Pascal Photography Studio

Zoom lens, what’s that and what does it do?

As a photographer I get a whole lot of questions about a whole lot of photography related things. Some are easy to answer others need to be demonstrated. This one needs to be demonstrated…

I will not go into great technical details, however understand that a zoom lens usually allows for more than one “ZOOM” factor and it has moving glass in addition to focus. In fact it is usually safe to assume that the further away the glass elements are, the longer the lens is, the higher the zoom factor.

So what do we mean by zoom factor? It is the magnification that a lens can produce in relation to the human eye. In photography, it is generally accepted that a 1x zoom factor is equal to a 50mm lens on a 35mm film/digital format camera, I am not going into more details than this as it is not relevant to this post. So assuming that 50mm is 1x what would be 400mm ?

The equation is:

In a Canon EOS 5D the answer would be (400×1)/50 or 8x magnification. However with a crop sensor camera such as the Canon 7D, it would be (400×1.6)/50 and thus would result in a 12.8 magnification. But what about a 16mm wide angle lens? Well (16×1.6)/50 results in a 0.512 magnification which is a theorical negative magnification. So what are the actual result in a photo? Here are a few photos of commonly used zoom factors to illustrate, all taken at the same place with a Canon EOS 7D with a 1.6 crop factor.

16 mm (0.51x)	24 mm (0.77x)	35 mm (1.12x)	50 mm (1.60x)
70mm (2.24x)	85 mm (2.72x)	100 mm (3.20x)	135 mm (4.32x)
150mm (4.80x)	200 mm (6.40x)	300mm (9.60x)	400 mm (12.8x)
500 mm (16x)	600 mm (19.2x)	700 mm (22.4)	800 mm (25.6x)

Living with the Canon EOS 7D – Part 2

It’s been a while since I have received the Canon EOS 7D, ad to tell you the truth I am rather happy and even sometimes very impressed with it, the ISO noise reduction is amazing but I’ll leave that for another day.

But as all things good and 95% of this camera is pure goodness itself but I encountered certain limitations that are from the unexpected to the absurd, all related to the use of flashes. I have to be honest too, the following is advanced stuff and I mean advanced, but not all of it.

First up, to me not advanced but rather required, is “rear curtain sync” using the built-in infrared remote remote on the camera, mind you we tried the same with a Canon Speedlite 580EX set as a commander too with the same results, well he is the news flash (sorry for the pun), it is not possible! Read the manual it will tell you so, absurd you say? I agree completely. Obviously, whether you use a  Canon Speedlite 430EX or 580EX on the camera’s shoe, it will work 100%. I could not find a Canon Commander to test this with, so I cannot tell about that but I suspect the same issue will arise.

The second one is what is known as Multi or Strobe, this function allows the photographer to have multiple flash exposure on one exposure, the Canon EOS 7D does this with ease using it’s pop-up flash, unfortunately it is far from powerful enough. So I put it in remote to trigger the 3 Canon Speedlite 430EX and… The option in no longer available. Ok so maybe I ask a little too much, it is advanced stuff. I fit a Canon Speedlite 430EX to the camera shoe and the option is still not available. So the pop-up flash can do it but not the semi-professional flash… Confusion sets in… So, thanks to the guys at Cameratek, we put a Canon Speedlite 580EX on the camera shoe… Multi is now available! And it works, but here is the kicker, you are going to love this! Put the Canon Speedlite 580EX in Multi mode and make it a master, guess what! The Canon Speedlite 430EX receive the Multi order and execute it. So the Canon Speedlite 430EX is capable of it but it looks like the Canon EOS 7D’s infrared commander is not a “full” commander.

But do not mistake this for a rant, these are true limitations of the flashes, I still love my Canon Speedlite 430EX as well as my Canon EOS 7D and find very little wrong with it.

Now here is a word to Canon, DO NOT DO HALF A JOB!!! Nikon’s have no issues with this to my knowledge, so next firmware update include it in! Both please!

