Photography Minute » Cameras / Lenses

Canon 50mm f/1.2 L Lens Review

Eric D. Brown — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 02:24:25 +0000

I borrowed my wife’s Canon 50mm f/1.2 L lens today….and figured I’d do a review of this stunning lens. This thing is built like a tank but isn’t too heave…and it produces some excellent photographs.

Before I continue…I am NOT the target user for a 50mm lens but I thought I’d write this review up anyway. My strengths are birds, wildlife and landscapes…or at least that’s what I like to shoot. The 50mm lens is made for portraits, street photography and close up shooting.

While sitting at home today waiting for the carpet dude (long story), I grabbed Tracie’s 50mm 1.2 and started taking photos. It’s quite different using a 50mm compared to the 24-105mm L (is my primary Canon 5D lens)….the ‘feel’ of taking a photo with a 50mm prime is different than with a zoom lens. I actually had to move to get the proper composition…imagine that!

I was amazed at the ability to use available light in our dark house and get pretty decent shutter speeds at decent ISO’s. This lens is fast to focus and produces an amazing bokeh.

See for yourself below.

Photo Samples

Here are a few shots from around the house…both shot at f/1.2…notice the fast falloff of focus.

Flower Vase with Canon 50mm 1.2 L

Tiles with Canon 50mm 1.2 L

While neither of these photos are exciting, they show the value of the 1.2 aperture as they were both shot with available light indoors.

Like I said before, this lens isn’t really for me as I’m not that great at the type of photography that the Canon 50mm f/1.2 L is built for. But…I figured it’d still be worth sharing this review…at least to show that I can take photos of something besides birds and animals

If not for me, then who?

This lens IS perfect for any portrait photographer, wedding photographer or anyone else shooting intimate photos. My wife uses it a great deal in her wedding, senior and boudoir photography shoots and, in fact, it’s now the default lens on her Canon 5D Mark II.

To do this lens justice…let me share some of her photos taken with it:

This is a great lens. If you’ve got $1500 to spend and want the a 50mm prime that can get you an aperture of 1.2, run and get this one. I’m told that the Canon 50mm 1.4 is almost as good for a lot less money (~ $350 at Adorama).

UPDATE: I always forget about the Canon 50mm f/1.8 at an extremely low price of $99.95. This cheap lens is an a great value and has been well reviewed around the web.

For a comparison of the 50mm 1.2 L vs the 1.4, check out Thomas Hawk’s Review of the Canon 50mm 1.2.

Canon 400mm 5.6 L Lens Review

Eric D. Brown — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:26:01 +0000

I’ve previously written up a short review of this lens (see my post titled “Canon 400mm 5.6 L USM- Mini review“) but wanted to follow it up with another, more in-depth review.

Although I recently fell in love with the Canon 500mm f/4 L IS USM lens after renting it from Borrowlenses.com, the Canon 400mm 5.6 L lens is my current workhorse. It stays on my Canon 7D constantly.

What I love about the Canon 400mm 5.6 L

This is a great lens for birding and/or wildlife photography. It also makes a great lens for just about any type of photography…if you’re far enough away from the subject

You can pick it up for ~$1200 from Adorama (B&H and Amazon sell it for the same price), which is about one-fifth the price of both the Canon 500mm f/4 (~$6100) and Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS (~$5800) and about one-sixth the price of the Canon 400 f/2.8 (~$7200).

In addition to the great price, this sucker is light, weighing in at 2.8 pounds (1.25Kg) – compare that to the 8.5 pounds of the 500mm, 4.3 pounds of the 400mm f/4 DO and 11 pounds (!) of the 400mm 2.8.

Add focus speed to the price and weight and you’ve almost got a perfect lens (see below for why it isn’t perfect). Take this lens out on a bright day and hit your shutter to focus….you’ll probably be surprised at how fast it is. This lens is quick. Even on cloudy days you’ll be OK. Take this lens outside when its not quite daylight, and the AF system will hunt a bit. But that’s to be expected from a 5.6 lens in low light.

What I don’t like about the Canon 400mm 5.6 L

There are only two things that I don’t like about this lens: No image stabilization and an aperture of 5.6.

The lack of image stabilization on this lens brings the value down tremendously for me. While I can use a tripod or monopod to help stabilize (and you should at that focal length anyway), I like to be able to handhold while out and about sometimes and it’s extremely hard for me to do that with this lens and keep it steady.

Prior to this lens, I had the Canon 100-400mm IS L USM lens. I didn’t realize how badly I tremor while holding a camera/lens until after I moved to the 400 5.6.

