Tag Archives: mark

For Sale: EF 24mm f/1.4L II and EOS 5D Mark II Body

I am selling some equipment that I no longer use:

Canon EF 24mm f/1.4 L IICanon EF 24mm f/1.4 L II lens – This is the newest version of Canon’s wide-angle, large-aperture 24mm prime lens, known for its excellent image quality and performance at large apertures. This lens is in “like new” condition — no scratches or blemishes, as it was purchased for a particular project and only used minimally for that purpose. Includes lens, both caps, hood, pouch, and original box. Reduced to $1050.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II DSLR body-only — This is the 21.2 MP full-frame DSLR body that I have used to make the great majority of the photographs you see on this website and elsewhere. I am selling it now that I have acquired a 5Ds R DSLR body. This is a “well used” camera body — it is not in new condition, but everything works well and nothing is broken. It includes a body cap, several batteries (not new), the charger, the original box, and a few other small odds and ends. This is a fine body for someone on a budget who wants a solid full frame camera. $900. Does not include a lens. Camera SOLD 7/1716


I prefer a person-to-person cash sale in the San Francisco Bay Area — that way be both know what we’re getting. Leave a comment on this post or email me if you are interested in either item.


G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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All media © Copyright G Dan Mitchell and others as indicated. Any use requires advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Post-Processing: A Shadow Recovery Example

(In another forum someone asked a question – actually, more like posed a challenge – related to how much usable detail and quality could be extracted from a raw file that contained areas of very low luminosity, as could happen with a badly underexposed image or with an image of a scene with a very large dynamic range. Since I went to the work of responding and illustrating my response, I figured that I might as well share it here, too. With minor revisions, here it is.)

First, I actually have a “real” version of this photograph in which highlights were slightly blown, but which I preferred to use since I could bring them back in post and get a bit more shadow detail to start with. (It looks a bit bright to me as an on-screen jpg, but it makes a fine print.) That photograph ended up looking like this:

Kolob Canyon, Morning - Morning light slants over the top of sandstone cliffs above early autumn foliage in Kolob Canyon, Zion National Park
Morning light slants over the top of sandstone cliffs above early autumn foliage in Kolob Canyon, Zion National Park

This photograph and the other I’ll move to below were both shot from a tripod with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II at ISO 100 using the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS at f/16. While the “keeper” used for the photograph above had a 1/4 second exposure, the example I’ll use below was shot at 1/30 second.

The exposure challenge in this scene was the very large dynamic range between the bright spot of sky at the head of the canyon and the much darker colorful foliage in relatively deep shadow in the foreground. Exposing for optimal quality in the foreground would completely blow out the sky, while exposing for the sky would necessarily grossly underexpose the foreground.

I originally thought that I might like to have four bracketed exposures in case that would let me produce a better final image via layer blending, but it turned out to be unnecessary and the final image (as shown above) has a single source file with no blending. However, this means that I still happen to have one very badly underexposed (by three stops) version at 1/30 second which I’ll use here as the starting point for what I plan to illustrate in this post. Follow along with me and see what I can do with the very underexposed version of the file… Continue reading Post-Processing: A Shadow Recovery Example

B&H: Holiday Deals Update and Last Day for Holiday Standard Shipping

See the Deals Page for updates on the following and more:

  • Today is the last day to order from B&H with “guaranteed” holiday delivery via standard shipping. (You can still procrastinate a bit and pay more for expedited shipping if you want! ;-)
  • The special price in the Canon 5D Mark II body is still available.
  • I have added an updated listing of this weeks holiday specials at B&H – they include a wide range of camera bodies, lenses, and more from Canon, Nikon, and other manufacturers.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

B&H Update: Canon L Lenses – “limited time” (12/17/12)

UPDATE: – Canon 5D Mark II bundle for $1599, and very low price on Canon Powershot S100.

  • Canon 5D Mark II Body for $1599.00 – (click to add to your cart to see the discount price) – bundle also includes Pearstone LP-E6 Lithium-Ion Battery Pack (7.4V 1450mAh), Vello BG-C2 Battery Grip for Canon EOS 5D Mark II, SanDisk 16GB CompactFlash Memory Card Extreme 400x UDMA.
    A word about this camera: I shoot the Canon EOS 5D Mark II. Although there is a newer Canon EOS 5D Mark III now, for many photographers the 5D2 will perform extremely well and at barely half the cost. Although I could upgrade to the new 5DIII, I have chosen to stick with the 5DII since it performs so well for me. If you have been waiting to get a full frame Canon camera, this may well be what you have been waiting for!
  • Canon S100 – $249.00 (add to cart to see this price) – this is a fine little “pocketable” camera that has a number of serious camera features. I sometimes use one for informal shooting when I don’t want to take out the full DSLR rig.

A quick note this morning about limited time discounts on four popular Canon L zooms at site-affiliate B&H – including the new 24-70mm f/2.8 L II zoom and the popular 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS and 16-35mm f/2.8 L lenses.

“In cart” means that you need to click the link and then add the item to your cart in order to see the reduced pricing.

As always, see the Deals Page for this and other recent special prices. (Please check the links for full and accurate details from B&H.)

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | FacebookGoogle+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.