2 format over JPEGs. That way you'll be getting all of the quality the camera can produce. I don't shoot with the 5D Mark II but do use the very similar 1Ds Mark II. Raw will give you  -greater dynamic range, ability to fine tune or change white balance, ability to fine tune your initial input (AKA "capture") (AKA stands for Also Known As) sharpening and noise reduction if you use a high sensitivity (AKA "ISO") setting; an ability to revisit a file and do something else with it without loss of quality; use various working spaces (as your needs require (sRGB for web use, Adobe RGB (1998) or ProPhoto RGB of you shoot subjects with a large color range - landscapes, cityscapes, a lot of products, just about anything but simply lit  head shots in very controlled studio lighting).   If you shoot JPEGs these and a host of other decisions will be part of the photo's permanent record. Iprocess my raw files with Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

2. Which next lenses?
I know ALL are special, but not practical. My reasoning(right or wrong):24-105 covers a lot, should I need anything between these range, except for wider f-stops? Wont a 50 f/1.4 and 70-200 f4L usm enough? (I reason using a Tripod for any serious, reproduction-intended shot. Hence no costly IS a must...

Thanks for the time in advance...

Not all lenses are special. I like the Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 for portraits and general work. It is small, very sharp, and inexpensive. An EF 50mm f/14 is also a good choice , as is a 35mm f/2 for low light work. All current versions of the 70-200mm  lenses from Canon are terrific.

The guy whose site you posted a link to has a lot of detractors. I am one of them. Yes he is popular. He's not stupid - he is a very clever businessman who has parlayed a minimum level of knowledge and an understanding of his audience into something that pays his rent.  But in my opinion he's a charlatan who often passes off as knowledgable reviews, opinions on equipment he's never actually used - case in point:his "review" of the new Nikon D800, the one where he pasted on one of his shots on the back of the camera to make it look like he has shot with it.  Some of his very basic information is right on the money however but so much of it is just fact bendingly wrong. His target audience seems to be people who have just been given their first camera and do not know what to do with it. Following his advice without confirming it from other sources will quickly limit you. Do a web search for "Ellis Vener" if you want to check my credentials.

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I'd just add that you need to learn to use the histogram.

If you shoot RAW there is now reason to care about anything than the histogram. I never use anything else than auto white balance.

The way it works the RAW image records what the camera sees. A JPEG image chooses perhaps 1% of that information and throws away the rest. To be honest the JPEG engine is very smart about which 1% to choose but it stills discards the rest.

White balance simply doesn't matter if you shoot raw, it's just a tag added to the raw file. The raw converter can use it or override it.

Best regards
Erik

You can ignore a good chunk of that.
Shoot at the highest resolution.
Shoot RAW format.
(Unless you have a good reason not to)
Leave everything else on defaults until you understand what it does and why you might want to change it.

WRT to extra lenses, it will all depend on what you're shooting, there's no 'best option'. The 24-105 is very good and covers most general situations, so stick with that and learn first. Then add extras when you've worked out what you need for your style.