The only other issue of this lens is the 5.6 aperture. While that aperture is OK, it does keep me a stop or two away from getting some excellent low light shots using a decent ISO. That’s not as a big of an issue with my Canon 7D now (beautiful at higher ISO’s!) but it would be nice to see an f/4 on this lens.

That 5.6 aperture also takes away my auto-focus when i have an extender on. I’ve used the 400 5.6 with the Canon EF 1.4X II Extender but without AF, I’m stuck when trying to shoot birds in flight and other moving animals. I did try the “tape the pins” method and got AF to work, but I’m not thrilled with the performance of the combo (400 5.6 + 1.4X)…the AF is slow and hunts a lot. Now…if i were to throw this combo on a 1D body, I’m sure it’d be fine….but I don’t have a 1D body so it doesn’t work for me.

Wish List

Canon – Give me a 400mm f/4 with image stabilization that weighs less than the 500mm f/4 and I’ll be a happy. Make that 400mm f/4 work take an extender like the 500mm and I’ll be set.

Oh. Wait.

I guess they already did give me a 400mm f/4 with IS….the Canon 400mm f/4 DO IS has been out for quite some time and always gets excellent reviews. But I think that design (along with the 400 5.6) is getting a little old. Time for something new Canon. Please?

Or…perhaps I’ll just upgrade to the Canon 500mm and be done with it.

Conclusion

This is a great lens. If you can’t afford to jump up to the big lens listed above, try this one out.

To get consistently sharp images, you’ll need a tripod or monopod and/or excellent hand-holding techniques. Pair this lens up with the new Canon 7D and add in some photography skills, you’ll get some wonderful results.

Canon 500mm f/4.0 L IS USM Review – An amazing lens

Eric D. Brown — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 22:42:40 +0000

What can I say about the Canon 500mm lens?

I love this lens!

I can’t really add much more to the great reviews that already exists on this lens. There are tons of good reviews on the Canon 500mm out there.

When you read those reviews, you see words like ‘superb’, ‘super lens’, ‘tack sharp’, ‘excellent’ and other words like ‘expensive’ and ‘heavy’.

All true.

This lens is amazing. Its big and heavy…at least in relation to my Canon 400mm 5.6 L.

Take a look at my tripod & camera/lens setup below…the first is with my Canon 400mm 5.6 L and the second is with the Canon 500mm. Big difference!

Canon 7D with Canon 400mm 5.6 L on Induro CT314

Canon 7d with Canon 500mm on Induro C314

While these images are taken at different angles, it should be easy to see the size difference between the 2 lenses.

The 400mm 5.6 is an awesome lens and a wonderful bargain for the price that you pay to get it (~$1400). The 500mm is quite expensive at ~$6100 but, to me, the price difference is extremely worth it. I get value out of the additional $4700 that you I would have to pay to get into the 500mm lens.

Is it worth the extra money?

For one, its 500mm and has IS. My 400 5.6 lags in both those departments. I’ve found that I tend to move around a lot (even when I try not to) and that movement is a killer at 400mm+. I can barely handhold the 400 and get sharp shots due to that tremor/movement…but the 500 is tack sharp and perfectly stable while handheld. The 500mm is bigger and heavier than the 400mm but for me, a powerlifting champ back in the day, the weight isn’t an issue. I wouldn’t want to handhold the 500mm all day long but i tend to use some type of support (tripod/monopod) when in the field for long periods.

When I put both lenses on a tripod, the lack of IS on the 400 5.6 is less of an issue…but I do still notice the tiniest bit of movement (From my hand/finger when depressing the shutter). The 500mm removes this movement with IS on. Of course I could make this a moot point if I used a shutter release.

Using a monopod is where the 500mm really outshines the 400 with regards to IS vs non-IS. With the 400mm, I’ve got to find something to lean against or hold the monopod against to stabilize the lens. Not so with the 500mm. I can stand normally (using my best monopod stance) and the 500mm IS helps dampen my muscle movements.

But what about the photos?

This lens provides a great platform for a good photographer with a good skill to capture some amazing images. Take a look at some of my recent photos taken with the 500mm and you’ll see the quality of this lens. Of course, the 400 5.6 takes some amazing photos too (take a look at the first photo on this page for an example: Great Blue Heron).

Conclusion

This lens IS superb and, to me, completely worth the money. I’m saving up right now to pick up this lens. Check out Adorama and pick up your own Canon 500mm lens…or buy one for me! If you can’t afford the lens or just want to try it out, do what I did and rent one from Borrowlenses.com.

