The Faithful Reader Emmanuel N. Diaz

The most faithful reader of my blog (that I know of), Emmanuel N. Diaz, sent me an updated list of all the lenses I have, or have used in my blog.  As of yesterday, there has been 149 different lenses I have had/used.  Of those, 41 are 40-58mm!  Some of these are not your standard mount lenses, like projection or enlarging lenses, but that's still a mind boggling number of different lenses.  The sad fact is, I still have most of them.  Even more so, I know I have more lenses than this list.  Now you see why it's hard for me to write a list of my favourite lenses, especially in the 40-55mm focal length.

Venox -- Canon 7D & Tamron Adaptall 135mm f2.8; July, 2010.

This picture above was shot with the Canon 7D and Tamron Adaptall 135mm f2.8, which is not on Emmanuel's list of lenses :)  Strangely enough, I don't have much memory of this lens, and don't have many pictures from it.

Thanks  Emmanuel!  Appreciate your effort.  This will be a good reference that I can use in the future.

A Small Rant

Sacrificed for Art: Smashed Papaya - Canon 7D & Tamron Adaptall SP 35-80mm f2.8-3.5

I am slowly adding my pictures to the Lightroom database.  I have hundreds of thousands of pictures and this is a slow and tedious process, because I am also checking/deleting frames I don't want to cut down on the number of frames I have and space usage.  I am getting the hang of Lightroom 3; but just enough to use it.

Looking back at the pictures I took with the 7D, I think that if the sensor is cleaner, even at a lower resolution for say, 12-16 MP, it would have been an even better camera as it is today.  I would have kept it and would have become my main camera.  Compared the image quality to the NEX-5N, the 7D is clearly inferior on almost all ISO settings, but especially at lower ISO.

While I am in the pissy mood, I might as well let out my disappointment with Canon regarding the image quality in their latest offering, the 5D Mark III.  The RAW output, next to the 5D Mark II, is only marginally better, while the 36MP D800's image quality is as good up to ISO 3200.  Perhaps, Canon is resting on its laurels for too long, and getting complacent, their new DSLRs have been underwhelming, perhaps except the 1DX.  Note that I am not saying the image quality is not good with the new cameras.  In fact, it's more than good enough for me, but when you see the competition edging out the once mighty king of clean high ISO, one can't help but see Canon's sensor progress has been at an impasse.  Truthfully, I believe Canon has much better technology than what they currently give to its customers.  They are holding back until they can milk out all they can with the existing technology.

As for me, perhaps my camera upgrades have been to frequent.  I am trying to restrain myself not to buy another camera.  Seriously, between the 1D Mark III and the NEX-5N (with the Panasonic G1 as backup), there is enough camera that is good enough for me for the next two to three years.   

Back to Basics

As much as I love the 7D, I just can't get used to its image quality.  The sensor in this camera (and the T2i) seems to depart from the traditional Canon image sensor characteristics:  very clean and beautiful low ISO quality.  Perhaps I have not used both the 7D long enough, but I keep looking for  quality in previous cameras that I owned.

In any case, I picked up a 1D Mark IIn today.  This is my fourth 1-series body, after the 1D, 1D II, and the 1Ds.  I kept the 1D II longest, and always felt a bit of a regret selling it.  The n version of the 1D II adds a larger 2.5" screen, and picture styles, plus you can now specify RAW to go on one card, and jpeg files go on the other.  Other than that, not much difference from the 1D II.

Perhaps I knew this would happen, either with a 1Ds II or another 1D II/n, as I have kept my Kirk bracket, and the EC-L split screen.  Yes the 1D II is much heavier than the 7D, and the screen is not as nice, but I get wider angle on the same lens, and smaller files, 8 MB vs 25 MB!

Already have a potential buyer for the 7D.  I will probably miss its overall speed and the nice 3 inch screen, but the Mark IIn should keep me happy, for a little while anyway.

Rusty Fence -- Canon 7D & Leica-R 90mm f2 Summicron. Click to see larger.

Climate Change

Climate Change -- Canon 7D & Leica-R 90mm f2 Summicron. Click for larger

This morning a group of people carrying large signs in the Spadina/Queen area, like the one you see in the picture above.  I have to admit I admire these people, who believe they can make a difference and induce changes.  I think it works, at least to some degree.

CN Tower Viewed from Ontario Place

We bought season passes for the family this year to Ontario place, instead of renewing the Ontario Science Centre membership, as there doesn't seem to be enough new stuff to warrant another year's membership.  In any case, we went to Ontario Place to see the Fireworks last night.  It was fantastic because we were at the front row with no one to obstruct the view.  We watched the fireworks fired from the tanker.  The sound and sight was just awesome! I didn't take any pictures, be recorded the video instead, but took this picture on the way home:

CN Tower at Night -- Canon 7D & EF 35mm f1.4. Click on picture to englarge.

Parade of Sail

The last time Toronto had a Tall Ship Festival was in 1994.  I happened to be there and was awed by the grand and majestic tall ships.  This year, the Great Lakes United Tall Ship Challenge chose Toronto as one of its ports.  We went to Ontario Place to see the Parade of Sail Finale.  Totally enjoyed it.

