PixelNewbie is moving!

Getting hosted by my own domain to be exact... the new URL is:

http://snapshots.rocketpunch.biz

This site will remain active as long as Blogger will have me. :)

Half a day with the Sony NEX-7

My brother bought the Sony NEX-7 and I managed to borrow it for half a day. He also bought the 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 OSS along with the kit lens but it looks ridiculous mounted (just take a look at the link). I then put on the kit 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 lens and went for a short walk around my office to test the camera. Images below were shot Av Mode in RAW and went through my standard processing for exposure, color, saturation, and sharpening.

Sony NEX-7 + 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
| 1/100 sec, f4.5, ISO 100 | 1/640 sec, f/5, ISO 100 | 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO 100

Sony NEX-7 + 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
| 1/1600 sec, f4, ISO 100 | 1/640 sec, f/4, ISO 100 | 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO 100 | 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO 100

Sony NEX-7 + 18-55mm F3.5-5.6
| 1/1600 sec, f4, ISO 100 | 1/640 sec, f/4, ISO 100 | 1/500 sec, f/4, ISO 100 | 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO 100

What follows is a very very very short and sweet impression of the camera.

Things I liked:

• It feels light with the kit lens. I could carry it all day. With the kit lens, it generally feels good in the hand.
• APSC sized sensor with a 1.5x crop factor.
• FPS is crazy high at 10fps.
• The LCD is nice and clear and it swivels.
• Images are bright, colorful and have nice contrast and are very easy to post process.
• Bokeh for the kit lens is quite decent.
• Build quality is good.
• Built-in flash is nicely done. The arm can swivel and you can basically make the flash bounce at angles up to 90 degrees up.

Things I'm iffy about:

• It doesn't feel like I'm holding a camera, more like a gadget. I can understand why consumers will think that's cool though.
  
• The AWB renders things on the warmer side, especially indoors on yellow tungsten. But if you shot RAW, this isn't a big issue.
• The EVF resolution has been universally hailed as one of the best in the market. Eh... it's still quite pixelly and slow to me. Perhaps I'm spoiled by the OVF of DSLRs.

Things I didn't like:

• The changing from LCD to EVF takes about 1/2 second after I put my eye to the viewfinder. Oops! Moment gone!
• The top two dials get moved too easily and because they aren't marked, you have to rely on the LCD to tell you you've moved them. Which will be very often.
• With a slow SD card and shooting in RAW, the buffer struggles after a burst.
• Sony seriously needs to fix the options menu.
• No touch screen on the top of the line NEX?
• The NEX line as a whole needs faster lenses.
• The lenses are seriously big for a camera so small. Even the newest prime lenses are big. Kinda defeats the purpose of the body's small form factor IMO.

All in all, a very consumer oriented product (pretty obvious from the layout of the menu) even though the NEX-7 is the so-called 'professional' grade NEX that appeals to the power users. The Achilles heel of the NEX-7? 1) the top 2 dials that are too easily moved and 2) the serious lack of lens choices. And no, lens gotten from the adapters don't count.

I have to say it's a fun camera to shoot and I managed to get some decent pictures from it. Will I get one? Hmmm... good question. Not sure if it's more portable than my DSLR to be honest. It's smaller, but the lenses aren't. I think I can make a better judgement when more lenses are released.

Simple life in Kyoto

In 2009, my extended family and mine went on a family trip to Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan for a week. During that time, I was still using the Sony A550 which didn't record video, so I brought along my Canon Powershot G11, figuring I'd take some videos of my kid (er... and wife :p).

So anyway while waiting for my wife to shop for souvenirs near Kiyomizu-dera, I decided to walk around the area soaking up the atmosphere. I turned my head down an alley and saw this scene. Luckily, I had my G11 in my hand.

Canon PowerShot G11 | 1/100 sec, f/4, ISO 125

Now when I took this picture I just thought it was an interesting scene, a travel candid so to speak. It's only in 2011 that I found out this can be considered street photography :D. Still, that's all semantics: this remains one of my favorite street shots even after 4 years.

