New Addition - Canon 17-40mm Lens (L Series)

Last week I added another lens to the arsenal, in the form of a Canon 'L Series' 17-40mm Ultra-Wide. This is my second 'L' purchase, following the 24-105mm lens that came with my Canon 5D MK2 body (Full frame upgrade). For anyone who is unfamiliar with L-Series, these are the 'Luxury' lenses in the Canon EF family line, and what a difference the results are, compared to the EF-S series that I was using alongside the now departed Canon 7D crop body. Naturally, the L-Series glass comes at a price, but they're worth every penny. So, what is the difference between EF (L-Series) and EF-S lenses, you may ask...

EF-S lenses are specifically designed for APS-C digital bodies and optimised for the fact that they have smaller sensor and mirror. EF-S lenses are marked with a white dot on the mount instead of red one that EF-glass has, and can be only used on EF-S compatible bodies (almost all of smaller-sensor Canon DSLRs, up to EOS 7D). Film and larger-sensor digital cameras (5D, 1D, 1Ds) take only EF lenses. If you have a camera with EF-S mount support (such as EOS 7D, 50D or 500D), you can use both EF and EF-S lenses. EF-S lenses are a slightly different format whereby the rear element sits closer to the lens, this is possible due to the smaller mirror with APS-C sensor. The distance from the back of the lens to the image plane is known as the back-focus distance, hence the S in EF-S standing for short back focus. Other manufacturers have lenses designed for smaller sensors with appropriately smaller image circles but they don't have a different back focus distance. Having the lens sit slightly closer does make it slightly easier to design wide angle lenses, however I've heard the reason Canon introduced EF-S lenses was so they could scale down existing lens designs as a base for the optical design to avoid having to start from scratch. It's often said you can't use EF-S lenses on a full frame body (such as the 5D, 1Ds) but this is not strictly true. Canon use a different shaped rear baffle to physically prevent you mounting as the mirror could hit the lens and cause damage. However this can be removed to allow mounting, and since the rear element moves when zooming there are positions that allow shooting. Vignetting is a problem as EF-S lenses project a smaller image circle, but again the image circle can get bigger while zooming so some focal lengths work ok.

EF (L-Series) is Canon's professional line (though used extensively by non-professionals) of EOS EF auto focus 35mm SLR and DSLR still camera lenses. Some say L stands for "Low Dispersion" - achieved by the UD lens elements found in these lenses. But, the true answer is probably the one in Canon's Lens Work III Book - "L" is for "Luxury". Watch the sidelines at the next professional sporting event you attend or watch on TV. Look for the identifying L-lens red stripe around the end of the photographers' camera lenses. These are the people who make a living with their equipment - and they frequently trust the Canon L Lens Series for their income. About their L lenses, Canon says "these lenses use special optical technologies [such as] Ultra-low Dispersion UD glass, Super Low Dispersion glass, Fluorite elements, and Aspherical elements to push the optical envelope."
OK so what does that mean - practically speaking? What you can get when you use Canon L lenses (if you do your part right) are amazing pictures. In fact, this amazement is said to cause a disease know as "L-Disease". Once caught, it is incurable.

After upgrading to the full frame 5D MK2 with 24-105MM lens, I couldn't wait to get started. If you trace back my blog entries you'll find many photographs that I've taken with my new kit. To the viewer there may seem little difference between the photographs on my blog from each camera, but there is a noticeable difference between the prints, especially at A2 (25x17 inches). Obviously, when you factor in the full-frame side of things, the upgrade has been a master stroke in my opinion, as it has opened up more capability, mainly the ability to get that much more subject onto a full frame sensor. As for my two lenses - the 24-105mm is my everyday 'Walk around' lens, which covers most aspects of my photography needs, whereas it doesn't quite cut the mustard up close, hence the need to go wider in that pursuit. That's where the 17-40mm glass makes an appearance. A popular misconception with some photographers is that Wide Angle lenses are to 'Get it all in'. I tend to disagree. Ultra-wide's are for getting yourself, and therefore the viewer, right smack into the middle of something. If you can't or won't get close, leave the Ultra-wide at home. These lenses have the ability to rub the viewer's nose in your subject. Properly used, Ultra-wide's grab your viewer and yank him into the middle of your situation, bringing the viewer into the photo, not for fitting a subject into a photo. Ultra-wide's require you to get very close and personal to anything you are shooting. Even a fraction of an inch (or cm) will make a massive difference in your composition, so you need to be very deliberate with your movement. If you use them properly, you should be rewarded with dynamic images. I find that regardless of which lens I use, and however many photos I make on a trip, the ones I like the most are always those made with a wide angle lens. My old 10-22mm Wide was a brilliant lens and gave me the experience I now carry forward. As the weather up North has been sh1te recently, I haven't had a decent chance to road test my new 17-40mm Wide, but rest assured it will put through its paces soon enough. Until then I'll twiddle my thumbs and plan my next outing. Lots of printing/framing to get through, which is ideal when the weather is poor. Indoors all the way, but not for long. Until then...

