I've purchased a Canon EF S 10-18 mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM lens, so now I have the entire focal length range from 10 mm to 700 mm (Sigma 150-500 mm lens plus a 1.4 X tele-converter) covered. In a few minutes, I'll throw in a few of the photos that I've shot with the new ultra-wide angle lens, even though those images will be out of order. I think that the ways that I plan to use that lens the most will surprise some people.
Anyway, the time has come for me to stop buying more gear, and concentrate more on learning how to use what I have. Toward that end, I was watching some online video tutorials to learn more about my camera bodies and lenses over this weekend, they were a great help. However, along with the how-to videos I also watched a few online reviews of the Canon 60 D camera, and several of the lenses that I own.
I'd really like to go off on a rant about these online reviews, but I won't. I will say that any one thinking of purchasing photography gear should give a wide berth to most of the online video reviews done by individuals, or even professionals for that matter. Image quality seems to be the lowest priority of many of the reviewers, who spend most of their time discussing the mundane aspects of a product.
I suppose that's understandable, the reviewer is given a piece of equipment for a day or two, maybe a week, then they have to do the review to get it online or in print as soon as possible to beat the competition. The reviewers don't have the time to really get to know a piece of equipment before the review is due. Added to that is the fact that most of the reviewers are used to using higher end gear, so they don't put much effort into reviews for mid to low-cost gear.
Anyway, I spent some more quality time with the manual for my camera the weekend before last, and along with the online tutorials this past weekend, I've learned even more about my camera. Most of what I learned has to do with making adjustments quicker than what I have been doing, but there were a few capabilities that I didn't know that my 60 D had, or didn't know how to use.
One of the things that I read up on was controlling the flash. I haven't tried many photos using the flash, but when I did, I wasn't at all happy with the results. If I fired the flash with no exposure compensation, the images were typically overexposed. If I tried to use the exposure control to change that, I never knew what I would end up with. Most of the time it looked as if the flash fired stronger to overcome the exposure compensation that I had tried to use. So, I finally read the section of the manual on shooting with the flash to learn how to control the exposure. It was really quite easy, but since I seldom use the flash, it was one of those things that I hadn't bothered with up until now.
Sorry for another interruption, but the power went off as I was working on this on Sunday evening. A line of thunderstorms passing through the area produced either a tornado, or a micro-burst, that passed within feet of the apartment complex where I live. I live just a stone throw south of 60th Street, and just north of that street, trees were blown down, wires knocked down, and a few buildings lost roofs.
I took a little walk after the storm had passed since we had no power, and no Internet, and when I saw how much damage had been done, I turned in early, knowing that it would be a while before power was restored.
It was really quite amazing how sharp the line between the damaged and undamaged areas were, but it was dark, and I didn't look around very much. It will be interesting to see the area this morning when I go for a walk.
Anyway, back to camera gear, specifically, the new 10-18 mm lens. My first thought when I picked it up in the store to mount it to my camera was "Is there even any glass in this thing?", as it is very, very light since the body of the lens is all plastic. There must be glass in it, as it produces photos like this.
A pond at Pickerel Lake Nature Preserve
That pond is really nothing special, but it is one of my favorite "little" places, as it's always quiet and peaceful there. The water in the pond was brown from the heavy rain that we've received the past week, but still, I think that the image gives you a hint as to how good the new lens is optically. Very sharp, very good color rendition, and with that lens' extremely wide-angle of view, it will be a great lens for landscapes, especially for those little places.
However, that lens also focuses down to just over 8 inches, and with its wide depth of field, the lens also works well for these types of photos.
Field of flowers
Patterns in wood
Patterns in wood
Lichens
Here's an image of the same lichens shot using the Tokina 100 mm macro lens for comparison.
Lichens
My biggest problem with the new 10-18 mm lens so far has been that I'm getting too much in focus. Since I shoot primarily with long lenses that have very little depth of field, and I have the lenses stopped down to keep subjects in focus, I'll have to learn to open up the aperture of the wide-angle lens to blur backgrounds more.
I hate to interrupt my train of thought, since most of the time, the train derails, and I never get back to what I was talking about, but it's time for an update about the storm last night. I went for my walk this morning, and I went to the south as I always do, and there was virtually no damage from the storm , other than a few leaves and twigs blown down.