My Canon 5DIII impressions Part 3 - Servo

So the Canon 5DIII is rated for 6fps with a very customizable Servo mode. It allows 6 ways of tracking your subjects with each mode customizable in 3 ways. That's a lot of ways. The shots below was done on the standard tracking mode.

Canon EOS 5D Mk. III + Canon EF 50mm F1.2L USM | 1/250 sec, f/1.2, ISO 100

The  camera now has a big depth of field preview button at the bottom right hand side of the lens mount. It's easily reached with my middle and ring finger. It's also customizable so I set it to go to servo mode when it's pressed. And that's how I shot these. It took getting used to and a few times but once nailed I think it works admirably.

I wouldn't try this with the 60D and the 50mm f1.2. The lens is slower to focus with that camera.

> Full set of pictures on Flickr

It's time to get a new bag!

More specifically, a backpack.

I'm usually a shoulder bag guy because I usually walk with the camera in sleep mode in the bag and only bring it out to shoot when I want to. It's much easier to reach for the camera with a shoulder bag. But I'm planning to go on a 2 week family holiday in June and we'll be hitting many cities. With 2 young kids in tow, I decided that I'll get a backpack to help unburden the missus of some of the kids' stuff she usually lugs around.

Awwwww... so nice right? It's for sanity sake to be honest (just kidding, hon!).

So now I'm in the market for a backpack that has a camera compartment. Here's my list of must haves:

1. Room for my full body 5DIII + 24-105mm f4 lens.
2. Room for at least 2-3 more lenses, 1 being the 70-200mm f2.8 (though I'm not planning to bring this one to the trip). Anyway, at least 2 lenses plus a body.
3. External room for my Benro tripod and/or water bottle.
4. A compartment to put the kids' stuff in. This includes: change of clothes, milk bottles, snacks and diapers.
5. Miscellaneous photography stuff like flash, memory cards, lenspen etc. Heck even my wallet probably.
6. A laptop compartment for my 13 inch Macbook Pro.
7. The bag that shouldn't look like a camera bag.
8. It needs to at least have some semblance of security.
9. Preferably not too bulky so I won't look like a Ninja Turtle.
10. Doesn't weigh a ton.
11. Easy access to the camera if possible but this isn't that important.

Yeah... about a dozen requirements. So I spent about 3 days browsing around forums and websites and narrowed down my choices to (L to R): Benro Journo 200, Kata DR-467i and the Tamrac Aero Speed Pack 85.

They all fulfill a majority of my requirements but not all of them. I'll need to take a good look at them in the stores when I get the chance. In the meantime, it's always good to have options so I'm still looking around for other backpacks. :)

Random thoughts: Think Tank Retrospective 10

The Think Tank Retrospective 10 shoulder bag basically gets universal praise for its looks and function. How can I resist? The bag went with me on a 5 day family trip to Singapore recently and here are my thoughts on the bag after some time with it.

Things I like:

• It’s pretty for a camera bag. All greenish beat-up canvas (which I like, me wife thinks it's dinky haha).
• Craftsmanship is high with the corresponding high quality to every part.
• The handle comes in very handy indeed.
• It easily takes my 5DIII + 50mm f1.2 attached, 16-35mm f2.8, 70-200mm f2.8 IS II and 580 EXII with room for more things if I wanted.
• Since the bag is not hugely padded at all, the bag conforms to my body while carrying it.
• The side strap is perfect for my Benro tripod. I slip one leg through there and I add a velcro strap on the ballhead and tie around the tri-buckle of the bag’s strap. No fuss, no muss.

Things I’m iffy about:

• It really doesn’t look much like a messenger bag because it’s so thick. And because of its size, no one will mistake it for a laptop bag.
• The strap pad is comfortable for only about half a day of lugging around. It's probably because the strap is so thick and bulky that the whole bag is heavier than it should be.

