Something that really irks me

Yesterday, I gave my 'antiquated' EF Prime lenses a test run with the Canon RF. using the control ring adapter.

To those who say the lenses are too slow to focus; pish tosh.  Your humble bragging about selling off your EF lenses so you can get the new RF lenses is humble bragging.  Of course, I have found bargains beyond belief because of such humble bragging.

I do have one RF lens, the 35mm. It's fine. Kind of noisy, but great lens. My 300mm EF L IS works great on the RF body. My 400mm NON is EF L lens works equally great.

Of all the RF lenses I have tried, I wouldn't say no to the 100-500. But no humble bragging here. I am saving for this lens, but I am not humble bragging that I am selling off my EF lenses to do this. Instead I bought an adapter ring, to continue using the excellent EF glass on the RF. And I still have my 7DmkII, that use those same EF lenses.  And I have an adapter ring to use EF lenses on my Olympus OMD EM-1.

Lens ‘test’

A few weeks ago, I got a Sigma 150-600 Sports.  Unfortunately, circumstances kept me from giving this lens the test run I wanted.  Well, today, I got to mount it on my 7DmkII.

First off; the Sigma 150-600 is a beast of a lens. It’s heavy. And unless you’re used to curling 20lb dumbbells on a daily basis, you will need to use a monopod when using it it to photograph birds or anything else you will be walking around to do.  If you’re going to be standing in one spot, you will need a tripod.

Onto image quality.  Wow… just wow.

 

 

The lens is very quick to focus, and the images are sharp, without any distortion, even when shooting multiple subjects.

This Sigma is a great piece of glass. I wouldn’t use it every day, but for specific birding or sporting events, it’s a winner.

Interesting results

Yesterday, I went out to get some stormy skies photography, and brought the 7DmkII paired with Canon 400mm f/5.6 prime lens.  Don't get me wrong, it's a good lens, but without stabilization, I found most my photos had some variation of motion blur, as it was low light, focusing on a distant subject, hand held. Not the best lighting for a non IS lens.

Today, I took the 400mm, mounted it on the Kipon EF to MFT adapter, and put it on an Olympus OMD EM1.  I swear this lens and body were made for each other.  Even though the lens is an f/5.6 on a full frame, the equivalent on the EM1 is an F/2.8.  Couple that with the in body stabilization, the lens being Non IS is no longer an issue.

You have to remember this when using this combination, because if you don't your images will probably be a bit dark, and when shooting at ISO 800 or above, that can lead to excess noise.  You will see 5.6 flashing in your viewfinder. You have to ignore that. I know, goes against everything you’ve learned.

I shot this at f/6.3 +0.7, ISO 800, 1/120 exp. 

The image is sharp, colors are great, and even the bokeh is sweet.

Just because you don't like the answer doesn't mean it's wrong

A guy made an announcement on an Olympus users page, to not use the Panasonic 100-400 lens, as it would grind and cause metal shavings.  I told him we had tried that very lens on 3 different Olympus M43 cameras without any problems.  I even got one for my birthday.

I told him I even bought the ex demo, showed him photos as proof that there was no problem metal shavings when mounting the lens.

He then said he tried several of them, and they all did the same thing.

I replied that if the same thing happened with several of the same make and model lens, the problem is more than likely the mount on his camera body, NOT the Panasonic lenses.

He was not happy with that.

Better than I expected

Don't get me wrong, I loved my Tamron 24-70 f/2.8, fast to focus, and the image quality was excellent, but I kept finding myself trying to zoom past the 70mm mark. It didn't quite have the reach.  So, instead of ruining the lens by accidentally over torquing the zoom ring, it was time to get lens with longer reach.

At PhotoExpoLive2017, I purchased the 24-105mkII.  One of the things I was concerned about was losing that one stop. Well, I didn’t have to worry because the bokeh even at f/4 on the 5D4 was great.

Canon 5DmkIV, 24-105mkII, ISO 1600, f/4, 1/60exp.  No noise reduction, edited in On1PhotoRaw 2017

In with the new, out with the old

Attended the #PhotoLiveExpo2017 at Novatel, in Perth, yesterday. Bought a new lens at a discounted price. Wing had a bit of a snit about it until I told him I was selling my Tamron 24-70 to fund the purchase.

Went to #CameraElectronic to pick up the new camera batteries we bought at the event discount prices. Got a small bag to carry a 50mm lens that's large enough to hold the 24-105mkII when I want to swap.  Told Sam I was selling the Tamron (which I just picked up after a scheduled thorough cleaning).  I had a price in mind, and Sam's offer was right in that ballpark. So, instead of the hassle and problems of having to deal with idiots trying to lowball me on the price, or mansplain as to why I should sell it to them for less, I got a CE store credit.

Problem solved.

After side by side test shots

I have a very old Canon wide angle lens, a 17-35mm F/2.8.  Although it worked great for older camera bodies (550D, 40D, 7D) but its performance falls short on the 5DmkIV and the 7DmkII.

So, I have been testing diffferent lenses, taking a photo of the same thing, same settings..

Canon 11-24 f/4 - clear images even to the edges, barely visible fringing, minor vignetting. Can't mount a UV filter, but the lens hood extends past the element.

Canon 17-40 f/4 - clear images, slight softening at the edges. Visible vignetting and fringing. Can mount a UV filter.

Canon 16-35 f/4 - clear images, visible fringing and minor vignetting. Can mount UV filter.

Canon 16/35 f/2.8 - clear images, slightly visible fringing, and minor vignetting, but less than the f/4 version. Can mount UV filter.

Tamron 15-30 f/2.8 - clear images, very visible fringing, minor vignettings. Can't mount UV filter, but lens hood extends past the element.

Sigma Art 12-24 f/4 - clear images, even to the edges. Negligible fringing, negligible vignetting. Can't mount UV filter, but lens hood extends past the element.

So, it's down to the Canon 11-24 f/4 and the Sigma Art 12-24 f/4.  They both produced excellent images, sharp, clear, even to the edges, so I have to choose by other criteria.

The Canon 11-24 f/4 is $2866 to $3,844.

The Sigma Art 12-24 f/4 is $1579 to $1999.

Sigma Art Series 12-24 f/4 for the win! Time to save my shekels!

Ever want to say "Next time you try to screw me, at least kiss me first."

I am selling a not quite 2yr old Lumix 100-300 lens, that is in mint condition, because I have Kipon EF to MFT adapter and now use my canon 70-300 L on my Olympus EM1. I might have used the lens 3 or 4 times, has $110 high end UV guaranteed no scratch filter.   I checked all the places that are selling this lens used, sometimes without the filters, and priced mine $50 less at $450.  For 'mates rates' I was willing to sell them as a package for $400

Yesterday, someone insultingly offered me $300, maybe $400 if I included a $170 scratch proof high end CPL filter and the $110 UV filter. 

Read post title for my opinion of that.

That panicky feeling when...

You put a lens on your camera body, and you get error message "Check status of your lens".  You take lens off, check everything, remount the lens, switch on camera, and get the error again.  *worry*

Get another camera body, mount lens on that one, and it works just fine.  *panicky feeling*.  Mount lens on 1st camera body... "Check status of your lens"  (panic intensifies)  Camera body less than 6 months old! :o

Deep breaths, put on magnifying spectacles, and inspect camera. All good, and other lens works on it.  Inspect lens... It's amazing what one small smidge of pet fur can do. Cleaned off, lens working, panic abated.