Living with an iPhone 3GS

So what is the hype with this iPhone thing anyways?
I mean it just another mobile phone, right?
Yes it is and the iPhone 3GS does a wonderful job at being just that a phone but, unlike most of my previous Smartphone, it has an edge…
You see it’s a computer in your hand with an operating system that works, unlike my previous Microsoft Mobile phones it does not freeze and 99% of the application that I want work, no fidgeting, no wasted time, it just works.
And yes not all the application are free but the care and quality is generally better than it’s Windows Mobile platform counterpart, so far.

And to prove my point, this was all written on an iPhone 3GS in under 15 minutes!

More on the iPhone’s use in photography soon.

Does the camera really makes a difference in the real world? Part 1 – Intro

I am going to talk about a scary subject in a few forthcoming posts, one that frightens me terribly…

Imagine for a moment, maybe in horror because that’s what is happening to me right now, that you taking this prise winning photograph and your beloved Canon EOS 5D, yes Charl I was thinking of you, or Canon EOS 7D’s shutter locks up or something happens that renders your professional camera completely useless. It gives me the shivers, just thinking about it. There is nothing in the world that you can do about it. What now?

But wait, there is a Canon EOS 1000D in your bag! Your partner uses it from time to time to help out at a wedding or other event where you need to be at 2 places at the same time. You are saved!!! But are you, really?

I am not really exactly talking from experience here, but I have had my share of catastrophes that came uncomfortably close to this scenario. The worst was our trip to the Kalahari where my prized Canon EOS 300D and Sigma 170-500 were destroyed just before entering the park for 5 days. I had no backup cameras, I could not afford one at the time. To tell the truth going to any game reserve without a camera would be the equivalent of being blind for me. I was lucky enough to have found a Canon EOS 400D in Upington and I still had a kit 55-200 lens with me which I promptly used for the rest of the trip.

Today, I feel a bit like the Mythbusters, I am going to simulate that very improbable catastrophe using 2 very different cameras both 1.6 cropped. One is considered as the ultimate Canon entry level, Canon EOS 1000D, the other camera is the one that may have change the way Nikon fans, whether they admit it or not, look at Canon cameras, the Canon EOS 7D. Do not mistaken this for a comparative review, it’s not. It’s about living with an uncontrollable event and how to handle it and make the best of it.

Firstly, these are 2 completely different cameras with 2 completely different characters, never mind specifications, check Digital Photography Review for the reviews of each. The Canon EOS 7D is a pro level SLR, the rig is with a battery grip and 2 batteries in it and a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L weighs a massive 2.5KG, than again you can feel the the magnesium alloy body quality as you grip the camera, it feels and holds right… On the other hand the Canon EOS 1000D is an entry level that with one battery and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L weighs a respectable 1.6KG but because it it smaller physical size it is going to be harder to handle.

Next, the real life test, for that I will use the same lenses and flashes with both cameras, either the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L or the Canon EF 70-200 f/2.8 USM L and do the same photos with the same settings with both and see how hard it can get without having to spend more money.

Till next time when I take the challenges of a studio photography environment.

By the way, should you have a couple of challenges for me please feel free to add them to the comments and I’ll try to do some, given time.

Editor’s note: The Canon EOS 1000D was returned to the workshop due to an error 99, so this may be longer to test then expected.

Macro photography extension tubes.

Yesterday, I tried something new, something I had never done in photography. True macro photography. And though my shoulder, back, neck, hand and right arm are complaining today I am thrilled with what I have learned and achieve.

