Safety shift has existed in some form as far back as the original EOS 1D. Its options have changed slightly over the years and though varying cameras but the intent is the same. The function, unfortunately, is somewhat cryptically labeled, potentially leading many to skip over enabling what can be a rather useful function. Safety …

The traditional process of AF adjustment is complicated and requires skill and guesswork in interpreting the results. However, there is an alternative method that works just as well but requires a whole lot less guess work as long as your camera has live view.

From start to finish it took about 2 hours to get everything setup, designed, groomed, ready to go and shot. Fortunately, I already had my lighting designed so it was a matter of quickly dialing in the power settings. The real chore was herding popcorn where it needed to be. The setup overview image below, …

For faster working with bounce flash, rotate the flash head so that you only have to bend it though one angle when changing from horizontal to vertical.

Last time we looked at focusing using a ground glass and the problems it presents as frame sizes and view finders get smaller. This time we’ll look at how to find the distance to something with out leaving the camera or using a ruler. Finding the Range What’s needed is a way to measure the …

A look at the early years of focusing cameras, the selective pressures that necessitated focusing aids, and the science behind some of those solutions. This time we cover the most primitive focusing screen, the ground glass.

Canon introduced 2-frame brackets to the EOS 1D Mark 3 and EOS 1Ds Mark 3 but didn’t obviously provide a way to change the bracketed frame from being an under-exposure to an over-exposure. That is until you play with another custom function.

This one comes from DTown TV but works equally well on Canon bodes. If you’re ever in a situation where you want to set the white balance in camera but you don’t have an appropriate target, there’s hope. If your camera has Live View it will show you in real time the affect changing the …

Creative uses aside, accurate white balance is critical to insuring the proper reproduction of colors in a photograph. In cases with difficult lighting conditions frequently we create and turn to custom white balances to insure the color in their images is correct. However using the common copy or printer paper, which usually contains optical brighteners-chemicals …

Today concluded round 2 of serious focus testing. What’s different this time from the last? A new target, a new alignment strategy, and some new results. Last time I looked at autofocus, I had enough problems focusing fast lenses that I was growing concerned that there was either a systematic design flaw or similar error …