Month: January 2012

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Canon CPS Update…

I have had my share of problems with Canon’s CPS lately… see here:

janikphotography.blogspot.com/2012/01/strike-two-for-cps.html

However, a member of Canon Professional Services did actually call me to follow up and see if I got things taken care of. I thought that was nice. Not every company will call to follow up on customer issues. Of course, I answered “no”, and told her things weren’t resolved. I’ve decided to use a local repair shop for my gear, but Canon said they would try to push this issue up through the chain of command and see if they could provide a solution.

We’ll see what solution they can come up with. Last time I had my Canon 70-200mm 2.8L lens repaired with CPS, I had issues with them, too. How many times do I need to waste time and energy with a program that was designed to make things “easier” on us working professionals?!?
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More Lego League Video…

I’ve shot this fun, creative, energetic event for the last few years now, but it never gets old for me. The Museum of Nature & Science holds an annual event in Dallas called the First Lego League, and it’s part of a nationwide competition where school children use technology to overcome obstacles. Very nerdy, in a good way!

For any of your video technical questions, I shot this using my Canon 5DmkII, a combo of the 70-200mm 2.8L lens and the 28mm 2.8 lens, mostly all shot at 1000 iso/30fps/2.8-4f, in-camera mic. Post was done with Final Cut Pro and a wonderful local band named Shibboleth offered use of their music for the background!
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Strike Two For CPS…

Canon Professional Services, I am becoming more and more frustrated with you. I’ve spent the last couple hours on and off the phone with CPS. I am trying to upgrade to a gold membership, but their online system is having trouble with my credit card. The card company said everything is fine on their end. Canon finally gave up and said to just mail them a check. Really?!? That is your answer? Fine… if it were still 1963.

GRRRRRRRRR!!!!! At this point, I’ve wasted more than the $100 fee, spending time on hold and on the phone with them getting nowhere. They should’ve just bumped me up and called it done, since it is their problem with the payment not being accepted. Canon, you are making me mad… And, this is all because another one of your lenses broke. How much will it cost me to switch over to Nikon?!?
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C-Stands Are The Stars!!!


I love to see photo gear used as props in photos… I don’t know why, but I think it’s fun! The current Urban Outfitters catalog has some wallpaper displayed on page 16, and they are using three C-stands as props.
Speaking of photo gear as props, there is a commercial on television right now where a woman on a yacht is using a beautiful Leica camera… I think it might be an S2 digital? I can’t remember what the commercial is, maybe for a perfume? If I see it again, I’ll find a link to it online.
I’ve noticed that a lot of medical and pharmaceutical companies also use cameras as props in their ads. If you have allergies, apparently you’ve always yearned to take your large format camera out to a sunny field of flowers, but never could before. Or, men with erectile disfunction love playing with cameras, now that they’ve got their fire back, so to speak…
I’ve also seen one or two credit card commercials where they do a sort of interview/mini-documentary on a pro photo that has a thriving business – all in thanks to that great card and its line of easy credit!
I guess photo gear and photographers can be found both behind AND in front of the lens. Let me know what other ads you’ve seen where photo stuff is used a prop or a background element (in other words, not an actual ad for a camera or photo item, but it’s a secondary piece to the story).