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Lensbaby The Composer
Lensbaby The Composer
posted by abcnoonoi 1 day 5 hours 46 minutes ago
Lensbaby The Composer for Canon EF mount Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics) You know those times when every picture you take seems a little flat? Maybe nothing seems worth shooting. Everything's been shot before. How can you possibly put your stamp on the scene around you? Well, I'm not going to say that the Composer is the magic bullet. But it does help. It makes you see things in a new way, and that's not something you get with every new lens. Household objects, flowers in your garden, the house next door . . . the Lensbaby makes them worth photographing again. However . . . this is not really a walk-around, shoot everything lens. It is manual focus only. I've had mine for about a month, and the manual focus was easier than I thought it would be to get used to, but forget photographing babies or animals with this lens unless they are sleeping. You'll take 100 photos and one will be in focus. Also, it gets a lot harder to tell when you've achieved focus when you move the sweet spot out of the center of the frame. In addition, the Composer doesn't deal with photos that have a large dynamic range very well. It's easy to blow out your highlights if you're not looking at your LCD screen after each shot. However, this wasn't a problem I encountered that much, usually only during the middle of the day. And buy the creative aperture kit! It makes night photography so much more fun when all your out of focus lights turn into hearts or stars or snowflakes. Definitely worth the extra ten dollars. So, to sum up. This should be your second 50mm lens, not your first. But if you have all the regular lenses you need (we'll call those your dinner lenses), don't skip dessert. The Lensbaby Composer is worth it. .
Read more...Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Telephoto Lens
Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Telephoto Lens
posted by abcnoonoi 1 day 5 hours 49 minutes ago
Canon EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras (Electronics) its an awesome lens.. f/2.8 DOES make a difference in depth of field and shutter speed .. so comparing this one with the 70-200 f/2.8 its almost half the price and weight and just as fast and sharp if not sharper (it is) .. the fact that it is small and black makes it perfect for travel.. although i don't own the 70-200 f/2.8 i've tried it once or twice and i can't imaging carrying that bazooka in my backpack.. the 70-200 f/4 is what made me think alot before i bought the prime.. if you are trying to make up your mind, consider the fact that 200mm is a long focal length and trying to stop action or wildlife will demand every bit of light you can capture.. most of my action picture shot with this lens, in decent light were in the range of 1/2000 @ iso 400 .. if this was an f/4 it would have been 1/1000 .. you won't get much keepers at that shutter speed.. i recently got a 1.4x teleconverter and i see no change in picture quality when married to the 200mm f/2.8 prime... i love primes ... Samples [...] .
Read more...Sony SAL-1680Z 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T DT Zoom Lens
Sony SAL-1680Z 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T DT Zoom Lens
posted by abcnoonoi 1 day 5 hours 51 minutes ago
Sony SAL-1680Z 16-80mm f/3.5-4.5 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T DT Zoom Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera (Electronics) I recently purchased SONY A700K, which is a A700 plus SONY 18-70 zoom lens bundle. The bundled lens turned out to be a nightmare. So I purchased this SAL-1680Z. Do I like it? Let me tell you. If you really really care about sharpness, resolution, MTF, then get multiple prime lenses. No zoom lenses match any Minolta/Sony prime lenses in this category. But if you can compromise a little bit (just a little bit) and want some 5x zoom convenience, look no further. This lens gives you all. Yes it is not cheap for a digital-format (1.5x FOV) lens, but in addition you get the "Zeiss" color: deep and classy. Is it perfect? No, it shows some vignetting when wide open. Bottom line: If you have Sony Alpha 700 (or 100) and if you want a zoom lens which you can use on almost any situation, save some money and get this. .
Read more...Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Lens
Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Lens
posted by abcnoonoi 1 day 5 hours 54 minutes ago
Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Lens for Canon SLR Cameras (Electronics) This is a great lens, and it somehow even seems to make the color better on my shots. I would get this one over the 90mm TS. Canon TS-E 45mm f/2.8 Tilt Shift Lens for Canon SLR Cameras (Electronics) I've had this lens for a few months now and it is rad! Nailing the focus when tilting is a challenge, but once you get used to it, you're able to get more creative with it..
