Both are taken with Canon EOS 5D / 200mm F2.8L at F5.6. Top with 1/400 sec, below with 1/800 sec. With F 4.0 DOF would have been even nicer, but to risky for loosing sharpness of the head. I love the lens. The 135 F2.0L is even a bit better but requires to get closer to the dogs. I will try that one again pretty soon too.
Here is an other nice one.
1) I went on Flickr to check on pictures on different Canon lenses. For some reason, the pictures shot from 135mm f2.0/L just captivate me more than any other Canon lenses. The pictures are not too overly sharp, and it has a nice saturation to it. The background shot with this lens provides just the right amount of details without totally blurred out. Am I the only one seeing things?
2) What is your thought on post-production? Minimal possible or do whatever it takes to have a top grade quality photo? Please share your opinion on that.
Looking forward to your informative reply.
Oh, have you experiment with Tilt-Shift lenses? Those lenses create so awesome perspective that is quiet interesting. Some people uses the less expensive Lensbaby but I don't believe they are in the same league.
Dave S. - Are you shooting in auto mode? If you are, try switching to something like p-mode. Then, your camera should allow you to choose your "focus point." If you're shooting with auto mode, or with auto-focus where all focus points are working it's going to take a bit longer for the cam to focus. You should try only selecting one focus point [ ie; center ] & use that.
Also, shooting moving objects can be really tricky. It takes a lot of practice to get it down, so no worries if you're having trouble. Just keep playing with thte camera & it'll happen eventually ~
The thing about the dSLR's is that each one has a certain number of focus points. For example, mine has 9. When you're using all 9 focus points, the camera is trying to "figure out" where to focus, & is choosing the subject to focus on w/out you. In P-Mode you can choose which focus point you want [ ie: the center, or the top left ] & then YOU choose what to focus on instead of the camera
Auto mode is OK for lots of stuff, but not dogs running around! lol ~
Hello Dave, see, there are more options to prepare for the best shot. P-mode allows you to do more professional tricks with the camera. One option I use for moving dogs is even different. In "P" you leave it to the camera to make a selection of F-stop and shutter speed. In normal stuff probably the best. But what if you want to avoid blur from moving dogs? Than there are options for aperture preference (A) or Shutter speed preference (S). Now, lets say I want to make sure the moving dog is frozen. This means I need the highest speed possible under those circumstances. So I decide what's the minimum aperture setting I need for enough dept of field, so lets say F4.0 is okay. Now I set the 4.0 and the camera will choose the fastest speed possible with F4.0. If there is not plenty of light I may reduce the F-stop down to 2.8 or even lower (if your lens has this option). I have the risk for not enough dept in field but at least part of the photo will be perfect. If the subject is blurred, all is out of sharpness and the image is mostly worthless. The last image of Rico is done with F5.6 setting and the camera choose 1/800 of a sec to freeze him. You may see his head is nicely in focus but the tail isn't. That's okay now, but not always. I also know the maximum quality of this lens is at the F4 or 5.6 setting.
1) for me the 135mm F2.0L is the best of the best. The bokeh is Zeiss/Leica quality. Mechanics are perfect, the price very reasonable, extremely fast but tack sharp. But also not unpleasing sharp. "Out of focus sharpness" hurts the eyes. But this one is stunning. There must be some pics from that lens on the forum as well. Even at full opening, F2.0., it's just amazingly good. If you really would see 100% on a good camera it is just fantastic. I use the 5D but Osy has a 5DMKII. That's the perfect camera for this lens. The 200mm F2.8L is very nice too, a lot cheaper and very fast too. Also the 85mm F1.8 is superb. At least above 2.8 and higher. I took some photo's with the 135mm at full opening, like portrets, they are just perfect, however focussing on the right spot is very complex. at 2.0 dof is very shallow. If you go to 2.8 or 4.0 there is a bit of focus shift. But you love this lens 100% sure.
2) post production: I don't do much. Conversion to LAB. Cropping. Color & contrast correction. Resize. unsharp masking in light channel. RGB and save. hardly ever anything else.
3) Shift/tilt: I worked a lot with field and studio camera's. They are superb for this purpose. I also worked with Pentax 6x7 and had the 75mm Shift lens. I used but not really often. I still have it but want to sell it since I never use my 6x7 again. If I would need it I probably use the 4"x5" camera.
The newest 17mm from Canon is state of the art, from what I read. But I have never used it or even owned a shift/tilt with a 35mm camera. So my advise is limited. They can be very useful to make perfect panorama shots.
