*I’m going back to Canon…? My impression, and user review of the new EOS R.

I’ve just passed the 9th anniversary of this particular blog, and about the 12th overall of me rambling on about camera gear, software and photographic technique online, and as Ladies Love Cool James once eluded to, I have seemingly come full circle.  I’ve waded through and swam in many different pools.  Technology has made some pretty exciting leaps over this time.  After years with a few EOS bodies, I then got excited with the advent of mirrorless as an early adopter in Panasonic, then Olympus, Pentax, Sony, even GoPro while dabbling in various film formats with my 35mm and medium format cameras, and now for the first time in about 6 years, I’ve purchased a Canon branded product again.  At first, I feared I’d made a horrible mistake, but as I’ve now had this camera for the last few months, I’m starting to come around to what it does offer me, and I think I may finally get rid of my Sony full frame gear.

C’mon in for my thoughts, why and where I feel its worth while, and where I foresee Canon going with this format.

Continue reading

*Using the Kipon EF to m4/3, smart adapter. Things are getting interesting w/ @adorama

kipon ef to m4/3 af adapter

The Kipon EF Lens to Micro 4/3 mount smart adapter is a fairly big deal.  Not just because it enables aperture adjustment for the electronically controlled EF line of lenses when adapted to a micro 4/3 camera body, but it has also bridged the proprietary technology to gain the use of full auto focus and lens based image stabilization capabilities.  Having followed a fairly similar path into the micro 4/3 world as I would imagine many others, I came from a long standing investment in the Canon system.  I still shoot my Canon full framers, and have compiled some very nice glass over the years that tends to sit on the shelf more often now that I shoot the micro 4/3 system.  I’ve been waiting for a solution to merge my two beloved systems, and Kipon has produced it.

Enter the new, Kipon EF>m4/3 Smart Adapter. Come on in for some insight and my experience over the last month…

Continue reading

*Using the Metabones mk 4 EF>Emount smart adapter on the A7II, a user review.

BonusMatchC

Who doesn’t fantasy shop?  I certainly do, and while I have done a really good job over the years of tempering my cravings to buy a newer full frame camera, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been interested in the Sony Alpha 7 series.  Much like the NEX series (or “Axxxx”, or whatever it’s called now) I’ve always felt that Sony has spent their time and effort on camera bodies and sensor development, while largely ignoring the need to round out their optical offerings for either the APS-C or Full Frame mirrorless systems.  To be fair, and as a seeming act of nose thumbing in my direction, Sony released 4 brand new FE mount lenses a couple weeks ago.  This new set of lenses is certainly a step in the right direction as they’ve finally released more lenses than cameras for the FE mount.

Sony seems to be focused on leading the charge in sensor tech while slowly bringing new lenses to market, and other companies and systems have benefited from this sensor based model, namely Nikon and Olympus.  While researching my options in the world of Canon full frame land (I also shoot a Canon 5D2), I kept tabs on the A7 series, and when the A7II was announced with IBIS, and all the other bells and whistles for the same price as the aging 6D, I decided to dig deeper.

I’ve been looking to update my 5D2 for a little while.  It still does most of what I need it to, but I’ve been walking on thin ice after having sold and traded off my other Canon DSLR bodies leaving me with no backup.  

Most of the work I do with the Canon is in interior work, so I never saw it as a huge liability seeing that I could, in a pinch, shoot with my micro 4/3 setup to cover me.

Now, the Metabones adapters are well documented, and with the new mark 4, has seemingly remedied most of the gripes I’ve read about, namely the internal surface reflections by way of a series of matte bezels inside the adapter.  One problem I’d come across is that it was hard to find good info with use on this new A7II.  Well, here are my initial thoughts…

Continue reading

*Canon EF 55mm f/1.2?

Canon EF 55mm f/1.2

Nope, not a typo.  I have, in my possession a Canon 55mm f/1.2 lens with an EF mount.  How?  Well, many of you may know of Ed Mica, an engineer with a passion for photographic lenses, and lens mounts more specifically.  He has worked to provide many mount conversion kits for older FD lenses, converting them to a more modern EF mount and while Ed has had a conversion mount for the FL 55mm f/1.2, I’d been waiting for an FD 55mm f/1.2 SSC conversion since I’d first heard about Ed’s products a couple years back.  Now, he has a conversion mount for many different FD, FL and FDn lenses including my lovely 55mm.  Not only do I now have an ultra fast semi-standard lens for my full frame Canon cameras, I also need to keep one less micro 4/3 adapter around which turns this lens into a 110mm equivalent lens capable of absorbing light in the near darkness for both formats…  Examples and test shots on the other side…

Continue reading

*G-FD’d Up From the Feet Up! (or, how I saved thousands buying FD lenses)

Looking down the barrel…

Recycle, reuse, reshoot.  As long as you don’t mind manually focusing and establishing your exposure, why pay a ton of money when there are so many used, high quality lenses available?  Sure there are many optical and automated benefits to modern lenses, but sometimes, for the money saved, I can deal with the shortcomings of older, out of date lenses.  Using older, “legacy” glass on multiple cameras, either via a proprietary mount or adapter, can provide a fun, reasonably affordable and beneficial experience… Continue reading