5D Mark II, 85 f/1.2L

So, I went to a camera store today to handle the 5D Mark II.

I'm in love.

Even just shooting around the store, I could tell a difference in the feel of the images. Also, the viewfinder is heavenly compared to my XT's, not to mention the LCD screen (how nice to be able to actually see the image you just took).

The guy asked me what lenses I usually shot with, and I told him primes. So what does he bring me? The 85 f/1.2L.

Well! First I took a few shots with my own 85 1.8. Here's one at f/1.8 (no editing except for a crop):


























THEN --- the fateful moment --- I put on the 85L. Here's a shot at f/1.2, again, no editing, not even a crop this time:





















As Stacy London would say, Shut the front door. That bokeh! So creamy! Such "pop" to the image!

The 5Dii has the top display for ISO, aperture, &c, so it took a moment to get used to how that worked. But my XT actually has a kind of similar display right above the LCD (which is one reason the LCD is so small), so it was really just a change in position and complexity.

The cam is obviously heavier, but with my 85 1.8 attached (my heaviest lens so far), it was not unmanageable. I wish I could have tried it out somewhere other than a fluorescent-lit camera store :)

I also tried a couple of shots with the store's copy of the 24-70L, and I paid attention to the feel of the focal length at 24mm, which is what I think my next lens purchase will be (eventually). It didn't seem too wide on the FF (my main concern), but again, I was shooting in a camera store! I am tempted to rent a FF and the 24L before I make either of those purchases, but I just can't help thinking that that could be money put toward the final purchase that would be a waste on a rental.

I also tried the video briefly, but I'm not sure I uploaded that file correctly to my Mac. Will deal with that later. Not particularly enthralled with video at the mo.

I am still wrestling with the decision about the 5D Mk II. I can afford it (in a few months), but is that how I should spend $2400? Canon is supposed to be making some more announcements on Tuesday, so if they by chance announce a 60D or equivalent that has good high ISO capabilities, reality may win out over emotions. A $1200 body upgrade is much more reasonable for a hobbyist like myself. I just wish they'd make a FF cam with no bells and whistles for under $2000. I get that it's the sensor that makes it expensive in the first place, but I am willing to sacrifice frames per second, fancy LCD screens, &c for an affordable FF body. I'm sure I'm dreaming.

The bottom line is that I want to upgrade to a body that will perform well in low light, and that I can take to ISOs above 1600 without seeing much noise. Am hoping to have a body upgrade by this fall. Until then, I plan to have fun learning lots about my two primes and getting better at post-processing.

DOF, AF systems

I have somehow just gotten the ability to change the size of the images I post in here. I won't ask questions; I like it.

Went out for Italian with some friends from one of my study abroad groups back in undergrad. This is a photo of our appetizer, before it was completely devoured, taken at f/1.6, ISO 800:

I really like this shot (if I do say so myself, ha). I think the colors are good, and the addition of the hand & fork in the background is awesome. The lighting provided some nice highlights, but still fairly detailed "low lights." I'm pretty pleased. The f/1.6 didn't add a bad effect either ;)

This next photo is one of a series of three paintings we have above our couch. I was hoping that the DOF would look a little shallower, but I think I was coming at it from too straight of an angle, if I had shot at an upward angle from even lower, I think I would have seen more blur. But it's still cool. I do think the colors turned out particularly well. Does it have a greenish tint, I wonder? I try to be careful about that. This is at f/1.4, ISO 800:

The DOF looks a lot better on this photo. Also f/1.4, ISO 800:

I know lots of people take this boring "keyboard DOF" shot, but I had to try it.

My main interest when shooting these few shots was to see how the different AF focus points reacted -- I've been reading up on Canon's AF systems (not specifically the one in my camera, since it's a discontinued model). The center point is supposed to be cross-type, while the others aren't. I can't really exhibit these differences in the shots, but I can say that it was usually much harder to lock focus when I was using a point other than the center one.

I don't mind (technique-wise) using the center point every time and simply recomposing, but I wonder if recomposing can actually throw off the focus in some instances.

I'm particularly interested in this because I've become interested in the 5D Mark II as my body upgrade, and it seems that the only big complaint about that body is the "adolescent" focusing system --- still only the center focus point is cross-type (and high-precision).

Supposedly the cross-type focus points are most particularly helpful when tracking moving subjects (birds in flight, sports), which is why people are so excited about the 7D's focus system. But I really, really, really want a full-frame body. I wish the 5D2's AF was just a tad better. Ah well. We'll see what Canon announces in February. Maybe one of the new bodies will fit me better (at what cost?!).