Fist shoot with the 5D mark IV

I wanted to share with you today, a photo I took already with the 5D mark IV. But as I only got home and I’m crazy tired, will move that for tomorrow.

Here is just a quick behind the camera shot I took this evening. It was from the top of the Leopoldsberg behind Vienna. I actually was lucky with the weather. When we arrived it was raining, but right around the start of the blue hour, the sky started clearing and the fog dissipated, so I managed to take few, I think nice, photos. It was just a pleasure to work with the 5D mark IV.

Night under the Eiffel tower

For todays daily photo, I selected this vertorama, taken early last year under the Eiffel tower. As you can see, even with how much you can get with a tilt-shift lens, it’s not enough to capture such a tall structure from such up close. But I actually don’t mind this bit of distortion, as I think it works nicely with this composition and the blurred cars creating a balance from the side.

This is a two shot vertorama, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop. The biggest problem in this shot were the lens flares. As there is no lens hood for the tilt shift lens, and its a bulb, it catches so many of them. But with a bit of editing, one can clean them out :)

Exposure bracketing on the Canon 5D mark IV

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been playing around with the Canon 5D mark IV. Before I got it, I was interested in it’s bracketing capabilities, and since I did not find much about that, today I will show you in this little video, how the bracketing works on it. Few more additional points to this:

• You can do 2, 3, 5 or 7 brackets
• The difference can be from 1/3 to 3 EV
• The biggest range you can get is -9 to +9 EV
• The timer takes all shots for you automaticali
• The 30 second limit for the brightest shot is still there :/
• The build in bulb timer can make longer shots than 30s
• You can choose the order the photos are taken in

Overall it works really well and I’m quite pleased with it.

The Danube view

I like to include foreground elements in my photos, but it not really possible all the time. But it worked out for this shot. I took this one from one of the pontoons by the Danube river, quite a long time ago. This is from one of the spots I recomment in my Top Photography spots in Bratislava list.

I took this shot with a normal wide angle lens, so I had to correct quite a strong perspective distortion. And as the castle ended at the most top corner of the shot after the correction, I ended up also compressing the river a bit, to move the castle and its reflection closer down. Maybe I do a post about that sometime :)

This is a blend of three exposures, one for a base, one to darken the highlights of the castle and one to brighten the foreground. Edited in Lightroom and finished in Photoshop.

My plan for today was to play more around with the Canon 5D mark IV. But between the bad weather and being just busy overall, I did not get to do much. But still, the first impression is great, even if it looks like I have to learn more about it, as there is just so much new stuff. I will keep you updated :)

At the Neusidler See

For todays post a quick edit of one of my older shots, taken at the lighthouse at the Neusidrell See in Podersdorf in Austria. This is one of my go to locations, where I like to test new gear.

There are few webcams in the are (you can find them easily by googling for them), and so I can check how the weather looks there and if it’s worth it to try and go take photos there. And it usually does not disappoints.

This is a single exposure, edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Today I bought a new camera. It’s a Canon 5D mark IV. You may wonder why after the Sony a7R I switched back to Canon, and in this post, I will try to explain my reasons.

My camera history

My first camera I bought, was the Canon 450D with a Sigma 18-200 3.5-5.6 (I still have it, and it works fine after one repair :)). It was in 2009, right after it was releases. It was a big decision between that and a Nikon (D60 probably, not sure) and the Canon won because it was a new release for the same price.

After that, in the beginning of 2012, I got a 5D mark II. The reason for that was simple. The shutter on the 450D broke, and I was going on a planed trip to Spain, and I had no camera. And since I wanted to do the photography more professionally, it was time for a better camera.

Switching to Sony

Two years ago, when I bought the Sony a7R, the reasons were multiple. Firstly, there was no good replacement for the Canon 5D mark II directly from Canon. The 5D mark III was available, but the differences to the mark II were minimal. And there is just no reason to get a 1D for landscape photography. I looked at the Nikon D810 (or D800, not sure which one was available then), which strangely, is still the best value to result ratio camera right now, but I did not want to get all new lenses. You may say I would be better off waiting, but I needed a second camera, as doing photography professionally without a backup camera body is just asking for problems.

So I had only one option, the Sony a7R. It offered compatibility with Canon lenses, gave me bigger resolution and more dynamic range. All I wanted. I even planed to switch over time to Sony lenses, but in the end I only bought one bigger lens during the time, and it was a Canon Tilt Shift.

Back to Canon

The Sony gave great results, even with Canon lenses. The sensor is just the best you can get. The resolution and dynamic range can make for some stunning photos. But over time, frustrations came. The a7R is just not build for professional use. If you take few photos here and there, its fine. The moment you need to perform it for hours at a time, to give consistent performance, it just falls short. It can be so frustratingly slow, it’s a pain to control, its hard to get around the UI and similar.

If you take photos rarely, these problems are not such an issue. You get a good results and thats it. But when you need to take photos almost daily, this is just not acceptable. I felt it every time I picked up the 5D mark II. So snappy, so fast. So easy to use. And don’t get me started on the button placement on the Sony.

When the Sony started to exhibit more problems few months ago, I started looking for a new camera. The Sony is now working fine again, after a warranty repair, but I already had my mind set to buy a new camera anyway. I had a look at the Sony a7R II, but from all I seen, it’s the same as a7R. Great sensor, in a mediocre camera. So I decided to go back to Canon.

What I chose now?

From Canon there were two cameras to choose from. The 5D mark IV and the bit older 5DsR. The price is similar, so the decision was based on features. I don’t care that much about auto-focus, ISO performance or how many shots it can take per second. It just not that big a part of what I shoot. For me, its mostly resolution, dynamic range, and how fast the camera is. In the end I decided for the 5D mark IV. Mostly it was due to the dynamic range. I got used to the better one on the Sony, and it’s easier to just do a panorama for a bigger resolution, than blend for bigger dynamic range.

So these are my reasons and thoughts on why I got every of my cameras and why I’m going back to Canon this time.

Waiting

Don’t you just hate waiting? I do. And right now, I’m waiting for my new camera to arrive. I so hoped it will be today, but no. But there is a big chance that it will be tomorrow, so I will write more about it then :)

Overcast evening in Hallstatt

For today photos, I chosen one from Hallstatt in Austria. The day I was there did not work so great with weather. It was overcast the whole day. And with how picturesque the city is, I just wanted a more bright, colorful photos. But that would require a bit of sun. Who knows, maybe next time.

This is a two exposure blend, where I used the second one mostly to darken the sky. Edited in Lightroom and Photoshop.