Manual focus with the 5D

The sun was shining today, and temperatures were in the 60s. It was glorious! I'd like to say that spring is officially here, but I'm terrified I'll jinx it all!

Anyway, when I got home from work [thanks to daylight savings time, there was a lot of sunlight left], I ran outside with the 5D and snapped a few frames. I tried manual focusing with the 85mm, and here are the results (I freaking love this shot).

This is at ISO100, f/2, manual focus:

...and here is a 100%(-ish) crop of where I focused (manually. haha. I'm so proud):

So! Putting aside the bit of CA that you can see in this close crop, I think it's not bad! I was quite proud of the results.

But the regular-size image... I think it's just lovely. I think the bokeh is great; the colors are nice. I might use it as my desktop image -- I need to update it anyway. Currently it's a snow photo! We're obviously way past that :)

Here's one more of some flowers right in front of our building. At ISO100, f/2:

The weather has put me in a fabulous mood. My birthday is coming up... it's next weekend. I hope these temperatures stick around :)

5D's maiden voyage

It rained all weekend. In fact, it's still raining. So to satisfy my urge to try out the beautiful new 5D, We had a mini-photo shoot in the house and in the stairwell of our condo building. I'll edit to post the settings when I get home -- forgot to get them out of Lightroom.



These were all taken with natural light (perhaps that's obvious), and I'll admit that the first one isn't oriented as well as it could be. But it was really the only option in our small living area (& with all our furniture!). That's why we decided to move to the hallway, with its big window. The second photo here is my favorite.

The camera works great. It is amazing how much it dwarfs my 350D, though. It's bigger and heavier, but not too big, or too heavy. It will take a little getting used to, though. I could practically stuff the 350D + 50mm in my purse and go, but the 5D will take a little more planning.

But I think it will be worth it. I'm enjoying how wide my 50mm is with the full-frame sensor. I'd still like a wider angle prime, though. Now I'm wondering if 35mm would be wide enough; before, I was convinced I wanted the 24mm. I think the 35L is cheaper than the 24LII ($1400 vs. $1700), so I guess it's something to consider... several months from now when I'm prepared to make another purchase :)

I'm very satisfied now. Can't wait for more chances to use the 5D.

The new kid in town

Well, I guess the third time's a charm after all. Or maybe I was just being indecisive, but at any rate, I bought a used 5D this morning. It was the third used one I'd found on craigslist and gone to check out. It was also in the best condition out of the three I've seen. And if the shutter count is as low as the seller says it is, I think it was an excellent deal.

Here she is, in all her glory (photos courtesy of her little sister, the 350D):



So there you have it. The newest member of my camera family.

And though I obviously haven't shot much with it yet, I don't regret not waiting until I had the money for the Mark II -- life's too short to sit around waiting for what you really want. Plus, if I never aspire to make money from photography, I would have a really (really!) difficult time justifying the price of that camera. As badly as I would love to have it, I think it just costs too much for me. So I'm incredibly pleased that second-hand 5Ds are going for such a reasonable price -- I've finally gone full frame, and it didn't break the bank!

It's funny though, like they say, when you buy better and better gear, you can no longer blame your photos' shortcomings on it -- if I take crappy photos, it's likely my fault. :) (Not that that wasn't true before.)

I'm also hoping to shake the upgrade bug now. I have an excellent cam and two excellent prime lenses. If I can't make some magic with all of that, then I guess I'm not a magician :)

In fact, I'm running outside now to take some photos of my husband.