Ash

Seven Sisters - Daily Visits

Hello again. Regular visitors to my Blog page will be aware that during the Winter months I make regular visits to the Copt Hill Barrow, also known locally as the Seven Sisters, situated in Houghton le Spring. A quick 'search' of my Blog will throw up previous entries where I have visited the monument to photograph it during different seasons. I rarely bother photographing it in Summer as the leaves are thick and the silhouette against a bright sunset is nowhere near as effective as it is during Winter when the leaves are long gone. A week of great Sunrise and Sunset photography yielded my latest batch of silhouette shots and I can't remember a week like it, as it was one brilliant sky after another. In the meantime, here is a brief description, copied and pasted from another web page...

Monument: Seven Sisters round barrow, Copt Hill, Houghton le Spring

Parish: Sunderland

County: Tyne and Wear

National Monument number: 32055

National grid reference (s): NZ35344921

The monument includes the round barrow known as Seven Sisters. It is situated in arable land on the western flank of Copt Hill and is 300m south of Copt Hill public house. The barrow mound is 3m high and approximately 25m in diameter. It is of earth and stone construction. The stones include magnesian limestone and sandstone. To the west and north west of the mound there are visible remains of a surrounding bank. An aerial photograph of the monument indicates a further boundary to the west and north of the mound about 25m from the edge of the mound, and a rectilinear cropmark to the east believed to be the terminal of a cursus. Excavation of the barrow in 1877 by Canon William Greenwell and Mr T Robinson revealed that the primary burial was a Neolithic cremation believed to be an example of an axial mortuary structure. There were also several Bronze Age cremations and inhumations, and an early medieval inhumation.

Between Monday 9th and Thursday 12th January I visited the Seven Sisters each day, twice at sunrise and twice at sunset. Winter, especially January, has historically presented the most colourful skies at each end of the day, so if you like to shoot silhouettes then this is one of the best locations in the North-East of England for this type of photography. I'm lucky, I only live round the corner, so within ten minutes of leaving the house I'm 'Set up' and ready to work. During the golden hour - 30 minutes before sunrise and 30 minutes after sunset, I captured many images, all recorded in RAW format at 18 Megapixels on a Canon 7D. I used a bog standard 18-135mm lens and a 10-22mm wide for the images shown here. Each lens gives different results in their own right, although the wide angle glass gets you right up close, almost on the barrow itself, and you can still fit it all in! The close angle offers a sense of drama as the trees tower over the lens, and if the right sky is available, you get drama on a big scale, which is exactly what I was after. Two of my shots show 'One Man And His Dog', which has almost become an obligitory fixture for me when I photograph the Seven Sisters. Scale is quite important here - I always try to include people whenever they present themselves and this place is a favourite haunt for Man and his Best Friend, so you're never short of the odd 'Extra' or two entering the frame. Some folk walk round the barrow when they see me, thinking they might be spoiling my shot by walking over the top, which is never the case, as a walking man and dog offer a nice profile in silhouette (as shown here, shot 3). And there's no escape, as this fella walked round the barrow and I still caught him and his dog. It worked quite well. Just for the record, the first and last of my four shots were taken at Sunset and the middle two at Sunrise. Whether it's 8.30am or 4.00pm it makes little difference, as I was freezing to the bone, despite wearing two fleeces and a jacket as well as the black wooly 'Bin Man' hat. I switch off to the cold - little choice, but looking back I'm glad I did. It wasn't long before I was back in my house and sat down with a cup of coffee while the wife massaged my feet. Well, maybe I made the last bit up, he he, she wouldn't go near my feet with a knotty prop!

And now to the last shot. And it's colour all the way - once again. I love this one. I showed a friend this shot and he thought it had been captured in Africa, of all places. Houghton le Spring is a far cry from the African continent, although you often see the odd 'Elephant' walking in and out of the Silver Grid (Local Chippy). And before I forget, some of you may have noticed the obvious discrepancy - there isn't actually Seven Sisters, but Six, after one was burned down a few years ago by some brain-dead 'Chav' who obviously had nowt else better to do than torch the Monument. Tosser! Ah well, he's cursed now - history and myth of the real Seven Sisters (Witches) will catch up with him sooner or later - card well and truly MARKED. Ah well, it is on that note that I shall wind up my latst Blog entry and finish off by telling you that another scribble or two will follow shortly. As mentioned earlier this week, I planned a visit to Bamburgh Castle on the Northumberland Coast, which is where I eventually ended up yesterday after planning and later postponing my previous attempts to photograph on location.So stay tuned for more low-light Sunrise photography, this time on the sand with the imposing Bamburgh Castle silhoutted against yet another dramatic sky as the sun rose. For a sneak preview check out my Historic Northumberland gallery over at ashleycorr.com (Images 24-27).

Full write-up coming soon.

Ash