aginbyte

<p>We use this lens for architectural work, shooting details of church capitals high above the ground. By necessity, of course, this is tripod work. We also shoot at ISO 100, usually at f16 or so, which means long exposures. We use the 1ds MkIII so it is a full-frame sensor. But the images are quite good. Very sharp lens, very stable, good contrast performance across the frame. It is a wonderful lens, but everything depends on how you intend to use it. </p>

<p>Fred, you say "<em>My values can be seen in my photographs. Those too busy interpreting and bringing their own baggage to the photos may miss them.</em>" The point of my post was that the intent is not enough. To you, your values may be seen in your photographs. Whether those values are communicated to the viewers is simply not up to you to decide, and it has nothing to do with people "bringing their own baggage.</p>

<p>For my part, I can see in your work those things that you value, that you find important. But I cannot see what values you are trying to express. And again for my part, in my own work I try to express certain values that I have found in the <a href="../photo/6489771">French Romanesque architecture</a> that I shoot almost exclusively. Whether those values find their way to the viewer, I don't know for sure. Perhaps all that the viewer sees is that these images represent things that have value to me, that are meaningful to me. All I can do is "defend my work on the stage."</p>

<p>In a previous career as a stage director, I had several mentors. The first was a great teacher at Carnegie-Mellon named Larry Carra. One day he sat in on an acting class filled with students doing their best method acting, seeking the "emotional truth" of the scene. Larry watched quietly, and when the scene was finished, he said only one thing. "<em>You have to learn to act better.</em>"</p>

<p>A second mentor was the Roumanian director Radu Penciulescu. We, as directors, used to talk continually about the ideas we were trying to communicate in our work. His comment, only partly disguising his impatience with our posturing, was "<em>Feh. Ideas you buy in supermarket. It is defending them on the stage that matters.</em>"</p>

<p>To the "audient" (to use Radu's peculiar phrase), all that matters is that the work itself communicates the intent of the creator, that the work communicates a sense of value. The "audient" is at that point free to agree or disagree, like or dislike, interpret or accept.</p>

<p>We use Adorama, prints are always good and very reasonable.</p>

<p>Am actually doing my dream project now ... returning to France to shoot six weeks more of French Romanesque churches and cathedrals. We will shoot 70-80 more churches, bringing to 310 that we will have documented.</p>

<p>Using the shift function of a tilt shift is a great way to avoid camera/photographer reflection when shooting straight on. </p>

<p>17mm ts, definitely. 24mm ts if 17 is not available.</p>

<p>Mark, it does have a robust lens cap. Mac, thanks for the review. Agree with your eval. Looking forward to part 2.</p>

<p>JDM, 17mm is not too wide for 35mm. Sublime lens for architectural work in large spaces. Worked with 24TS (original) for years, loved the lens, used it 90% of the time. Now it sits in the camera bag hoping to be pulled out occasionally.</p>

<p>Rockwell's line "I don't know of any serious photographer who shoots from a backpack" must be a provocation, or he doesn't know many photographers. I personally have experience with a world-class photographer who shot a three day assignment in LA with a single 35mm camera, two lenses, and a bag of film. He delivered sixty stunning images. </p>

<p>The footsave is great, but don't miss. I once booted a 24mm TS lens into Chatham harbor instead of saving it!</p>

<p>I've used the 24mm ts for years and loved it. However, will probably seldom use it again now that I've received the 17mm ts. Phenomenal lens. My work is almost exclusively architectural, but I can imagine it in landscape as well. Does great panoramas as well. Check my portfolio for the test shots done at Trinity Church and Old South Church in Boston. Good luck.</p>

<p>Markus, just finished my first extended test with Canon's new 17mm TS. Lens is amazing, so much better than the previous 24mm TS which I shot with extensively. Coupled with a Canon 1ds Mark III, the combo is a superb choice for architectural work. Also shoot with a 5D (original 5D, not the Mark II), and both cameras do well. The difference is simply the size of the output print. Both are capable of anything in the normal commercial range, but the 1ds Mark III is just sharper and more detailed. I think both work well. </p>

<p>Interesting subject, John. Am one of those that seldom comments on individual photographs that I find uninteresting or "bad". Prefer to look at the portfolio and try to comment on that body of work instead, to try to provide some direction if possible. Often send a personal email instead of posting; though I am willing to conduct my education in public, some may wish not to do so. But in any case, the post or email is generated by the sense of the intent and ambition of the photographer, not necessarily the individual photograph. </p>

<p>Glad people aren't taking it so seriously. There's enough to worry about in the world without fussing over chimping.</p>

<p>Enjoy this link: <a href="http://www.sportsshooter.com/special_feature/chimping/index.html">http://www.sportsshooter.com/special_feature/chimping/index.html</a></p>

<p>Great work on the site, Paolo, your work continues to be spectacular. The images are a bit slow in loading on my system (DSL), even late at night. Would also prefer to have the slideshow an option, rather than the default. Well done, though.</p>

<p>Why not the 5D? It's full-frame, much less expensive than the MKII, and a classic performer. At any rate, you would benefit from a full-frame sensor if you are going to be doing professional print work.</p>

<p>Because drives are cheap, I believe in redundancy. Lightroom puts all our photos (35,000 in the Romanesque collection) onto one 1TB drive, all other photos on another. Have two more 1 TB drives to back up each of these, and then a 2TB external drive to back up again. We have, therefore, three copies of each image at all times, with the library managed by Lightroom2.</p>

 

<p>Always lug around a tripod, but then I am not hiking anywhere. Our "kit" contains three cameras, five lenses, and two tripods which we bring to our locations and shoot. Would be impossible to shoot without a tripod (and we shoot digital 35mm full-frame). Don't particularly consider the tripod a nuisance; it is the only way to get the shots.</p>

<p>Continue my four year project on French Romanesque church architecture. Spend most of the year planning for the fall trip of five to seven weeks of intense shooting. Then we come back, edit the thousands of shots and plan for next year. The major portion of this project should be finished in two more years. By then, we should have some 60,000 shots.</p>

<p>I agree with Manuel; go with the 5D, not the Mark II. Great camera, good value, full-frame sensor. Then get another "L" lens with the savings.</p>

<p>Actually, if an image is resized by any interpolation technique, it is fundamentally changed. The degree to which it is changed is dependent on the amount of interpolation. A way to test this is to increase an image to a given size and then try to re-interpolate it back to the original size. Then compare the two images on a pixel by pixel basis and the results will show change. The question then becomes, does change equal loss.</p>

<p>I used to be a director in the film industry in Los Angeles and worked many years with a Director of Photography named Bob Ebinger (currently living in Montana).  His patient and deliberate style allowed me to learn so much of what it takes to make a real photograph, from lighting and composition to navigating different stylistic choices.  After these many years, I would like to thank him for giving me my eyes.</p>

Re, the distortion: "Lenses are curved, which shapes the image they see. When you project the spherical image onto a flat

surface you get distortion around the edges. A flexible sensor would prevent this distortion."