Love my Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 XR Di

Its on days like this that I really find good value in my 3rd party lenses. Especially so when even slrgear.com rates the Tamron as a hair sharper than Canon's 3 times more expensive and not fully weather sealed EF24-70mm F2.8 L lens.

The picture speaks for itself....

The new Canon EF 24mm f1.4 Mark II still leaves a lot to be desired.

The Canon EF 24mm f1.4 L Mark II review is out at slrgear. Based on the results that they've obtained, this is what I think... Looking at the graphs, sure its a whole lot better than the Mark I version of the lens but it still leaves a lot to be desired. Compare this len's performance against that of the competition; Namely the Nikkor 14-24mm f2.8 G and the Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 G. Both Nikkor zoom lenses have better and more even sharpness across the frame than the Canon. Just look at the test graph. The graphs below from slrgear.com show the comparison against the Canon when all lenses are set at 24mm f2.8.

The graphs above shows the Canon 24mm against the 24-70mm Nikkor, both at 24mm f2.8. You will see the the Nikkor offers better sharpness across more of the frame.

This graph shows Nikon's 14-24 f2.8 G. The results are even better here. And these are zoom lenses!!!!

Moreover, look at the graph below. It shows the Canon EF 24mm f1.4 L Mark II at f1.4. It shows horrendous corner softness at up to 6BxU (blur units) as measured by Slrgear.com. What if I want to compose a shot where the subject / object is off center and I want narrow DOF? With this lens it would effectively mean a soft picture where it really ought to be sharp.

Whats worse, we are comparing a prime lens against two zooms. This prime is Canon's newest wide angle lens with SWC (Sub Wavelength Coating), Canon's own technology to give performance similar to Nikon's Nano Coat technology. And guess what, this Canon prime performs less well. Quite disappointing really.

At this stage, its not looking good for Canon in terms of its new lenses. If this new Canon L lens is any indication of things to come, Canon WA lenses at least are not standing up to the best Nikkors. This will have real implications if your style and type of photography calls for sharp pictures, wide open with the subject matter often framed off-center.

RAW files - Are they really raw?

The way RAW files are output by the camera is of course a closely guarded trade secret for all the camera manufacturers. A RAW file by definition is the digital version (zeros and ones) of the analogue sample taken off the sensor. This happens without the application of a tone curve among other things. The idea there is so that one can "process" the RAW file anyway he or she likes, much like a digital negative which hasn't been developed. The good thing about RAW files is that you can process them in an infinite number of ways whereas with emulsion film negatives or positives (as in slides) you can only process them once. (of course I may be wrong, I never process emulsion film)

Here comes the problem.... Camera RAW files from certain manufacturers have been becoming more and more "processed" BEFORE they written to the card. To take a quote from an online forum, "Canon has been very, very good with this so far. Other brands have been notoriously deceptive about this. From Nikon clipping their black levels to "improve" noise performance, to Sony blatantly performing aggressive NR to their RAW files."

And this holds true in application. So much so that although Canon's EOS 50D RAW files contain more noise than the previous camera, I have found that with proper post-processing, one could properly handle noise and squeeze the maximum image quality out of the 15MP RAW images coming from the camera. So Chuck's comment that it all depends on the RAW processing technique and software being used hold true.

Tweaking my digital workflow has given me the opportunity to improve my post-processing skills too. After working with the RAW files of the EOS 50D and for that matter the RAW files of any camera, one gets a feel for the image characteristics for various types of images produced by each camera (e.g. bright vs dark, scenery vs portraits or landscape vs people), ISO (high vs low), flash or no flash etc. Hence I am able to post-process them appropriately to get the result I want.

After a while, you really know how to work with different cameras - both in capturing the best image and in post-processing so as to get the look you want or a consistent image regardless of what camera you use. This is what is most important as far as the science of photography goes.

Now back to the RAW-ness of RAW files, I think Canon has got it right this time. A RAW file should only have the bare necessities. Everything else which can be added later should be added later. To this end, shame on Nikon and more shame on Sony. They are corrupting the notion of RAW. In trying to compete with images leader Canon, they are going down a slippery path which hopefully other camera manufacturers do not follow. For now I'm very happy with the RAW files produced by my Canon cameras. Hooray for RAW.

