Follow
on TwitterBookmark this page for purchases, thanks for helping support this site.
Get the beefiest Mac Pro or fastest MacBook Pro, pre-tested and ready to use.
Causing consternation among Photoshop CS5 users, CS5 apparently crashes with the ATI Radeon 4870 video card on the Mac Pro. The problem apparently affects Adobe After Effects also.
Read my related discussion and suggestions in the MacPerformanceGuide blog. My general advice? Turn off OpenGL— it causes problems and makes screen refresh slower.
A full report is coming on the new Voigtlander 90mm f/3.5 APO-Lanthar SL II, but I have a backlog of other very interesting material that I am still working through, so it will take a few weeks.
In the meantime, you can read my review of the other three Voigtlander lenses for Nikon and Canon: the diminutive 20/3.5 Color Skopar, the even more diminutive 40mm f/2 Ultron, and the 58mm f/1.4 Nokton (which I deem the “poor man’s Noctilux”). These lenses are bargains. You won’t find anything nearly as good at the same low price. I already own the 40/2, the 58/1.4 and I will probably buy the 90/3.5 as well. And I’d like to own the flare-free 20mm f/3.5.
Originally I wrote that the lens coatings were improved with “SL II”, but I’ve learned that this is actually not the case. The SL II lenses are chipped: set the f-stop at the minimum aperture, and control the aperture from the camera body. Matrix metering is also supported. But since the lenses still have an aperture ring, with a lens adapter, a Nikon mount lens can be used on Canon EOS (but Canon mount SL II lenses are also available).
I am favorably impressed on multiple fronts: build quality and ergonomics, an outstanding focusing helicoid “throw” and feel, compact size and weight, and bitingly sharp image quality wide open (as it should be for an f/3.5 lens). I’ve found a few optical points to pick at, but this is one darn good lens, and a real joy compared to the crappy build quality of too many lenses in its price range today from C and N.
You can get the Voigtlander 90mm f/3.5 APO-Lanthar SL-II and the other models at Stephen Gandy’s CameraQuest, which is the US authorized Voigtlander dealer. The sample I am reviewing is on loan from CameraQuest.
Updated! Scroll to end of entry.
Today I installed six unused Tenergy CR123A lithium batteries into my Surefire M6 Guardian flashlight. The batteries were about 4 years old, but fresh out of the plastic wrap. They are supposed to last 10 years but ones I had used recently had died very quickly. So I wanted to test a batch to see if they were retaining their “juice”, because I have another 50 or so about the same age (I keep them for power-out emergencies as well as regular flashlight usage).
So I installed six of them into my Surefire M6 Guardian flashlight, looking to see how long they would “burn”. After about 20 minutes or runtime: BOOM!
The rear tailcap blew out violently with a whoosh of white smoke into my office. I was sitting a few feet away, and was very lucky— I was not hit by anything. I grabbed the body of the flashlight (almost too hot to touch), and I threw it outside onto the concrete.
Over the next several minutes, it exploded violently at least twice more. The rear tailcap blew a massive burst of white “steam” (nasty stuff no doubt), and the front lens and bulb blew out so completely that I don’t even know where the shards of glass ended up. That area still reeks, even after being hosed down.
I spent the next few hours trying to eliminate the stink from the entire house, from just the original explosion. It really stinks, and I got a trace of it onto my hand, which worries me: my hand stinks of it, and no amount of soap will change that. I don’t know what I absorbed, or what I might have inhaled.
I’ve used dozens of these batteries before in my smaller flashlights, but in the Surefire M6 Guardian there are six of them drawing a lot of power (rating is for 20 minutes at 500 lumens). This is apparently enough to explode them— extremely dangerous. My remaining Tenergy batteries will be going to the hazmat disposal facility in San Mateo county. The body shell of the robust Surefire M6 Guardian was unaffected, but all working parts and end caps were obliterated. I am now short a very expensive flashlight, but I am glad to be uninjured.
Tenergy is made in China— maybe at the fireworks factory? I should have stuck to the good 'old red Surefire batteries, mine say Made in USA.
Total destruction of internal parts and front/rear of the Surefire M1 Guardian. These batteries made it into a godamn pipe bomb. Shown below is where the lens and bulb used to be.
Update June 30! I've gotten some great technical feedback, here in a nutshell are things to be concerned about, from Ron L. Rathbone of Rathbone Engineering.
Like I explained to the automotive guys, for 21 years I have dissected different chemical battery cells and packs from new battery cells and dead battery packs and tested both worn out packs and new packs and cells. From actual users of the batteries I had been able to secure history on the batteries from how often they were used to the range of abuse and endurance and many other factors. Who manufactured the cell, who assembled the cells into packs, their design strategy, good or bad, and a host of other important factors on thousands of batteries and cells in 21 years.
Just published in DAP is my report on the Nikon AF 16mm f/2.8D fisheye. Also included in my report is a discussion of “defishing” and distortion control.
I enjoyed using the Nikon 16mm fisheye, and I’d like to add it to my lens arsenal at some point (cost: about $929). It produces very high quality images, and is so small and light that it can be taken along in a pants pocket or jacket pocket.
Just posted is my review of the NEC PA271W wide-gamut display, perfect for photographers!
