Photography Equipment Musings

This page lists the camera gear I've used, and where applicable, my thoughts about it.

• Cameras
• Lenses
• Accessories

• Sony DSC-F505V - my first digital camera. For its time, a fine camera, but limited in some pretty irksome ways by today's standards. The lack of a viewfinder was a bit annoying, and the proprietary memory stick format was definitely a drawback. It's less so these days, now that there are more 3rd party manufacturers and much larger capacities. Battery life was always an issue, and after just a year or so, both of the Sony batteries I purchased with the camera ceased to be able to hold a charge for more than half an hour or so - very annoying! The 3rd party battery I bought later had no such problems, other than constantly displaying the "low battery" icon, even on a full charge. When I got my 300D, I gave this to my sister, who loves it.

• Canon S300 - this was a nice camera when I bought it, but I should have studied product lifecycles before purchasing it as it was quickly superceded by the much-better S400. My mother is now enjoying this camera, her first digital.

• Canon S400 - an excellent compact point-and-shoot camera with good macro performance and nice resolution. I've taken thousands upon thousands of pics with this camera and it rarely disappoints. It's very small and pocket'able, yet has most of the controls most people would want. Battery life is pretty good (excellent if you turn off the LCD viewfinder, but I rather like using it). I took this camera nearly everywhere until I broke the LCD, which makes it nearly useless. Compared to my Digital Rebel, the images look pretty over-saturated and soft, but they're fine for small prints and web use.

• Canon Digital Rebel SLR - I purchased this camera in early 2004, and have been learning a lot about SLR photographpy since. Thus far, it's been a pleasure to use, with most controls very logically arranged and accessible. Myriad sites gripe about software crippling as compared to Canon's 10D DSLR body, but so far I'm a very happy camper. It's definitely a camera I'm growing into. Full-manual mode is a little fiddly to operate, and the way the flash works is not intuitive (a common complaint I've read about Canon SLRs). In Sept. '04 I installed the Russian hacked firmware to enable some "missing" features, most importantly FEC, selectable focussing modes, & MLU. So far so good.... Having played with a buddy's Canon 20D, however, I find myself yearning for that body's instant-on, fast card read/write speeds and burst shooting speed.

• Canon 17-40mm f/4 L USM lens - my first Canon "L" glass. Superb build quality, super-smooth zoom action and focus ring. The 77mm front filter thread means very expensive filters, alas. It's quite a lot heavier than the 18-55 EF-S, but the focus is faster & quieter due to the USM (the 18-55 is actually decently fast-focusing and quiet itself, especially for a non-USM lens). All in all it is a pleasure to use and is capable of taking some lovely images. It's reasonably lightweight (~1.5lbs) and priced (~$700) compared to most other Canon "L" lenses (except for their highly-regarded 70-200mm f/4 L USM, also light and reasonably-priced, which is next on my list).

• Canon 17-85mm f/3.5-5.6 EF-S IS USM lens - Great walkaround lens for a 300D/350D/20D body (and nothing else, since those are all that the EF-S lineup are compatible with). I brought just this and my 50mm f/1.4 lens with me to Rome and was happy with the combination (the 50mm for available-light indoor and night shots). I will not be selling my 17-40 f/4L anytime soon, however, as for the times when I don't mind carrying more gear, the 17-40 is nicer to use (better build quality), and is a better-performing lens. That said, the 17-85 is just about perfect for a vacation lens. It covers the equivalent of 28-135 in 35mm terms due to the 1.6 crop factor of compatible cameras. Not hugely wide, but very useful. The lens does have a few drawbacks, however: It's *much* more prone to chromatic abberation and barrel distortion than the 17-40 f/4L, and vignetting is often noticeable as well. These issues are usually easily touched up in Photoshop, but I'd rather not have to bother. The f/5.6 maximum aperture at 85mm is pretty slow, but the stabilizer helps sort this out in situations where the subject is still. Still, the range, small size/weight, and image stabilizer make this an appealing take-anywhere lens. I find that I use it often, especially on trips where photography is not the primary purpose.

