Lens focal lengths from 16mm fish eye up to 420mm telephoto

On a fine Summer's day last year in my village, I decided to see what the range of every lens in my collection was. I took a picture with each one and combined them into this 50 second clip. . .

At the start, I used my EOS 5D MKII and the Russian Zenitar 16mm fish eye. After the 300 mm  I switched to my EOS 7D to make use of the crop factor which gave me an effective 420 mm focal length.

Since doing this test, I have sold my old 300mm and my 70 - 200 zoom. They've been replaced by the Canon EF 100 - 400L  zoom so I may have to repeat it again!

Thanks for reading.

On location. Olten

A quick snap taken yesterday whilst on location doing interiors at a doctor's practice in Olten. I used the EOS5D MKII with a 17 - 40 for the room photographs and my EOS 7d with a 50 mm f1.4 was used for detail pics.

Extasia 2012 - Switzerland shows its naughty side

It's that time of year again. The annual Extasia erotic fair (Erotikmesse) was held in Basel at the end of November.

The event is held inside the ice 

hockey arena in Basel

This time I was taking pictures for a website that must (at the moment) remain nameless. 

I photographed the same event last year. 

The only difference between this year and last year, apart from some of the acts of course was the fact that I was able to "field test" my new 24 - 105 lens.

I attended on the Friday opening night which, in my opinion is best for photography as it's less well attended meaning more space to move around and photograph.

On my EOS 5d MKII I mounted the flash and the 17 - 40. This lens is ideal for close up action and when you can't move amongst a throng of photographers*. On my 7d I mounted a Speedlite and the 24 - 105 which, due to the crop factor gave the equivalent of a 38 - 168.

I was really impressed with the autofocus speed of this lens. It focussed quick and silently. The image stabilisation also worked like a charm for the few occasions when I wanted to shoot without flash.

Here are a few impressions of the acts from the evening. I've kept them sfw (safe for work).

   

Get knotted. Japanese rope tying

This is German pornstar Lena Nitro who later 

produced a flag from seemingly nowhere.

 

 Marcello Bravo and his real life

 partner Hally Thomas

 The Annex fashion show team

 Hally Thomas with her solo act

For these images showing  two of the pole dancers from the FKK club in Basel, I switched the Speedlites off. The image on the left was taken with ISO 400 at an exposure of 1/400sec @f9 on my EOS 5d MKII. The image on the right is a happy accident. I used 1/2 sec @f4 on the 7d. I  personally like the blurring.

I saw this table on the way out full of flyers. Anyone want to buy a swingerclub?

Thanks for reading.


* what exactly is the collective noun for a group of photographers? Answers in the comments please.

Out of the comfort zone.

For the last ten years I was doing 90% of my photographic work in the studio.

Using slow reversal film at 64 ISO , I worked with a medium format camera locked down on a FOBA studio tripod which wouldn't budge one millimetre even if you rugby tackled it.

 Foba studio stand

The finished results were intended for brochures, adverts and the internet etc.

I think that the fastest film I had used during that time was rated at ISO 200.

This had to change when I took some pictures at a seminar. The event was held in a former church which had very high ceilings so therefore no bounce flash. Also I didn't want to distract the speakers and the audience with my strobes.

I knew that my Eos 7d and my EOS 5d MKII have good low light capabilities so I decided to shoot at 800 ISO. Not very high, you might think but remember that my previous high ISO exploits were in the UK, over twenty years ago, when I was shooting football in Winter with my camera set at 1600 ISO before half-time and 3200 in the second half. The results which were used in the newspaper were undoubtedly grainy. 

Thoughts like this were in the back of my mind when I decided to shoot at a measly 800 ISO for the seminar.

The four lenses that I used were the EF 17 - 40, EF 28-135 IS,  EF 24mm f2.8 and the EF 50mm f1.4

I started off by photographing every speaker from beside the stage with my 50mm lens. 

Luckily, the first speaker was wearing an outfit that was nearly 18% grey. I spot metered off the jacket and used that reading on the subsequent images of speakers in the same place.

 EOS 7d. EF 50mm f1.4. 1/50sec @ f4. 800 ISO

The crop factor when using the 50mm lens on the 7d meant that it was in effect an 80mm lens

 EOS 5d MKII. EF 28-135 IS 

1/6 sec@ f5.6. 800 ISO

 EOS 5d MKII. EF 24mm f2.8.

1/12 sec@ f4. 800 ISO

For these two shots I waited until the speaker was stationary and not moving his arms etc because the speed was very low. The camera was supported on a G-clamp resting on a table.
 

 EOS 5d MKII. EF 24mm f2.8.

1/13sec@f5. 800 ISO

 EOS 5d MKII. EF 24mm f2.8.

1/15sec@f4.5. 800 ISO

 EOS 5d MKII. EF 24mm f2.8.

1/40sec@f3.2. 800 ISO

Then it was back to the office to convert the RAW data. My standard method is just to correct the white balance, sharpen the final JPG and correct any lens aberrations . These are all done in Canon's own DPP software.

Before and after of the DPP window

All in all a quick easy job that was done without flash. Maybe next time I'll be brave enough to set the speed a little bit higher  :o)


Thanks for reading.

Tom's Top Ten

It's that time of year again.
Everyone is looking back and producing lists for the year's end. Whether it's the top gadgets or the most purchased records, you'll find ranking lists everywhere.
So, in keeping with this trend, I proudly present my favourite (own) images of the year. I can remember each one so vividly .