I like the PA271W a lot, and I might just have to buy the evaluation unit, it’s that useful to me.
You can get the NEC PA271W at B&H Photo or OWC. Be sure to get the “BK-SV” model with the bundled calibrator and Spectra View II software, not just any calibrator will do.
I’m very pleased with my new report on the Nikon 14mm f/2.8D and 14-24mm f/2.8G in DAP — sometimes I just find cool and useful stuff, and this time serendipity smiled, resolving a long-standing concern about the Nikon 14-24.
Thanks to B&H Photo for providing the Nikon AF 14mm f/2.8D ED for evaluation (about $1689). I already own the 14-24mm f/2.8G ED (about $1799).
Whether you have considered the 14/2.8D or already own the 14-24/2.8G, you will find useful research in this latest report. In fact, if you own the 14-24, you’ll find it so relevant that it’s worth the DAP subscription price all by itself. Or it least if you prefer not to throw away half your resolution.
I’ve updated my Filters pages to discuss when to use filters, and tips for buying filters.
My best tip: don’t use one without reason!
But there are good reasons to use them, namely protecting the lens from sand or salt spray or peanut butter fingers, removing glare, etc.
June is slow, and I’m slogging away 7 days a week as usual. Rain or shine. OK, so it just shines here in California. Which is a bummer in a darkened office.
Thanks for supporting my efforts by subscribing or renewing to my offerings. It’s how I pay my bills, and how I make this site possible.
Much appreciated.
I’m also working on a report on the Nikon AF 14mm f/2.8.
Is the 14mm prime worthwhile, or is it just better to stick with the much more versatile 14-24mm f/2.8G? I’ll be offering a comparison or two to answer that question, along with sample images.
I’m working on a report on the Nikon AF 16mm f/2.8 fisheye. With some careful compositional effort, it works quite well for landscape photography.
The 16mm can even be used for people, with some care as to positioning. Kevin C enjoys the waterfall in sub-freezing temps early morning on my recent photo tour to Yosemite.
Even though it continues to misfocus regularly (explored in my review in DAP), the more I use the Nikon 24/1.4G the more I like it. It’s a stunning lens for wide aperture landscapes.
It’s beyond expensive at about $2200 (if you can even find one for sale), but it’s Nikon’s best-ever wide angel lens, truly an inspired design, and perhaps even the world’s best. Sic. Uh huh, even the Leica 24mm f/1.4 Summilux-M-ASPH as good as it is isn’t necessarily a better lens when used on the M9, especially with the wonderful color of the D3x, and the eminently useful nearly flat field of the Nikon 24/1.4G, and superior control of color aberrations.
Shoot this sucker wide open, and so long as you focus it right, it’s stunning. A perfect ying/yang between in focus and out of focus. It’s a masterpiece of design.
Screw zooms, if you want a wide, get this lens and use it. At f/1.4 and f/2 and elsewhere.
Lots of recent examples with the 24/1.4G can be found in my Mini guide to wide aperture landscape photography.
Just published in DAP is my Canon Wide Primes piece, comparing the following Canon EF wide angle lenses to the Canon EF 16mm f/2.8L II zoom:
Since each of these lenses by itself costs less than the $1420 EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II zoom, what’s your smart move for both optical performance and value?
There are issues of optical quality, focusing speed, ergonomics and build quality, etc. But why pay top dollar if you only need one or two focal lengths and quality is similar? That’s the question I set out to answer.
After analyzing the results for this review, I remain committed more than ever to my trusty Zeiss lenses, but autofocus is a requirement for some uses, and price is always an issue. But that’s not to say that some of these lenses don’t have good qualities, and the prices are very attractive.
For my shooting, I’d dispense with all these lenses for just one lens that outperforms them all: the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 Distagon (or if you need autofocus, the Canon EF 24mm f/1.4L II). Zooms are overrated, and generally impair my ability to make good images. I use zooms only when I anticipate the inability to gain the access/perspective I want (“foot zoom”), such as with people.
Could the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L be due for a refresh?
In the past few years, Canon has refreshed the 14mm f/2.8L, the 24mm f/1.4L, the 85mm f/1.2L, the TS-E 24/3.5L, all to the “II” version. As well as the 16-35mm f/2.8L II, which is still rather disappointing.
Improved means optical designs and lens coatings, and in some cases, improved focusing and/or ergonomics. Worthwhile efforts and a clear move forward in every case.
While it’s an excellent lens, and well worth owning (I have it), there is no doubt that at the least, the lens coatings could be improved for better color.
But I think Canon could probably raise the performance level too. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a new version at Photokina in September, but that’s just a guess.
In the meantime, it’s a very fine lens, and at about $1369, relatively inexpensive for top Canon glass. If you need a 35mm, and you need AF, it’s a great choice.
Today, I received my B+W 2-stop neutral density filter (see recommended list), to be applied to the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II and 50mm f/1.2L (both highly recommended lenses!).
Without the filter, shooting is constrained to f/2.8 or so in sunlight, even at ISO 100 and 1/8000 second. With snow or bright sand, it might be f/4 or even f/5.6. So you might also want a 3 stop and 6-stop filter as well.
