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Lylibellule買っちゃった ～ I Bought It
Posted by meronpan on June 20, 2009
If you were wondering what I meant when I twittered, 「買っちゃった」 this is it ^^
Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on my previous post. Please don’t be offended if I didn’t follow your advice ^^;;
Hope I’m handling everything correctly and putting things on right… was too excited to spend an hour reading the insanely long manual ^^;;
Well, I did at least read the bits on attaching a lens. At any rate, very overwhelming.
So you can see I went with the 40D, and went right ahead with the 100mm f/2.8 macro lens.
For a general zoom I deviated from my original plan. Looked closer at reviews of the 17-85, compared more images… decided I might as well save some money and get the 18-55 kit lens. In the end the image quality was actually pretty similar between the two.
Figured I’ll start with the biggest bang for the buck for my zoom and then pursue higher grade glass later.
With the hood on the 100mm macro turns the camera into a beast! Can’t imagine what’s it’s like wielding longer telephoto lenses ^^;
And now I have a strange urge to go to a park and take pictures of flowers ^^;;
Fumbling around with the settings as best I could I took some test shots… specifically wanted to compare my sakura results.
Here’s a similar pic from the review:
For the review pics I believe I had my camera set to ‘vivid’ which influenced the colors as you can see. Lighting’s also different… I’ll have to do a true comparison under the exact same conditions.
The greatest thing I’ve already come to appreciate is the depth of field of the 100mm macro lens.
It’s insanely easy to get things to fall out of focus… none of these shots went wider than f/4. And with my old camera limited to f/8 it feels weird being able to stop down much further.
Not the best shot but I love how I can get in so close without having my camera <1cm away from the subject ^^;; Can you guess whose leg that is? Err well, you probably have the answer below already on your screen, huh ^^;
Above was shot at f/13 in an attempt to keep her hair in focus.
Back at f/5.6.
Went through my collection using the built in flash to see how things would turn out hand held.
Lighting’s not the best, but great to have the background melt away.
Need to pick someone to review next ^^;
Sumo soap.
It was a random gift ^^;;
So much to learn/try out/discover! Hope to get some review pics out in the near future. Woo hoo!! This camera is soooo sexay ^__^
以上！
p.s. Thanks again for the well wishes for the 1 year milestone. And actually I’ve just passed 100k for real! ^^
aaroninjapan09 said
Wow, that is some delicious depth of field. I was actually thinking of going reverse and getting one of the shorter lenses with a huge aperature instead of long focal length for figure shooting.
Lol, seeing your camera makes me want to dip in and get a new lens, though I still don’t feel I am good enough yet.
aaroninjapan09 said
Sorry for double post but I wanted to say 1 more thing.
Do make sure you read the manual and get used to the new controls. The last thing you want is to not be using a certain feature because you didn’t know it existed. :P I read like half my manual and even with my crappy camera I still keep discovering new features on it.
meronpan said
i had a really hard time trying to figure out what would be best for figure shooting but tentatively the 100mm macro is looking like a real winner ^^ so many different choices to make though so i’m sure there’s plenty other options
skimmed through the manual today but there’s so much to absorb i’m gonna have to go through it again and again ^^;; gonna be a while before i can confidently say i’m familiar with everything ^^;;
YuKi-To said
Grats on ur awesome purchase and milestone! ^^
though I still don’t get the various camera terms XD
meronpan said
thanks ^^ as for the terms… well i could (should, perhaps?) do a whole post on that stuff, but just some basics… you can think of the focal length of the lens as zoom (higher numbers == higher zoom). f numbers (f/2.8, f/5, etc) refer to the aperture. Small f numbers mean less of the subject is in focus while larger f numbers mean more is in focus.
optic said
Any sacrifices you had to consider? lol
Even if I make the plunge for a DSLR, I wouldn’t even know how to use it and there’s just too many camera terms to remember. All I’m good at is point and shoot. :P
Maybe it’s time to redo some of older figure shoots. This time, u can bring out their true glory. xD
meronpan said
luckily i’ve been planning to do this for a while, so i didn’t have to cancel all my preorders ^^;
might even be a good excuse redo some recent reviews… nanoha’s skin came out all orange ^^;;
Blowfish said
Damn! Thats one sexy camera! I could insert some cheap dolphin joke here but ill leave that to another commenter!
I just had a flier full of sweet DSLRS in my hands yesterday but I still have to wait sometime until I can get my hands on one.
The Depth of field is awesome! Tried to do it with my camera once and it ended in failure ^^;;
Cant wait to see some nice and sexy reviews
meronpan said
even zooming in all the way with a wide open aperture no luck? ^^;
will try to shoot somethin tonite… ^^
anonymousobject said
Ah, you got the 100mm and the 40D? Nice! I’m still learning how to effectively use the 100mm. Every time I go back and look at my photos, I see something I could have done better >_< Easy to use, difficult to master. The 40D + 100mm is a great combination but the depth of field will the hard part as you've already discovered.
