THE CAMERAHOBBY NEWSLETTER #5 08/01/2015 Introduction With apologies to all, this newsletter is a lot later than I had planned due in no small part to my own laziness, but also because of a mid-spring time rumor that Canon was planning to roll out a firmware update that would address some of my misgivings about the 7D Mk II I purchased last year. I thought I would have some opportunities to test out the new firmware, but summer doesn’t always present much opportunity for action/sports photography, i.e., none! In the meantime, as I was prepping the articles in this issue, I read with interest, Oleg’s dive into large format photography. Goodness, first 35mm then medium format for many years and now large format. The way Oleg is trending, in about 10 years’ time, he’ll be discussing his foray into using glass plates and will need a pack mule to haul his gear, just like Ansel Adams did nearly 100 years ago. For his back’s sake, I hope he won’t feel the need to try out the 20x24 inch Polaroid large format monsters, which Ansel Adams used to take the official portrait of US President Jimmy Carter, back in the late 1970s. Coincidentally, a couple of early summer posts on the Luminous Landscape website also had Michael Reichmann dabble with film using a new Rollei twin-lens 6x6 medium format camera. Reichmann also profiled his friend Nick Devlin getting serious with 8x10 large format photography <https://luminous-landscape.com/rediscovering-8x10/> (I provide the full URL as the link is lost when I “save as” from Word to PDF). With all this resurgence of film, I wondered, should I dust off the old medium format cameras and warm up some old rolls of 120 film still stored in my fridge? Um, no. While I admire anyone finding their photographic selves with film, I’m a creature of the faster and more efficient process of digital photography; however, I’m fighting the trend of photography via smartphones or tablets in favor of “real” cameras. Edwin THE CAMERAHOBBY NEWSLETTER #5 EDWIN LEONG THE CAMERAHOBBY NEWSLETTER #5 08/01/2015 The Canon 7D Mk II There was a time when I decided I had it with DX-sized sensors (aka, APS-C). After selling the Nikon D300 and using a Canon 5D2 since 2009, I figured my days of using DX cameras were over. But, here I am back to using a camera with a DX sensor like it’s 2008 all over again. What happened? Before we drill into the madness of my thought process, let me just say that I’ve not abandoned FX; not at all with the Canon 5D3 and 6D available in the arsenal (and a 5D2 that I can borrow any time I need it). And, let’s not even discuss the desire factor for the 50 MP Canon SLRs… At the risk of sounding like a broken record repeating itself over and over, it’s all about hockey photography. Depending on the arena and the size of the players, sometimes you can get by with a 70-200 f2.8 lens, but with a full frame SLR, many times, the 70-200 is too short if you want to maximize resolution and fill the frame. This is the case even when photographing in intimate local arenas, where the seats are close to the ice surface. Unfortunately, the home arena that my oldest son plays in is quite large and to get the best view clear of the protective glass, I need to be right near the top row of seats. That makes the 70-200 on a full frame SLR too short unless I want heavily cropped image files, which even with 20 MP resolution, ends up being too small for anything other than web use or 4x6 prints. My youngest taking a turn playing goalie for his team THE CAMERAHOBBY NEWSLETTER #5 EDWIN LEONG THE CAMERAHOBBY NEWSLETTER #5 08/01/2015 The too short range of the 70-200 lens is a big reason why I bought the Sigma 120-300 f2.8 lens a few years ago; a lens that continues to impress with its image quality. However, even 300mm is sometimes too short if, as has been my habit, I sit in the visitors’ zone and want to take photos of the home, defensive zone. The reason why I sit in the visitor’s zone is because I finally realized that always seeing the backs of the players rushing towards the net does not make for good photos. Sitting in the visitor’s end gets me more parallel to a sideways perspective of an offensive rush developing for the home team and makes for much better photos. Even when the teams switch ends in the second period, I stay put to take photos of the battles in front of the home team’s net. I’ve used the Sigma 120-300 with a Canon 1.4x TC and while it does work okay, losing a stop of shutter speed is a big disadvantage. The more I thought about the problem, the more a DX format SLR was making sense to me. With a modestly expensive investment in the Sigma lens in Canon mount, plus other Canon cameras and lenses, the logical choice is to go with a Canon camera. Even if I had wanted to go back to Nikon, the choices available in late 2014 were laughable. There has been no hint of a replacement for the D300, Nikon’s once glorious, top DX format SLR introduced with the still much-lauded D3…way, way back in 2007. Remember that great, feel- good 90th anniversary video from the summer of 2007? Eight years later, what the hell happened to pro-level DX, Nikon? Yikes, in two more years Nikon will be celebrating 100 years – time flies! The D7100, which was, prior to the new D7200, Nikon’s best DX offering is a slap in the face with a too slow frame rate and a shockingly insulting and I think, cynical, buffer space. The D7100 offers 1 second of shooting before the buffer is full and the camera slows down. One second of shooting or 6 frames is about how long it takes for a hockey player to gather some speed and make an offensive rush…and often, well before anything interesting starts to happen in the play. Prior to November 2014, Canon’s offering was better, but not hugely better. The original 7D was long in the tooth and high ISO quality is far too crunchy at the ISO setting needed for hockey in dimly lit arenas (typically, IS0 3200 in a good arena and ISO 6400 in bad ones). The 70D is newer and better than the 7D, but frame rate is not that great, but at least the buffer is double that of the Nikon D7100. It seemed like the 70D would have to be the choice if I decided to buy a DX sensor SLR. Then Canon announced the 7D Mark II and that changed the calculus. While priced under CAD $2,000, I have always preferred using battery packs for better grip and stability. That would be another $400 and since the 7D2 uses a newer battery, add in another $100 so I have two batteries available. Total outlay, before taxes, was about CAD $2400 (not including a new strap and faster memory cards). During the pre-order period, Canon Canada was offering the 24-70 f4 lens in a 7D2 kit for a very good discount. I was sorely tempted but thought better of it since I already have the 24-70 f2.8 and 24-105 f4. After placing my pre-order, I had to wait and watch the first batch of 7D2s come and go from my retailer. I had to wait because I ordered the battery grip and extra battery at THE CAMERAHOBBY NEWSLETTER #5 EDWIN LEONG THE CAMERAHOBBY NEWSLETTER #5 08/01/2015 the same time and the retailer (offering free S&H for my order) did not want to send out multiple packages. I had to wait for the second batch of 7D2s to come in before finally receiving my full order just prior to Christmas. The 7D2 is the same size as the 5D3, but the 5D3 looks larger due to angle and the attached L-bracket The 7D3’s viewfinder hump is a little lower and flatter than the 5D3 or 6D, due to the 7D2 having a built-in flash unit. While others like having a built-in flash, I cannot recall the last time I used one, whether Canon or Nikon, so I would have preferred dispensing with it in the 7D2 for greater structural integrity in the viewfinder. The only significant difference at the back is the 7D2 has a toggle switch around the AF-point selector. Obviously, I could not wait to use the 7D2 and there were a couple of games left before the Christmas break for my sons’ teams. I snapped away happily, marvelling at the 10 fps speed of THE CAMERAHOBBY NEWSLETTER #5 EDWIN LEONG THE CAMERAHOBBY NEWSLETTER #5 08/01/2015 the 7D2, the fastest camera I’ve ever used. Just a light touch of the shutter release would result in 2-3 frames taken. Prior to receiving my own 7D2, all the previews and reviews of the camera remarked about the amazing focusing engine. The 7D2’s focus engine is derived from the top of the line 1Dx and has the same abundance of user-configurability as the pro camera and as the full frame 5D Mark III that I am also using.