Things I don’t like:

• For a bag its size, it’s heavy even when empty (1.4kg) so by the end of the day, I do feel it on my shoulder and back.
• The side compartments aren’t for anything thicker than an iPhone or Blackberry.
• I can’t put a divider horizontally to split a compartment into 2 halves. The way around this is to divide up the compartment diagonally, which I find a bit clumsy.
• It swallows gear so sometimes I needed two hands to take out my camera or to do anything for what matter.
• Because the bottom is quite thin and flimsy, it tends to sag down in the middle with my 5DIII + 50mm. I can actually feel the lens edge when I run my hand across the bottom. This is even after I used the rain cover as an added cushion.
• I prefer Domke’s way of implementing the velcro silencers on the F-831. With the Retro 10, if my bag isn’t full, I can’t just let go of the lid and let the velcros stick together. I have to consciously position them properly to close the lid.

As a day trip or event bag, I think the Retrospective 10 is wonderful. As a travel bag however, its limitations are quite apparent. 1.4kg empty is a waste of weight, so to speak. I think a shoulder bag for traveling needs to weigh 1kg max.

I'm actually planning a 2 week trip to Europe in June. What does this mean? More than likely I need a backpack. But that's a different post altogether.

My Canon 5DIII impressions - part 2

I'm one of those shooters who actually find some use for Liveview. In fact, I shoot my landscapes on Liveview almost exclusively. Liveview also lets me get into odd angles to shoot. The 60D is perfect for this with its articulating LCD. And that's one of my sore points with the 5DIII. No tilty swivelly LCD!

However, the 5DIII's shutter on Liveview is much softer than the 60D so I find it works very well even when held on one hand. Which is how I got this shot:

Canon EOS 5D Mk. III + Canon EF 50mm F1.2L USM | 1/80 sec, f/1.2, ISO 100

I'll say this: it's not easy to find interesting angles for shooting cars without resorting to the cliche ones. I think this one turned out alright.

Matthew is 6 part 2!

So we decided to let Matthew have a small birthday party with his friends at school. This being his last semester in kindergarten, we thought it'll be fun and something for him to remember.

I brought my new Canon 5DIII and a borrowed EF 24-70 f2.8L USM to try out. Its focal length seemed tailor-made for the classroom. Wide shots to close up portraits.

Canon EOS 5D Mk. III + Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L USM | 1/60 sec, f/4, ISO 1250 | 1/40 sec, f/4, ISO 640

The cake's theme is Bernard, a Mr. Bean-like CGI bear. Kid's obsessed with it. The lens renders very nice bokeh even at f4. And because it's on a full frame camera, the depth of field is still quite shallow.

Canon EOS 5D Mk. III + Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L USM
| 1/50 sec, f/4, ISO 640 | 1/60 sec, f/4, ISO 2000 | 1/80 sec, f/4, ISO 1000

At 70mm @ f2.8, it makes for a very good portrait lens. It's fast so shooting the kids aren't that big of a challenge.

Canon EOS 5D Mk. III + Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L USM
| 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 | 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 | 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 | 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250
| 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000 | 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 640 | 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 | 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1000
| 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 | 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 | 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250 | 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800

Even though it doesn't have IS, it handled itself pretty well with ISO not going crazy high. Speed also remained pretty hand-holdable. I credit the f2.8 for this.

Canon EOS 5D Mk. III + Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L USM
| 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800 | 1/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 | 1/50 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125 | 1/30 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250

I even managed to handhold at f8 indoors! Interestingly, Matthew's teacher has always wanted him in her class since pre-school, but only in this last year of his kindergarten did she manage to get him hahaha.

Canon EOS 5D Mk. III + Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L USM
| 1/60 sec, f/4.5, ISO 1600 | 1/13 sec, f/8, ISO 400 | 1/40 sec, f/8, ISO 2000 

Taking pictures of kids are always such fun. Just point a camera at them and they start to pose and kid around. I think it helps that they all got a big bag of candy and snacks though.

