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OK it's second hand and the technology is 4 years out of date, but this camera is a wonderful photographic tool. I suppose I have those buying the new 5d MKII to thank as it has resulted in the original 5d appearing on the used market at very reasonable prices. Recently a 5d body in pretty good nick appeared in our local camera shop window, after agonising for a few short minutes I decided to take the plunge and trade my 18 month old 40d for a 4 year old camera. Mad I hear you say, but I had never really been completely happy with the 40d, it just didn't give me the step up from the 20d that I had expected. My initial impressions of the 5d couldn't be more different, simpler features and slightly larger in the hand, the 5d is all about IQ. Images from this camera seem to have a 3d quality that can only come from a full frame sensor. It has meant a bit of a re-think regarding lenses, the 17-85mm EFS had to go and I am relying on my beloved collection of primes, but pair the 5d with the Canon 50mm f/1.8 and you have a formidable combination that I cannot imagine I will tire of in the foreseable future.
07/06/2010.
Sigma's 28mm is a full frame lens with a super fast f1.8 aperture. When used on an APS size C DSLR it comes close to being a "standard 50" the near-human-eye viewpoint. Anyone used to working with prime lenses will understand the fun that can be had from using fast aperture lenses, offering great low light shooting possibilities and the ability to create stunning out of focus backgrounds (bokeh). The Sigma 28mm is criticized for being large (it has a 77mm filter) and no USM motor so many opt for the smaller Sigma 30mm, however in use I like the heft and handling of this lens, it balances very well on a body such as the Canon EOS 40d. The lens is quiet in use, optically near perfect, and unlike the 30mm has nine aperture blades which create perfectly round out of focus highlights, it also has a lower price tag than many and I think it is a "sleeper" product. Needless to say it hasn't left my camera since I bought it and is my absolute favorite general purpose lens of choice.
02/05/2010.
17/12/2009.
Rarely a day goes by without a story in the press of how an innocent photographer has been harrased by the police on the grounds of anti-terrorism, however if this recent report is correct it appears that finally the police might be seeing sense on the issue, lets hope the message gets through to those on the front line, particularly the PCSO's
05/12/2009.
Wimbledon 2009 is now in full swing and for the amateur photographer it offers one of those rare occasions to get close enough to the superstars to get some really good photo's. In particular, if you visit the championships in the first week and spend some time wandering around the outside courts you will have the opportunity to get court-side and take some great action shots. Today Gisela Dulko took on the might of Maria Sharapova in the second round of the tournament, for those who aren't in the know, Gisela is one of the most elegant and stylish players in the women's game, however she is better know for her talents as a doubles player. The 24 year old Argentine played some superb tennis in a nerve jangling three setter putting out past winner Sharapova in 2 hours and 13 minutes, well done Gisela!
Canon EOS 20d | 1/400 sec | f/5.6 | 200 mm | iso 200
24/06/2009.
This madness continues....
16/04/2009.
This week I heard a commentator on the radio say that sooner or later everything in UK society will either be compulsory or banned, this may be a little overstated but he has a point! The powers that be seem to have lost any ability to use reason or common sense, unlike the Author of this well written piece....
15/04/2009.
More reading for those concerned by this issue here....
23/03/2009.
I am an amateur photographer, something from which I derive great enjoyment, but since I started taking photographs 5 years ago something in this country has changed. Like many now, I have been stopped whilst taking photographs in London, a process that in itself is humiliating and intimidating, and a year ago on seeing widespread adverts by the Metropolitan Police suggesting that photographers might be terrorists, I wrote to the UK Advertising Standards Authority to complain that there was little proof of this and that the advert damages the way that photographers are perceived by society. I subsequently received a predictable response citing that the advert did not break their code of practice. Last month a law was introduced making it a criminal offence to photograph a police officer, an overview of this event can be found here.....
Jacqui Smith failed to consult over new antiphotographer law
with more comment here....
Government accused of speaking nonsense on photography law
These facts may be of little consequence to many, but put together they all have a steady eroding effect on civil liberties. I now think twice before taking photographs in public places, particularly in London, and I am sure many fellow photographers feel the same way. The new law makes anybody with a camera or camera phone a potential criminal, and the wording of the law is particularly vague and inconclusive.
We used to be a country that embraced individual freedom and creativity, but we are turning into a nation prepared to pass judgement on the innocent and give up our civil liberties without so much as a whimper, all driven by a disproportionate sense of fear within society.
It may just be photography today, but where does it stop? Once given up it is most unlikely that these liberties that our country has such a rich heritage in preserving will ever be given back.
09/03/2009.
I have been chasing the holy grail of compact cameras for a while now, that is one that will fit in my backpack (along with a laptop), and that will replace a dslr for daily use. My stock solution as a carry everywhere camera has been the fairly compact Canon 400d with a 50mm lens, this is a compromise though due to the fixed focal length which does not suit every situation and I would still end up leaving it behind because of it's size and weight........ so enter the Ricoh GX200.
After much deliberation and dismissing the Sigma DP1 due to it's reported sluggish performance and the fact that it costs about the same as an entry level dslr, I decided to part with my hard earned £250 in exchange for a shiny new Ricoh. On first inspection it is hard not to be impressed by it's stellar build quality, a multitude of controls and the beautiful high resolution screen. In the past I had been critical of compacts without an optical viewfinder, and whilst a clip on electronic viewfinder is available for the GX200 I decide that I would adapt my technique and go without it. In reality the screen provides a much better framing tool than the viewfinder ever can. The one thing that did drive me nuts fairly quickly was the lens cap on a string, fortunately the LC1 'pizza' style lens cap accessory works fantastically well and is an essential.
The camera is very similar in size and shape to the old Ricoh 35mm R1, a camera that I loved. It sits very comfortably in the hand and performs fast and efficiently, highlights include the fact that it shoots RAW without significantly slowing down and you can power the camera with a couple of triple A batteries if the rechargeable battery runs out. It also has a cracking good lens with little distortion at any focal length and a relatively fast aperture, particularly at wider settings. The real revelation though is the camera's control system, you have direct access to just about every function via the superb user interface, it has a Canon dslr style wheel on the top plate for adjusting the aperture and you are able to change settings such as ISO, EV compensation, white balance and image quality all on the fly with a neat 'push-in' rocker switch on the back. This actually helps enormously in getting good results and it is fair to say that it even outstrips starter dslr's in terms of functionality.
Image quality is obviously the benchmark for all cameras. The Ricoh is as good as any compact out there at the moment and probably better than most, that is apart from the Sigma DP1 which as I said earlier I have dismissed for other reasons. The real question is, is it good enough for your uses? If you are a dslr user you will notice noise, even at ISO64, but generally this is not a significant issue unless you are shooting in low light situations above ISO200, I would recommend looking elsewhere if that is particularly important to you. The thing I have noticed is that my shooting rate has gone up significantly because I always have the camera with me. This is not intended to be a technical review but factoring in all considerations, although it isn't quite the holy grail that I hoped for, the Ricoh certainly makes for a great all round package that I can highly recommend.
05/03/2009.
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