Friday 15 July 2011

Photography: Upgrading to Canon EOS 7D with Lord of the Red Ring?


Today, I have a sudden urge to upgrade my camera. Where does it come from? Maybe it is from the moment I saw a really nice photo taken by my student Anna using a Canon EOS 50D with a 70-200mm f/4 lens.

Then I thought, since Canon now has 7D, 60D and 550D, I should choose one that has a better image quality, a faster continuous burst rate, and a reasonable value, so I consulted Kai through watching his videos.


Words you should hear from the 1st video:
polycarbonate body, unashamedly, rubberness, notches up from the Kinder toy, reassuring, hammer some nails, a plank of wood, carve out sculptures from stones, spiritual successor, appeal more to the pros, magnesium-alloy body, weatherproofing, one or two hundred knots, ergonomic, grip, pinching rather bony behind, a lot beefier, iffy, dead slug stuck in the mud, Canon-button-bashing, clicky button sound, frustration, squishy, joystick, twiddly-dial, utterly hateful, crack in the bathroom wall, stomach ulcers, couple of tits, auto-focus points, continuous burst, two's company, three's a crowd




And after suggesting him to make a video during the rage of the Typhoon 3, which he did and responded to me on his Facebook "Oh, we enjoyed it today.", he made me a cool video! Using my name!!!!



Words you should hear from the 2nd video:
review, a heck of a load, sell organs or bodily fluids, staggeringly good, capabilities, value-for-money, massive rubberized, front element, built quality, notoriously bad, decently sharp, pretty phenomenal, wrinkles, blemishes, bokeh, scrumptious, soften gooey wide-open, Where's Wally kind of uniform, perspective, protégés, revealing, impressed

Image from appworld.co
Where's Wally? Game
Image from cfatimes.com

Well, not really. He was referring to him colleague cameraman Lok.

From what I have found out, the camera body will cost somewhere around $10k and the 135mm f/2 L lens will cost around $8k, that means $18k!!!! Cuts off my arm if not part of the legs already! So, I decided now, I can just remember this combination, and wait for the miraculous price drop! Same thing I have been doing for the iPhone 5 since the days of the iPhone 3.

Oops! That will mean more than $18k!!!!


Vocabulary:
unashamedly -- (adv) not ashamed; without hiding behaviour or opinions that other people might consider unacceptable
carve -- (vb) [I or T] to make something by cutting into especially wood or stone, or to cut into the surface of stone, wood, etc.
successor -- (n) [C] someone or something that comes after another person or thing
appeal -- (n) [C] when a lot of people are asked to give money, information or help
ergonomic -- (adj) the scientific study of people and their working conditions, especially done in order to improve effectiveness
pinch -- (vb) [I or T] to squeeze something, especially someone's skin, strongly between two hard things such as a finger and a thumb, usually causing pain
beefy -- (adj) informal describes someone who looks strong, heavy and powerful
iffy -- (adj) informal not completely good, honest or suitable
-bashing -- (suffix) slang used in nouns meaning the practice of attacking a particular type of person violently
squishy -- (adj) informal crush something which is soft
twiddly -- (adj) informal curly or decorative, especially in an unnecessary way
utterly -- (adv) completely or extremely
tit -- (n)[C] a common small bird found in the northern half of the world / offensive a woman's breast
two's company, three's a crowd -- saying said when two people are relaxed and enjoying each other's company but another person would make them feel less comfortable

a heck of a -- used for emphasis; a very
staggeringly -- (adv) very shockingly and surprisingly
capability -- (n)  [C or Uthe ability to do something
notoriously -- (adv) famous for something bad
phenomenal -- (adj) extremely successful or special, especially in a surprising way
a small line in the skin caused by old age
wrinkle -- (n) [C]  a small line in the skin caused by old age
blemish -- (n) [C] a mark on something that spoils its appearance
scrumptious -- (adj) tasting extremely pleasant; delicious
gooey -- (adj) soft and sticky
perspective -- (n) [C] a particular way of considering something
protégés -- (French) (n) [C] a young person who is helped and taught by an older and usually famous person
revealing -- (adj) showing something that was not previously known or seen
miraculous -- (adj) very effective or surprising or difficult to believe


Resources:
Canon 60D vs 550D vs 7D - which one is better? @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/user/DigitalRevCom#p/search/5/ET0idevzGRE

Canon 135mm f/2 L- the Lord of the Red Rings?
http://youtu.be/zyqByJsdjxQ

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/unashamed?q=unashamedly
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/carve?q=carve+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/successor
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/appeal_1?q=appeal+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/ergonomics?q=ergonomic
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pinch_1?q=pinch
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/beefy?q=beefy
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/iffy?q=iffy
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/bashing_1?q=bashing
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/squish?q=squishy
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/twiddly?q=twiddly
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/utter_2?q=utterly+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/two-s-company-three-s-a-crowd?q=two%27s+company%2C+three%27s+a+crowd#two-s-company-three-s-a-crowd__1

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/a-heck-of-a#a-heck-of-a__1
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/staggering?q=staggeringly+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/capability_1?q=capabilities#capability_1__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/notorious?q=notoriously+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/phenomenal?q=phenomenal
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/wrinkle_1?q=wrinkles#wrinkle_1__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blemish_1?q=blemishes#blemish_1__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/scrumptious?q=scrumptious
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/gooey?q=gooey+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/perspective_1?q=perspective
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/protege?q=proteges#protege__3
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/revealing?q=revealing
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/miraculous?q=miraculous+