I hope this was useful for you. Let me find a 135mm lens photo.
Here's one, mind you, taken at 1/60 sec and F8.0 but still amazing bokeh.
I just got a Nikon D3000 and I've been playing around with it. I like these pics I took of Sevuk. I also really like the last pic of Koko my african grey. I would really love some feedback and advice on them( I'm still new at this haha) These were taken with the 18-55mm lens.
Hello Araks, Good to see some new input, even some parrography! To avoid the images are geting to big and so the pages slow down, try to limit the uploaded size down to lets say 500 or 600 pixels wide, otherwise the images cannot even be viewed in one frame.
Anyway, the D3000 is a fine camera. The lens what comes with it has some limitation but that's obvious in respect to the price. But it is a perfect lens to get started so you can find out what you really want and maybe upgrade to the one you really need and delivers the quality you want.
So one important thing, no matte what camera you use is composition. It is always nice if the dog or bird looks into the image, not out. Compare 2 and 3, you may see nr. 2 is making contact with the viewer, nr. 3 is looking away. So 2 is more pleasing. If the dog (or bird) is looking at something try to leave space in front of the eyes and so crop on the other side.
The pop-up flash is kind of dangerous to use directly on a dogs face, since you get the reflections from the eyes. Maybe use a tissue or other subject to soften the flash output. It will also deliver softer shadows.
Use the longer lens position (55mm) for portraits to avoid deformation unless you like to exaggerate shape. But if you shoot a dogs head, try to keep the ears complete :-) That's why I like nr. 4 the best, composition wise. Just cut of a bit of the stuff in front of his legs to make the carpet less distracting. Try the same photo outside with daylight; it will be much nicer. Keep the dog away from any distracting background to get more attention to the dog. Btw, with a dark dog, sometimes it is nicer to have the light source behind the dog (if possible). Keep on practicing and post some new ones (but smaller in size).
Hello Hello MnV,
Here's one other image done with the 135mm F2.0L lens, set at full opening, (F2.0) and at 1/125 sec, ISO 400.
American Akita Kaja, ready for the show!
Telephoto lenses separate the subject from the background, especially if set at very low aperture.
Nico: thanks so much! that really was helpful. I've been trying to get some pictures outside but by the time i get home during the week its about an hour before it gets dark, so i'll try to take nicer ones over the weekend. I also took some where i turned the flash off because it did seem like it was hurting his eyes(he's squinting in the first couple pics). I'll try to post those. Plus when i bought the camera i also got the 55-200mm lens and i think i'm gonna try that one out next time.
First time in the snow... It's a little grey, it was overcast and snowing, but i think it shows good motion/action. Probably could have increased the speed and the ISO a little, and if i took some time, could have custom WB from the camera
Ok guys, so I am going to be shooting photos at the LA-Branch Akiho show next weekend. I will not be able to walk up to the dogs so I will be using my 70-300VR. My two lens choices are 18-55AFS and my 70-300VR AFS, I figure I will be taking shots somewhere in the 150-250 range. Should I be taking these shots somewhere around F8? Weather should be sunny. Just looking for a starting point.
Side note, my new Mac should be here at the end of the week -very excited to do some post production.
Hello Jack,
The 70-300 VR is a very nice lens, I think your choice is a good one. Don't use the full opening (F5.6) since it causes to much light fall off in the corners. F11 is perfect on a full size camera, F8 may be enough on the APS camera. However, this is most important on the long end of the lens (250-300mm). This should give enough dept in field, but some testing might be recommended. The problem with the dog shows is that the people handling the dogs are mostly not at the same distance from the camera. The bokeh at 8 or 11 is very nice of this lens. But don't go higher than F11. There you will loose some optical quality. If it will be very sunny, don't forget to bring a flashlight. You may use this as a fill-in flash to avoid to harsh contrasts with the strong sun under a low position in this time of the year. Set the flash at like 1.5 F-stop underexposure, just to fill in the shadows.
Looking forward to see some nice pics here!
One more portret, an Akita pup, around 4.5 months young. Taken with Canon 135mm F2.0L @ F5.0 / 125 sec and ISO 200.
The low contrast helped me out with the always difficult zone on the noose bridge. There should be still some detail in the hair, but the rest shouldn't get too dark. The bokeh is very nice and soft.
Thanks for the advice. I am not 100% sure where I will be sitting but I think it will be at the front of the ring. Which means the sun will be above me for the most part. Where do you aim the flashlight? I am worried about distracting the dogs.