So what have I learned? Well how about a short list of things you have to consider when making macro photographs:

1. The gear.
   • I do not have millions to spend on another lens, particularly when it would be a specialised one that would not be used often. So opted to go the extension tube route, a set of Kenko to be exact, why these? because they have the necessary connections to the lens, so you can still control your Depth of Field and, though completely futile, the auto-focus still works. But when you are 1 cm away from your subject auto-focus just hunts, even with a Canon EOS 7D.
   • Use a 70- 200mm with a f/2.8, it will make your life easier, I started with a 24-70 that I could only use between 50 and 70mm.
   • Use a tripod!
   • And have something (or someone) to give shade when required, which I found was most of the time.
2. The technique:
   • Pick one or more extension tube, I would recommend the shortest to start with, put your choice of lens on and find a really small flower or use a book and focus on the text, it makes for interesting photographs too.
   • Set the whole gear up on your tripod.
   • Set your focus ring to the closest possible point in manual, no kidding.
   • Use your zoom ring to focus, it took me a while to get that, forget about the focusing ring. If you cannot get focus you are either too close or to far, you will also find that you need to change distance if you add or remove tubes. As my instructor said a zoom between 80 and 130mm works best, find your lens sweet spot if you are not using a pro grade lens (I find Canon’s EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L lens perfectly suited).
3. The catches:
   • DOF, I tried to change it from f/2.8 right down to f/22 I could not see a difference.
   • Because of the above, if you are using all 3 extension tubes, I did not check with different combinations, you end up with a depth of field focus area of about 5mm, believe it or not a bee’s back side and it’s wings can be in perfect focus but not it’s head, so be careful with that.

And that is it, go and try, it’s loads of fun and your garden is the first please to visit, I know it’s a long trip. By the way, none of the photos below have been tempered with outside of being resized, what you see is exactly what the camera gave me, no colour calibration either than white balance set to day light, the camera used was a Canon EOS 7D.

Click on photos to enlarge

Click on photos to enlarge

Living with the Canon EOS 7D

Firstly, this is NOT a review, if you are looking for a review please go to dpreview.com they dissect the camera to the nth level and then put it back together or Digital Photography School. By the way, DPReview’s rating is “Highly Recommended” with an average of 9.16/10 as compared to Nikon’s D300s (which I have a lot of respect for) with an average of 9.16/10, how odd is that? Anyways, this is about living with it and I have the camera for nearly a month.

First thing you have to understand about the Canon EOS 7D, it is a professional graded “still” camera!!! I will come to the video in a latter post, 1 thing at a time. So what do I mean by that? Well, coming from the very good and light Canon EOS 400D, its like coming off a bicycle with training wheels and driving a racing bike, I know I said this before and I will probably say it again.

First thing you will notice when you pick up the Canon EOS 7D is it’s weight at 918g with the battery in is not light add a battery grip with 2 batteries, a CF card grip and  a 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens and here comes 2,378 kg, not light at all I can tell you.

Second thing you will notice is it’s size, it is massively larger than the Canon EOS 400D, but what a grip, with 2,5kg in your hand you better have a good grip and you do.

Thirdly you will feel the magnesium alloy quality of this professional camera, it fells so good.

And then you switch it on and at first glance life just became more complicated, the buttons and the menu (until you figure out the Quick and Custom menus) looks devastatingly confusing. I read the manual cover to cover 3 times so far, about to do it again but not cover to cover this time. I can now drive the racing bike around a track but I am still far for being able to race…

There are little things I have noticed using the camera, if RAW is used at high ISO you might be disappointed with the amount of noise, oddly enough I did not find this problem with the use of JPGs, most probably due to the high amount of post processing. Taking movement of anything whilst is high burst mode (up to 8 frames a second)  is wonderful but watch how quick you fill your memory card. Lastly, it is deadly silent in comparison to other DLR’s I have used or tested.

So would I recommend it as an upgrade from a 400D/450D/500D? Not unless you are going into photography seriously, the price does not warrant it. If you are doing casual photography and want the ability to do the odd video clip, I would advise either the Canon 500D or the cheaper but versatile Canon PowerShot SX20 IS (I will do a “living with the Canon PowerShot SX20 IS a little later). If you, like me, are either in action, sport or wildlife photography the Canon EOS 50D will do fine if you do no care about video. But if you are serious and have the finance for it the Canon EOS 7D paired with a versatile L lens, I recommend the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM to start with bringing you to an equivalent of 39-112mm of this 1,6 cropped sensor,  is the way to go.

