Well tonight I took the plunge and brought a new camera. Well second hand, but new to me.
I’ve wanted a Canon 1Ds for quite some time but the $12,000NZD price tag just could not be justified without me having a serious photography income, so I brought a 3 year old Canon 1Ds MkII for a fraction of the cost. Sure it’s not the latest and greatest but it makes my Canon 450D look like a child’s plaything. Now I haven’t picked it up yet so I can’t really make any comments of how well it shoots, so I will update the blog when I get it and take a few shots.
This is my first big step into becoming a professional photographer and I must say I’m getting quite excited about the possibilities.
Now my problem now is that I only have one lens I can use on this new toy, which is my EF 50mm f1.8 II. Sure this lens if fine but it’s not very handy for general shooting on a full frame camera, so my next step will have to be a new lens.
I’ve been thinking about getting a 24-105mm f4 L, from all the reviews I’ve read it looks to be a good all round lens. At the moment I’m on a bit of a budget so I have to do with just buying one lens, so I need one that I can shoot anything from portraits to wedding style shots and this lens seems capable of doing this quite well.
The other problem is that now I also have to buy a flash because you just can’t do without one, so I will be buying a Canon Speedlite 580EX II and a good diffuser.
So yea it’s been a mind blowing night for me and now I just can’t wait to pick up my new camera and have a play.
If you do happen to read this and you have some experience with the 1Ds MkII or the 24-105mm lens, please do let me know what you think of these, from your own perspective.
Anyway good night and I shall write again soon.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Update and Catch Up
It’s been a while since I’ve written anything, so I thought an update on my status would be good.
So.... it’s now November so it’s been 2 months. In the past 2 months I have actually been quite busy I suppose.
My daughter’s day care went out to the Auckland zoo for the day, so I went along and took photos of all the kids. It was an experience to say the least.
It was quite a sunny day with a little cloud so a lot of the outdoor shots were difficult as I had to deal with the hard direct sunlight.
Just when you think you have a great shot the clouds move and you get streaming sunlight across your lens. I suppose one good thing about that is that it helps you take pictures quicker so they don’t get ruined.
I ended up getting 136 photos that I was happy with to supply the day care and parents.
It was an all day event so it did take a while and we made it around most of the zoo.
For the day I used my Canon 450D and two lenses. The EF 50mm f1.8 II and the EFS 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM.
The 50mm was only used for a few shots, where I needed the larger aperture. It’s a great budget lens with surprising clarity.
I picked up the 17-85mm from work, it is a little damaged so the auto focus doesn’t work and I had to manually focus all day. It’s not as bad as it sounds, I fully recommend using manual focus for a while and you will definitely get a better feel for composing a good shot. It really makes you think about where you want to focus and as you adjust the focus ring you can see the different focus areas light up. That lens is very good, but I have found that it has some slight vignetting, but I was able to remove it in Adobe Lightroom anyway so no harm done.
After the zoo day, the day care must have been pretty happy with the photos because they asked me to take some photos of the day care facilities.
So for this one I actually borrowed a friends lens and flash.
I used my 450D and my friends EF 17-40mm f4.0 USM L lens and 550EX flash.
I needed a high quality lens with a good wide angle. The 17mm factor is pretty wide, however my camera has a APS-C sensor size so the focal length of the lens is at a magnification of 1.6 so in effect on my camera the lens is 27-64mm which is not very wide but it still did a great job.
So thank you Bradley for the lens and flash, you’re a gentleman and a scholar.
The photos for that shoot were taken on two days, in the morning before work so I did feel a little rushed so I would not be late for work.
The photos turned out pretty good and I was able to supply them with about 50 shots for promotional purposes.
As far as I’ve heard so far they are pretty happy with those pictures too although I think a couple of them may have been a bit out of focus in a couple of areas. That was pretty dammed sloppy of me and I’ve been chastising myself for it too. There is nothing worse than producing a picture that’s less than perfect in your own eyes.
That’s about enough for the update because now I have to write about a special purchase that I made tonight.
So.... it’s now November so it’s been 2 months. In the past 2 months I have actually been quite busy I suppose.
My daughter’s day care went out to the Auckland zoo for the day, so I went along and took photos of all the kids. It was an experience to say the least.
It was quite a sunny day with a little cloud so a lot of the outdoor shots were difficult as I had to deal with the hard direct sunlight.
Just when you think you have a great shot the clouds move and you get streaming sunlight across your lens. I suppose one good thing about that is that it helps you take pictures quicker so they don’t get ruined.