I rented this lens last month from Borrowlenses.com (great company….see my review here) and almost cried when I had to send it back. I love this lens and am now saving my pennies to pick one up soon.

For a more in-depth review of the Canon 500mm, jump over to The Digital Picture…they do a wonderful job of looking at cameras and lenses.

Borrowlenses.com – Great service, excellent people

Eric D. Brown — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:00:44 +0000

Looking to rent camera gear online? Borrowlenses.com is a great service…and they’ve got great people too.

A few weeks ago, Borrowlenses tweeted about a 60% coupon for their big lenses.

I’ve been watching their specials looking for an opportunity to rent the amazing Canon 500mm f/4 L IS USM lens that I’ve been lusting after for quite a while. The second I saw the tweet, I jumped over to Borrowlenses and rented this bad boy for less than $258.60 for 2 weeks (price included shipping and insurance). This lens would normally have run me $430 for 2 weeks not including shipping/insurance.

After I placed the order, I was quickly contacted by the service folks at Borrowlenses to let me know the order was processed and when I could expect to see the lens. I was told the lens would show up Jan 21…and sure enough it did. Nothing like efficiency!

When the lens arrived, it was packed quite well as you can see in the photos below. The Canon 500mm lens comes in its own case and that case was packed snugly into a wrapping of foam within the box.

Here’s a few images of the un-boxing of the 500mm….apologies for the image quality and my feet/legs in image #2…I suck at product photography.

And here’s a few photos of my setup….looks nice, yes?

The Canon 500mm is a great lens and worth every penny of it’s ~$6000 price tag. Even better when you can rent it for ~$250 for 2 weeks. The $250 was the best money I’ve ever spent when you consider the ratio of happiness to cost

If you’ve not been following my blog, you’ve been missing out on some of the wonderful shots I’ve been getting with this lens. Here are a few posts with photos taken with the Canon 500mm attached to my Canon 7D and sitting atop my Induro CT314 Tripod.

Sadly, the lens has to go back next week (Feb 3). I have a strong suspicion that this “cheap” rental of $250 is going to eventually turn into a $6000 purchase of a new 500mm lens (unless anyone out there wants to sell me a mint used copy cheaper).

Back to Borrowlenses…they are great people. The glass is in great shape although the lens paint has some scruff marks.

If you’re looking to rent camera gear or equipment online, you can’t go wrong with Borrowlenses.

Video capture with Canon 7D – Muscovy Ducks

Eric D. Brown — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:00:14 +0000

Not exactly the most exciting subjects, but I decided to take a few minutes of video with my Canon 7D while birdwatching in Dallas. I saw these Muscovy Ducks preening and thought they’d be ideal candidates for some video.

Muscovy Ducks Preaning – Captured with Canon 7D and Canon 400mm 5.6 L from Eric D Brown on Vimeo.

Canon 7D DSLR – Product Review

Eric D. Brown — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 21:00:55 +0000

I’ve finally had a chance to sit down and write a review of my Canon 7D (Check prices at B&H, Adorama and Amazon).

It’s a quick review….I love this camera!

My main focus is birds, wildlife and landscapes and this camera is an awesome body for wildlife and birding photography. I’ve got my trusty Canon 5D for landscapes…it does the trick nicely for that role.

When I first picked up the camera, I noticed it felt a bit different than my 5D. It felt a bit more rugged. Not sure if that’s just my imagination or if its a reality.

The camera does an amazing job in all situations. Low light shooting is excellent and the speed of this camera is amazing.

I’ve shot some birds in flight and found the autofocus to be responsive and darn near perfect. The camera matches up well with my Canon 400mm 5.6 L lens…with those two pieces of gear, I’ve been able to get some excellent shots. Pair this great camera, that great lens with my Induro CT314 tripod, Really Right Stuff BH-55 Tripod Head and I’m in heaven!

A few sample shots to show the abilities of the camera (and hopefully my abilities as well!):

Prairie Dog Snacking

American White Pelican

Sandhill Crane

Goldfinch

Muscovy Duck

If you want an in-depth review of the Canon 7D, jump over to DPReview.com for their full Canon 7D review…there’s no way I can top their 35 pages.

Check prices on the Canon 7D at the following retailers:

Check prices on the Canon 400mm 5.6 at the following retailers:

Canon EOS 7D gets high marks all around (engadget.com)
A 31-page 7D review for your consideration (crunchgear.com)

Kodak announces new cameras focused on sharing photographs

Eric D. Brown — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:52:48 +0000

I just read a post over on Photography Bay titled “Kodak Cameras focus on Sharing” that got me to thinking.

