Josh Bickel | Nikon D50 and 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens @ 48mm; exposed 1/13 sec. @ f/5.6, ISO 1600.
Yesterday, while working for my assistantship, I was trying to illustrate a point to a student in one of the more basic photography classes that is actually taught by a fellow graduate student, Phoebe Sexton, that while I could not equip him with the camera and lens that he wanted because of a lack of availability, even an old Nikon D50 and a basic 18-55mm lens can yield good images. It’s the experienced hand, not the equipment. Sure, the gear helps, but still. Now, if only I had checked the settings he was using before Josh Bickel assisted me in making my point, I would have told it not to add two thirds of a stop too much light…
I’ve also included a couple more images from last night, of my hosts for the evening, Val and Jamie, and some of my closer friends:
Calin Ilea at Rock Bridge Memorial State Park | Canon 1D Mk. III and 50mm f/1.2L; exposed 1/320 sec. @ f/1.2, ISO 100
Two more reasons to like this lens: the smoothest background one could ask for that isn’t solid sand/water/etc., and ridiculously sharp wide open. This is f/1.2, folks. Shallow depth of field but helped by a couple feet of distance? Sure. But the 50 f/1.4 can’t do this. Why Calin looks so concerned about the grill is another matter altogether…
For the past few days I’ve been working with a Canon 50mm f/1.2L lens from Canon Professional Services. It’s a fantastic lens: built solidly, weather-sealed, fast, smooth bokeh. I’m hoping to get a 35mm f/1.4L from CPS next, as it’s one that a few of my friends absolutely rave about. And I’d like to see a 1D Mk. IV, and wouldn’t mind comparing my 5D Mk. II to the 1Ds Mk. III.
But, as much as I like new equipment, any camera is better than no camera, and no camera guarantees excellent pictures. Gear is no replacement for experience, and lack of gear should not be a limiting factor for any photographer. Instead, we should all aspire to make the most with what we have.
Piggybacking on DPReview.com, Canon has finally realized that for the 5D II to become a dominant camera in the emerging video DSLR field, they need to give the user total control over the audio levels that it records, and also a histogram for video recording so that you can tell how good/poor your exposure really is.
It’s amusing that initially, Canon’s reaction to user criticism of the video implementation was one of shock; essentially they said that it wasn’t a video camera, but they they pushed Vincent Laforet’s Reverie movie at the same time.
But now that indie movie producers are jumping on the 5D II and 7D, and 1D IV bandwagons, Canon wants to stay ahead of the Nikon D300s, D3s, and the inevitable D700s.
Look for the firmware in a couple weeks…I’ll link to it when it appears.
Ultra-compact new camera with interchangeable lenses, APS-size sensor and AVCHD | image from dpreview.com
On Sunday, DPReview.com syndicated Sony’s announcement at PMA of a new line of mirror-less, interchangeable-lens compact cameras using a proprietary lens mount. But who cares?
Camera Design of the Future?
For owners of 35mm SLR cameras, the idea of owning a camera that does not allow you to see through the lens–directly through the optics–seems strange. It seems a throwback to the days of the rangefinder. Of course, if that was truly the case that no one would want it, then why would Leica, let alone is M9 35mm digital rangefinder, still exist?
The answer, to put it succinctly, is that these smaller cameras with their smaller, but quite fine lenses, bring the fun back into photography.
And with no mirror in the way (electronic viewfinders are getting astonishingly good, and you can have a live preview of what the histogram will be at your given exposure), the lenses can be reduced in size dramatically. Ever wonder why a 35mm Leica lens looks so different from one from Canon? Single-lens-reflect requires a retrofocus design to compensate for the distance between the end of the lens and the film plane. While this is over-simplified, the shorter that distance between film plane and lens, the smaller (and lighter!) the lens can be.
They're doing their part... | Panasonic Lumix G1 and 45-200mm f/4-5.6 lens @ 45mm; exposed 1/60 sec. @ f/4, ISO 400.
For over a year now I’ve been working with a Panasonic Lumix G1–you can see all the photos I’ve posted with it–and along with its standard lens, a telephoto zoom, and an Olympus pancake lens that I’ve borrowed on occasion, it has enabled me to make pictures that I wouldn’t otherwise have because I don’t always want to schlep along my 5D Mk. II and 24-70 f/2.8L lens.
The G1 and its 14-45mm lens weigh in at one pound, six ounces. The 5D and 24-70 weigh four pounds, five ounces. Is the quality the same? Of course not. But I wouldn’t have had the images without the lighter camera, because I don’t want to have bad knees and shoulders because of camera gear. A bird in the hand…
Les Bourgeois Winery, Rocheport, Mo. Canon 7D and 16-35mm f/2.8 L II lens @ 16mm; exposed 1/500 sec. @ f/14, ISO 400
A belated Happy Thanksgiving to American readers of this blog. Here in Columbia, Mo., the weather has been ridiculously warm, with today reaching 71 degrees Fahrenheit. The past few days have been fairly relaxing–a welcome reprieve from the rest of the semester. I have mostly been using the 7D to continue my evaluation of the body.
Of particular interest to me was the usefulness of the new built-in wireless transmitter for the Canon speedlite system, shadow noise, and live-view functionality.