I ended up getting 136 photos that I was happy with to supply the day care and parents.
It was an all day event so it did take a while and we made it around most of the zoo.
For the day I used my Canon 450D and two lenses. The EF 50mm f1.8 II and the EFS 17-85mm f4-5.6 IS USM.
The 50mm was only used for a few shots, where I needed the larger aperture. It’s a great budget lens with surprising clarity.
I picked up the 17-85mm from work, it is a little damaged so the auto focus doesn’t work and I had to manually focus all day. It’s not as bad as it sounds, I fully recommend using manual focus for a while and you will definitely get a better feel for composing a good shot. It really makes you think about where you want to focus and as you adjust the focus ring you can see the different focus areas light up. That lens is very good, but I have found that it has some slight vignetting, but I was able to remove it in Adobe Lightroom anyway so no harm done.
After the zoo day, the day care must have been pretty happy with the photos because they asked me to take some photos of the day care facilities.
So for this one I actually borrowed a friends lens and flash.
I used my 450D and my friends EF 17-40mm f4.0 USM L lens and 550EX flash.
I needed a high quality lens with a good wide angle. The 17mm factor is pretty wide, however my camera has a APS-C sensor size so the focal length of the lens is at a magnification of 1.6 so in effect on my camera the lens is 27-64mm which is not very wide but it still did a great job.
So thank you Bradley for the lens and flash, you’re a gentleman and a scholar.
The photos for that shoot were taken on two days, in the morning before work so I did feel a little rushed so I would not be late for work.
The photos turned out pretty good and I was able to supply them with about 50 shots for promotional purposes.
As far as I’ve heard so far they are pretty happy with those pictures too although I think a couple of them may have been a bit out of focus in a couple of areas. That was pretty dammed sloppy of me and I’ve been chastising myself for it too. There is nothing worse than producing a picture that’s less than perfect in your own eyes.
That’s about enough for the update because now I have to write about a special purchase that I made tonight.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
A bit about me
hmm about me...me me me me!
Well where do I start....
I'm an amateur photographer living in Auckland, New Zealand.
My day job is in insurance. Yes I would prefer to be a pro photographer, but I'm not quite there yet.
This blog is my diary of sorts and will hopefully document my rise to pro photography. It will definitely document the issues I come across on the way and may be of some use to like minded people.
At the moment I'm shooting with a Canon 450D and in the future I’d love to get a 5d but that may be a while away.
I'm finding the 450D quite good. The standard lenses are alright (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens and the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III).
Quality wise they take nice photos but they just seem to lack that pop you get with good quality lenses. For a start they are great to get you into photography, but certainly not pro quality by any means.
My most recent purchase was a EF 50mm f/1.8 II, and even though it retails for about $180-$240 NZD, is definitely worth the purchase for those who don’t have the cash for serious lenses. As soon as I had fitted it and started taking some test snaps, I noticed the difference in quality immediately. Possibly it was just the larger aperture but the issues I was having with focus before were not so much of an issue now. The shots are clearer and it’s amazing how much of a difference the extra aperture makes with lower light.
Anyway, that's about enough for a start.
If you do come across this blog, check out my website and drop me an email if you have any comments.
www.anthonypengelly.com
Well where do I start....
I'm an amateur photographer living in Auckland, New Zealand.
My day job is in insurance. Yes I would prefer to be a pro photographer, but I'm not quite there yet.
This blog is my diary of sorts and will hopefully document my rise to pro photography. It will definitely document the issues I come across on the way and may be of some use to like minded people.
At the moment I'm shooting with a Canon 450D and in the future I’d love to get a 5d but that may be a while away.
I'm finding the 450D quite good. The standard lenses are alright (EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens and the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III).
Quality wise they take nice photos but they just seem to lack that pop you get with good quality lenses. For a start they are great to get you into photography, but certainly not pro quality by any means.
My most recent purchase was a EF 50mm f/1.8 II, and even though it retails for about $180-$240 NZD, is definitely worth the purchase for those who don’t have the cash for serious lenses. As soon as I had fitted it and started taking some test snaps, I noticed the difference in quality immediately. Possibly it was just the larger aperture but the issues I was having with focus before were not so much of an issue now. The shots are clearer and it’s amazing how much of a difference the extra aperture makes with lower light.
Anyway, that's about enough for a start.
If you do come across this blog, check out my website and drop me an email if you have any comments.
www.anthonypengelly.com
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