Kodak announced three new cameras at CES 2010: the Kodak Slice Touchscreen camera ($349.95), Kodak Easyshare M580 ($199.95) and Kodak Playsport video camera ($149.95) – all available for pre-order from Amazon (affiliate links provided).

Features of the Kodak Slice Touchscreen camera:

14-megapixel resolution for high-quality pictures up to 30 x 40 inches
5x optical zoom
3.5-inch, 16:9 widescreen touchscreen interface
Instantly locates pictures via Kodak’s Face Recognition
Internal memory holds up to 5,000 HD resolution pictures

Features of the Kodak Easyshare M580:

14-megapixel resolution for stunning prints up to 30 x 40 inches
8x optical zoom; 28 mm wide-angle lens
3-inch LCD with KODAK Color Science Technology
Kodak’s Smart Capture feature
Capture images to SD/SDHC memory cards (not included)

Features of the Kodak Playsport video camera

Waterproof up to 10 ft. (3 m)
Full 1080p HD video
Electronic image stabilization
Brilliant 2.0 in. color display
Capture 5 megapixel HD stills (16:9)

These all look like great cameras and have some excellent specs but the key to them all is the ease of sharing your photos and videos.

The only overlooked feature? Wireless Sharing.

Think about the advantage these cameras would have if you could turn them on, take a photo and hit the share button and send the photo to flickr, twitter or Facebook or some other sharing website. You can do that if using things like an Eye-Fi Card but those will work only if an open wi-fi connection is available.

To really provide an advantage and value over the new generation of cameras on phones, Kodak and other consumer camera manufacturers will need to step up their game.

Put in wireless connectivity similar to the kindle that would allow a photographer to take a photo and share it without wi-fi. I think this is the only functionality that will allow these types of cameras to win out over the likes of an iPhone’s camera functionality.

Kodak’s First Touchscreen Camera Shoots 720p, Goes By “Slice” [Cameras] (gizmodo.com)
Kodak deals Slice touchscreen camera, Pulse digiframe and Playsport camcorder (engadget.com)
CES 2010 predictions: What’s on deck for cameras (macworld.com)

Canon announces EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II

Eric D. Brown — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:46:20 +0000

Just saw the announcement on Rob Galbraith’s announcement of the new Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens.

Looks like a great new lens. Some highlights of the new lens:

Redesign of internal elements
minimum focusing distance to 3.9 feet (1.2 meters)
Release of April 2010

Press Release below:

Canon Makes the Best Even Better, With The Introduction of
The second generation EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Canon’s New EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Incorporates Advanced Lens Elements and Enhanced Durability for High-Speed Autofocus and High-Performance Optical Image Stabilization

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., January 5, 2010 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging, introduces the new EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens. Arguably the most popular focal range in Canon’s telephoto arsenal and a staple lens for any professional photographer, the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens provides the focal length, maximum aperture and zoom power for capturing everything from fast-action sports to studio portraits. Built for the professional, the body structure of the new EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens has been enhanced to provide better durability and strength without a significant increase in weight. Canon has improved optical performance on the new EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens by redesigning the internal elements, incorporating a fluorite element and a fifth UD element. The use of the fluorite element and five UD elements helps to minimize secondary chromatic aberrations and produce better image quality with improved contrast and resolution through the entire zoom range; the end result is an optically precise lens worthy of becoming the leader of Canon’s L-series lenses.

Along with its redesigned optical elements, the new lens design features improved AF speed due to a new focusing algorithm and has reduced the minimum focusing distance to 3.9 feet (1.2 meters) through the entire zoom range, allowing photographers to capture tighter portraiture shots in a small studio space. The previous lens model’s minimum focusing distance was 4.6 feet (1.4 meters), whereas now photographers can stand nearly 8 inches closer to their subject and achieve sharp focus and tight crops. Canon has also enhanced the Image Stabilization allowing it to compensate for shutter speeds up to four steps slower than 1/focal length, a one step improvement over the previous lens model.

“Canon’s core has always been our optics, and we are constantly challenging ourselves to produce better and more advanced optical systems for our customers. The new EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens incorporates the best advancements in Canon lens technology from the past few years and packages it into what we believe will be the most popular lens for professionals and advanced photographers,” stated Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A.

The enhanced magnesium alloy barrel design of the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens features added strength with a minimal 20-gram increase in weight compared with the previous model (1490g vs. 1470g) and retains Canon’s protective seals and fittings providing dust and water resistance for those photographers working in adverse conditions. A new bayonet mount on the front of the lens includes a locking mechanism to ensure the supplied lens hood remains securely in place. Other noticeable improvements include a wider focusing ring, and sleeker design by reducing the thickness of any protruding elements such as the switch panel. The new lens is also compatible with Canon’s existing EF1.4X II and EF2X II Extenders as well as EF Extension Tubes and the 77mm Close-Up Lens 500D.