Well, with this type of photography, in my believe, the best would be to look into the sun, so be in the shadow side. This makes a nice separation from subject and back ground. However, your camera will recognize all the light in the back, so will underexpose the subject (dog + handler). You can set your light meter into the spot setting, meaning it will only use the center of the image for checking the light and not anything from the back. But you will miss some detail in the front, it might even get a bit grainy. So use the flash to brighten up this area. To make it nice, this is what you do. Your lens could be on the F8.0 setting. So set the flash lower, like at 5.6 or at -1.0 EV. So this way you compensate the contrast difference. You have to check if there's not to much light. With the flash you can only synchronize with like max 1/250 of a sec. When it is very bright, you may need a higher F-stop or speed. But than the flash may not keep up.
So-So, some of them are posted in the Akiho post. Shot in raw at f9 for the most part, it was just very hard to get the shadows out of the way at the same time convincing the subject to keep his-her tongue in. All the photos I posted have not been post-processed, I will do that later this week.
Hey Nico, some more questions for an expert like you.
1) Do you use Zoom lenses?
2) Do you use 3rd party lenses?
3) If you can only have a ONE Lens setup, what would you pick?
I bought a used Canon 20D from a friend. It's a consumer grade old DSLR, as you know. The deal came with a crappy 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 stock lens and a 50mm f/1.8 II. If I want to upgrade to a better lens that can do all purpose indoor/outdoor portrait shooting, what would you recommend? I don't mind paying for quality, but most L lenses are just heavy.
I rented the 135mm f/2 L. It's an excellent lens but it's a bit heavy and long on a crop body.
Maybe I should go back to point and shoot and forget about beautiful bokeh.
Hello MnV,
1: Only if no other option is available. I like my 28-70mm F2.8L but it is not the best. The newer 24-70mm F2.8L is some better, an other option is the 24-105 F4.0L. One stop less but IS instead. For the 20D all lenses will be doing very well, they outperform the chip of the 20D resolution wise. The last one is, from the high end lenses, probably the most versatile option. The first is no longer for sale, the middle one is the better one, but also very heavy and seriously priced. It will be kind of difficult since you use the camera kind of very recently, so you are probably not sure what type of photography you will like most.
2: 3rd party: Yes, but only from Zeiss. Zeiss has excellent optics, most of them better than even the "L" lenses from Canon. However, they are manual focus, so not useful for moving objects. I just sold my 14mm and my 16-35mm 2.8L, since their quality wasn't up to the newer chips. Both "II" versions are much better but still not as good as Zeiss 21mm or others. Today Nikon is way better in wide angle like their very good 14-24mm. On telephoto Canon is superb. There is no second 135mm F2.0L. But only get it if you need it. But the 100mm Makro F2.0 from Zeiss is unmatched, unless you add the leica to it, but that one doesn't work easy on canon bodies and is 3 times the price. Totally not useful on a 20D. I would however, stay away from the cheaper lenses like Tokina, Tamron or Sigma. They are nice, not better than canon, mostly visible less quality but at a great price.
3: Hard to say. There are two "Non L" lenses in my case (with exception of Zeiss optics). That's 50mm F1.4, which is many times better than the 1.8. The other very good and very affordable is the 85mm F1.8. From 2.8 up to 8.0 equal quality as the 85mm 1.2L @ 20% of the price. It depends on your preferences. I think I would use two lenses: 50mm F1.4 and 24-105 F4.0L. But I would not like to miss my 135 or the 200mm. I still have the 80-200mm F2.8L, but it's kind of old. If I carry only two lenses, I bring that one and my 28-70mm 2.8L. My 16-35 is sold.
The lenses which came with your 20D are not the best. The 50mm F1.8 is kind of okay, just cheap plastics, the other one belongs in the trash can. Outdoor portraits are done nicely with the 24-105. For indoor, F4.0 is a bit dark. On the 20D a 1.4 50mm would do fine, or the 85mm F1.8. The 85mm has great bokey, way better than any of the zooms. The modern 70-200 L-lensen are very nice too. The 4.0 seems affordable, lots of value for money. Here's a picture done with the 85mm F1.8.
Comments
Here is an other nice one.
Got 2 questions for an expert like you:
1) I went on Flickr to check on pictures on different Canon lenses. For some reason, the pictures shot from 135mm f2.0/L just captivate me more than any other Canon lenses. The pictures are not too overly sharp, and it has a nice saturation to it. The background shot with this lens provides just the right amount of details without totally blurred out. Am I the only one seeing things?
