Equpiment
Off-Camera Flash, Strobist
I’ve been doing a lot of reading and experimenting lately with using the external flash for more creative and flexibile ways to light a subject.
I was pointed in the direction of the Strobist Blog, which you can also link to from the blog links over there–>>>
The author is David Hobby, a photographer for The Baltimore Sun Newspaper in the U.S. so the majority of the information is in reference to actual photo-shoots he has done for his day-job, and also some other “assignments” he has been commissioned to do.
Here is a small extract from the site to explain what it’s about,
This website is about one thing: Learning how to use off-camera flash with your dSLR to take your photos to the next level. Or the next ten levels.
Here, you’ll find everything you need to know about how to more effectively use your small speedlights. There are more than 1,000 articles about lighting. Over two million photographers from around the world have learned small-flash lighting techniques from this site. We’re thinking you can, too.
Test Shots, EF 70-200mm F4L
This week I took delivery of a new telephoto-zoom lens. The professional grade Canon EF 70-200mm F4L.
It’s a professional quality lens in the Canon line-up as designated by the “L” in it’s description and on the lens itself by the distinctive red band around the lens itself.
More New Toys
Over the past month I’ve collected a few more bits and pieces to add to my gear-bag.
The most important addition being a new Canon EOS 40D dSLR body. This is the bigger brother to my previous body, the 400D. While i won’t bore you with technical specifications, they can all be found HERE, including a detailed revie, there are a number of differences which make is simply easier to use and can help produce better images.
Throw some light on the subject..
I’ve been gearing up to purchase myself a Speedlite for quite some time by reading a few reviews and getting some advice from others in the industy, so this week I shelled out for Canon’s 43EXII.
Preview at www.Dpreview.com CLICK HERE
Luckily I got in before the coming price rise and also managed to bargan a substantial discount from the salesman at the time too.
Sigma 10-20mm First Shots
These shots were taken at lunch today, around Hobart’s waterfront.
Obviously not the best lighting at midday, but i wanted to see how the wide angle coped with some upward shots with overhead sun.
I must say, I can see this lens getting a lot of use. I love it’s width, and it doesn’t seem to suffer from any “softness” that is reported with some Sigma lenses. (Only out of correct focus, which was my fault for usinf a larger than intended aperture setting)
More New Gear On The Way
Since I began the journey into SLR land i’ve always been keen to get my hands on a good wide-angle lens, as my current, main lens is only as wide as 28mm, which may be fine on a 35mm or Full-frame DSLR, but on a Cropped-Sensor DSLR such as the 400D i have, it’s really only 44mm wide. which gives relatively poor results for taking great landscapes of shooting indoors.
So I set about hunting out a great deal on a good quality lens. I read countless reviews and lens lens tests on all the major players, such as
Canon’s EF-s10-22mm USM
Sigma’s 10-20mm EX-DC HSM
Tamron’s 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di-II
Tokina’s 12-24mm AT-X PRO DX
and also a number of different Canon EF Prime lenses.
The Eyes of EOS, reccomended reading
Yesterday i was loaned a book by a family friend,
“EF Lens Work III, The Eyes of EOS”
it’s a publication by Canon, which details the entire EF lens range as well as a world of information including -Choices of lenses for different types of photography
-Full Technical specifications on the EF and EF-S lenses
-Theory of light including, reflection, refraction, optics and lens theory
-Construction and technical operation of the IS (Image Stabalisation) and AF (AutoFocus) systems.
There is also a downloadable version (in parts) available for those unaware of books!!
It can be found HERE
From what i’ve read so far, it’s a brilliant learning resource combined with an array of Canons marketing material. It is even very beneficial for the non-Canon users out there who would like a little more depth into the how and why’s of lens operation and science.
My Vintage Camera Equipment
Approximately 10 years ago my father was given an old (1950′s I believe) professional quality film SLR, buy his uncle.
We used it on a trip to Bathurst in 1997 and it took some amazing quality shots, for a man and his son, not knowing anything about photography, and also being unsure of the physical condition of the camera itself.
Since taking up photography as a more serious hobby recently, I have begun a process of teaching mself the finer points of using this piece of photographic history, and also shooting with film. somthing i probably haven’t done for 10 years.
The camera itself is an Exakta Varex VX (unsure of what series) built in East Germany, post WWII.
It also has a range of Carl Zeiss Lenses
-35mm F4.5
-50mm F2.8
-135mm F4
as well as Macro extension tubes, light meter, and different (interchangable) prism eyepiece.
Over the next few months, I hope to get my hands on some decent quality film and see what I can do with it.
But for now I’m just running off a few random shots on cheap film to get a feel for the settings and the machine itself.
I’ll keep you posted with the results when I have some that are worth sharing.
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