Canon EOS 5D Mk. III + Canon EF 24-70mm F2.8L USM
| 1/40 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250 | 1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 400 | 1/60 sec, f/2.8, ISO 800

So, what did I think of the EF 24-70 f2.8L USM? It's pretty nice. It's fast, it's sharp and vignette is not too bad on the wide end. It's big, chunky and on the heavy side but it feels good in the hands. It also feels weird that at its widest focal length its at its longest extension. However, for its price, it really should have IS.

It'll be interesting to see how the upcoming EF 24-70 f2.8L II USM will perform. MTF charts for that lens is through the roof. It's also slightly lighter and looks to be less chunky. Unfortunately, that lens won't have IS either. It will also be as expensive as heck at the MSRP of USD 2,300. Yikes!

As for the 5DIII, I find that it underexposes by at least 2/3 stops in all of these shots. Perhaps it's because of the lighting in the room? That's however, not a big deal for me since I post process all my pictures. To the credit of the camera's AWB, the pictures proved easy to get 'right' color-wise. For this set of pictures, I actually processed the JPG files as Lightroom did not yet read the 5DIII's RAW files. And it's much much easier with these JPG files than with the ones from the 60D, especially indoor shots.

The X100's ND filter

Before the X100 I never really thought an ND filter would be of much use. I take that back now. For the heck of it, I tried it in a bright sunny day. Below is a before and after ND filter shot:

Fuji X100 | 1/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 200 | 1/70 sec, f/8, ISO 200

OK OK... I'm a convert now.

With firmware version 1.20, Fuji has finally made it easy to turn the ND filter on and off. I'm now using the RAW button (an odd choice from the beginning) as the ND filter button. Before this (when only the Fn button was customizable), when you try to turn on ND filter it'll ask you first yes or no. Then you select yes and click it. Now finally, one press it's on, one press and it's off. No fuss.

My Canon 5DIII impressions - part 1

This is the first decent picture I took with my new Canon EOS 5D Mk. III. It's the 4th one :). I took this shot while dicking around with the camera on the MRT.

Canon EOS 5D Mk. III + Canon EF 50mm F1.2L USM | 1/40 sec, f/1.2, ISO 125

The 5DIII comes with a silent shutter feature which is very nice for stealthy street shooting. Granted my subject had earphones on but DSLR shutters are comparatively noisy to compact cameras so it's a nice feature to have.

As Lightroom doesn't read 5DIII RAW files yet, this file was processed from the JPG. I really like the AWB in this camera: it's definitely more accurate than my 60D and the 5DII. I've always tried to avoid having to adjust WB on the camera so this is good for me.

And so... the circle is complete...

Fuji X100 | 0.3 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200

More to come as I play with my new toy :)

Matthew is 6!

Time flies and my eldest kid is now 6 years old. As it's the weekend and it's the school holidays this upcoming week, we decided to have a small celebration at home. He will be celebrating with his kindergarten friends when school starts.

Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 24-70 F2.8L USM | 1/8 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400

This shot was done with a tripod on 2 second timer. The shutter was triggered with a remote so I didn't have to run and quickly get in position. Flash was bounced up and slight to the back to prevent shadows below the eyes. IIRC this was -2EV as I didn't want the flash to overpower everything else.

I'm just OK with how it turned out. I still find flash photography quite challenging but at least the background is not distracting :p

The Canon EF 24-70 F2.8L is a lens I borrowed from a friend to try out. More on this lens in another post.

Singapore Streets (10 Feb '12)

OK... last day of my February trip. Not many photos this time as I was busy packing and doing proper stuff haha.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/120 sec, f/2, ISO 200 | 1/50 sec, f/2, ISO 200
| 1/1000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 | 1/80 sec, f/2, ISO 200

The Fuji X100 got a thorough workout from me and I'll say this: it's a superb camera. Some pluses:

• Colors are wonderful
• Operates near silently
• Unobtrusive
• Light
• Build quality
• The hybrid OVF has to be seen to be believed
• Just a really fun camera to shoot

Some issues:

• Clunky menu system
• Autofocus slow at times
• Random missed focuses
• Subject is 1 foot away and I have to use macro already?!
• Macro focus slow
• Battery life
• Slow recording of images

Yes... quite a few issues with the hinky focus being the biggest issue for me. Still, if you're like me and you shoot either P or Av mode (the X100 doesn't have auto), you won't be complaining much about some of the way custom controls are implemented. If you're a power user though, good luck.