I took a few moments for some harsh daylight shooting wide open at f/1.2, made possible (just barely) by the 2 stops of density: 1/8000 second at ISO 100 at f/1.2. The nice thing about shooting wide open in sunlight is that the lower contrast of a wide open f/1.2 lens helps offset the harsh mid-day lighting. I’m not so delighted with Canon 5D Mark II image quality under such conditions, but perhaps Canon will deliver a better sensor this year.
For more on wide aperture shooting, see my June 20 comments, and my Mini guide to wide aperture landscape photography, which has been well received:
I really like this new piece! — Martin D
That was worth the years subscription in one article! — Timothy A
Watch your gamut with bright colors: I converted the image below to sRGB for web display, and so it’s a little dull. But with a wide gamut monitor, such distinctions are obvious.
The image below is in AdobeRGB, so if it doesn’t look right, get a better browser. It’s out of gamut in sRGB, and goes “flat” if converted to it, though you’ll need a wide gamut monitor to see it.
Courtesy of B&H Photo, I have been working with the Nikon AF 16mm f/2.8 fisheye (about $929). It’s a very compact lens, and what a great option to have along in a tight space! It’s so small in fact, that it can easily fit into a pocket.
A fisheye can be difficult so shoot (as I found!)— it’s important to find something to fill the frame without also grabbing pieces of bright sky, a tripod leg or one’s own leg, etc.
Of course, keeping one’s feet out of the picture can be a challenge.
To my review of the Nikon 200mm f/4 in DAP are added two new pages.
One page shows that performance at distance is very high, and my detailed mosaic comparison shows unequivocally which apertures are optimal at distance.
There is no doubt that the 200/4 Micro Nikkor can make a very fine landscape lens, while also offering excellent working distance down to 1:1 for close-up (macro) work. Highly recommended.
See my June 18 comments for more details.
At about $1650, the Nikon 200mm f/4 is no casual purchase, but it will reward the user with outstanding image quality and greater ease for close-up work, simply because one doesn’t have to be right on top of things.
Don’t forget the HN-30 lens hood, because the lens is prone to veiling flare (haze), should any stray light creep in.
Readers know that I’m quite fond of my wide gamut color calibrated 30" NEC display (read more about wide gamut displays)— when you can’t see the full range of color, you can’t adjust it properly and your odds of printing it well are reduced. Today’s DSLRs have very wide color gamuts, but so many people still think sRGB is fine and/or use a limited-gamut display.
Along comes the NEC 27" display. My evaluation unit is gorgeous— if anything it’s a bit better than the 30" model in terms of contrast, and the color gamut is outstanding (especially the reds). The main difference is that instead of being 2560 X 1600, it’s 2560 X 1440, so you do lose some vertical space in landscape mode.
BUT, if you rotate it vertically (takes just a few seconds), it makes an outlandishly enjoyable way to read a web page like this one, or any site with long pages.
The reduced size screen shot below shows the normal-size display of my blog when viewed on the NEC 27 display in portrait mode. Note the huge amount of content that can be viewed at once. This is simply luxurious.
Keep reading below the screen shot...
For those who want “easy on the eyes”, the page can be zoomed to fit (cmd-+ in Safari), resulting in enlarged ultra-smooth highly readable text; mouse over the screen shot above to get an idea of the difference; now imagine it about 3X taller in real life. Yet you still enjoy a very large amount of “real estate”. The text looks like this when zoomed:
You can preorder the NEC 27" at B&H Photo. It is also carried by OWC (thanks for using those particular links!) In about 1-2 weeks the NEC 27" will ship to vendors, NEC has not started distribution quite yet. Be sure to get the “BK-SV” unit with the bundled calibrator. You’ll also want a USB extension cable and a MiniDisplayPort to DisplayPort cable (Mac Pro users can use the supplied DVI cable). I’ve admonished NEC that they should be supplying both cables. I’m using it with the DisplayPort connector, but I also verified it with the DVI cable (dual link DVI). I do NOT recommend an adapter.
I’ll have more to say about the NEC 27", but I have no reservations about it, and I might even acquire one for myself for the sheer pleasure of reading web pages on it (or viewing portrait orientation photos).
If you’re interested in lenses and filters for wide aperture landscape shooting as I discussed in yesterday’s entry (my Mini guide to wide aperture landscape photography), I’ve put together a list of neutral density filters that I recommend, sorted by size and density. See yesterday’s entry for lens suggestions.
Just added to my Guide to Zeiss ZF.2 / ZE Lenses is a new comparison between the 21mm f/2.8 Distagon and the Canon EF 20mm f/2.8 and 16-35mm f/2.8L II.
The results show just how exceptional the Zeiss 21/2.8 Distagon really is, and why you might want to mothball the Canon zoom (and the 20/2.8). At about $1732, the 21/2.8 Distagon is dear, but it’s so far ahead of the Canon alternatives that it’s a no-brainer.
What I’ve really noticed about the Zeiss 21/2.8 Distagon over time is just how consistent it is; any distance, any lighting, it just delivers, all the time, every time.
The test scene below isn’t terribly exciting, but I needed consistent lighting and the right “layout” to test the 21mm and many other focal lengths, all of which will show up over the next week or so (Canon 24/2.8, 28/1.8, 28/2.8, 35/2, and Nikon also).