However, the National Weather Service storm survey crew has determined that it was indeed an EF 1 tornado that passed just to the north of where I live. How close, you may ask? I just happened to have saved a photo on Friday of the Kentwood Fourth of July parade turning the corner from Eastern Avenue unto 60th Street.
Kentwood, Michigan's Fourth of July Parade
I saved that photo as a way of showing how quickly the area around where I live went from developed suburbia, to the more rural area where I walk each day.
The tornado's path crossed Eastern Avenue near the stop light that you can just barely see in the distance in that photo. Yikes! That was close. Still, I find it strange that I heard nothing as the tornado passed, and I never even closed the windows of my apartment as the storm passed by. Some of the trees in that photo were laying in the road last night when I looked to the north up Eastern Avenue.
The damage was more extensive than what I had thought when I saw it Sunday night, some of the condos in the development where I was looking to buy had their roofs blown off, others had fallen trees through the roof.
Yet, from where I live to the south, there was no damage to speak of at all.
Anyway, getting back to the photos, I'm going to do something a little different in this post. Since I have lumped the photos from the new 10-18 mm lens together, I'm going to continue to arrange the photos in the rest of this post by the lens that I shot them with. I'll start with the images from the 300 mm prime lens and extender.
Robber fly
Great blue heron in flight
Berries
Leaf
Male American goldfinch
Japanese beetle
Eastern wood pewee
Juvenile male Baltimore oriole
Tiger lily
Male house finch
Female American goldfinch
Elderberry flowers
Elderberry flowers
Petunia
Soapwort
Butterfly weed with bee
Butterfly weed without bee
Butterfly weed
Berries
Grasshopper on yellow leaf
I have begun to carry the new 10-18 mm and Tokina macro lens with me every day, along with the second body along with a long set-up for birds and wildlife. So, at this point, I'm going to transition into the images shot with the Tokina macro lens, but first, one last one from the 300 mm prime lens.
I thought that these flowers where harebells, but after looking them up, I think that I was wrong. Anyway, here they are as shot by the 300 mm lens.
Unknown shot with the 300 mm lens
And from here on in, the rest of the images are from the macro lens.
Unknown shot with the Tokina macro lens
Unknown shot with the Tokina macro lens
Unknown shot with the Tokina macro lens
Elderberry flowers
Common mullein
Queen Anne's lace
Sumac drupe
Black-eyed Susan
Tiger lily
silense coronaria
White cow vetch
Cow vetch
Okay then, what does come next?
Like I said, I'm done buying gear for a while, but I do still have a short wish list, mostly filters and other small items. One of these days, I'll wear out one of the Canon 60 D bodies that I own, and when that happens, I hope to upgrade to a 7 D, or its successor, for better auto-focusing and weather sealing. But, unless I come into some unexpected cash, that won't happen until one of my current bodies dies. I still have a lot to learn about them, and the lenses I'm using. Maybe next year, or the year after, I may purchase a 400 mm prime, as an alternative to the Beast (Sigma 150-500 mm lens) for serious birding.
I'm not going to post the photos in this post, but I returned to the Hofma Nature Preserve this past weekend to try to get photos of the sedge wrens. I got the bird! ;)
However, I started with the 300 mm prime lens with the extender, and that set-up wasn't cutting it. I returned to my vehicle, and grabbed the Beast instead, it was a wise decision, as the Beast produced better images of the sedge wren than the 300 mm prime lens could.
I don't regret having bought the 300 mm prime, it has shown me what a quality prime lens is capable of when compared to zoom lenses, but it is simply too short for serious birding, even with the extender behind it. That, and the fact that the auto-focus isn't as good as it needs to be for birding. But as a walking around lens to shoot a variety of subjects, it's a great lens.
Between it and the Beast, I'm set for the time being. But, seeing the much better image quality that I can get from the 300 mm prime versus the Beast at times has me thinking that the 400 mm prime is in my future, although it's just barely on the horizon right now.
One of the things that I pondered in a recent post was whether I should back off some of the settings that I use as far as image quality for my prime lenses versus the zoom lenses. The answer is yes, all the images shot with the Tokina 100 mm macro lens in this post were shot at the standard setting of my 60 D body, as were many of the images from the 300 mm prime lens.
So, I'll continue to fine tune my settings, learn my equipment, the biggest thing that I have to learn is the depth of field of my various lenses when using different aperture settings so that I get only what I want in focus in focus. That will come with practice, and I believe that it's time for me to head on out and practice some more. ;)
That's it for this one, thanks for stopping by!
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