I have updated my post on Sharpness and Aperture Selection on Full-Frame DSLRs to include a list of my conclusions.
Category Archives: Equipment
Sharpness Test Updated
I have updated my Sharpness and Aperture Selection of Full-Frame DSLRs post to include the corner crops from the same photos used for the center crops that were already there. Here’s the image I added – see the link for full information.
Using the Wrong Tool for the Job: Which Lens is ‘Best’?
These are things that everyone knows about picking the right equipment for the subject, right?
Use wide angle lenses to shoot landscapes. When people ask what lens to get, I always ask them what they’ll be shooting. If they say landscape I generally recommend something wide rather than something long. Here’s an example of use of a very wide angle lens on a landscape shot:
First Light, Banner Peak and Thousand Island Lake
Use long lenses to shoot sports. Everyone notices all of the Really Big Lenses at sporting events. I sure saw plenty of them at this week’s Amgen Tour of California bike race. Heck, I even used one myself to get shots like this one:
Riding to the Starting Line, Prolog Time Trial, 2008 Tour of California
But wait a minute…
Sometimes the “common wisdom” can be exactly wrong, or at least it is possible to get interesting results by doing the opposite of the obvious thing. How about a landscape shot with a very long lens:
Big Sur Fisherman, Winter Surf
And here is another bicycle racing shot, done with an ultra wide lens. (That’s Mario Cipollini banking into this turn, for the cycling fans out there.)
The Peloton Enters San Jose – 2008 Amgen Tour of California
I’ll share one bit of technical information here. All four shots were made with two lenses. Both of the wide angle shots – landscape and cycling – were done with a 17-40mm zoom at the wide angle end. Both of the telephoto shots were done with a 100-400mm telephoto at the long end.
Just to tweak another assumption about “the right equipment,” both bicycle racing shots were done with a Canon 5D – and everyone knows that the 5D is only useful for landscapes and that you can’t shoot action subjects with it. ;-)
New Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L
(I’ve added a brief update at the bottom of the original article.)
After thinking about it for some time, this week I acquired the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS lens. I’m not always necessarily that much of a “big lens” guy, and for the most part I’m very happy shooting with my Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L and my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS, sometimes using my EF 70-200mm f/4 L for longer shots. (More about these lenses and other equipment I use on my Equipment: Reports, Tests, And Commentary page.) But during the past year I have been unable to shoot several specific subjects the way I wanted because I just didn’t have long enough range.
I avoid making purchases driven by Lens Lust. I wait until I identify a specific gap in what I can do with my equipment and specific ways to resolve this before I get out my credit card. I do not buy gear because I have extra money, because it looks shiny and cool, or because I happen to have some extra cash. In this case I knew that the lens would primarily be used on a tripod, though sometimes used hand held; that any low light shooting with the long lens would almost certainly be on the tripod; that excellent resolution would be important; that flexibility would also be important; that the lens would fit into a system of existing lenses; and that I prefer to have lenses whose focal length ranges overlap.
Eventually the choice came down to this lens or the Canon EF 300mm f/4 prime. Continue reading New Lens: Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L