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| ValSans' Drummer 85mm, 1/1250s, f/1.2, ISO 12800 (Insane values! His hand is already way out of focus!) |
For a week or so I have been testing new equipment. Some new lenses and especially new camera. I took a deep breath and leap and went for 1Dx. This camera is insane, not to mention that after two days of using it I got error 80 message on LCD screen, hehe. Was suspecting perhaps slower memory cards, but then reading through posts on internet I got some more details. Still have no idea what error 80 means, probably Canon will never reveal it but found links to new firmware and upgraded camera's software. Body out of the box had 1.0.2, quite fresh, now I am on 1.1.1, so quite a big jump. In any case I have sent a message to Canon support. On the other hand I was not really surprised about the error. It is new piece of gear and, having been in IT for over 20 years, I know shit can happen.
Just came back from really low light situation, chosen on purpose, and have not faced error issue any more. Touch wood, firmware upgrade did the trick.
Assuming all issues are solved for now, at least for the time being, I am going through heavy learning curve with new buttons and functions. I got through the manual few times already, but every now and again when read some other topic, I keep finding new great features. The biggest changes are around auto focus system, for me at least. It is completely new world, especially when you switch from 5DMKII, which was (and is) a great camera but has had well known auto-focus issues, especially in low light situation.
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| Both shots with same settings in manual mode. Even Zone Autofocus went nuts... I do not trust it too much, better to make more shots. With f/1.2 it is huge difference. 85mm, f/1.2, 1/320s, ISO 6400, WB 4500K |
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| 85mm, 1/500s, f/1.2, ISO 12800 Manual Mode Mortal Strike performing at Metal Escape Corner |
5DMKIII together with 1Dx bring something totally awesome. 61 focus points, zone systems, and much more. When I was at Photokina fair in Köln last month, I played with 1Dx at Canon stand and got really hot. But when you get the camera in hand, at first you simply go nuts. How the hell am I supposed to use it to its full potential? And how to use it fast, I mean switching between options while looking through viewfinder and not via menu screens... which there are simply too many.
And then comes practical training, physically memorising buttons' layout, so you do not have to think about them while shooting. It has to become so natural and automatic, but it takes some time.
During The Cranberries show few days ago I really had hard time, and just in case, should things have gone really bad, I had my back-up camera with me. And I made one big mistake while shooting that costed me some lost shots... normally spot and partial metering calculate exposure values from centre point, at least in cameras I used up to now. New one can be set (it is optional) to measure light from selected focus points, and I was so happy about that but did not read carefully manual to the end. It works only when you set spot metering! And I was using partial metering.
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| The Cranberries Live at Gasometer Hall, Vienna. Dolores O'Riordan. 200mm, 1/800s, f2.8, ISO 3200. |
Dolores O'Riordan of The Craberries (concert at Gasometer) came on stage with black jacket, I kept focusing on her face and eyes, and kept wondering why my shots are overexposed. Because camera was calculating exposure looking at her black jacket and not her face. If I had known that... only to switch from partial to spot metering. Anyhow I solved the problem by simply switching to manual mode having basic idea of lighting situation.
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| Went Black & White; it was horrible light. I like this shot, bass player in almost pitch dark! location illuminated for a moment. Focused well on eyes. 85mm, 1/320s, f/1.2, ISO 12800 |
Besides learning buttons on new body, which is absolute high priority must, my next challenge is learning new lenses. Yes, every lens is different and before great pictures can be taken, you must get used to every glass, its characteristics and behaviour under different situation. I can shoot anything I want with 16-35mm at any point of view and any f stop, but I know it. I have been using that lens for few years already. Same is with 70-200mm. I know how slow I can down with shutter speed with stabilisation on or off etc. Then within that rage comes 85mm. Theoretically I should move freely in that range but there is at least one but... (so many buts in this post)...
Prime 85mm first of all is a prime lens and requires you to move closer or further to subject to get correct framing and that is great thing! You keep moving. However it can be hard sometimes when during concert and either you are limited by the pit or simply by crowd.
Then there is second issue, and way bigger and more problematic... aperture. Jumping from 2.8 to 1.2 is hell of a lot. It is 2 and 1/3 of a stop difference. Great, fantastic, you think at first. However with that huge amount of extra light, so much helpful at small venues concerts, comes extremely shallow depth of field price tag. Very shallow.
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| This guy really sticks out from the background. 85mm, 1/400, f/1.2, ISO12800 |
With 85mm focal length at f/1.2 and for instance vocalist singing in front of, let's say 1.5 metres away from me, I have depth of field of... 2cm! So if I do not get pin point sharp focus on his/her eyes... I missed the shot. If you move to area of f/2.0, depth of field extends to around 4cm depending on subject's distance. Quite a lot, twice as much and can save your butt (double tt this time).
I keep testing, most probably I will have one month of only one lens session learning all pros and cons. I love extremely shallow depth of field and picture's quality. This glass sees everything, but it is slow in terms of focusing. Comparing to other USM lenses, it feels like a bull or like 18-55mm kit lens. Perhaps a bit better but still slow. Continuos focusing is problematic, and that's why I am going to visit some crazy loud and dark places for next few days to get the limits of this particular glass and camera focusing abilities.
Then in parallel I am playing with new higher ISO capabilities. Starting with 6400 and going all the way to 204800 which is insane. This has to be tested how camera behaves and how I can post process such pictures later on. So far ISO ranges 6400 to 12800 are absolutely fantastic, Even 51200 ISO are great. I can use shutter speeds of 1/500s in Metal Escape Corner which is really dark venue with deep red lights.
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| Look at the background. Spot metering in AV mode that followed single point focus point. 85mm, 1/640s, f/1.2, ISO 6400 |
Actually I took another experiment with new body. Now it easier to change white balance to specific Kelvins value. Less menus and less keys. I was wee bit tired of correcting white balance in post, I thought of film times when films had specific light specs... I set the camera to something lower than daylight and warmer than tungsten - 4500K, and shot all event with those settings. Seems it is a good choice for that venue. When I look at pictures now, they really look close to reality in terms of colours especially that they kept changing, and I followed the light.
So I keep learning the gear and keep shooting. Lot's of travelling ahead of me and must bring back great pictures.
To be cont'd...
Cheers
Jerzy
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