Would I be perfectly happy with having this one camera in my closet? Probably not with its fixed focal length and the slow autofocus. However, I can't say my DSLR is as much fun as the X100.

> Full set of pictures on Flickr

Singapore Streets (9 Feb '12)

Day 2 of my walkaround in Singapore. Now usually I have some errand to run and in between places I need to go I will observe the surroundings and shoot things I find interesting.

First up, Orchard Road to help my mom pick up her prescription meds. The streets are much emptier in the morning which is a nice change.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/500 sec, f/2, ISO 200 | 1/13 sec, f/2, ISO 3200| 1/1000 sec, f/2, ISO 200

Next up is downtown Singapore for my monthly errands for my employer. I try to walk everywhere I can so as to not miss the moments of life passing by. It helps of course that it's not raining nonstop this time around.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/1000 sec, f/2, ISO 200 | 1/500 sec, f/2, ISO 200 | 1/680 sec, f/2, ISO 200
| 1/240 sec, f/8, ISO 200 | 1/30 sec, f/8, ISO 1250

Late afternoon I was back in Orchard Road meeting up with a few friends of mine who are into photography too. Handicapped baskers usually perform at the main intersection of Orchard Road.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/130 sec, f/8, ISO 640

After cornering one of them to get a tripod, we decided to let him give it a test drive at Boat Quay. A cool evening made for some decent shots. It also gave me a more time to give my X100 a night time street shooting shakedown and of course, more cliche nightscapes.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 2500 | 1/12 sec, f/2, ISO 3200 | 1/680 sec, f/2, ISO 200
| 20 sec, f/8, ISO 200 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 1250

I'm still very much impressed with the color renditions of the X100.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 1600 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 1000

Fujifilm X100 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 1250 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 2500
| 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 1600 | 1/30 sec, f/8, ISO 640

Night portraits (of my buddies) sans flash are easily tackled by the X100 with it's f2 maximum aperture.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 1600 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 800
| 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 640 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 3200

A bit disappointed with the random missed focus but the next shot usually makes me forget about it. Haha.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/10 sec, f/2, ISO 3200 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 800

The last shot of the night was another cliche one of the Marina Bay Sands. A lighting show was on so at least there's something unique about it.

Fujifilm X100 | 30 sec, f/8, ISO 200

One more day to go!

> Full set of pictures on Flickr

Awww... Whiskey Tango Hotel Canon?!

OK, there has been a ton of news that it was coming and today, Canon announced the EOS 5D Mk II replacement, the EOS 5D Mk III (5D3). All the crazy specs can be found on Dpreview so I shan't repeat them here. The highlights for me?

• Digic 5+ sensor
• 22 Megapixels
• 61 Autofocus points with 19 cross type
• 6 fps continuous shooting
• Dual CF/SD card slots
• 63 zone iFCL metering system
• 100% Viewfinder
• ISO 100-25600 standard, 50-102,800 expanded

Now these are all huge improvements over my 60D... well, except for perhaps the lack of the tilt screen. And I would have gladly plonked down my money for one once it comes to market (apparently by the end of the month). But as it turns out, it will have an MSRP of USD 3,500 for the body only.

WTH...

That's about IDR 32 million! Sure street prices will be lower, but even at 15% off, that's still IDR 27.5 million. The 5D2 can be had for IDR 18 million nowadays. Is the 5D3 really better by close to IDR 10 million?! That's the price of a Canon EF 135mm f2 L right there. With change enough for an EF 50mm f1.8 II as well. Yeesh...

