Listening to the Voices in My Head

I have a very old Canon wide angle lens, a 17-35mm F/2.8. Although it worked great for older camera bodies (550D, 40D, 7D) but its performance falls short on the 5DmkIV and the 7DmkII.

So, I have been testing diffferent lenses, taking a photo of the same thing, same settings..

Canon 11-24 f/4 - clear images even to the edges, barely visible fringing, minor vignetting. Can't mount a UV filter, but the lens hood extends past the element.

Canon 17-40 f/4 - clear images, slight softening at the edges. Visible vignetting and fringing. Can mount a UV filter.

Canon 16-35 f/4 - clear images, visible fringing and minor vignetting. Can mount UV filter.

Canon 16/35 f/2.8 - clear images, slightly visible fringing, and minor vignetting, but less than the f/4 version. Can mount UV filter.

Tamron 15-30 f/2.8 - clear images, very visible fringing, minor vignettings. Can't mount UV filter, but lens hood extends past the element.

Sigma Art 12-24 f/4 - clear images, even to the edges. Negligible fringing, negligible vignetting. Can't mount UV filter, but lens hood extends past the element.

So, it's down to the Canon 11-24 f/4 and the Sigma Art 12-24 f/4. They both produced excellent images, sharp, clear, even to the edges, so I have to choose by other criteria.

The Canon 11-24 f/4 is $2866 to $3,844.

The Sigma Art 12-24 f/4 is $1579 to $1999.

Sigma Art Series 12-24 f/4 for the win. Time to save my shekels!

Let me say right off the bat, I have used tele-converter lenses before, on my Lumix DMCFZ50. So I do know they have some quirks and limitations. Onto the review.

The Tele-Converter attaches to the Stylus 1 with the CLA13 adapter. The Tele Converter lens has a handy rubber grip on it, as putting this on your camera will make it a bit front heavy.



Went into Stylus 1 menu settings and set up one of the buttons to turn Tele converter on or off. Went into Stylus 1 menu settings and set up one of the buttons to turn Tele converter on or off. The tele-converter allows you to maintain a constant f/2.8, meaning you can keep the aperture wide open, or stop it down to the camera's max of f/8.0.

Two things that I really have a problem with: Tele-Converter has no lens hood available, nor is there a way for you to protect the front element with a filter. No thread.

What I ended up doing was using a 77mm Hoya UV filter, and a silicon wrist band to hold the filter in place.





The images are below, are the same ORF file, processed with different software, then resized to 50%. Photo was deliberately taken in the worst possible lighting, back lit, bright sky. Full zoom, at the top of a tall tree. I felt if the lens could manage this with a reasonable quality as a result, it augers well for 'ideal' conditions.


Processed with Adobe Camera Raw, then opened in Photoshop. Purple fringe removal action, adjusted levels.



ORF processed with Olympus Viewer 3, then opened in Photoshop. Purple Fringe removal action, adjusted levels.



I found that the Olympus Viewer 3 handled the raw file colors somewhat better, but both could really use some more color adjustment. The OV3 one is a bit too cyan, and the ACR has a bit too much magenta.

Details on the birds, considering the distance, and lighting, impressed me. Does this equal having a telephoto lens on a camera body? No, but it does allow for a wider use of the Stylus 1.

Now for an image of something rather mundane, but under more 'ideal' lighting. Part of the walk way.

ORF Processed in Adobe Camera Raw, opened in Photoshop, levels adjust only. No purple fringing issues, and details are amazing. If you wanted you could count the grains of sand, and how many ants are walking across the brick.



100% Crop of Lorikeet in top of a gum tree. Straight from camera, no processing at all done.



Adjusted with Purple Fringing removed.



Will the tele-converter take as clear sharp photos as body mounted lenses? Seeing as it's being used on a camera that starts out by having a small sensor, no, probably not, but it does take good ones. Is it worth getting? Oh hell yeah, but I would really like to see Olympus come out with some sort of lens hood or 'clip on UV filter for this nice piece of glass.

My 5DMkIII is getting its yearly service (remove any and all dust from sensor, viewfinder, check for any problems) so I am using my 7D. What's strange is this: I have to go back to checking my Cliff Notes on how it works. The layout is similar to the 5D, but just enough different to make me look like a noob when I'm trying to adjust things.

Funny, I used to operate the controls on it without looking. Now, I can see myself frowning trying to remember what does what.

Once again; it's like learning how to speak Spanish, then going to visit Italy. So close, so similar, but... nope.

I needed a sync cord for my macro flash ring. I couldn't find one anywhere. Saturday I went to the "Crack House" aka Camera Electronic, and their wonderful tech department fabricated one for me. They called me this afternoon to tell me it was ready, and Wing picked it up for me on the way home from work.

After re-familiarizing myself with the manual (yes, I RTFM), I put the adaptor ring on the lens, attached the macro flash ring, plugged in the sync cord, and experimented.

Not bad.. not bad at all.

Salt lamp, close up.



One of my hair combs.



Will be dusting off my macro slide rail, and breaking out the tripod :)

Wing gave me a new macro lens for our anniversary. (another mental hug your way, dear).

I have a Macro light ring, with adapters, but the only adapter I don't have is for the new lens. So, off on a net hunt I go, looking for an adapters. First I didn't find any, then I did manage to find one for my camera. $55. I would need three of them. Hmmm

So, I typed in a different search term, and located a rather inexpensive macro flash ring that had every adapter size I would need (55, 62, 72, 77mm thread) for $38. Yes, cheap one, but I was looking for adapters.

Then I changed my search a little bit again, found a good, yet inexpensive (last years model) TTL macro flash ring, but it only had two of the adapter ring sizes (55 and 62mm).

So, it comes down to this: my best option is to get the cheap flash ring for the adapters, and the good macro flash ring to use, and keep the cheap one in storage in case of breakage.