Just how good is the Leica 50mm f/0.95 Noctilux-M ASPH? It’s one of the world’s most expensive lenses that can be bought at a store, if you can find one in stock (if one does show up in stock, thanks for using the link from this site!). Leica reportedly can produce only twelve copies a day, and they are not made every day.
The Noctilux uses exotic types of optical glass, as well as an two aspheric elements. Five of the eight elements are “anomalous partial dispersion”, three of those have high refractive power, and the two aspheric elements are ground and polished mechanically, a very expensive and time-consuming process. Reportedly, one of the elements must be coated within 20 minutes or it will oxidize. Not exactly a simple lens to build, hence the high cost.
I have to chuckle when I get the occasional email complaint about purple fringing wide open with some Zeiss f/1.4 and f/2 lenses. If Leica can’t eliminate purple fringing for US$10,495, I guess that’s the way it is. See picture below and that’s the entire frame, not a crop. Purple fringing is also due in good measure to the sensor/camera, not the lens alone. The M9 sensor is very prone to it.
So just how good is the Noctilux? Just published in DAP in my Guide and Review of the Leica M9 is a new page on Noctilux 50mm f/0.95 lens aberrations.
Just published in DAP is my new mini guide for making landscape images at wide apertures such as f/1.4 and f/0.95. I feel satisfied both with the images I made in a very short time, as well as my presentation on the approach; I’m pleased as I found it very stimulating to shoot this way, and I hope it will be of Service.
I really like this new piece! — Martin D
That was worth the years subscription in one article! — Timothy A
Examples presented are with the Leica 50mm f/0.95 Noctilux-M ASPH, and the Nikon 24mm f/1.4G (which is a very impressive lens). I’ll add Canon examples at some point, and indeed Canon has two great fast choices for this approach, the 50/1.2L and the 85/1.2L II.
You’ll want a neutral density filter for this type of shooting, because with f/1.4 or faster lenses, no camera has a fast enough shutter speed in bright conditions.
The following lenses are a partial list of many good choices for this approach:
* indicates a lens that must be purchased on the used market
Click to view a larger image.
Here’s one fascinating area I show my photo tour attendees. The spring melt was raging through this canyon with attendant sound and fury. I normally can cross this river, but it was way too dangerous with triple the flow I’m used to seeing in late June.
Contact me if you’re interested in a mid-July photo tour.
Click to view a larger image.
It’s not uncommon to be asked where to get a deal on Macs, here are some deals on the Mac Pro and deals on the MacBook Pro.
B&H Photo is one place you might not be thinking about for a Mac, but they have aggressive prices on new machines, with some models not only priced lower than at Apple, but not far off refurbished prices, with extras, like free shipping and free Parallels 5. See my list of Macs and peripherals at B&H Photo. Some people also find the sales tax situation a draw— B&H charges sales tax only in NY. Thanks for using the links on this site to B&H, no cost to you and they help support my efforts.
For example, here’s a great deal on a brand-new Mac Pro 2.66GHz quad-core, the machine that 80% of my consulting clients end up with, and are invariably pleased with, especially outfitted as an MPG Photo Workstation.
For outfitting any Mac with more memory and drives, head over to OWC. For example, after rebate, 8GB for the MacBook Pro is only about $260.
Courtesy of B&H Photo, I have been working with the Nikon AF Micro Nikkor 200mm f/4.0D ED-IF.
My review is now published in DAP. I will likely circle around with more material after reviewing some other lenses (Canon and Nikon).
Key findings:
After working with the 200/4D, I’ve concluded that it’s a must-have for any serious macro shooter, in large part for its very useful working distance, but also for its all-around versatility and very high sharpness.
Anyone shooting rattlesnakes will really like this lens much better than a 100mm lens.
At about $1650, it’s no casual purchase, but will reward the user with outstanding image quality and greater ease with many subjects, simply because one doesn’t have to be right on top of things. Don’t forget the HN-30 lens hood.
With even some primes lenses costing upwards of US$2000 these days, it makes a lot of sense to try a lens before you buy. It’s not just about lens performance, it’s about size, weight, ergonomics too. Trying a lens is a great way to know for sure.
While I always work hard to discuss my concerns about a lens in my reviews in DAP, sometimes you just have to see it for yourself.
What better way to try out LensRentals.com than with a 5% discount? Use discount code “diglloyd5”. Located near the FedEx hub, these guys have Nikon, Canon, Leica, Zeiss, and a whole lot more— give them a try and I’m certain you’ll be impressed.
I noticed your piece on LR this morning and I just wanted to add my 0.02. I never even thought about renting a lens until I read about it on your site (I knew you could do it, it just wasn't something that occurred to me that *I* ought to try). Those guys are great! I rented numerous lenses from them for varying periods/purposes, Zeiss, Nikkor and Sigma, and the experience sure helped me make my next purchasing decisions (and I learned a thing or two about the behavior of certain lenses - and my cameras - that I'd never read in any tests on the internet (lenses that you hadn’t reviewed), so it was unexpectedly useful) . — Scott H
When you’re sure you want to buy that lens, head over to our trusted source B&H Photo.