• Canon 18-55mm EF-S lens - kit lens purchased with my Digital Rebel body. Nicely wide-angle (28-90mm effective with the Rebel's 1.6x field of view crop) and very lightweight. Image quality is not bad, but the 28-135 is much better although lacking on the wide end of things. I haven't used the 18-55 even once since I got the 17-40m f/4L....

• Canon 28-135mm IS EF USM lens - my first "about town" lens for my Rebel. Its effective 45-210mm range is very useful, the image stabilizer works exactly as advertised, and the USM autofocus is fast and quiet. It's not a particularly small or ultra-lightweight lens. Alas, 45mm is not at all wide for a walkabout lens. Canon's 17-85 EF-S lens is much better for a single lens choice.

• Sigma 50mm EX macro lens - It focuses amazingly close! Too close for insect work, as they get scared off, but it's great for flowers (the primary reason I bought it). I miss Canon's USM motor drive, though. This lens focuses a bit quieter and faster than the Sigma 75-300, but it is still very slow, noisy and hunts frequently. The focus limit switch is somewhat handy to keep it from hunting to infinity when doing close-up work, and from hunting to 1:1 when doing non close-up work. For the money, size, and weight, I'm very pleased, but if someone made a ~80mm fast-focussing 1:1 macro for Canon EF mounts, I would prefer that (d'oh, Canon recently released a 60mm EF-S macro, which would have fit the bill nicely). Sharpness is excellent, despite my other minor gripes. Since replaced with Canon's 100mm f/2.8 macro, which actually seems a little less sharp, but is nicer to use for a number of reasons.

• Canon 50mm f/1.4 USM lens - A great, very fast lens for the price (you have to pay a whole lot more to get faster glass from Canon, and their other f/1.4 lenses are $1,200 as well). I use this primarily for taking available light pictures of pets, the few portraits I take, and nighttime/indoor situations where a flash isn't desired or allowed (museums). With my 300D's 1.6x crop factor, it's a little long for museums & churches, where I cannot always back away from the subject enough to frame the photo how I want. Money no object, I would prefera 35mm f/1.4L since it crops to around the equivalent of a true 50mm lens, but other than that, I'm quite pleased with this lens. Depth of field can be very shallow below f/2, and I miss some shots due to that, but for the same reason, I've taken some great cat & dog photos with it.

• Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - Sharp and solid, but I wish it came with a tripod ring, as it's a $120 add-on (which I bought since I find them quite convenient, especially for longer focal lengths!). I bring this and my 1.4x TC on hikes when I think I may see wildlife, but don't want to carry the bulk of my 300mm prime. I am finding, though, that I don't take that many pictures in this range, sticking mostly to the wide-angle side of things, or the super-tele end. Color, contrast, and saturation are, like my 300mm f/4L, excellent, and a reasonably short minimum focus distance, especially coupled with the 1.4x TC, makes it useful for larger flowers and most insects.

• Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Super II Macro lens - nice zoomy lens. Good quality for the price ($210), and came with a nice lens hood and padded belt-loop case (I wish my 28-135 did - I don't know where Canon gets off charging what they do for lens hoods!). I will eventually replace this with a higher-quality (and hopefully image-stabilized) zoom (70-300 DO IS or 70-200 f/4L most likely), but for now, it will do. My gripes so far are that the zoom ring turns the opposite way from my Canon lenses and the autofocus is both much slower and much louder than the USM on my 28-135. The zoom ring is not at all smooth and is stiff to boot. The ability to focus at 3.5ft. at 300mm makes this a useful macro (1:2) lens as well. Image quality isn't all that good at 300mm, especially for distant subjects (the main thing I want this zoom range for!).

• Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens - A lovely lens all around at this focal length. Very sharp, quiet- and fast-focussing (especially if the focus range limiter is on), solid, and well-built (but not quite up to Canon L quality). I very much like the additional working distance compared to my Sigma 50mm macro (a fine lens in its own right), and it has somewhat more pleasing bokeh. The price for the tripod ring is positively outrageous ($180??? WTF?!?), though which, is a shame, and a lens hood is not included, also an annoyance with all Canon non-L lenses.