And now it turns out the 5D2 might not be end of life yet. That Canon will maintain it at a reduced price. Which means 2 things to me: the 5D2 won't see a drastic drop in price (new or used) and the 5D3 won't see a drastic drop in price either.

Personally, I'm pretty sure this is the only upgrade path for me. But man... it's steep. I got the 60D at about USD 1,000. And now I need to spend USD 3,500 for my next camera?! Yikes!

Singapore Streets (8 Feb '12)

For my February trip to Singapore, I decided to bring my X100 along. I thought it'll be a good few days of shooting to test out the camera and see how it does in various conditions.

The X100 is so quiet even when I don't turn on silent mode I managed to get quite close to people. I don't think I can manage to get these shots on a DSLR. The weather has been hot lately so many people take mid-day naps. Probably big lunches haha.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/550 sec, f/2, ISO 200 | 1/400 sec, f/2, ISO 200
| 1/950 sec, f/2, ISO 200 | 1/300 sec, f/2, ISO 200 | 1/250 sec, f/2, ISO 200

The AF on the X100 is not as fast as my 60D but it's quite adequate even at small apertures. Adjusting aperture using the lens barrel lever is quite fun although it means I can't operate the camera totally one-handed.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/30 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200 | 1/550 sec, f/8, ISO 200
| 1/180 sec, f/8, ISO 200 | 1/300 sec, f/2, ISO 200 | 1/40 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200

Fujifilm X100 | 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200
| 1/420 sec, f/1, ISO 200 | 1/30 sec, f/8, ISO 200 

As previously mentioned, the X100 produces very nice colors. I don't do much post processing for the colored shots.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/180 sec, f/3.2, ISO 200 | 1/210 sec, f/3.6, ISO 200

In the evening, I decided to test out the X100 for night shots. First up, cliche shots with the help of the Gorillapod Zoom. The quality's very good, but it was a PITA to switch settings between nightscape and 'normal' shooting. For ISO, I have to dive into 2 separate menus: first to turn off auto ISO and maximum ISO limit and then a separate menu to set ISO at 200. Then I have to undo these settings when I want to switch back to normal shooting. Yeesh...

As for the Gorillapod, it's finally useful again. It works perfectly with the X100. :)

Fujifilm X100 | 8 sec, f/8, ISO 200 | 11 sec, f/11, ISO 200

With the AF assist light off, focus hunts somewhat and is slow. However, ISO 3200 was still perfectly acceptable. AF also misses focus from time to time. Still fast enough to catch the 'moments' though.

Fujifilm X100 | 1/30 sec, f/2, ISO 1600 | 1/13 sec, f/2, ISO 3200| 1/12 sec, f/2, ISO 3200 | 1/80 sec, f/2, ISO 3200

Day 2 shots coming soon

> Full set of pictures on Flickr

An ode to my old Sigma 17-70

A good friend of mine in Singapore was looking for a 'standard zoom' for his APS-C DSLR and I decided to sell my Sigma 17-70 mm F2.8-4.0 DC Macro OS HS to him. Why? Well for one thing, it was an EF-S only lens so when I upgrade to Full Frame I can't use it anymore and for another, it's decent in all sense of the word. It wasn't exceptional in any way.

After I got it in 2010, the first test for it came when we went to Taman Safari in Bogor. With it's 3 stop OS at work, it handled admirably shooting from inside of a moving car up meandering roadways. Autofocus speed was also quite fast.

Canon EOS 60D + Sigma 17-70 mm F2.8-4.0 DC Macro OS HS
1/400 sec, f/4.0, ISO 800 | 1/800 sec, f/4.0, ISO 800

In a zoo setting, 70mm is a stretch for detailed shots. However, I think it held up admirably.

Canon EOS 60D + Sigma 17-70 mm F2.8-4.0 DC Macro OS HS | 1/800 sec, f/5.6 ISO 800
| 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 800 | 1/500 sec, f/4.5, ISO 800 | 1/640 sec, f/4.0, ISO 800

Bokeh at f4.0 is pretty decent although nothing to write home about. Best of all though is that at 70mm, it can still shoot at f4.0, which is pretty wide compared to other so-called 'standard zooms'.