Read more...Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens
Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens
posted by abcnoonoi 1 day 5 hours 57 minutes ago
Sony SAL-85F14Z 85mm f1.4 Carl Zeiss Planar T Coated Telephoto Lens for Sony Alpha Digital SLR Camera (Electronics) Putting this lens on my a55 was a revelation. All of a sudden I'm shooting pro-quality portraits with unbelievable sharpness of focus, rich bokeh and beautiful colors. The effective focal length for APS-C is about 128mm. Translated into practical usage, with a 128mm lens, you've got to have some room to shoot. The minimum distance to get a head-shot is around 10 feet, and for full body, you need around 30. But what you lose in versatility in this fixed-focal-length lens, you more than make up for in the beauty of the images. Wide open at 1.4, the bokeh is delightful, popping the subject out heroically. The depth-of-field is very narrow, but still quite workable. I've noticed no vignetting. Landscape shots are super-clear and vivid. I recommend using a filter when outdoors because under bright conditions, using large-apertures, the shutter speed sometimes goes off the charts. Enough words, I'm posting some sample pictures taken with the lens. .
Read more...Nikon TC-17E II
Nikon TC-17E II
posted by abcnoonoi 1 day 6 hours ago
Nikon TC-17E II (1.7x) Teleconverter AF-S for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics) I bought this TC to go with my 70-200/2.8. I needed something with some more reach in medium light situations on my DX body (D90). The 70-200 w/TC is still very sharp. Occasionally, if the focus is on the wrong end, it hunts a bit. Focus with the TC is a bit slower than without, but not by much. In those very few situations where this matters, I roughly pre-focus with the 70-200's excellent focus ring. Overall, I am very happy with the 70-200 & TC combo. As an added bonus, the TC17 also works great with my 105/2.8 AFS micro. This lens is slower focusing to begin with, and I don't notice any significant slowing down of focus or reduction in IQ with this combo for portraiture and other medium distance work. Some reduction in quality at far distances/infinity, but a great combo in macro work. .
Read more...Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens
posted by abcnoonoi 1 day 6 hours 2 minutes ago
Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Super Telephoto Lens for Canon SLR Cameras (Electronics) The only non-image stabilized offering of the three 400mm lenses Canon has, produces excellent images. This is a good lens for wildlife photography, especially on a cropped sensor Canon, which makes this lens a 640mm equivalent. The built-in hood is a nice alternative to the plastic ones you have to put on yourself (and remember to carry with you!), but it does add to the weight a bit, if that's a consideration. Canon includes a tripod ring, another good move on Canon's part, saves you an accessory to buy separately. But the lack of IS is a bit of a limitation for me, as the size and weight of the lens makes handholding it a problem - hand shake blur is evident except for shots taken in the very brightest of conditions. If handholding the larger lenses causes you problems in general, you might want to consider springing for an image-stabilized alternative. Otherwise this lens is a strong performer and I've been happy with it. .
Read more...Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
posted by abcnoonoi 1 day 6 hours 5 minutes ago
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras (Camera) I say "unexpectedly" not because I thought it wouldn't be great; I damn sure expected it to be great for nearly 2 large. I say "unexpectedly" because I did not expect to get so much use out of it. I had planned to use it sparingly (for special events, weddings, portraits) but it turns out I am getting 80% of my great shots with this lens. In fact, I just got finished with a day of shooting with this lens mounted on a 40D and the 35mm f/1.4 mounted on a 5D and all of the "keeper" shots were taken with this lens and the 40D combo. The 40D is a nice camera, but it's no 5D. In fact, up until this point I have not been thrilled with the 40D (in comparison to the 5D which really spoils you with its low-noise and sharpness) and have used it only as a backup. I attribute my satisfaction with the day's results, however, to this lens. It's just flat out awesome. Ditto everything that has already been said about it. The combination of the sharpness and the telephoto focal lengths is just stellar. I have used many other telephoto lenses and I can not recall any of them being so sharp at the longer lengths. This lens stays razor sharp at all lengths. I also don't mind the weight as much as I thought I would. In fact, not once today did I say to myself "this lens is just too heavy." I was too busy shooting to worry about it. It's big and heavy to be sure, but not as big and heavy as I thought it would be. So I am very pleased so far in every way. Like always, if I find an issue down the road I'll come back and revise this review to reflect it. Right now, I have zero complaints. ***UPDATE 4/11/08*** After more extensive shooting, I have found a minor flaw. It is moderately (more than expected) soft at 180-200mm and really soft at 200mm. So soft I will only use it in a pinch at this focal length. 140-180mm is great but I have found the sweet spot to be 70-140mm. .
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