Black & White 100 Project - 11 of 100

"Umbrella" - Canon EOS 3 and Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/50 ZE on Kodak Tri-X at EI 250. All rights reserved.This was taken just outside a Learning Resource Centre at La Salle. I'm not sure why they can't just call it a library any more, but it sure looks like a library from the outside. As it was raining earlier, someone had left his umbrella outside the library to dry; between the umbrella's placement, the patterns on the floor and the textured wall, the composition presented itself.

The biggest challenge was to brace myself against another wall as the shutter speed was quite slow, but it worked out well. The 30 minutes or so of exploration at La Salle was not one of choice, as we were hemmed in by the rain, but it turned out to be rather fruitful.

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/50 ZE vs Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM - Test Notes

Back in August, Chris Vu and I exchanged our favoured 50mm lenses and agreed to write a short post about it. It was a simple exercise between two crazy photographers: I got to test his Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens while he tested my Zeiss Planar T* 1.4/50mm ZE, and we share our notes. Which makes this is a long-overdue post. In summary, for those of you without the patience to indulge us, our conclusion was simple: we both made the correct choice. But it would be remiss for me to just leave it at that. You can click here for Chris' test notes, and mine are after the jump.

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Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM reviewed by DPR

They like it. A lot.

Overall, then, the EF 70-200mm F2.8 L IS II USM gains about as close as it gets to an unqualified recommendation, given the price. Its combination of exceptional optics and quirk-free design even manages to surpass Nikon's equivalent that we tested recently, stealing the crown of 'Best in Class' by a whisker. It's a significant improvement over what was already an accomplished lens, capable of consistently delivering results that will satisfy the most demanding of users, and you can't ask for much more than that.

Sounds great right? I'm almost willing to bet that somewhere in the photographic world, some idiot would go "but the bokeh isn't as nice as the old one" and use that alone to slam the lens. It's a great lens, and if I had the money or the need for it, I would buy it.

Objects of Desire

I am prone to going weak in the knees for a nice, new, shiny object. I admit it. But who can say no to these? (Warning: gratuitous photography gear images inside.)

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