Canon EOS 60D + Sigma 17-70 mm F2.8-4.0 DC Macro OS HS
| 1/800 sec, f/4.0 ISO 800 | 1/50 sec, f/3.5, ISO 400

At 17mm, the lens has a slight 'banding' effect which makes landscapes look wide and expansive.

Canon EOS 60D + Sigma 17-70 mm F2.8-4.0 DC Macro OS HS | 1/60 sec, f/8.0 ISO 100
| 1/100 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 | 1/40 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1250

The OS also allows me to shoot handheld at night with good results.

Canon EOS 60D + Sigma 17-70 mm F2.8-4.0 DC Macro OS HS | 1/30 sec, f/2.8, ISO 1250
1/100 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 | 1/160 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100 | 1/160 sec, f/8.0, ISO 100

Sigma also labels this as a Macro lens. Although it's not a 1:1 true macro, I was able to get very close to the subject to get my shot. This makes it a very versatile lens since it covers almost every shot a photographer might want to take: macro, general walkaround, zoomed into details, portraits and landscape.

 Canon EOS 60D + Sigma 17-70 mm F2.8-4.0 DC Macro OS HS
1/80 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100 | 1/640 sec, f/2.8, ISO 100

The only let down for me is that it's difficult to get a shallow DOF with this lens. While rated at f2.8, it's only f2.8 from 17mm to 30mm. Shallow DOF can be had although I had to consciously work at it.

 Canon EOS 60D + Sigma 17-70 mm F2.8-4.0 DC Macro OS HS
1/40 sec, f/2.8, ISO 320 | 1/40 sec, f/4.0, ISO 1600

This is perhaps the best compromise for a traveling lens: it covers a wide range of focal lengths with wide enough apertures. Combined with a fast prime lens like the Canon EF 50mm f1.8 USM II, it'll make for a very potent light travel kit. Add a teleconvertor and your maximum range becomes 98mm (157mm equivalent) with maximum aperture becoming a still very reasonable f5.6.

It's really too bad it's an EF-S only lens though.

> Full set of pictures on Flickr

A romp in the tub

From time to time, we'll pump up a rubber tub for the kids to play with in the backyard. Times like this I'd take out my camera and start shooting.

Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM | 1/125 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200
| 1/160 sec, f/1.8, ISO 500 | 1/125 sec, f/1.8, ISO 250

The girl was napping when the boy started playing. Needless to say, she wasn't napping for much longer.

Both Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM | 1/160 sec, f/1.8, ISO 800

Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM | 1/160 sec, f/1.8, ISO 500

With the two of them running around in the tub, shots came fast and frenetic. And just like that a weekend is over...

Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM | 1/125 sec, f/1.8, ISO 125 | 1/160 sec, f/1.8, ISO 400

Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM | 1/125 sec, f/1.8, ISO 200 | 1/160 sec, f/1.8, ISO 250

> Full set of pictures on Flickr

Canon 60D @ ISO 5000?

I've always set the ISO limit of my 60D on 3200. I had a chat with a friend who shoots with the 5DII and he mentions that he goes up to ISO 5000 and the results are still very good. So that got me to thinking if my 60D can create pictures with acceptable quality at ISO 5000. Here's what I got:

Canon EOS 60D + Canon EF 85mm F1.8 USM | 1/200 sec, f/1.8, ISO 5000

It's been post processed as per my standard settings although I had to push up the noise reduction more. What do I think? It's alright I guess. There are some obvious noise in the darker areas but I think it will be find printed. 

But I doubt I'll always use it much. There's just something about the image. It feels 'murky' and 'rough' somehow. I think I'll do some other tests under different lighting conditions.

Budding photographer

Perhaps it's a sign of things to come? :)

 
Apple iPhone 4 | 1/15 sec, f/2.8, ISO 125