• Canon 300mm f/4 L IS lens - I like this lens a lot! With the 1.4x teleconverter (see below), it's a 420mm f/5.6 lens - long enough for some bird use (and even at its high price, it's one of the cheapest near-birding-range lenses in Canon's lineup by a long shot!). Large, heavy (~3lbs. with the tripod collar attached) and white, it does attract attention from passers-by. Image quality is excellent in my limited use thus far (I got it on 11/14/2004), and the stabilizer helps quite a bit - I don't think twice about going out with only this lens and no tripod. I've had good results (on stationary objects) handheld down to 1/60sec with the teleconverter - excellent!

• Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS lens - I rented this lens for a weekend to check it out (it sells for around $1,300, so I definitely wanted to try it for an extended time before even considering saving up for it!). It is positively HUGE when extended to 400mm, and at 3#, is about as heavy a lens as I would want to take hiking. I didn't find its push-pull zoom mechanism to be an issue at all, in fact I rather liked it. The zoom tension ring works well to lock the lens at 100mm when walking around, and it was easy to dial in a good tension for zooming in on birds in flight. What I did not care for about this lens was the image quality - many images shot at 400mm were very soft (not a focus issue since often _nothing_, rather than the wrong thing, was in focus) even though I religiously avoided shooting at f/5.6 @ 400mm since this lens is known to be very soft at that setting. The dual-mode image stabilizer works excellently - I wish my 28-135 IS had a panning mode like this lens does! I have seen some great photos taken with this lens, however, so perhaps mine was just suffering from years of being rented out. I'm very glad I rented it, as now I know I'd rather have Canon's 300mm f/4 L IS USM prime w/a 1.4x TC (=420mm) for bird/wildlife use.

• Canon 1.4x II Teleconverter - nothing much to say about this other than it does what it's supposed to do with barely any noticeable image degradation on my 300mm f/4L IS and 70-200 f/4L lenses. Focus is detectably slower and tends to hunt more, though.

• Tamrac leather camera strap - pretty comfortable, but the straps creep loose and caused a camera fall once - bad bad bad! I'm just lucky I had my 100mm macro with its enormous hood mounted to take the impact, else I would have been a very unhappy camper! For this reason, I don't recommend this strap unless you use an additional device (ie. safety pins) to keep the straps where they belong.

• Op/Tech tripod straps - great springy shoulder strap for carrying a larger tripod comfortably. I still have some issues with managing the bulk of my Gitzo 1227, but this strap removes weight from the equation entirely!

• Canon Speedlight 420EX flash - nice powerful external flash for my Rebel. I haven't used it all that much so far, but it seems like a good unit. The ability to bounce the flash off of ceilings/walls/whatever is quite useful. I'm not sure how fond I am of the fact that it changes the way it works (drastically) depending on what mode the camera is in.

• Gitzo 1568 monopod - A wonderful compromise between size, weight and stability! It's no tripod, but except for close-up flower shots, it fits my needs nicely, and provides much-needed mobility for birding. I wouldn't change a thing about it, and can't imagine anything better. Absolutely top-notch! Unfortunately, I did discover that it makes a poor walking stick - I slipped on a snow patch and cracked the lower (thinnest) section. Still useable, but I'll have to look into replacing the bottom :(

• Gitzo 1227 tripod legs - I decided to skip the intermediate steps and purchased this, along with a Kirk BH-3 ballhead, after my Velbon proved unsatisfactory. Terribly expensive (as low as $420 if you look around), but it is extremely stable, is reasonably lightweight for its size, and is plenty tall enough for me to mostly avoid using the center column (I'm 6'1"). Build quality is outstanding, and I look forward to many years of use. For the price, this had better be the last tripod I ever buy!

• Manfrotto 3232 tilt head - I use this, with a Kirk QR plate, atop my monopod, but am realizing that a super-light ballhead would offer much more flexibility. Still, it was inexpensive and lightweight so I can't complain too much. The included stud and plastic nut don't allow you to clamp the camera nearly tight enough to the head, allowing it to twist easily. A hardware store replacement with a proper bolt and nut would fix this, but I'm not really using this head anymore, so it doesn't matter to me.

