Latest Picture
It’s funny how things come about. Last week I was out with a group of photographers down on the rocks at Robin Hoods Bay on the Yorkshire coast. It was an awful day, extremely blustery, with rain, hail sleet and snow. Unfortunately for me, whilst briefly turning to get something out of my camera bag a huge gust of wind blew my tripod over and my Canon 5D Mark-II complete with my 24-105 f/4.0 lens ended up face down in a rock pool. Luckily neither got fully submerged as the kit was covered with an Op/tech rain sleeve (highly recommended at 2 for just over a fiver!) which probably saved my bacon. I retrieved the equipment in a flash (well as fast as this old frame can move in a blizzard) and dried everything off the best I could. Thank god for weather sealing on the 5D MII, I think my old 5D M-I would have been done-for had the same happened to that.
The camera seem to work OK but the LCD didn’t come back on for a few minutes. A small amount of water seemed to have got in past the rubber stop on the Extension System terminal on the base of the camera, but after cleaning and drying this out all seemed OK. However, I had been about to attach my Hitech filter holder adapter ring to the lens, which I continued to try to do but it wouldn’t attach. On close inspection I saw the outer threaded rim of the lens was cracked in two places. Dam, that was a blow (or words to that effect!).
Alright accidents happen, I’m insured, I can get it repaired I thought. But I’ve booked a holiday at Staithes in a couple of weeks, and have a photo trip down to Dorset at the end of the month. This is my work-horse lens...what I’m going do if it’s not repaired on time?
Well I guess you know the answer, yep I bought a new lens. I'd always fancied trying one of those cheap Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 primes that get pretty good reviews. They used to be really really cheap but now have crept up to eighty odd quid. Still worth as punt perhaps at that price. However, after several hours reading many online reviews I decided that forking out an extra couple of hundred for the EF 50mm f/1.4 was perhaps a better investment and Amazon duly got some more of my money.
The lens arrived yesterday just after I’d taken the kids to school, complete with UV filter and lens hood (all extras of course). It had snowed the night before and was really foggy, but I had to go out and try it. Above is one of my first efforts (converted to monochrome), rather minimalist I know, but I thought the tree, especially with the broken branch made a good subject against an almost totally white background. As for sharpness, it seems ok, a little too early to tell, but not bad. Contrast, well not the best subject to tell with either. But you can be sure I’ll let you know how this lens performs real soon.
Resources
Canon EF 50mm f/1.5 USM Les Review
Op/tech Rain Sleeve
Op/tech Rain Sleve from Crooked Imaging