2) What is your thought on post-production? Minimal possible or do whatever it takes to have a top grade quality photo? Please share your opinion on that.
Looking forward to your informative reply.
Oh, have you experiment with Tilt-Shift lenses? Those lenses create so awesome perspective that is quiet interesting. Some people uses the less expensive Lensbaby but I don't believe they are in the same league.
Thank you.
This link might help you out.
Also, shooting moving objects can be really tricky. It takes a lot of practice to get it down, so no worries if you're having trouble. Just keep playing with thte camera & it'll happen eventually
Great advise,... & thanks for that link it is very helpful. I just tried P mode (that sounded kinda funny) & it is faster!!!!
The thing about the dSLR's is that each one has a certain number of focus points. For example, mine has 9. When you're using all 9 focus points, the camera is trying to "figure out" where to focus, & is choosing the subject to focus on w/out you. In P-Mode you can choose which focus point you want [ ie: the center, or the top left ] & then YOU choose what to focus on instead of the camera
Auto mode is OK for lots of stuff, but not dogs running around! lol ~
thx for the comments…
1) for me the 135mm F2.0L is the best of the best. The bokeh is Zeiss/Leica quality. Mechanics are perfect, the price very reasonable, extremely fast but tack sharp. But also not unpleasing sharp. "Out of focus sharpness" hurts the eyes. But this one is stunning. There must be some pics from that lens on the forum as well. Even at full opening, F2.0., it's just amazingly good. If you really would see 100% on a good camera it is just fantastic. I use the 5D but Osy has a 5DMKII. That's the perfect camera for this lens. The 200mm F2.8L is very nice too, a lot cheaper and very fast too. Also the 85mm F1.8 is superb. At least above 2.8 and higher. I took some photo's with the 135mm at full opening, like portrets, they are just perfect, however focussing on the right spot is very complex. at 2.0 dof is very shallow. If you go to 2.8 or 4.0 there is a bit of focus shift. But you love this lens 100% sure.
2) post production: I don't do much. Conversion to LAB. Cropping. Color & contrast correction. Resize. unsharp masking in light channel. RGB and save. hardly ever anything else.
3) Shift/tilt: I worked a lot with field and studio camera's. They are superb for this purpose. I also worked with Pentax 6x7 and had the 75mm Shift lens. I used but not really often. I still have it but want to sell it since I never use my 6x7 again. If I would need it I probably use the 4"x5" camera.
The newest 17mm from Canon is state of the art, from what I read. But I have never used it or even owned a shift/tilt with a 35mm camera. So my advise is limited. They can be very useful to make perfect panorama shots.
I hope this was useful for you. Let me find a 135mm lens photo.
Here's one, mind you, taken at 1/60 sec and F8.0 but still amazing bokeh.
Who?!?!?!? ME?!?!?!? I wish!!!! LOL [ I did get to handle / sell many of these though ..AMAZING camera ]
I have a 450d, / xsi Nico. Very outdated, very old, & I kind of wish I had a newer one, but will invest in lenses for the time being instead
Awesome photo! ~
I guess it was "jmrnavydoc" who also uses the 85mm F1.2 ?
Anyway, the D3000 is a fine camera. The lens what comes with it has some limitation but that's obvious in respect to the price. But it is a perfect lens to get started so you can find out what you really want and maybe upgrade to the one you really need and delivers the quality you want.
So one important thing, no matte what camera you use is composition. It is always nice if the dog or bird looks into the image, not out. Compare 2 and 3, you may see nr. 2 is making contact with the viewer, nr. 3 is looking away. So 2 is more pleasing. If the dog (or bird) is looking at something try to leave space in front of the eyes and so crop on the other side.
The pop-up flash is kind of dangerous to use directly on a dogs face, since you get the reflections from the eyes. Maybe use a tissue or other subject to soften the flash output. It will also deliver softer shadows.
Use the longer lens position (55mm) for portraits to avoid deformation unless you like to exaggerate shape. But if you shoot a dogs head, try to keep the ears complete :-) That's why I like nr. 4 the best, composition wise. Just cut of a bit of the stuff in front of his legs to make the carpet less distracting. Try the same photo outside with daylight; it will be much nicer. Keep the dog away from any distracting background to get more attention to the dog. Btw, with a dark dog, sometimes it is nicer to have the light source behind the dog (if possible). Keep on practicing and post some new ones (but smaller in size).
Here's one other image done with the 135mm F2.0L lens, set at full opening, (F2.0) and at 1/125 sec, ISO 400.