B&H Photo is now listing the new Zeiss Compact Prime series for video and film-making applications, for delivery in 2-3 weeks.
Shooting high-definition (HD) video using a DSLR is an explosive trend, leading to DSLRs being used as backup cameras on major films, the recording of certain popular TV shows, independent film-makers, videos supplementing traditional photography (eg weddings), and of course, your everyday self-made videos.
The optical design is the same as the existing Zeiss ZF.2 / ZE optics, but the lens barrel and mechanics are completely different, addressing the needs of video applications. See my April 4 notes for details.
See my Guide to Zeiss ZF.2 / ZE Lenses for more on the outstanding line of Zeiss optics for Nikon, Canon and Pentax.
Courtesy of B&H Photo, I have the Nikon AF Micro Nikkor 200mm f/4.0D ED-IF in hand. I plan on a lens review for it soon in DAP.
Initial impressions:
My initial impressions are favorable enough, and this lens unique enough in its capabilities that I think it would be a useful addition to anyone who like shooting close-up, and it can also double as a compact 200mm lens for other purposes. At about $1650, it’s costly enough that it needs to be thought out in context of one’s other lenses, but I have little doubt that the working distance is well worth it for macro shooters.
This frog is a visual trick. Is it inverted or raised? Strictly as-shot, nothing manipulated.
While I might still post some Mac and computer related entries here in this blog, be sure to follow my blog and/or RSS feed at MacPerformanceGuide.
Posts over at MacPerformanceGuide include entries about Macs, optimizing photoshop, memory, SSDs, RAID, hard drives, etc. A lot of the material is relevant to Windows PCS, so give it a chance if you’re a Windows user.
There is a blog as well as a huge group of articles, especially for photographers, such as Optimizing Photoshop CS5, and ground-breaking evaluations of solid state drives.
I just posted an entry about why I’ve switched entirely to Photoshop CS5.
In my June 3 entry, I discussed shallow depth of field, and how it might better focus attention on a subject, rather than stopping down for sharper results. From a perceptual standpoint, sharpness is relative, not an absolute metric. In-focus eyes stand in relief to out of focus everything else, even if the absolute sharpness is less than what is possible.
Landscape images with pin-sharp details everywhere are frequently about the entire scene, about no element in particular, rather than any particular element of that scene. The mind is left to wander in a way. But hint and suggestion from out of focus elements can actually communicate more, more quickly, because it leaves the mind free to perceive in an orderly way, with focused attention on one element, with other environmental information settling into place naturally. Too much depth of field impedes.
Below is a portrait for consideration. This is one of a series that I shot in the White Mountains to help teach myself what works with this technique. The technical flaws of vignetting and very little sharpness imbue this image with a “precision of attention”. I shot a tighter version which might be a bit better, but this example serves to show how the wide aperture can pick out the subject against foreground and background, an atypical effect for a landscape photo.
While this image was made at f/0.95, an f/1.4 lens can achieve similar effects. In particular, the vignetting at the corners is essential, as is the shallow depth of field. I’m planning on elaborating on this approach in my Guide and Review of the Leica M9, in DAP.
Patriarch Grove is also a research area (eg dendrochronology), with many living and expired Pinus longaeva and even chunks of wood tagged with small metal tags. A few have lost portions to science as seen here, an aesthetic loss, but of minor issue as compared to the cutting of the Prometheus tree. The downed tree shown below could be at least several thousand years old, since a living specimen is dated at 4841 years as of 2010. The dense resin-infused wood decays extremely slowly. Please, if you ever visit Patriarch Grove, tread very lightly, and disturb nothing. It is a rare and beautiful place. You can accompany me on a photo tour sometime if you want to photograph here.
What to do when the lighting isn’t so great and the snow has mostly melted? Have some fun at the office!
For the White Mountains portion of my photo tour to Yosemite and the White Mountains, luck delivered a late spring snowstorm Friday night. At 11,000', the snow was blowing sideways around midnight, making me a bit nervous about road conditions (and keeping me awake), so I headed down to the 10,000' level. I always stay high, rather than down below in Bishop, as it is too glorious a place to waste time descending and re-ascending.
I had the whole place to myself, including a fresh blanket of brilliant white snow on Saturday morning, albeit a challenging situation with with strong winds whipping ice crystals at me until mid morning.
It was possible to drive to Patriarch Grove, but not all the way in, because a large drift cut off the access road about one mile from road’s end. But that was fine, as I prefer the upper slopes of the grove anyway, with the starkly beautiful sentinels.
Photos below in infrared. Learn all about infrared in my Guide to Digital Infrared Photography.
This equipment is down near Schulman Grove— no stinkin’ cell phone service, these are high speed data links I believe. White Mountain Peak and Patriarch Grove are in the distance at right.
I’m back from my photo tour to Yosemite and the White Mountains. Updates to follow as I sort out 60GB of image files (some are test series, but it's still a lot).
One frustrating event on my trip was my inadvertent use of an inexpensive “chipped” lens adapter, to mount the Zeiss 35mm f/2 Distagon on my Canon 5D Mark II (the chipped feature is of no real value in my experience).
