July 2008

No - I didn´t switch back to Nikon although I have to admit that it is really impressive what Nikon has done the last 12 months. I switched to Canon after almost 20 years with Nikon last summer. Reason was: All my gear was stolen in a burglary. Having nothing to loose I decided to give the Canon 5D a try. Thanks to my photo dealer I was able to test it over the weekend. I should come back on Monday with either the camera or the money. I came back with the money. I got the Canon 5D kit with the 24-105L because of two reasons: image qualtiy and the 24-105L. I wasn´t impressed by the built or ergonomics ( in both areas my Nikons were far better ) but I was impressed by the image quality at low and high ISO. There was sharpness and a presence I have never seen before. I didn´t know whether it was full frame or Canon but to be honest I didn´t care. I wanted it. And I also almost felt in love with the 24-105L. Wow - what a great standard lens. You can cover a whole trip with just that lens. But I also got the 4/70-200IS. Beside the amazing image of the 5D these two lenses were the main reason for me to make the switch.

Meanwhile I got a couple of other great lenses too. Most of them I like the 35L and the 135L. These lenses and the 5D changed my way of photography. To play with a very shallow depth of field it simple wonderful. I also started to concentrate on portraiture I try to practice as often as I can. But it´s not easy. Most of my friends don´t like to be photographed. Me too so I can´t blame them. But now I found a solution: We moved to our new house a couple of months ago. We have a large dining table beside the kitchen in front of a very large window - 8 meters wide and 2.5 meters high - so there is plenty of very soft natural light. It´s like a gigantic lightbox.

So when friends come and sit on the table having a coffee I took my camera and take a couple of shots. Not a lot - just a couple of images. In these portraits I want to concentrate on their faces so I crop very thight by using my 135L and a horizontal composition. Harald was the exception he stood in the kitchen and tried my Canon with the 135L while I was testing his new Nikon D3 with the 1.4/85 on him. It was more of a snap shot but I cropped the image later in Lightroom because I really like his expression. It looks very natural and because of his sideburns and the a way that the Nikon 1.4/85 renders the background the image has a great 70s look. The BW conversion ( done in LR ) also helps to enhance this look.

Harald would have made it to a picture of the month years ago. I took a portrait of him ( using his 1.4/28 ! ) in the famous Kaffee Griensteidl ( http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_Griensteidl ) but he was wearing a almost ridicolous terrible cardigan that ruined the shot.

So to come to an end here it is: A special warning. Visitors be aware! A photo will be taken. No funny cardigans or snoopy shirts, no nothing ugly sticking out of your nose. You may end up here on the internet!

settings main shot: Nikon D3, AF 1.4/85 ED, A-Mode, 1/125@f2.2, 400ASA, cropped

settings second image: Canon 5D, 135L, A-Mode, 1/100s@f2.8, 200ASA

settings third image: Canon 5D, 135L, A-Mode, 1/200s@f4, 400ASA