What was left of a pumpkin on the day after Halloween.
This is another in the “orange series” of photographs that I made in October as part of a seasonal challenge issued by a group of fellow photographers — namely to go out and make photographs of orange things. I’ve written about this in other posts, so I’ll keep the story somewhat short. I started with the obvious Halloween notion of photographing pumpkins, but then I decided to look for ways to photograph them somewhat differently — not jack-o-lanterns and not the common “fall bounty” images. So I headed out into the neighborhood looking for distorted and damaged subjects.
There’s a well-known quote about a photograph being what it is (a supposedly objective visual record) and what else it is (a rather wide field). It should be obvious that you can “see” a photograph in multiple ways — an image of the literal thing, a suggestion of something else that it isn’t, and so on. While this photograph obviously depicts a fairly ordinary thing, I enjoy looking at it as something different from that.
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, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.
Canon recently released the successor to their venerable 100-400mm telephoto zoom lens, the new EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens. I have relied on the older model for some time now… but my copy of the new lens arrived a few days ago. Now that I have used it for a day of wildlife and landscape photography I would like to share some first impressions
First, a few technical details. The new lens covers essentially the same range as the older model — a focal length range of 100mm to 400mm and a variable aperture range of f/4.5 (at 100mm) to f/5.6 (at 400mm). Both lenses use a zoom mechanism that extends at longer focal lengths. However, there are some technical differences:
(Updated) Canon has announced the long-rumored replacement to the venerable 100-400mm L lens. It is the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II.
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II
The lens it replaces has been a very valuable “go to” lens for many photographers who wanted more reach, a reasonably small package, good optical quality, and the flexibility of a zoom. I’ve been an enthusiastic user of the older version for some time now.
Recently Canon has updated or augmented their lens line-up to improve the offerings in certain categories. For example, earlier this year they introduced their ultra wide angle zooms by adding a new EF 16-35mm f/4L ISlens. That lens has been a real success, not only adding image stabilization to lenses in this class for the first time, but also providing excellent resolution across the frame — more so than either of the lenses that many photographers used before it was introduced.
For some time, many have felt that there was a lot of potential for updating the 100-400. Although it is good performer in many ways, there has been room for improvement. More modern IS systems can provide up to 4 stops of stabilization, while the older lens only provides perhaps two. The older lens has good image quality, but it could be better in keeping with more recent lenses from Canon. In fact, rumors about the introduction of the updated 100-400mm zoom have been floating around for years.
We don’t know what the optical performance of the new lens will be yet. As I write this I have seen no real reviews. (I have seen some “reviews” that are mostly lists of specifications and speculation.) When we do see them, it will not surprise me at all if this lens provides valuable improvements in the same way that the 16-35mm f/4 has. Here is some of what we do know from Canon specifications:
Rather than the “push-pull” design of the earlier lens, this one has a more familiar rotation ring to change the focal length.
As was the case with the older model, the front of the lens extends as you zoom. This means that the lens is more compact when packed.
Image stabilization has been updated to provide up to four stops of stabilization — especially important with longer focal length lenses.
Other features include 9 blade diaphragm, the familiar 77mm filter thread diameter, and more.
The list price of the lens is $2,199. That may seem like a lot of money, but if it provides the sort of image quality we all expect it is actually a rather good deal for a lens with these capabilities.
Update: I have now had a chance to look at the MTF charts for the new lens (available at the Canon web site) and they suggest that the new zoom should be a very good performer in terms of image quality. The chart suggests better image quality than the existing 100-400 (which is quite decent) and the 400mm f/5.6 prime.
I expect that this lens will be in short supply at first — for the usual reasons related to any new product introduction, but also because of a pent-up interest in the update. The lens has been announced but is not yet available — though you may preorder it if you want to be first to get one.
As for me, there is a very good chance that I will get a copy of this lens before too long. In fact, I’m leaning more and more towards placing a pre-order — something that I rarely do.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
I have updated my blog post: “Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L Lens.” It might seem a bit strange to update an article on that subject on the heels of Canon’s introduction of a new lens that may be more interesting for many photographers, but read on…
I have ordered a copy of the new 16-35mm f/4 lens and I’ll report on that once I have had a chance to use it a bit. But given the altered terrain for those considering the purchase of a Canon ultra wide zoom, I thought that updating the review of the 17-40 was important. This lens is still a viable option for lots of photographers, especially those who are price-sensitive or who want smallest and lightest possible Canon ultra wide zoom for full frame cameras.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more. Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email