I had purchased the adapter some time ago, and instead of discarding it after noticing that it had difficulty coming off the lens (so I could never use it by accident), I had left it in my camera bag. Since adapters all look pretty similar, that was a big mistake, as I ended up attaching it to my Zeiss ZF.2 35mm f/2 Distagon.
Later, while attempting to remove the adapter, the release lever failed. How to remove the adapter is unclear, leaving me for now with a useless Zeiss 35/2 Distagon. It looks like destructive surgery is needed to remove it, but how to do so safely without causing any harm to the lens is unclear. A locking pin is what keeps it attached, but there is no way I can see to get at the pin to allow the adapter to come off the lens. No way except drilling perhaps. I would be delighted to destroy the adapter and thus be rid of it forever, but not at the expense of damage to the lens.
Update: I successfully removed the adapter, in pieces! Good riddance.
I’ve had problems with lens adapters before: one "pro" brand would not latch on, setting the lens up for destruction when it leaves the camera heading for the pavement. It’s not just such obvious issues, it’s also precision, fit, and materials used.
Bottom line: there are only two brands that have worked reliably for me: CameraQuest and Novoflex. Neither are inexpensive, but my recent experience once again shows that they’re the only smart choice. Read more about lens adapters.
Arriving late in the day just before my trip, I had time for only a few quick grab shots with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS USM, on loan courtesy of B&H Photo.
The term “grab shot” is a bit of of contradiction with the 800mm, since there’s nothing quick about setting up my hefty Gitzo 1548 tripod along with a specialized support system that offers a considerable improvement in stability by supporting the lens at the front and at the tripod mount, more on that another day.
With IS turned off, and using the Live View “silent mode” of the 5D Mark II, which generates no vibration because there is no first curtain being opened, I was able to make a sharp image at 1/500 second without any trouble; I’ll explore lower shutter speeds of course. Shooting an 800mm is like macro photography: there is razor thin depth of field: the slightest focus error and sharpness vanishes, even at f/5.6 or f/8. In fact, the breeze was making my focus target leaf move in and out of focus in this example, clearly visible in Live View.
The depth of field is so narrow that it’s only a few millimeters thick for peak sharpness at this distance of ~60 feet. The curvature of the barrel immediately begins to soften the image as it quickly moves out of the zone.
Zeiss today announced the ZF.2 25mm f/2.8 Distagon for Nikon F mount. This lens is optically identical to the previous ZF 25mm f/2.8 Distagon, but now has the updated mount with electronic aperture control, which I discuss in detail in my Guide to Zeiss ZF / Zeiss ZE Lenses as well as in Zeiss ZF, ZF.2, ZE lenses— ZF.2 compared to ZF. My information from Zeiss is that no ZE version for Canon EOS is planned.
Canon users shooting video might well prefer the Nikon mount for its manual aperture control when mounted on Canon EOS (with an adapter). I’ve long shot the ZF and ZF.2 line on Canon EOS just that way, even for still photography, and it has distinct advantages for both video and some more deliberate shooting (manual stop down at all times). And since a ZE model is not available for Canon (and won’t be), that’s your only choice!
The 25mm f/2.8 Distagon is a premium lens for outdoor shooting for its high image quality, light weight, compact size, and excellent manual focusing ergonomics. It’s one of my favorites when I’m out in the wild hiking, and the brilliance of its results at distance are second to none, though it does have some lateral chromatic aberration (which has never been bothersome for my images, and is easily corrected).
It also has unusual properties at close range in terms of artistic image rendition. It focuses to with 6cm of the front lens element achieving a 1:2.36 magnification, which qualifies it as a macro lens, and which is great fun. I rate its optical design as a classic, one with a distinct and appealing personality at close range, perhaps to become a cult favorite of those liking unusual image rendition.
I expect to have a sample of the ZF.2 25mm f/2.8 Distagon soon, and I’ll be updating my Guide with some new photos at that time.
The original ZF model is about $826, the new ZF.2 model will likely be closer to $1000. Since optics are the same, the savings might be well worthwhile for some. I do prefer the electronic aperture of the ZF.2 model for convenience, but it’s a steep premium.
The anticipated hexacore Mac Pro did not make an appearance at WWDC today. There is an outside chance of an incremental upgrade to the hexacore chip tomorrow June 8, but that would be a bit surprising with the iPhone and iOS taking center stage and no doubt all Apple’s available resources are aimed squarely at making that effort yet another blockbuster.
Which means that if you want a new Mac Pro, here are my recommended systems at B&H Photo, at lower prices than you can get at Apple, and sales tax is also "interesting".
I discussed the SanDisk 32GB cards with rebate in my May 26 blog— a very good deal given the combination of capacity, performance and price.
I ordered two of them and I’ve been using them since then in my Nikon D3x and Canon 5D Mark II; they’ve been working flawlessly. I like knowing that I can shoot for a long time without having to worry about them filling up, but I also really like the download speed in my Firewire 800 card reader of about 54MB/sec, which makes even a multi-gigabyte download go plenty fast for me, and I think that instant gratification takes too long.
See my June 3 notes on the Canon 5D Mark II converted for infrared use, as well as my Guide to Digital Infrared Photography for more on infrared photography, or any of my free articles on infrared.