• Kirk BH-3 ballhead - excellently-built, this head is smooth and easily adjustable. The Arca-style quick-release is very solid, vastly more so than the cheesy QR on my Velbon. My only (minor) complaint so far is that the ball tension adjustment is pretty touchy. At ~1.6lbs, it is not going to break any weight records, but it's quite well-matched to the Gitzo 1227 legs. The controls operate smoothly and efficiently and it's overall a pleasure to have. I may try out an Acratech Ultimate ballhead, as it's lower weight is appealing, especially for a monopod, but for now, this is the head for me.

• Velbon MAXi 347GB Tripod - I'm not happy with this tripod/head combo. It's fairly lightweight, but not very steady. Although I thought I would like a pan head for nature work, I find it gets in the way. Independent leg positioning isn't possible since it has braces connecting the legs to the center column. I also don't like the geared center column at all, as it is very slow to operate. The QR plate tends to twist and loosen if I'm carrying the camera mounted to the tripod, and its flat-head screw base is a pain to adjust compared to a D-ring type. Replaced by a Gitzo 1227 tripod & Kirk BH-3 ballhead.

• Giotto Q-Pod mini-tripod - This is the best super-mini tripod I've used. The legs telescope out to 6.5 inches, and its only 5"x1.5"x0.75" when folded up. Not nearly stable enough for my SLR camera, but very useful for a smaller digicam.

• LowePro Off-Trail 1 camera bag - excellent little waistpack! Unfortunately I've out-grown it, and will need to investigate other options for carrying camera gear while hiking. I love that I can easily wear it forwards-facing so it doesn't interfere with a backpack, and keeps my camera and two lenses at my fingertips. I attached a zip pouch to its belt to provide storage for batteries/filters/etc. My 300D body w/17-40mm f/4L attached fits in the main compartment, with my Sigma 70-300 APO in another (no room for it with the hood reversed, alas), and my Sigma 50mm EX macro in the last. It is very full in this configuration, however, and once I replace the Sigma 70-300 with a Canon 70-200 f/4L, it will no longer fit at all. For more compact digicam use, I would wholeheartedly recommend it. A bicycle water bottle fits perfectly in the side pouches if one (or both) is not needed for gear.

• Adorama Slinger camera bag - I only recently acquired this bag, but so far it seems like it's perfect for urban/travel and short walks. My gear more-or-less fits, and it is very comfortable, especially with its waist belt in use. I brought this bag to Rome with my 300D body, 17-85 EF-S and 50mm f/1.4 lenses and it performed admirably. A passport pocket is a nice hiding place to keep one's wallet out of pickpocket's hands, the mesh side pockets hold a 500ml bottle of water easily, and the myriad pockets had no trouble containing the odds and ends one wants with them on holiday (gum, hand sanitizer, notepad, tickets, etc). Very highly recommended, and it's only $40! Not big enough for those times when you want to carry a lot of gear, but the classic travel combo of body + 17-40mm f/4L + 70-200 f/4L fits, with a little room leftover for a small flash in the main compartment, although it's getting pretty full!

• LowePro MiniTrekker AW - great camera backpack with loads of useable space. I just wish it had a little more room for non-camera gear (jackets, lunch, etc). I've been glad that it has a waterproof cover on a few occasions, and the slip-lock attachment points are useful adding lens cases for faster access to oft-used lenses and such. It easily holds my 300D body, 300mm f/4L IS, 17-40 f/4L, 70-200 f/4L, 100mm f/2.8 macro, 420ex flash, filters, lens cloths, blowers, batteries, and memory cards with room for a field guide and small pair of binoculars. I would prefer a pack with a little less room for camera gear, and a lot more for other gear (especially a hydration bladder for longer hikes), but this works pretty well for the time being. The tripod attachment on the back is on the one hand convenient and well-balanced, but on the other, its placement means that you have to remove the tripod to access anything - I'd prefer a side-mount, which I may have to rig up with straps/buckles. I use this on shorter jaunts where I want to carry a lot of camera gear. I have ordered a LowePro Off-Trail 2, though, so that may take over in that role.