Posts Tagged ‘lenselite’
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19th June 2015

Sigma 24-35mm f2 Art Lens Announced

Sigma 24-35mm f2 Art Lens for Full Frame

‘This is a new zoom lens for 35mm full-frame sensor SLRs that offer the quality of a fixed focal length at various angles of view’ – Sigma

Constant f2 maximum aperture – Slightly faster than the normal 24-70mm f2.8 zoom lenses, with the potential to blur backgrounds a bit more. 28cm minimum focus distance – Good for close-up shots. No optical stabilisation You can change the mount (e.g. from Canon to Nikon) Huge 82mm filter mount Weighs 940g

 

 

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18th June 2015

Ansel Adams – Moonrise

Ansel Adams – Moonrise – 1941

Why?

As well as a beautiful photograph with a broad tonal range, good sharpness and elegant composition, it has a message. At the bottom level, humans worry about death, shown by the graveyard. Death is dwarfed by the enormity of the mountains which are small compared to the clouds. Above the clouds, the stars; and above that, against which this little slice of existence is nothing, is total blackness. It is an expression of the Sublime and man’s tiny part in the universe.

How?

We value scarcity, and things seem more valuable when they are lost or about to be. There’s a great story about how this photo was made; Ansel Adams saw the photo opportunity while driving in New Mexico at sunset and rushed to capture it. Without an exposure meter, he could rely on his knowledge (of the moon’s brightness) and experience to get the shot. Incidentally, exposure settings of 1/200s at f8, ISO100 for the moon, and 1/320s at f8, ISO100 for direct sunlight will often be okay.

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17th June 2015

Sigma 24-105mm f4 Art Lens Review

The Sigma 24-105mm f4 OS Art lens could be the only lens you need for a full-frame camera. It’s slightly longer telephoto reach compared to the professional 24-70mm lenses is useful and can save carrying an extra telephoto lens. f4 isn’t ideal, but the optical stabilisation and high ISO capabilities of modern cameras largely makes up for this. It isn’t weather-sealed. It is big and heavy. It is good value, and a recommended buy as a lens to leave on the camera most of the time.

Sigma 24-105mm f4 OS Art Lens

Prime vs Zoom lens

Prime lenses (which can’t zoom) are great until you need to get a shot and you don’t have time to change lenses (assuming you even have the one you need). Most professionals don’t rely on a fancy 200mm f2 lens or even a 50mm f1.4; they use a general purpose zoom lens most of the time.

What’s the best lens for …?

As photographers, we love the slightly wide-angle to slightly telephoto 24-70mm and slightly telephoto to longer telephoto 70-200mm lens combination. Occasionally, a wider lens like the 14-24mm will join the team, with a large-aperture prime lens added for low light/ shallow depth-of-field photos. Those four lenses are really all the vast majority of photographers will ever need. In fact, just the 24-70mm lens will be fine for most people.

Is a Superzoom lens any good?

A super-zoom lens covers from wide-angle to long telephoto like a 18-300mm lens. Are they good lenses? Yes, because they are very versatile. No, because they make too many sacrifices. The Sigma has a 4.4x zoom range; I’ve never heard a professional compare a lens with this #x figure.

The Canon/Sigma 24-105mm f4 lens

70mm is okay for a portrait, but 105mm is better. The Canon and Sigma lenses zoom in slightly more than the standard 24-70mm lens, which is often very useful. The Canon lens isn’t as sharp as the Sigma lens, but is weather-sealed. There are also lots of used Canon 24-105mm lenses available so if you can get one significantly cheaper (they’re already cheaper new) than the Sigma 24-105mm lens, it’s a good deal. Otherwise, because the Sigma is a little better at everything else, it is preferred.

Vs. the Nikon 24-120mm lens

Nikon has a slightly longer zoom lens. However. the extra 15mm hardly makes a difference so isn’t a big factor in comparing the two lenses. The Nikon lens is more expensive, but it isn’t as sharp. It is lighter and uses 77mm filters compared to the heavy Sigma with 82mm filters; the Sigma feels sturdier.

Vs. the Nikon 24-85mm lens

This lens is included with cameras sometimes. It’s lighter, plastic-y and the image quality isn’t as good. But the Nikon can be found cheaply second-hand and may suffice.

f2.8 vs. f4

The professional 24-70mm lenses traditionally have a maximum aperture of f2.8. This helps blur the background a little more and lets in more light which allows you to use a faster shutter speed; important when photographing action or in low-light conditions. f2.8 is preferable, though it can make the lenses bigger/heavier. The Sigma 24-105mm lens has [...]

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7th April 2015

How To Get Popular on 500px; And The Huge Danger Of Doing So…

500px.com – it’s become the best place to share photos and get inspiration. If people like and favourite your photo, it can rise to the top and become Popular. This is great publicity, and you can do it like this…

Upload a portrait of a sexy girl, or a beautiful landscape in great light Post-process it in the style of photos that are already Popular on 500px Optional; include a personal story in the description and image tags. Include ‘Please Like and Fav because I love this shot!’ Click on Discover/ Recent and open lots of photos in new tabs. Average or even bad photos are good choices. Open the profiles of the people who have ‘favourited’ or liked the photo in new tabs Follow each person, and like a couple of their photos, preferably ones that have meaning to them; family or pets. Write a two sentence comment on a few, using their name and ‘my friend’. Keep doing this until you get the score on your photo that you want.

This works;

Incoming!

 

Reciprocation is a powerful force. Try this once if you want, but there’s a bigger idea here to understand.

Nice photo, very popular; but not creative, and not Art.

Social feedback can destroy your photography. Especially online, people aren’t thinking. In blind comparisons, we always prefer the sweeter drink or saltier food. This gives us junk food; what is thoughtless feedback doing to your pictures?

Think about the great artists. They’re often not the most popular, because their best work is new, and people don’t like what’s unfamiliar. Imagine if Van Gogh had just painted for his audience instead of himself.

Instead, focus on creating art that moves you personally. Art is an expression of your uniqueness, set against the background of culture and the human condition. Create don’t copy, and keep working to make photos that you think are great.

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