Baylor Bears’ corner back Clifton Odom dives unsuccessfully for Missouri Tigers’ wide receiver Danario Alexander at Faurot Field in the third quarter of the game on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 in Columbia, Mo. / Canon 7D and 400mm f/4 DO IS lens; exposed 1/3200 sec. @ f/4, ISO 500.
I have not yet formed a clear idea in mind of what I think of the performance of the new Canon EOS 7D dSLR. I purchased it specifically for action photography–sports and wildlife–to accompany my aging 1D Mark IIn, and I photographed the college football game between Missouri and Baylor with these two bodies this past Saturday. I made about 800 frames on the 7D (about 700 too many), and was happy with the focus on several, but certainly not all of the frames. I will be photographing another football game this weekend, Missouri Vs. Kansas State, to be held in the “Little Apple.” I will go into further detail about what settings I am using in a future posting, but I will make a few remarks about the camera here.
Missouri Tigers’ quarterback Blaine Gabbert attempts a pass while the Baylor Bears’ Jason Lamb dives after him during the second quarter of the game. / Canon 7D and 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens @ 183mm; exposed 1/3200 sec. @ f/4, ISO 400.
Handing
Without question, I think that this camera feels better in-hand than any other, with the exception of the 1D series. The grip is, for once, contoured for a person’s hand. It is very well constructed, and the buttons are easy to find and also “stick out” a bit more so that a gloved hand can actually manipulate them. As a native of the Midwest, this is particularly important, as our winters seem to last about six months! Strangely, while virtually every button is improved over the xxD series, the depth-of-field preview button has taken a turn for the worse. It is almost flush with the camera body, and does not push in very far. Disappointing.
The viewfinder is a joy to look through with this camera. Not quite as nice as the 5D II (which, frankly, is not as nice as Sony’s Alpha 900 viewfinder), but worlds beyond the 40D or 50D.
So far I am unimpressed with the RAW/JPEG button, which enables whichever format you are not using by default, but only for one frame. Nevertheless, it is better than the “direct print” button than it was in the original 5D, and I suppose I should be thankful because it could well have returned to that state of stupidity when Canon moved the “Live View” button from that position, where it is on the 5D II, to a spot above the joystick controller.
What I will also state, to a great deal of dismay, is that this camera feels worlds better in-hand than does my 5D Mark II, which carries a $1,000 premium over the 7D.
A month after an opportunity arose to purchase a Canon 7D locally (I simply wasn’t ready, and there weren’t many reviews of the camera at the time), I have pulled the trigger and a 7D body is on its way from Robert’s. I will be photographing the Mizzou Tigers’ next two football games against Baylor and Kansas State, and will report back on my experience with the body afterwords.
A RadioShack 2CR5 that I purchased earlier tonight…
Tonight I was photographing at Rob Hulett’s mixed martial-arts training gym for a story on some of the people training for the “Battle at the Blue Note” on Friday in Columbia, Mo. as part of a group project in my Advanced Techniques course. I’ve been using the Canon ST-E2 wireless flash commander quite a bit recently, and on my mental “to-do” list I had added “get a spare battery,” but that never did happen. As luck would have it, the battery that’s been plugging along inside of it since 2007 chose tonight to kick the bucket.
“Fortunately,” I thought, “there’s a grocery store across the street.” The 2CR5 that runs the ST-E2 used to be a very common lithium battery, and I know that I purchased the previous two batteries for the ST-E2 at places like grocery stores and pharmacies. However, not the Gerbes/Kroger, nor two Walgreens carried the 2CR5. Out of absolute desperation, I asked my GPS to find a Radio Shack and, sure enough, they had one…….for $20. No joke. This is a battery that should cost no more than $12. I grumbled and bought it any ways, jumping back into my car to rush back to the Hulett House Gym.
But, what did I discover upon my return? The 2CR5 that Radio Shack sold me–their own brand, of course–is so weak that the ST-E2 did not turn on at first, and then, once it did, it allowed me to get one photograph before pausing to recycle for six or seven seconds. This is a transmitter. It has NEVERhad a recycling time in the past.
To my horror, I realized I hadn’t packed a TTL cord in my bag, and I had to bounce the flash off of the ceiling of the room while mounted on camera. I know that you just shuddered from reading that–believe me, it wasn’t easy to do!
I am left to wonder if this is a battery format that is simply on its way out. I am going to order some (name brand) batteries online and also try to return the Radio Shack P.O.S. battery tomorrow. In the mean time, I do wonder about the future of the 2CR5, and with it, the Canon ST-E2.
So, it would seem that the Lumix G1 that I picked up after reading through Michael Reichmann’s glowing reviews, and which I have enjoyed immensely in this past two months, is officially obsolete. Panasonic has announced the “GH1,” which is the same camera but with the ability to record high-definition video.
After looking through Panasonic’s Web site for the new GH1, it would appear that the camera offers slightly more manual control than the Canon 5D Mark II’s video mode. Specifically, the aperture can be controlled by the photographer, as opposed to the 5D, which requires some clever manipulation in order to specify the aperture.
(A Google search will come up with a wealth of resources, but the bottom line is that a manual-aperture lens mounted via an adapter is the easiest way to control the video on the new 5D.)
No word on Panasonic’s Web site, or from DPReview, whether the audio levels can be controlled manually. Because any mention of such a feature is absent, I’m left to assume that Panasonic followed Canon and simply reverted to auto gain for audio. Nothing is ever perfect! More after the jump. Continue reading “News coming out of PMA”→
