Monday, December 20, 2010

I'm in the market for a new camera

Yeps that is right. I have done a ton of research over the past months to figure out what I think is important for me when I buy a new camera.
I am not going to bore you with all the details but at the end of the day it will be a Canon 5D Mark II. 21 mega pixels sounds like heaven to a landscape photographer. If I could I would go medium or large format. But I don't have the cash to do that. I am still figuring out what lens to buy though.

A couple of options I am looking at are:
- Canon EF 24-105mm ƒ/4 L IS USM: Superb all round lens. I am used to photographing exclusively with wide angles. I don't own anything else. Once in a while I would have loved to have a longer lens though. This 'kit lens' sounds like the best option. I can always go wider in the near future and buy ...
- Canon EF 17-40mm ƒ/4 L USM: Superb wide angle used by a lot of landscape photographers. This would be more what I am used to today.
- Canon TS-E 24mm ƒ/3.5 L II: I would love to own a Tilt Shift. Basically because of how you can alter your plane of focus. I am not interested in doing those lame miniature looking landscapes. But I want to control DOF. This lens will be bought in the future (I am going to set aside my bonuses from work for this lens).
- Canon EF 16-35mm ƒ/2.8 L II USM, Canon EF 24mm ƒ/1.4 L USM prime or Canon EF 14mm ƒ/2.8 L II USM prime (rising in price). These are all wonderful lenses. One more expensive than the other. Primes will always be sharper than zooms. But of course lack the versatility.

I want to share this little video with you too. This is high speed footage of a Canon 5D (Mark I) at full burst. Look at all those vibrations. It's crazy. Some stuff I was surprised to see in this little clip were these:
- When the iris closes it is not completely round (more oval shaped), and not really centered.
- Mirror bounces all over the place. Crazy!
- The time in between the mirror is open and the leafs of the shutter open is long. But then again this whole sequence is over in 1/4000 of a second.

Technology like this amazes me!

2 comments:

  1. I'd hold off on a new camera. The rumors are that Canon's next flagship body will be a huge departure from the current one. I am guessing it will use a square sensor. Kind of like a mini Hasselblad. Make the sensor 36mm x 36mm and you can still use all the Canon lenses.

    If you havent bought a wide lens yet, hold off, I might be writing soon about a wicked lens or landscapes. :)

    Dan

    ps. nice to see you blogging

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  2. Hey Dan! Thanks for stopping by.
    Wow a square sensor. That sounds sweet. But it got me thinking though.

    - Where are they going to house that huge mirror? (unless they are going mirror less)
    - Making room for that big mirror means that the body should be deeper. Would that not mean that we need to redesign all the lenses as well. Circles of confusion will be too small and with that extra 12mm all your focusing distances would be off. Right?

    I was soooo close in purchasing the 5DmkII last night. But I am waiting 'till tomorrow night (Vistek boxing day door crashing flyer will be available) before making a final decision.

    You know I am not about having the latest and greatest gear around. By next year the 5DmkII will still be an awesome camera.

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