Shifting to primes

Bittersweet moment yesterday…I pulled the trigger and swapped my 24-70L for a 24L.  I remember going through the debate that most photographers eventually ask themselves when they decide to go for an L-quality zoom: 24-105 f4L IS or 24-70 f2.8L?  Dpreview, Fred Miranda, The Digital Picture…I scoured the reviews and forum posts looking for something to push me in one direction or the other.  Do I want IS plus reach or do I want more bokeh?  In the end I (after being spoiled by the buttery smoothness of backgrounds produced by my 85L) decided that I’d rather have the bokeh and faster shutter speeds.  Along with a 5D I added the lens to my cart and I waited for it to arrive.  Even as I opened the packaging that 25th day of October in 2007 I had an unsettling feeling that 1) the lens wasn’t worth it, and 2) that maybe I should have chosen its sibling.  Those fears were quickly dispelled after I heard the “click!” of the lens locking onto the 5D and fired my first shots shortly afterwards.  This lens was perfect.  I had found my workhorse, and wherever my 5D went this lens did also.  I all but stopped using my 70-200 f4 zoom.  Even the 85, in all it’s glory, took a backseat.  For what I was shooting, this lens could do just about everything I asked, and it did it extremely well.

It was a fun ride.

I’m giving up quite a bit of versatility by moving away from a zoom lens and will have to be more mindful about foot-zooming.  I also now have quite the focal length gap; my current lens line-up is 24 1.4L, 85 1.2L, and 70-200 f4L.  I should be able to offset the gap by mating the 24L to my 40D, which should bring the focal length to ~38mm.  If I were shooting with two full frame cameras I would have probably limited my initial search to the 35L as I wouldn’t be able to do close-up portraits with the 24 due to facial distortion.

Regardless, I still have a slight case of buyer’s remorse.  The 24-70 was my go-to lens for most situations, and other than low-light photography there was very little that it wasn’t able to do.

Ya-Ya & his grandpa. 40D & 24L @f/3.2

I took a few shots today with the new lens, and so far I’m pleased with the results.  An impromptu shot of my nephew & his grandpa gave me a glimpse of what the combo of 24L + 40D will do.  There appears to be very little distortion, and the color and contrast appear to be excellent.  The real test will be next Wednesday when I’ll be putting this lens through the paces – I’ll be shooting a 9-person band, Irukandji, at Chop Suey in Seattle.  If it performs as well as the 35L did for the Ben Doerr & Avalo Soul concerts, I’ll feel a bit better about parting ways with my trusty walkabout lens.

24-70…I salute you!

Farewell 24-70L?

L for an L?

Sigh.

Looks like me and an old friend may soon be parting ways.  As I 1) tend to do more work indoors in low-light conditions and 2) am a bokeh snob, I’ve been toying with the idea of trading my trusty 24-70 f2.8L for a fast prime lens.  As I don’t have $5,000 to spend on a 1D Mark IV, I won’t soon be producing usable images at ISO 12,800 and will thus have to rely on faster lenses.

For the past few weeks I’ve been scouting the craigslist for someone local looking to trade a 35 f1.4L for my 24-70L.  I’ve kept the possibility open to possibly trade for a 24L II, but that would most certainly require that I either add a bit of cash to the deal or throw in (gasp!) another lens.  As I’m not quite ready to pull a 2-for-1 trade, the 35L was looking like my best bet.

There’s gotta be someone looking to trade a fast prime for one of Canon’s best zoom lenses, right?  Right?

Right?

…

Two weeks and no bites on my offer…people love their 35L’s!

Just as I started to give into temptation and began entertaining the idea of throwing in my 70-200 f4L (non-IS) into the pot to try for a 24L II, I came across someone’s post who was looking to trade a 24L mk I for a 24-70L.  What luck!  While the 24L mk II has been updated to improve some CA and sharpness at its widest aperture (among other things), the mk I is still an excellent lens.  Oh, and it’s at a better price point for me (i.e. – my first-ever L lens gets to stay in my possession).   I’ve been in contact with the seller (trader?) and got some pictures of the lens as well as some full resolution samples.  The lens looks tack sharp at 1.4!  The only downside is a little bit of scuffing around the area where the hood attaches, but the seller has assured me that it’s cosmetic and doesn’t affect the ability to apply a filter or put on the lens hood.  Luckily I have a 77mm filter to bring along for a test-fit.

I plan on looking at the lens tomorrow, and if it checks out okay perhaps my gear search will be over.  Temporarily of course.  :-P

New horse in the stable!

Turbo enjoys a good chin scratching. 40D + 85L II

After shooting the human Choo-Choo Train event in downtown Seattle a few weeks ago, I was quickly reminded just how much different the controls are between my 5D and the Rebel XT.  I missed a few shots trying to remember how to get back to continuous shooting mode (how the heck did it get to timer?), and I was missing the use of the dial that had become so familiar to me on the 5D.

I made the decision to sell the XT and the hunt was on for a new body.  I wasn’t ready to plunk down the cash for another full frame body, let alone one with HD video, so I started looking for something in the 20D/30D/40D line.  The 30D looked like a good bet – mostly an updated 20D at a good price point, but the more I looked into the 40D the more it started to make more sense.

The slight upgrade in megapixel count  (from 8.2 to 10) was just okay…not enough to sway the vote to the 40D.  The biggest factor was the new AF sensors; as I’m doing a lot of indoor low-light photography I want as big of an advantage I can get. The added sensitivity of the center focus point for lenses faster than f/2.8…yes please!

The second thing was the increased speed in burst mode.  At 6.5 frames-per-second, the 40D can capture twice as many shots as my 5D in the same amount of time – another bonus for the type of work I’m doing (the 30D isn’t shabby either, at 5FPS).

Another new(er) feature that’s present on the 40D is the built-in sensor cleaner.  I seemed to be blowing dust off the sensor of my 5D more often than I remember with the XT (maybe it was just because I was using it more).  Another plus for the 40D.

The last thing that caught my eye was the implementation of Live View.  It’s a “nice-to-have” feature that I most likely won’t be using for the majority of my work, but having the option to use it opens up some possibilities.  Being able to zoom in by 5x or 10x to nail the focus seems like it can be very helpful for posed shots or landscape photography.  You can also connect the camera to the computer via USB cable and control the camera remotely using the EOS utility.

So a few important features along with some lesser, but still highly functional, ones were enough to put the 40D at the top of my list.  After a week of searching, I finally worked out a deal with a craigslist seller and brought home the new toy last night.  Let the shooting begin!

New online gallery

My photo gallery is now online! Take a look at www.mikecostales.com.