Birds, Lightning Shots from the 4th

[Dbl]

Shot a few birds, witnessed one of the most impressive displays of Lightning I've seen in some time. It beat the 4th fireworks for sure! The mosquito's where something to behold but I had on a bug suit so it made it possible to shoot. Enjoyed the wonderful weather over the fourth at the lake! Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

The landscape and night shots were with my new Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 wide angle manual focus lens. A little barrel distortion that is easily fixed in post but a very sharp lens. Highly recommended at a price of $350, especially considering the Canon version is a mere $2400!

#1 Bluebird, shot with 300/2.8 with 1.4 TC added.

#2 Connecticut Warbler

#3 Finch...haven't looked it up yet.

#4 The sunset before the storm.

#5 The edge of the storm. The bright green is the neighbor's yard light.

#6

#7

#8

#9

[eyeguy 54]

Dandys !

[Canon Guy]

Very nice series!

[Dbl]

Thanks guys.

[Paul]

Dan for your lighting were you using a lighting trigger or point and pray method? They look great. I looked at that Rokinon, then ended up going with the tamron 10-24. Its only a f3.5 but its a crop sensor lens so its true 10-24

[Dbl]

Paul, the lighting shots were 20 second exposures so it was no problem capturing bolts. This was a VERY active storm. I have probably 30 shots that all have big bolts of lighting in them. Its rare to see it this well and still be at a safe distance away.

I needed a f2.8 lens for night shooting and so the Rokinon was an easy choice and it is one VERY sharp lens. The Tamron is actually a 16-38mm equivalent focal length range with a variable aperture of 3.5-4.5 and for night shooting I really prefer fixed aperture lenses. I also don't use any APS-C lenses because I have plans for a full frame camera in the future.

[yakfisher]

That storm looks nasty! Nice work.

[Dbl]

That storm looks nasty! Nice work.

Wouldn't want to fly through it!

[yakfisher]

Nope.

[Paul]

Dan the Tamron I was referring to is a crop sensor lens so it is a true 10-24. I have one, and I love it. For my night shooting I have been using a tamron SP 17-50 VC F2.8, very solid for nighttime performance. I have been very happy with both lenses but now that I have the 10-24, I have been tempted to sell my 17-50 tamron and get the 17-40L canon, since I have up to 24 covered, the 17-50L on my crop sensor would fill in nicely.

[Dbl]

Paul I am a bit confused by your statement...what makes the Tamron a "crop sensor" lens is the mounting bayonet is uses and the fact that it was designed optically to use the area of crop sensor camera. In this case the mount is the EF-S. That only works on crop sensor cameras (APC-S). Because of the camera sensor size you are getting an effective focal range of 16-38mm zoom.

I understand that it could mount on an EF or full frame Canon camera or a 1 to 1 image size just like the old 35mm film cameras but that once you go below about 13mm to 14mm the corners begin to black out. On a full frame camera optically the edges get very soft at the wide end because it was designed to be used with APC-S cameras (crop sensor cameras), not a full frame sensor.

To clear things up if you are shooting a 5D Mark series, 6D, 1DX, or the older 1DS Mark II or III camera which are full frame sensors that are the same size as 35mm film you will get the full 10-24. If you are shooting Canon crop cameras like the Rebel's, 7D, 60D,etc they are 1.6 senors so you will get a range of 16-38mm. (1.6 times 10 = 16mm and 1.6 times 24 = 38mm) I shoot the Mark IV which has the odd ball sensor of 1.3 so on my camera it would be a 13-31mm lens. When I shoot my 17-40 on my Mark IV I am only getting 22-52mm. My new 14mm Rokinon I am only getting 18mm. On my 7D I only get 27-64mm on the 17-40 and on the 14mm Rokinon 22mm.

That is why wide angle coverage becomes important based on the camera you are shooting. What camera body are you using?