Californian Redwoods

Stumbling upon a forest of Californian Redwoods - Sequoia Sempervirens, which were planted in 1938 presumably by the local loggers, I decided to take a few shots and also to stand in the shallow section of the river in order to capture the scene from the middle.

I stood for an entire 40 minutes or so in the water, trusting my Gortex lined hiking boots from Colorado's "Titanium" range to keep my feet dry. They did, until about the last 10 mins or so when moisture started getting in at the seams. My feet didn't get really wet. Just moist. My boots did keep me dry for the most part though.

After getting up from the river bank and about a good 30 minutes later, I felt something crawling around my lower left leg. What I learnt from my time in the jungles while in the Army was, "If it itches once scratch it. If it itches in the same spot again, you better check it!" I did and was horrified to find a little leech crawling around. Luckily it hadn't begun to bite. So I just flicked it off. No big deal. But I did find a clean spot to sit down, remove all my boots, check my feet and toes, and roll up my trousers and made sure there weren't anymore of them sticking to me! And no I didn't have the peace of mind to capture a shot of that leech on my leg before I flicked it away. Were the shots worth it? You bet!

Chasing waterfalls and nature treaking part 2

I like this image as it shows off the rugged terrain I had to clamber over to get to the spot where I was to take those photos. Taken with my G10 you can see I'm clearly making full use of the deeper DOF of a small sensor camera. On the ground you can see the Lowepro Flipside 400AW camera backpack that I use. Its much better the the Israeli designed Kata 3n1 30 that I have used before. The Flipside 400AW feels like a real backpack when your carrying it. Meaning its comfortable and functional. If you look carefully, you'll also see a sliplock pouch I've added to the side. I have two, one on each side to be exact.

This shot shows the EOS 50D in "settings display" mode. Looks much like a Sony Alpha doesn't it? I find this feature very useful especially when taking shots in awkward positions. I swith between this screen and LiveView to adjust settings, compose, focus, and take the shot.

Chasing waterfalls and nature treaking

Here's some photos of my few days of chasing waterfalls, photographing them and often getting so close I could feel the spray on my face. Really refreshing. And yes my new EOS 50D performed well, and so did my Canon Powershot G10. Both cameras in the 15MP range and providing excellent image quality, built quality and handling. With the G10 you get to take videos of course. I use this to capture the ambience - the feeling, the sights and well as the sounds. It lets me take home and enjoy what would otherwise be a half day's drive and hour or so hike down to the falls to enjoy be there. Isn't technology supposed to make our lives easier and better? I think in this case it does, but only if you apply it properly.

Combining ones' hiking & backpacking skills, love for nature, love for technology and skill in photography and creative use of your creativity and taking time out to enjoy is what makes a holiday worthwhile. YEA!

Yes my Mag Fiber tripod is indeed in the water. Kinda makes me glad that I spent the money on this instead of one of those metal legged ones. No rust to worry about here.

Birthday at Chong Yao and Lynette's

Celebrated a good friend's birthday today. It was a good time catching up since many of us were all over the place over Christmas and the New Year. It was the first time I got to see Chong Yao and Lynette's new baby too. (Sorry no pic of the baby. Didn't want to strain her tender eyes with any bright lights.) Respect the locals I always think.

Its a rare shot of everyone together. So here it is..... You can click on the image to get the large picture. The image may look a bit off color. It looks okay on my monitor but after uploading the color looks strange in a browser. Anyone who has any ideas please do let me know.

BTW, I hope to be posting some shots taken of waterfalls. Yes I spent a few days out in the wild chasing waterfalls and secluded nature surrounds. Hopefully some pics real soon. Haven't done much post-processing as my computer is really slow. It was never meant to process video and high resolution digital images using sophisticated RAW image editing software. Time I started looking for an upgrade it seems.

(update)

Ok, I've fixed up the color on this photo using another RAW processor. This one looks more natural doesn't it?