I will write more about this in the weeks to come as I will soon have the opportunity to try a Canon EOS 5D Mk1 and maybe others in the field. I am also taking some courses in the next few months of subject maters I had not really thought off previously. But first impressions are that It was a very good investment.

Living with a Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 IS L lens in the wild.

Whether I like it or not, I have made a conscious educated choice the day I decided to by my 100-400mm zoom, I have made my bed and I have to live with it. But how well am I living with it?

After 11 days and some 3500 photos done with my 2 lenses, the other being a Canon 24-70mm f/2.4 L, I thought I’d report on the experience.

First if you are going to use a zoom lens for wildlife a few setting are going to be required, either put your camera on sport or set it to centre auto focus, ISO 400/800, it’s highest f-stop (4.5 to 5.6 in this case) and in continuous shooting, this is important as most wildlife will not wait for you to setup your camera or to have the perfect frame. Most wildlife photographers end up cropping their photos to re-frame anyways. I admit that though I knew about all this the day I got to the park I was so excited I forgot to do the settings… It cost me a lot of bad and unusable photos.

Next, what of the Image Stabilizer? I tried both with and without to be perfectly honest as long as you are getting a speed above 1/250 of a second leave it on, just remember that IS does not compensate for the subjects movement, it only compensates for camera shake. So, if your are like me and forget to change your settings, movement blur of the subject will be your punishment, see leopard’s paws and legs bellow? 

The IS was on, the camera told me the the photo could be taken but at ISO100, 1/100 of a second, f/4.5 I got motion blur, so the IS was a problem in this case as it allowed me to take a photograph that did not represent what I wanted. I subsequently raised the ISO to 400 and the results were quiet different. This in flight Ground Hornbill was taken with far less light the IS was on with the settings at ISO400, 1/640 of a second, f/9.0 and has very little unwanted movement blur.

So if you follow some simple principals it is possible to catch wildlife action without too much grief.

What really amazed me about the lens was the image quality and focusing speed, my Sigma never game me those qualities. The drawback, the 1.3kg added to the extended body, it can get tiring at times but a bean bag or window mount solves that problem.

Finally, the big question is whether I can live with the lens or if I wasted my money, I can assure you that I did not waste a cent, though I had to get accustomed to the lens’ character I am very impressed with the results. look at he hippo head bellow and I could never had shot this photograph of a crocodile suddenly turning away from a hippo at a rather high speed and at a distance without it, the quality of the photographs speaks for itself. My only regret… I would love to have the Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L II IS USM but the price is rather prohibitive though f/2.8 would be handy.

Focal 400mm, ISO 100, 1/400, f/7.1

Focal 400mm, ISO 100, 1/400, f/7.1

Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L – First impressions.

It’s Wednesday and as always it’s a photography Wednesday.

I finally got hold of the infamous Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens, let me say that it was a mission on it’s own, there must be a serious shortage of these lenses in South Africa. Here is are first impressions.

I can really understand why journalists love it, as an action and low light photography lens it just blows my mind. Though a realistic 38-112mm on my Canon EOS 400D it has the range I was looking for plus MACRO facilities. Able to focus at 30cm from the subject and getting the shot every time, it just is incredible.

Enough raving, the truth of the mater is in the results. I have not had the chance to put it in an action situation yet but MACRO and general photography have been tried. The first comment I have to give is that the lens is fidgety, not in a bad way but compared to the kit or 100-400mm f/4 IS L you will need to get used to it, it takes more work and a lot more interventions, the days of point and shot are nearly over. The flip side is the implacable colour reproduction. I always wandered how my wife’s little Canon PowerShot A570 IS got better colour reproduction than my Canon EOS 400D ever did, until now. This lens changed my mind about my Canon EOS 400D across the board. Additionally, the results are as sharp as a Japanese samurai sword, making is a very impressive walk around lens.