The scene below makes a good test for hot spots and overall brilliance in infrared. Taken with the Zeiss 50mm and 85mm f/1.4 IR-Planars, which have special lens coatings for infrared transmission. Note the uniform illumination, absence of color shading, and absence of a bright central hot spot; the majority of lenses have troublesome issues here. It’s the special coatings that make the difference.
I’ll be taking the 25/2.8 IR-Distagon, 50/1.4 IR-Planar and 85/1.4 IR-Planar lenses with me to Yosemite this week, and I look forward to using these special lenses with Live View on my Canon 5D Mark II IR. Live View is very helpful in infrared, where backfocus can vary lens-by-lens.
Samples below handheld, processed with Canon DPP, Auto Levels, sharpened, that's it. False color can of course be converted to grayscale in a variety of ways, as I explore in my Guide to Digital Infrared Photography.
A few evenings ago, I set out to track down what might be causing the new Nikon 24mm f/1.4G to mis-focus at distance. It turned out to be a futile effort, with the 24/1.4G frequently mis-focusing at distance as I had seen before; I found no pattern or clue that might indicate why. I have not been able to obtain another sample and so I cannot cross-check as yet with another lens.
I’ve added 4 new focus examples to my review of the Nikon AF-S 24mm f/1.4G ED in DAP.
My local dealer claims that the 24/1.4G is available at present only through NPS (Nikon Professional Services), which might be true, since there don’t seem to be any for sale anywhere. I’ve also learned that at least two lenses are in for repair at Nikon for the same focusing issue, with Nikon able to replicate the issue, but whether it can be fixed or is a design issue remains unclear.
My phone calls and emails to Nikon have gone unanswered.
Just added to my review of the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II in DAP is are two new pages, one showing performance at 142mm, and the other showing performance at 200mm.
The examples are with sample #6, the best of six samples I tested, and the results can be taken as representative of the best possible performance for the 70-200/2.8L IS II.
The 142mm page also includes full-resolution downloads for f2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8.
At about $2499, the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II is hardly a casual purchase, but it banishes the haze at f/2.8 of the original model, which might be reason enough to upgrade for anyone who regularly shoots it wide open.
Just added to my review of the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II in DAP is a updated page assessing “breathing”, or the change in focal length with close focus, in comparison to the Canon 200mm f/2L IS.
Also shown is the image quality at close range.
Just added to my review of the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II in DAP is a new page showing performance at 200mm with the Canon 1.4X EF Extender II (eg 280mm f/4).
Apertures f/4, f/5.6 and f/8 are shown with crops from 7 areas of the frame.
Highway 120 from Crane Flat through Tioga Pass will be open tomorrow June 5 at 8am, according to the National Park Service. Check out Dennis Mattinson’s Eastern Sierra Weather Center for more.
Perfect timing for my Yosemite Photo Tour next week. Weather has been warm, so beautiful scenery with gushing snow melt will provide some unusual opportunities rarely seen by most Yosemite visitors. Why not join me? There is one spot left.
Shoot conditions are just awesome this time of year, and I’ll be bringing some unusual gear, including three Zeiss infrared lenses (which participants can use).
No, not the stock market.
The recent very public noise about Adobe Flash on iPad caused Steve Jobs to post a letter explaining Apple’s approach. One reason you’ll never see Flash on this site is that it’s not only a godawful user experience, when my browser crashes, guess what’s responsible? It’s almost always Flash; if it’s not busy sucking up a huge amount of CPU time, then it gets bored and crashes the browser. Or it’s another open security risk that is being actively exploited. I want a checkbox in the browser to disable it entirely.
Hallelujah Steve, your refusal to accept Flash on iPad has immediately forced a major industry move towards far better technologies like HTML5. Billions of internet users will benefit from your keen judgment, and trillions of crashes will be averted in future years. Who the hell would want to destabilize a hot new product with a product with a dismal track record? Not to mention that amazing new web applications will happen in HTML5, not even feasible in Flash. Now if only the same could be done for Microsoft Windows.
Update: I hit a nerve with a Windows user on this one. I'm told that it's all because Steve Jobs is pissed off at Adobe from something that happened 15 years ago, and that Macs cost 2-3X as much as PCs, and that Flash crashes because Apple won’t give Adobe secret API support to make Flash go faster (a non-sequitor of course). And that Flash never crashes PCs (except that Windows users tell me it does). And that I have a Mac bias. I guess that means I have an iPad bias also.
Readers know that the new Canon 70-200mm gave me fits while testing it, due to various optical problems, documented in my review of the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II in DAP. I tested 4 samples for that review, and none were optically right.
Yesterday I finally gave in and bought one locally at Keeble and Shuchat, taking advantage of the store-pays-sales-tax deal (no small potatoes at 9.25% in tax-pig California). I tested it at 1pm, went home, promptly found symmetry problems (soft on one side), went back at 6pm, retested and also with a 1.4X teleconverter and other lenses, which both confirmed the problem and looked pretty poor with the 1.4X on a good chunk of the right side of the frame. This process is very time consuming, because just one quick test won’t do, multiple aperture series and cross checks with other lenses are mandatory to verify such things beyond a doubt. My time spent doing quality control that Canon skipped for their $2500 lens: about 8 hours of shooting and analysis and cross-checking. Now that’s an expensive lens.