Pricing and Availability
The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens is supplied with a detachable tripod collar, a reversible bayonet mount lens hood and a lens pouch. The new lens is scheduled to be delivered to U.S. dealers in April, price to be determined.

Canon Digital Learning Center
Online visitors and Web surfers are encouraged to browse the Canon Digital Learning Center and take advantage of the various educational resources that Canon has to offer for novices and advanced photographers alike. The Canon Digital Learning Center provides a schedule for a wide variety of Live Learning classes across the country with renowned photographers as well as online resources and tips. The site also features online tutorials for beginners and professionals to learn their way around a digital SLR camera and inkjet printer and unlock the full creative control of digital photography. To learn more about each program and register, please visit: www.usa.canon.com/canonlivelearning

About Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions. Its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), a top patent holder of technology, ranked third overall in the U.S. in 2008†, with global revenues of US $45 billion, is listed as number four in the computer industry on Fortune Magazine’s World’s Most Admired Companies 2009 list, and is on the 2009 BusinessWeek list of “100 Best Global Brands.” Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. At Canon, we care because caring is essential to living together in harmony. Founded upon a corporate philosophy of Kyosei – “all people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future” – Canon U.S.A. supports a number of social, youth, educational and other programs, including environmental and recycling initiatives. Additional information about these programs can be found at www.usa.canon.com/kyosei. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company’s RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss.

†Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.

DPReview hands on review of Samsung NX10

Eric D. Brown — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:00:32 +0000

DPreview.com has a great hands-on review of the newly announced Samsung NX10 DSLR.

There’s been a lot of rumors about this camera over the past 6 months with the number of rumors and semi-announcements growing in December 2009. See Gizmodo, Engadget and other tech blogs talking about this camera in recent weeks/months.

Well…we found out that the Samsung NX10 is a real camera (finally) and DPreview has done a tremendous review (as they always do).

Some of the highlighted features of this new camera:

15.1 Megapixel CMOS APS-C Sensor with 14.6 million pixels.
New Samsung NX Mount
High-Def movie capture with 720p with H.264 at 30fps
3 inch AMOLED (Active-Matrix OLED) Screen

Check out the DPReview Review today.

Samsung NX10 Gets Real, New Camera Format and All [Samsung NX10] (gizmodo.com)
Samsung NX10 made official — APS-C sensor and AMOLED screen crammed into hybrid DSLR body (engadget.com)

Outdoor Photo Gear Reviews Canon 1200mm 5.6 L Lens

Eric D. Brown — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 14:38:31 +0000

Outdoor Photo Gear reviewed the huge Canon EF 1200mm 5.6 L Supertelephoto Lens ($120,000 at B&H!)

I can’t embed the video here due to restrictions by Outdoor Photo Gear but you can watch it on Vimeo here or jump over to Outdoor Photo Gear for the original post.

The 1200mm lens is huge – 36lbs, 33″ long and 9″ wide at the front element!

B&H says of this lens:

For the record, the Canon 1200/5.6L USM contains 13 elements (including 2 Fluorite) in 10 groups, stops down to f32, and has a minimum focus of 45.9′. As for filtration, 48 mm drop-in filters can be inserted towards the aft section of the lens barrel. And before you start kvetching ‘it’s not an IS lens’ keep in mind this hefty pup demands the sturdiest tripod and pan/tilt head you can muster up. An EOS Mark III mounted on this thing looks like a rear lens cap with handle bars. Folks, we’re talking big here… really big.

What a big lens…if you have $120K laying around, jump at this one.

Photography Minute » Cameras / Lenses

Canon 50mm f/1.2 L Lens Review

Photo Samples

If not for me, then who?

Canon 400mm 5.6 L Lens Review

What I love about the Canon 400mm 5.6 L

What I don’t like about the Canon 400mm 5.6 L

Wish List

Conclusion

Canon 500mm f/4.0 L IS USM Review – An amazing lens

Is it worth the extra money?

But what about the photos?

Conclusion

Borrowlenses.com – Great service, excellent people

Video capture with Canon 7D – Muscovy Ducks

Canon 7D DSLR – Product Review

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Kodak announces new cameras focused on sharing photographs

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DPReview hands on review of Samsung NX10

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Outdoor Photo Gear Reviews Canon 1200mm 5.6 L Lens