this is why I shoot jpeg...

Calina

I bought the 40D to exploit the 6.5fps and discovered during the week that if I were shooting RAW, the maximum burst limit was killing me, so I switched back to jpg at the weekend. How do I feel about it?

Seeing this I am absolutely thrilled. This was taken on Sat afternoon, and although it's not perfect (hit the top limit of the viewfinder so probably zoomed too far in), it's exactly where I want to be heading with this. It's the first one I've done in Photoshop as well so we're talking a steep learning curve. I know the sky is a bit iffy, but apart from that, I am generally pleased with it.

Alanstrainor

Awesome shot i love it.

kowalski1979

:pac: fantastic

waldo

makes a good argument to jpeg in situations such as this.

I've also noticed the 40d raw buffer filling up pretty quickly (and taking ages to empty, even with an Extreme III)

Calina

There are 22 frames in this. The 40D stops at 17 frames unless the battery is a little low and then it stops at 16 if you are shooting in RAW. I am wondering if it doesn't write out to the card as it goes when it is continuously shooting. I know the 350D used to but I have some doubts about the 40D to be honest.

In any case, given that the psd work file for this was 680MB I am not sure it would have been feasible on my computer with a bundle of RAW sized files either.

PixelTrawler

It would never hit 6.5 frames a sec if it was writing direct to a CF card as opposed the buffer memory in the DIGIC 3.

I shoot raw and on my 40d - they average 11-16Mb
My Ultra II CF card only manages a write speed of 10Mb/sec

It can never empty the buffer quick enough to keep you shooting.

Without the buffer the camera speed would be dictated by the CF write speed which would vary on the card - not a good situation

You might get better mileage out of the buffer in sRAW - depends how big you want the image of course.

Dink

Nice one Calina! Well done!! Delighted for you.

Mellor

Amazing photo, I never leave flicker comments, but feltI should here.

What settings was it shot with, hand held etc

MartMax

Wow Calina. That's awesome.

I understand that you stitched the shots together. But how did you take the shots? Were you using a tripod and rotate the camera horizontally as the subject moved?

Anyway, well done!

Borderfox

Very nice, now you need a 1dmk3

trishw78

fantastic. tbh I didn't even notice the sky was iffy till you said it. But still it's an excellent shot.

kensutz

Nice effort!

JMcL

Calina wrote: »

There are 22 frames in this. The 40D stops at 17 frames unless the battery is a little low and then it stops at 16 if you are shooting in RAW. I am wondering if it doesn't write out to the card as it goes when it is continuously shooting. I know the 350D used to but I have some doubts about the 40D to be honest.

In any case, given that the psd work file for this was 680MB I am not sure it would have been feasible on my computer with a bundle of RAW sized files either.

If you're looking to do this burst depth, it might be worth checking out Rob Galbraiths flash card test database to make sure you've got something that'll maximise your write speed. The one for the 40D is here, and the results aren't as completely obvious as you'd imagine.

The 40D should definitely write out in parallel

Duchovny

Great shot indeed, but then again raw and jpeg are for different kind of pictures, I myself prefer raw but if i would do motion pictures i would defently go for jpeg, its great we have the option :P

Roen

The 40D does write as it shoots, but due to the 14bit depth nature of the Raws there's just an awful lot more to write.

Is there a way to set the bit depth back to 12 bits?

Calina

Hmm, thanks for that JMcL. As a very rough calculation it looks to me the most I can spin out in that case is two shots in RAW and that's just not enough. That would explain why I ran into problems last week. I'm using Extreme IIIs for this, 2gig and 1gig, plus I've a few Ultra IIs as well. I'll stick to jpg for the moment.

Keith, I *don't* need a 1dMkIII at this point in time. I do need a water proof casing which is now my top priority, a tripod and a 24-70L plus a few filters. By the time I need a 1dMkIII there will be a Mk IV and I'll whip all your asses with it.

As to how I did it:

daylight murder. I don't use a tripod on the beach because it's too onerous to drag around. I do, however, use a monopod because the damn lens is too heavy to handhold. Camera was rotated horizontally and vertically and bits of the sky were painted in afterwards (I'm not so good at that) and bits of the sea were cropped out (cos bad and all as skies are, the sea is 15,000 times worse).

Thanks for all the positive comments about this, by the way.

Borderfox

Might be worthwile getting it printed out on one of the large roll format printers?

Valentia

Fantastic job! Must ramble along sometime.

Dink

I'd say it would look super printed on that stuff that Borderfox mentioned!! Then mounted and framed panoramic style!

Calina

I was talking about doing a print with the kitesurfer last night but we're going to hold off a little bit as we think we'll get even better during the summer.

5uspect

I really love this shot. Great work!

JPEG is indeed the best tool for this kind of job.

Paulw

You could give a try at shooting sRaw files and see how that works. It would give you more scope with the detail but much smaller size.

Wonderful shots and great combination.

mikeanywhere

Awesome work as always

gandalf

Jaysus thats brilliant Calina, any chance of seeing a larger size !!!

gandalf

Ignore the last comment just seen your blog version !!! Excellent

kjt

Absolutly awesome shot. When I was shooting yesterday I was having awful problems taking more then 6/7burst shots shooting raw. I'll deffo give jpg a go next time.

Do you know if theirs anything happening this weekend to take some shots of this down the west as I may head down paddling? Also, would you get any decent shots on just a bog standard 17-85mm?

Calina

kjt, are you on something like a 350D or 400D? Because yes, you'll have a lower maximum burst rate on RAW. For me, the difference is 17 to 75, so it's a no brainer.

You'll find kitesurfers in the general Sligo area most weekends depending on the wind direction. LSDKiteboarding has some useful information about the beaches and what winds they work in.

With a 17-85 you will have to go in the water which is something I strongly advise against doing if you don't really know what you're doing. I would generally use it at the wider end in the water. Really, you need a zoom or a lot of lucky to get anything in that range...

kjt

Thanks Treasa, I'm shooting with a 30D at the moment. I'll have a check of that website if I'm heading down later in the week. Regards going out in the water - I'd have no problem going out in waist depth as I'll have all my paddling gear on anyways, I don't think I'd risk the camera in anything deeper.

I'd love to go out and shoot with you sometime!

Calina

Watch for waves if you're walking out. I'll walk out waist deep but that is beach dependent and usually involves a chat with the kitesurfers.

Looking at the 30D, I think your fps is 5 which should be okay and should be plenty, looking for the max burst rate which is what might be getting you but can't find it.

and if you're in the Dublin area, toss me a PM and we'll meet on the beach some evening that I'm with the camera rather than trying to kitesurf.

kjt

I just had a quick tinker with the camera

Shooting With a 30D(17-85mm canon efs lense) and the following settings:
Shutter speed 1/320sec
Lens App F/5.6
ISO 800
App Proirity


09 shots - 11 second delay writing - RAW+L-Jpg
12 shots - 09 second delay writing - RAW
43 shots - 15 second delay writing - Jpg

Calina

I'm not sure what exactly you were measuring. A key thing to note with the write out speed is the card you're using too.

It looks as though Canon originally claimed 11 RAW for the 30D and 30 in jpg. I think the switch back to jpg would make a significant difference for you.