Today, my local dealer agreed to exchange the lens (one reason to support your local dealer!). Taking a chance on another dud, I instead finally got lucky: this lens shows symmetric sharpness and is crackling sharp wide open out to the corners. It only took six (6) samples to get one that is optically symmetric, as it ought to be. Your luck might be better, especially since you won’t notice minor skew issues with most subjects. But Brand-new Blur is my reality, based on experiences with many lenses. And this issue will only grow in importance with higher resolution DSLRs.
But dang, this Canon zoom is very impressive now that I have one working the way it ought to. My copy is a keeper, and f/2.8 is outstanding. Highly recommended.
Now if only my brand-new Canon 5D Mark II didn’t have a bright white hot pixel at ISO 200.
In bright sunlight, our usual reaction is to eagerly stop down for increased depth of field. But the combination of vignetting and shallow depth of field can focus attention. This is an area I’m keen on exploring at f/0.95 and f/1.4 with lenses like the Leica 50/0.95 Noctilux-M and the Nikon 24mm f/1.4.
Anyone with an f/1.4 or faster lens might want to consider adding a neutral density filter to their repertoire. For an f/1.4 lens, a 2-stop filter is a good choice for most shooting but might not be enough for very bright scenes (eg snow). A polarizer can also work because it cuts 1.3 - 2 stops. A 3-stop, 6-stop or even 10-stop filter can all be useful. There are also variable ND filters which are essentially dual polarizers, but they are more expensive, and can be prone to other artifacts, so I stick to regular ND filters.
ND filters also allow blur of moving parts of the image, such as moving water or people (when a long enough exposure is used).
This shot is at f/0.95. I took it as a test shot, but I like the simple result; the combination of color, vignetting and very shallow depth of field make it visually interesting, perhaps also because those two effects are at odds with what most daylight photos look like. The shot almost looks like a miniature, similar to the effect possible with a tilt lens.
Note to Leica: when servicing cameras, restore user settings so that the camera is not set to stinkin' JPEG when user had it set for uncompressed RAW.
Also at f/0.95, the shallow depth of field and vignetting really pull the eye into the center.
Just arrived after conversion at infrared specialist MaxMac.com, my Canon 5D Mark II was converted for infrared: the sensor cover glass which normally blocks infrared light is removed, and replaced with glass that passes infrared and blocks visible light.
See my Guide to Digital Infrared Photography for more on infrared photography, or any of my free articles on infrared.
I have long shot a Canon 5D IR (same conversion), but the Live View feature of the 5D Mark II is a big advantage for me, because I shot a variety of manual focus lenses which vary in focal properties, and infrared backfocus can be adjusted effectively only for one lens; others will be more or less inaccurate (many lenses are documented in my Guide)
I chose internal filtration of 715nm for this latest conversion, roughly equivalent to a B+W 092. Filtration at 715nm yields useful false color effects, not just for false color fun, but also for black and white conversion, because it allows more tonal separation among the color channels. The 715nm conversion allows handheld shooting at ISO 100 of about 1/320 second @ f/8. Additional filtration, eg a B+W 093 can be applied on the lens if desired.
The image below is literally the first image I shot, just out my front door, but I think it shows the potential of the converted camera. I’ll be shooting a lot more on my photo tour to Yosemite next week.
Removal of the original cover glass also removes the anti-aliasing (blur) filter, so infrared can be even sharper than visible light, provided that you focus it accurately.
In working with some long Canon telephotos recently, and now replicating the results with Nikon equipment, I now have a working theory that mirror lockup with remote release is not enough once past the ~300mm range: the shutter itself causes enough vibration to degrade image quality at lower shutter speeds.
Update! Reader Andrew Free sent a link to this page about Canon’s Live View electronic first curtain shutter. I’ll look into this with the 5D Mark II. —
I knew this to be true some years ago with ~800mm lenses using cameras like the Nikon D2x, but I was a bit surprised to see it at 400mm, especially given the care I take with mirror lockup and a remote release. This is something I’ll be investigating this month and documenting in my usual style, along with suggested mitigation strategies.
Multiple takes with both Canon and Nikon equipment need to be repeated to prove out the theory, and certainly an 800mm lens should demonstrate it definitively.
NOTE: my first post read TC-20E II and should have read TC-20E III, the new aspherical Nikon teleconverter.
Thanks to B&H Photo, I have the new Nikon TC-20E III aspherical 2x Teleconverter that I’m testing with the Nikon AF-S 200mm f/2 ED-IF VR, and also coming soon is the monster Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS USM bazooka (hey, it‘s only 9.9 pounds!).
It will be a learning experience to figure out how to reliably make sharp images with an 800mm lens, a natural extension of The Sharpest Image in DAP!
Now if I can just get clear skies high in the Sierra next week, because a big challenge with long teles is getting clear air, not to mention distortion from air density differences.
Nikon TC-20E III — Mouse-over the actual pixels crop below taken at 1/40 second in order to see the 1/160 second result (same aperture, ISO 50 vs ISO 400). While there is some noise at ISO 400, the difference in sharpness is real.
INFRARED SALE— Nikon D70-IR with matched-focus 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 Nikon VR zoom, battery and charger, Really Right Stuff L-bracket
$990.