In no particular order, they are as follows:

London. January 2011

EOS 5d 17 - 40 zoom

1/20th @ f4 with Speedlite set at -1 stop

This was taken at the beginning of the year when I was over in London. My son Nicholas was with me and we were doing the touristy things. As we were heading home I came across this scene with the red phone box and a pub in the background. I racked the zoom out to 17 mm and stood close to the phone box to make it large in the frame. The ambient light measure 1|20sec at f4 with the ISO set at 500. I stuck a 420 EX flash in the hotshoe and set it to underexpose by one F stop.

o0o

Diegten April  2011

EOS 7d 28 - 135 zoom at 65 mm

1/50th @f13

This is near my home and I mentioned it in a previous blog post. I had often seen the blossom on the trees but had previously never had enough time to get around to recording it. Again, I was with Nicholas. I used my Benbo tripod for this image. This is an HDR of three images.

o0o

Grossmünster Church

EOS 5d 17 - 40 zoom

1/3rd sec at f13

The only "work" image in this list. This was taken at the Grossmünster church in Zürich for my friend, the Swiss Lighting designer Renato De Toffol. He has installed a mood lighting programme in the church and I spent several hours there. Again, this is an HDR image. The ISO was set at 320.

o0o

Bench in the forest

Canon G9

1/60 @F2.8

Nothing much really to write about this one. I was walking with the family through the forest near my home and saw this bench amongst the foliage. As I was travelling light. I used the G9 to record it. I always set the ISO manually and this time it was set at 125.

o0o

Through the arrow slits.

EOS 5d 17 - 40 zoom

1/200 sec @ F11

Taken from the Castel Grande in Bellinzona, Switzerland when I was on holiday earlier in the year. This was a slight variation on my sunny day exposure and the ISO was set to 200.

o0o

Italian Deli. Lugano, Switzerland

EOS 5d 17 - 40 zoom

1/50th @F5

We spent a few hours in Lugano and I found it really hard to find anything remotely interesting to photograph. my wife went to do some shopping and I wandered around for a while until I came across this popular delicatessen. I took several images of the customers buying food but had to wait about fifteen minutes until the area in front of the deli was clear. the light was fading fast as a storm was approaching so I bumped the ISO up to 320 and shot this one

o0o

Boats docked at Gandria, Switzerland

EOS 5d 17 - 40 zoom

1/200 sec @F13

A typical "postcard" type image but I still enjoy this picture very much because of the memories it invokes. I remember the warm sunshine here. The olive trees and the narrow cobbled streets.

o0o

Ancient church near Sonvico, Switzerland

EOS 5d 17 - 40 zoom

1/125 @ F18

This is the ancient church of San Martino (Chiesa di San Martino) near Sonvico, Switzerland. I saw this church in a guide book and decided to go and take a look. We found the town of Sonvico quite easily but couldn't locate the church. Sonvico itself seemed to be closed for dinner and there wasn't a soul on the streets. Finally a bank opened its doors and I enquired inside. The bank manager was very helpful and drew me a map. We got in the car and drove several kilometers until the road forked off left and went through a forest. I was beginning to wonder if I'd be able to turn the car around when we came to a clearing and there it was. Beautifully situated in a clearing with the charmingly named "Denti della vecchia" (Old person's teeth) mountain range in the background.

o0o

WW1 tank traps at Chichenzimmersattel

EOS 5d 17 - 40 zoom

1/125 @ F14

A couple of months ago, the Swiss organisation responsible for the upkeep of military monuments has a sort of open day. Two of the monuments were in my county so I decided to go and take a look. The first monument was a bunker which was well hidden up the side of a hill in the forest and didn't produce any satisfactory results. The second one was these tank traps which date back to the first world war. They are located on a mountain pass on what used to be the main road to Basel before the current motorway was built. It was extremely windy on that day and the storm clouds began forming. I had to brace myself against a wall to avoid camera shake.

o0o

Jetty. St Prex, Switzerland

EOS 5d 28 - 135

1/250 @ F10

This was taken during a stop in St Prex in the French part of Switzerland. I wanted the birds to fly off but they showed no signs of leaving at all as I walked towards them. Finally, I had to hold my camera to my eye as I waved my right arm around. The birds finally got the message.

Well that's it for now. I hope you found this 2011 list of interest. It will be interesting to see what my favourites will be next year. Please feel free to leave a comment.

I wish you all a merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous new year.

Tom

Extasia 2011. Switzerland gets naughty.

I’ve already mentioned and written about the annual Streetparade but there is one other event which also attracts visitors from afar and that’s the Extasia.

Extasia is Switzerland’s answer to the Venus erotic fair in Germany although on a smaller scale.

The event used to be held in Zürich but moved a few years ago to Basel next to the football stadium near where I work.

The event is always covered in the press in the week’s preceding. This year’s coverage centred on the fact that a religious group would be holding a prayer vigil outside the hall. This no doubt generated free publicity.

I turned up shortly after opening time and bagged myself a position beside the main stage. Looking around me I saw lots of expensive DSLR’s and of course the ubiquitous camera-phones everywhere. 

      

Hands up if you own a camera-phone 

I had the EOS 5d MKII with a 17 – 40 zoom for anything that might happen right next to me and an EOS 7d with a 28 – 135 zoom to handle the performances that happened a bit further away. Both cameras had flashes fitted.

One 8Gb card gone already 

Here are some of my photographic impressions from the night. Of course there was lots of nudity but I’m only putting the tamer stuff here.

 

Thanks for reading.