Playing with the depth of field is a joy as seen here bellow:

68mm,1/8 Sec,f/10.0, ISO 100	68mm,1/100 Sec,f/2.8, ISO 100
58mm,1/80 Sec,f/3.2, ISO 100	58mm,1/100 Sec,f/3.2, ISO 100

MACRO photography is just as easy as seen in this Ice-cream and Cake here:

70mm,1/100 Sec,f/3.5, ISO 10

Needless to say that so far I am rather impressed.

Next is the field test on wide angle, low light and action photography.

Edited typo: f/2.4 to f/2.8

Teleconverters are they worth it?

I have herd many times that Teleconverter are useless, they take away too much from the lens native abilities. I agree that they do take away a lot, but I also believe that the Canon EF 2x II Extender has a place in my camera bag. Think of the price of an entry level 800mm lens, now think of the price of a Canon EF 2x II Extender coupled with my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens…

The major drawbacks I experienced are:

• A loss of about 2 stops
• Loss of auto focus
• Extra weight of 280g
• Compatible with selected EF lenses
• Needs a support to be useful (Bean Bag, Tripod, …)

The major advantages are:

• Far cheaper than having to buy a specialised lens
• L lens with fluoride optics
• Easy to mount
• Doubles the selected lens’ reach

It is a “speciality” piece of equipment, getting used to it and it’s acceptable use can be difficult, even with a Image Stabilised Lens such as the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens. So what can it be used for? Any photography where a support can be used, I personally used it for bird, sky photography, paparazzi style photography and the odd wildlife photography but the latter is rather difficult as I used it with a bean bag in the past, I have bought a Car Window Mount since, though I have not field tested it yet.

The major advantage is the reach, with a 400mm lens you will achieve 800mm, however couple with an APS-C camera that brings it to a whopping 1280mm, for birding and sky photography it’s absolutely brilliant and a tripod can (should) be used in both these activities.

Here are some shots done with a Canon 400D, a Canon EF 2x II Extender and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens.

As you can see a Teleconverter when used for the right reason can be very useful.

Choosing a lens to suit indoor sports and wildlife photography.

I use to use a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II kit lens for my indoor sports photography and had a lot of problems even with a Canon Speedlite 430EX flash. I eventually figured out that the optics and lens construction were really not up to standards for this and most other kind of photography. It’s an entry level lens with no features to speak of and is the cheapest Canon lens available. So the question is what will I replace it with?

Because I have a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, see previous entry “Choosing a lens to suit wildlife photography”, I was exposed to the L series lens which spoiled me. The lenses I looked at were the Sigma AF 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC, the Sigma AF 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG macro, the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 USM L IS and the Canon EF 28-70mm f/2.8 USM L. I quickly opted to stay with Canon L Series Lenses, the price is worth it. So the debate was the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 USM L IS or the Canon EF 28-70mm f/2.8 USM L.

First I would like to state my requirements for this lens:

1. It must be able to catch (freeze if needs be) motion is low light with or without a flash, depending on the situation.
2. It needs a fair range for indoor sports but also for outdoor wildlife and optionally wide angle.
3. It will become the permanent replacement for my Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II kit lens.

In truth, the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 USM L IS is the best replacement lens for the Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II kit lens, it complements the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM perfectly and would be the obvious choice, it is the lightest, cheapest and most versatile . But it has two problems, it does not fulfil two of my requirements, the first two to be exact. I need a fast lens to be able to take action shots like those here below in low light conditions. The Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 USM L IS has 2 problems, firstly an f-stop at f/4 is just no low enough, the first photo below was shot at 1/60 sec, f/4.5, ISO800 with Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II kit lens and you can see the issues, motion blur and grain. The second shot was far better with the same settings. I am looking for a lens I can do these kind of shots without the motion blur.