American Akita Kaja, ready for the show!
Telephoto lenses separate the subject from the background, especially if set at very low aperture.
Thanks for all the great tips, samples, and recommendation. I'm sure a lot of people can benefit from them.
Jessika: thanks
105mm, 1/125, f/14, ISO 100
105mm, 1/125, f/11, ISO 100
Side note, my new Mac should be here at the end of the week -very excited to do some post production.
The 70-300 VR is a very nice lens, I think your choice is a good one. Don't use the full opening (F5.6) since it causes to much light fall off in the corners. F11 is perfect on a full size camera, F8 may be enough on the APS camera. However, this is most important on the long end of the lens (250-300mm). This should give enough dept in field, but some testing might be recommended. The problem with the dog shows is that the people handling the dogs are mostly not at the same distance from the camera. The bokeh at 8 or 11 is very nice of this lens. But don't go higher than F11. There you will loose some optical quality. If it will be very sunny, don't forget to bring a flashlight. You may use this as a fill-in flash to avoid to harsh contrasts with the strong sun under a low position in this time of the year. Set the flash at like 1.5 F-stop underexposure, just to fill in the shadows.
Looking forward to see some nice pics here!
The low contrast helped me out with the always difficult zone on the noose bridge. There should be still some detail in the hair, but the rest shouldn't get too dark. The bokeh is very nice and soft.
1) Do you use Zoom lenses?
2) Do you use 3rd party lenses?
3) If you can only have a ONE Lens setup, what would you pick?
I bought a used Canon 20D from a friend. It's a consumer grade old DSLR, as you know. The deal came with a crappy 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 stock lens and a 50mm f/1.8 II. If I want to upgrade to a better lens that can do all purpose indoor/outdoor portrait shooting, what would you recommend? I don't mind paying for quality, but most L lenses are just heavy.
I rented the 135mm f/2 L. It's an excellent lens but it's a bit heavy and long on a crop body.
Maybe I should go back to point and shoot and forget about beautiful bokeh.
1: Only if no other option is available. I like my 28-70mm F2.8L but it is not the best. The newer 24-70mm F2.8L is some better, an other option is the 24-105 F4.0L. One stop less but IS instead. For the 20D all lenses will be doing very well, they outperform the chip of the 20D resolution wise. The last one is, from the high end lenses, probably the most versatile option. The first is no longer for sale, the middle one is the better one, but also very heavy and seriously priced. It will be kind of difficult since you use the camera kind of very recently, so you are probably not sure what type of photography you will like most.
2: 3rd party: Yes, but only from Zeiss. Zeiss has excellent optics, most of them better than even the "L" lenses from Canon. However, they are manual focus, so not useful for moving objects. I just sold my 14mm and my 16-35mm 2.8L, since their quality wasn't up to the newer chips. Both "II" versions are much better but still not as good as Zeiss 21mm or others. Today Nikon is way better in wide angle like their very good 14-24mm. On telephoto Canon is superb. There is no second 135mm F2.0L. But only get it if you need it. But the 100mm Makro F2.0 from Zeiss is unmatched, unless you add the leica to it, but that one doesn't work easy on canon bodies and is 3 times the price. Totally not useful on a 20D. I would however, stay away from the cheaper lenses like Tokina, Tamron or Sigma. They are nice, not better than canon, mostly visible less quality but at a great price.
3: Hard to say. There are two "Non L" lenses in my case (with exception of Zeiss optics). That's 50mm F1.4, which is many times better than the 1.8. The other very good and very affordable is the 85mm F1.8. From 2.8 up to 8.0 equal quality as the 85mm 1.2L @ 20% of the price. It depends on your preferences. I think I would use two lenses: 50mm F1.4 and 24-105 F4.0L. But I would not like to miss my 135 or the 200mm. I still have the 80-200mm F2.8L, but it's kind of old. If I carry only two lenses, I bring that one and my 28-70mm 2.8L. My 16-35 is sold.
The lenses which came with your 20D are not the best. The 50mm F1.8 is kind of okay, just cheap plastics, the other one belongs in the trash can. Outdoor portraits are done nicely with the 24-105. For indoor, F4.0 is a bit dark. On the 20D a 1.4 50mm would do fine, or the 85mm F1.8. The 85mm has great bokey, way better than any of the zooms. The modern 70-200 L-lensen are very nice too. The 4.0 seems affordable, lots of value for money. Here's a picture done with the 85mm F1.8.