Thursday, April 28, 2011

Outing with an Old Friend

Fallen Petals -- 1D IIn & EF 100mm f2.8L Macro. Click to enlarge.

Chester emailed me that he just got a 1D III the other day and I immediately felt so guilty.  I have not used my 1D IIn for a l ong time except the swim meet in March of this year.  I did invest a lot of money into the Canon system, especially the lenses, but I found myself not using it much, and instead, prefer the lightweight and small NEX-5 with manual focus lenses.  Anyway, I decided to take the 1D IIn and the 100mm f2.8L macro lens, since we have finally got some colour and the weather is quite a bit warmer as we go deeper into spring.  For macro work, nothing beats a swivel screen, or even a tilt screen, for ground level shooting.  Shooting at low angle through the viewfinder is just awkward.

The EF 100mm f2.8L macro lens is one heck of a lens.  I may have to get rid of my 100mm f2, as the Image Stablization (IS) proves to be invaluable at low shutter speeds.  I meant to do a comparison of the two lenses, but never had the drive to do it.  Perhaps I have been waiting for the full frame camera to do it :)

5 comments:

  1. keep waiting for the full frame 4 myself too. perhaps its just a legacy of using 35mm for so long, but I do miss some of the 'look' provided. Perhaps its just nostalgia. keep meaning to justify a 5D and see if it sits in the cupboard

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  2. http://sonyalphanex.blogspot.com/2011/04/nex-firmware-version-04-features.html

    New Nex-5 firmware, guess who I want to see test it first!..

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  3. @obakesan: I quite enjoyed my old 5D. If it were not for some intermittent focusing issues, I would not have traded it back to Henry's. Can't get my mind off the amazing image quality of the 5D II.

    @The Sound Gallery: I am willing to be the first to do it!

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  4. I've been swayed to the 1DMk3 and has been in my hand everyday since. :) My 5DMk2 is in the drybox and will only come out when I need to quickly switch btwn focal lengths or I am catching low-light shots and street shooting since it doesn't have the battery grip. Wonder if I could justify a EF100mm f2.8L IS. :) Saw that and a EF180mm f3.5L in local buy&sell. Which would you choose? (Not that I have the cash to buy now since it was sunk into the 1Dmk3).

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  5. @Chster: I would suggest the 100L. It's much more versatile and lighter. I have not used the 180L for about a year now. I can count the total usage in 3 years without needing my toes. Both lenses have excellent image quality. The only advantage of the 180L is its longer working distance. I may get rid of my 180L.

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