Anyway, congrats on the sweet new gear. I'm looking forward to more awesome photos ^^
meronpan said
i love the usm on the lens. so quiet and smooth compared to everything i’ve used before.
thanks, and now to shoot some photos! ^^
Smithy said
Congrats on your purchase! You’ll enjoy that camera I’m sure of it. ^^
Oh, so you got the ES 100mm f/2.8 USM Macro lens? Awesome. Great to already see a few test and comparison shots with it.
I’ve been thinking of getting this lens as well. In fact had planned on going to the photography store today but alas saw online their stock was out and have to wait until next month anyway until new salary comes in. ^^;;
Actually your lighting rig is looking quite tempting too…
meronpan said
i had been checking a buncha stores and it was out of stock or at a higher price (up to like $550 from $490)… put my name on an e-mail stock notification and when it came in i decided to grab it (quickly followed by the body purchase ^^)
lighting would definitely be cheaper but not as fun gear wise ^^;
0rion said
Good choice! Looks like you’re already having a blast with it and getting used to the mechanics. =3
meronpan said
still giddy over the purchase ^^; woo!
wolfheinrich said
Congrats on the purchase! I am sure you would have a blast with it.
meronpan said
definitely am, it’s been great so far ^^
Shiddo said
One of my friends has 40D as well and he is happy with it ^^ Actualy “was”. I think I rember him saying something he wants upgr. to 50D ^^;
Since I can tell diference between cameras just by the looks (ye nice silver one, ohhh cool black one… ok not THAT bad but near it) all I can say is, grats on your purchuase and hope it will serve you to your needs ^^ One sure needs a bit experience and knowlage when using and setting such a camera for ideal image ^^ I’ve experienced only pain so far with compact ^^;;;
“Cool black Canon you have” ^^;
meronpan said
definitely helps to have an appreciation for the terms and functions the camera is capable of. though it seems like they’ve kept a lot of the automatic modes so you can basically still use it as a point and shoot if you want. it’s just a really really expensive point and shoot ^^;;
phossil said
Congratz with the new adquisition. I think I did know you will end up with the canon camera..hehe
I will follow your trials since I think I will plan to buy a dslr camera in the future.. ^^
meronpan said
doumo. best of luck with your future purchase ^^
Q said
Oh nice camera, even though I know nothing about it ^^;
On an unrelated note, just to mention that Volks 1/7 Fate, Hayate, and Vivio will all be delayed for at least a month or two. The only thing I remember is that Fate will be released sometime in late August (read a notice in Volks store in Radio Kaikan in Akihabara).
meronpan said
ahhhh i wish i was in radio kaikan right now ^^;; hope you’re having a blast!
luckily after i order figures i kind of forget about the release date and get surprised later when i get a shipment email… so delays don’t bother me so much ^^;;
T.I.P. said
Grats on acquiring your new camera. The shots from that macro lens looks great. Can’t wait to see your new reviews. :)
meronpan said
thanks! just got my first review up and so far i’m pretty happy with the results ^^
Akira Eshi said
congratulations, good camera, excellent PHOTOGRAPHS *^___^*
meronpan said
doumo ^^ having a real blast getting used to all the new features and such ^^
Akira Eshi said
I understand, 4 months ago moved from the camera nikon d50> nikon d300. Beautiful machine.
Tier said
Wow, congrats XD Between the camera body and lenses and lighting rig, you’ve got an awesome setup going. I might have to take another look at getting the cheap 50mm lens, I haven’t played much with aperture settings (I shoot in aperture priority mode but I usually keep it at f/8).
meronpan said
thanks ^^ i’d love to try out a 50mm prime but gonna have to save a bit for that ^^;;;
RyoBase said
congrats! be sure to cherish it everyday.
anyway, you still haven’t change from Koz ta ブーム to my new blog? Do it now!
meronpan said
did you stop by to tell me before hand? if so, gomen ^^;
definitely taking care of and enjoying the new camera. it’s beautiful!
sonic_ver2 said
Wow, you bought Canon 40D directly with 100mm macro!? That’s great!
I guess you have to start getting yourself used to it. Needs some time to get the hang of it.
I suggest you bought an external flash (with wireless equipment if possible) for the next upgrade.
Oh, and regarding your comparison photos (Sakura), i noticed that your DSLR photo lack of saturation. Try to experiment with these settings:
- White Balance
- Picture Style
- and Custome Picture Style if possible
And don’t forget to install Digital Photo Professional. Using this software you can process RAW image with even more option.
meronpan said
i was too obsessed with reviews of prime lenses so i had to get at least one ^^; indeed it’s been taking a while getting used to the new hardware but i think i’m coming along slowly ^^;
yeah, i think my previous camera had a bit too much in the saturation department but yes, these pics do feel like they’re at the other extreme (well, maybe not extreme, per se).
got all the software installed, just gotta figure out how to best use it ^^; thanks for the tips!
lovelyduckie said
Maybe I need to do something similar (again) I keep finding myself leaning into the figure rather then just zooming in from where I am.
meronpan said
if you don’t mind the leaning, then you’d be a perfect candidate for prime glass ^^ sexay iq but no zooming ^^;
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens « Blue Blue Wave said
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