Tag Archives: body

Photographs: San Francisco, Photographs: Urban/Street

Marina Auto Body

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Marina Auto Body
Two women stand in in front to the painted walls of Marina Auto Body, San Francisco

Marina Auto Body. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two women stand in in front to the painted walls of Marina Auto Body, San Francisco

Marina Auto Body is not a place I had previously noticed on my San Francisco street photography walks. I’m a bit surprised, as it it is just a short distance down a side street that I almost always cross when walking from the train station toward the central downtown, and I have photographed other subjects near this intersection. Perhaps this time I missed the walk signal, looked around for a moment, and happened to see it.

I think that I perhaps first noticed the two figures standing in front of the show and set off against the mostly-blue paint of the building. I walked up the street so that I could be directly across the street to photograph — I might have wished to be a bit closer, but I had little choice given the wide and very busy street. I waited, and finally was able to photograph during a break in the traffic. The little building is visually remarkable, with vividly painted scenes on each of the large doors.

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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Deals and Sales, Equipment

Fujifilm Camera/Lens Promotion

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FUJIFILM PROMOTION

I’m a big fan of the Fujifilm x-trans cameras and the Fujifilm lenses. (I use the XPro2 and several of the lenses for my street and travel photography. Fujifilm has one of their periodic promotions going on up until close to Christmas, and it reduces prices on cameras and lenses by as much as $400. Here is a list the items from site-affiliate Adorama. (You can also fine many of them at site-affiliate B&H via their link in the sidebar, and their Black Friday link at the end of this post.)

(Link to all.)

Cameras

Some of the best bargains here are on older 16MP cameras such as the XT10, XT1, and X100T, but there is good pricing right now on the newer 24MP XPro2, the camera I currently use.

Lenses

The Fujifilm lenses are excellent, and they cover most photographers’ needs. The primes are excellent — I rely on the 14mm f/2.8, 23mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, and 60mm f/2.4 macro. I’ve used the 18-55mm kit lens and the 55-200mm tele-zoom, which is a very nice lens in a compact, light and affordable package.  Recently I have also been using the 50-140mm f/2.8, which is the equivalent of the high end 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses from major DSLR manufacturers. I’m likely to acquire the 16-55mm f/2.8 before long.

(Note: the numbers in parentheses are “angle of view equivalent focal lengths” on full frame cameras.)

Deals and Sales, Equipment, Reader Questions, Reviews

Canon EOS 5DsR/5Ds: My Experience

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These days I use the Canon EOS 5DsR for much of my photography — particularly my landscape, nature, wildlife, and long-exposure night photography. Since people often ask me about the camera, I have decided to offer this write-up. I’ll try to cover some things about the camera that work well for me, acknowledge one or two very small issues, and consider the kinds of photographers for whom it (or its twin, the Canon EOS 5Ds)  might be a great choice. (This isn’t the first time I’ve written about aspects of this camera’s performance, and I have included a list of some of my other posts near the end of this article.)

Canon EOS 5Ds DSLR
Canon EOS 5Ds DSLR

The 5Ds and 5DsR are both 51 megapixel (MP) full frame DSLR bodies from Canon. They currently provide the highest sensor resolution available from a full frame digital camera and, as such, are targeted to photographers who need particularly high image resolution and who will photograph and post-process in ways that provide this. The 5DsR cancels the effect of the anti-aliasing filter found in the 5Ds — more on that subject below.

It is probably fair to say that the main attraction of these cameras is that high-resolution sensor, a fact that might lead some photographers to ask whether or not they will be able to take advantage of the high-resolution. Compared to earlier 5D-series cameras, the 5Ds/5DsR provide some other improvements, too. The autofocus (AF) system has been updated, noise handling is very good, and the  camera produces high dynamic range files that can be pushed and pulled quite a bit in post. Some updates have been made to the hardware and software interface of the camera, too.

Two Sandhill Cranes in Flight
A pair of lesser sandhill cranes in flight above California’s San Joaquin Valley

Sensor Resolution

There is no question that these cameras can produce very high-resolution images. Photographers who work carefully and who make very large prints will be pleased. I have made test prints equivalent to 30″ x 45″ prints that look very good and it is possible to go even larger. However, before you jump at the highest resolution full frame camera purely on the basis of higher resolution, you should ask yourself a few serious questions. Continue reading Canon EOS 5DsR/5Ds: My Experience →

Equipment, Reader Questions

Reader Question: 5Ds/5DsR Print Quality

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Reader “Tom” writes to ask:

I’ve read your reports on the 5Dsr.  I assume by now you have one?  Maybe you have different thoughts now, but you seem to point to the new body being good for large print/detail, but maybe not so great for fine art print. 

If that’s still the case, what would you opt for if leaning towards fine art prints, large, maybe a heavily cropped slice measuring say 16″ x 72″ or so? Minus a mf body. 

I’m looking to switch bodies and thinking the 5dsr or possibly the Nikon d810.  Just curious what your thoughts might be if you ever had time. Thanks.

Canon EOS 5Ds DSLR
Canon EOS 5Ds DSLR

It has been a while since I’ve written about the Canon 5DS and the 5DsR cameras here, but since you asked I’ll share more based on my extensive use of the 5DsR over the past months. I have used it to photography everything from landscapes to people to wildlife. I think I see several sub-questions here, so let me respond to each of them.

Are the 5DsR and  5DS good for large prints? Continue reading Reader Question: 5Ds/5DsR Print Quality →