Thursday, August 14, 2014

Update / Stuff / Still Alive

It's now full-on hot-as-hell season (mid-August) and my head is spinning at the quick passage of time. Where did it go?


I've been busy with a number of different things, one of those just happens to be photography. Although I can't seem to find much time to update my blog or my website.


The honest truth is that I spend 9 - 10 hours every work day staring at a computer monitor doing engineering-type stuff (gotta pay the bills, you know), and the last thing I feel like doing when I'm at home is to stare at a computer monitor.


My phone has become my main communicator simply because it's easily accessible and fast. I did have things set up where I could make blog posts from my phone, but it's continually crapped out on me. It doesn't seem to like it when there are a lot of apps installed and I actually try to use it like a computer.


So much for buying a top of the line phone. All that memory and processor speed works great at first, but over time and a few dozen apps later, it makes me want to dump it in a wood chipper. I wonder if my ancient Nokia, aka "the brick", would still work?


If you really want to keep up with my current work, please check me out on Instagram. I'm also on Facebook, but that's a personal account. I've thought about starting a photography page on Facebook, but then I really don't want to have one more thing to update and keep track of.






I just bought a cheap 14mm lens for my Canon DSLR. It's a Rokinon branded lens, which apparently is the same, or nearly the same, as many other brands (eg Rokinon/Samyang/Bower).


I debated long and hard, and then debated a lot more, and then debated until I was just sick and tired of thinking about it, but I finally decided to ditch my 16-35mm zoom and sold it.


At the end of it all, I hardly ever shoot wider than 24mm. When I want to lighten my camera kit (which is often because most of my outings involve hiking and I just don't want to haul a lens that I may use for only one shot), the 16-35mm was always the first to be eliminated from the bag.


I almost got a Voightlander 20mm. It's a nifty pancake-style lens. Very light and very small. I could easily stuff it away in my bag for the few times when I want to shoot wider than 24mm. But after all my debating and thinking, I'd much rather prefer a 18 or 19mm prime lens, and right now, there aren't any out there that are relatively small. (and I'm looking at YOU, Samyang... please make a good 18 or 19mm!! :-) )


So, as sort of an "in the meantime" fix, I bought the 14mm. It's not all that small. And it's definitely heavy. But it's fun to play with, and for $300 for a 14mm.... why not? But I still won't be taking it on long hikes in the desert.


I took a series of test shots last night with the 14mm.




crops from test shots - click to see larger


The crops are 100% from different parts of the frame. I'm fairly impressed with the performance. At f/2.8 it's noticeably soft and there is heavy vignetting. But stopping down to f/4 makes a huge difference. And by f/5.6 and f/8, I honestly can say that it's just as sharp as the 16-35mm f/2.8L II Canon lens that I used to own.


Eat THAT Canon!