Ships and Plane -- Canon 7D & 18-55mm IS kit lens. Larger.

7D & 18-55mm IS kit lens. Larger.

The American Falls

We took the kids to Niagara  Falls for a couple of days.  Despite the dark cloud that hung over my head -- the Drobo failed just before we headed out, we had lots of fun.  Took the package tour of the Niagara Falls: Maid of the Mist, Journey Behind the Falls, White Water Boardwalk, and the 4D movie How the Falls Were Made.  The kids loved it.  The only down side was that everything was expensive in tourist areas, but money well spent.

American Falls -- Canon 7D & Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5. Larger

Street Car

Street Car shot through car window -- Canon 7D & Vivitar 24mm f2.0 AI. Larger.

I really like the small fast primes.  24mm on full frame is probably the widest I would use on a regular basis.  Anything wider is hard to control. 

Port of Toronto

Port of Toronto - Canon 7D & Vivitar 24mm f2.0 AI Mount. Larger.

New addition to the Vivitar family.  This Vivitar 24mm f2.0 has the Nikon AI mount, made by Kiron.  This lens should be identical to my Kiron 24mm f2.0 (OM Mount), but I compared them side by side and the coating is definitely different..  Both are great, sharp lenses.  Also have the Vivitar 24mm f2.0 in PK Mount.  The PK version looks closer to the Kiron in terms of coating, as well as focusing.  Both the Kiron and the PK mount 24mm f2.0 have the very short focusing travel, whereas the Nikon AI version has longer focusing travel.  All of them share the same filter size of 55mm.

G20 Security

G20 Security - Canon 7D & EF 50mm f1.2L. Larger.

The G20 Summit in Toronto this weekend has caused a considerable amount of grief to many businesses in the area.  Security has been very tight in the RED ZONE.  I have never seen so many cops in one area before.  Many businesses either shut down or have employees work from home.  I guess the most stunning aspect of this whole is the cost: over ONE BILLION dollars!  I can't imagine how that kind of money can be spent on a two day event.

Boat in the City

Boat in the city - Canon 7D & Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 200mm f2.8. Larger.

One of the big improvements, from previous xxD series of cameras is the viewfinder.  It's now much bigger on the 7D.  However, I find it more difficult to focus than the 5D for some reason.  The view finders seems slightly darker.  Perhaps need to get used to it.

Hey Lucy

Hey Lucy is a popular eatery on King -- Canon 7D & EF 35mm f1.4L

Missing the 5D already.  35mm on 1.6x crop body is just, well, not 35mm.  The 7D is a fantastic camera.  Canon has finally done something right for the pro-sumer market, with no small amount of pressure from Nikon's D300 of course.  Isn't competition great?!?  I think a 7D and a 1Ds II would make a perfect pair.  Gotta save my pennies now.

Run!

Megan -- Canon 7D & EF 200mm f1.8 @ f2Megan -- Canon 7D & EF 200mm f1.8L @ f2

Tried out the AI Servo focus today and it was better than expected.  Not quite 1-series performance but damn close.

Gears Shifted

The Devil made me do it. I swear!

Five days ago I played with a 7D, and I felt in love with it. It reminded me of the 1D Mark III I had. Solid built, nice handling, responsive, but quite a bit lighter. This got me thinking about the inadequacy of all the camera bodies I own for fast actions. I knew I had to do something about my gear line-up.

Yesterday the Devil showed me Henry's flyer on Canon specials: Buy a 7D, and get the battery grip for $99. Also, they have increased the trade in value of many old digital bodies, and they allowed $900 on the 5D, which is very good, consider that most used 5D sold in private at around $1000. Keep in mind that the trade in portion of the $900 is none taxable, which means they will deduct this amount from the price of the 7D, before applying the taxes, a saving of $117, for a total value of $1017 for the 5D.

Then the Devil made read the fine print, that the special would end June 20, which is today, and that I must act fast. I posted my Rebel 550D (T2i) for sale yesterday, and it was sold this morning. A small loss from the price I paid originally, but that's the nature of used gears. I have kept the kit lens, as it's a good lens to have around. Drove up to Mississauga in the afternoon, as the Super Store in Toronto is closed on Sundays, and did the swap.

So, I gained the 7D, but lost the 5D and 550D. I will really miss the 5D as it's one of the best cameras I have used, image quality wise. I will also miss the 550D too, for its super light weight and fantastic LCD screen, even though the 7D's screen is very good.

My plan is to acquire another full frame, possibly the 1Ds Mark II, hopefully by the end of the year. That camera will be used mostly for manual focus lenses. This will be a similar setup as what I had before: 1Ds and 1D Mark II. I will also keep the IR 20D and the Panasonic G1.

Already shot a few couple hundred frames today and really enjoyed the 7D. In many ways I feel this camera is more similar to the 1D III than the xxD series. As expected, the focusing, especially in AI Servo, is far more responsive and accurate. Man, if this is full frame, I would be in heaven. It maybe psychological, but I think the image quality in low ISO is cleaner than the 550D. More test will be done on this.

In the coming months, I will find out how I will like it.

Yum - Canon 7D & EF 85mm f1.2L. Larger.

 Show Off - Canon 7D & EF 85mm f1.2L. Larger.