What's the one piece of gear you really couldn't do without?

I get this question every once in a while. Although I write occasionally about gear, I'm not really a gear head. I still shoot with Canon 5D and 30D cameras - a half-decade old technology.  

I've also written quite often how the gear doesn't really matter, it's understanding what to do with it that counts. There's not a single piece of gear that I have that I couldn't do without.

Despite all of that, I must admit there is one piece of gear that having to do without would leave me crying in my shoes - my 70-200 f2.8L IS lens.

This lens, (and the Nikon equivalent, the new 70-200 f2.8VR II, which I understand is quite excellent) is the King of lenses. I usually do portrait shoots with just this single lens. I can shoot an entire wedding with just 2 lenses, this one and my 35mm prime.

What makes this lens so great?

• It's absolutely tack sharp. Just about as sharp as any of my primes.

• The image stabilization works great. I've taken sharp images from the back of a dim church hand-held at 1/50 while racked out to 200mm.

• It's a magic beauty lens. People just look better in images taken with it.

• It provides tremendous subject-background separation.

• You can have it both ways:  stop down to f5.6-6.3 from 60 feet away and you've got a 9' depth of field - enough to get nearly any size group in focus - while at the same time still blurring the background beautifully and creating lots of subject-background separation.    

• It's currently out-of-fashion (a big plus in my view!). Every photographer out there is obsessed with shooting with fast wide primes. Read any photography forum and there are dozens of posts about how togs have sold their 70-200, or they only use it for the ceremony then put it away.

Sure you can get cool looks with those wide primes, but let's face facts. At the end of the day, my clients will look much prettier than theirs will, and that's what keeps my clients (and my wallet) happy.

Anything not so great about this lens?

• It's big and heavy. Boo-hoo. Go to the gym.

• It costs $1,750.  Expensive, but worth every penny.

Compared to the 135 f2L:  The 135L is a stop faster and of course, much smaller and lighter. Shots taken wide open provide so much separation that they almost have a 3-D quality about them. It's a fantastic lens. But in the end, the versatile range combined with the image stabilization of the 70-200 wins out.

Compared to the 70-200 f4L IS:  This is also a great lens. Smaller, lighter and cheaper, but every bit as sharp. If you can't afford the 2.8, then buy this lens. Then when you're ready for the 2.8, you can sell it for nearly as much as you paid for it.

The 70-200 @145mm with a Canon 20D. It's a magic beauty lens!

Location Lighting 101 Workshop

1/23/10, Seattle, WA: sold out

3/20/10, Vancouver, BC: seats available

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Building a Profitable Portrait Business

2/27/10, Seattle, WA:  seats available

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Laurence Kim Workshops

This final post on the Canon G11 focuses on portraits.

You may recall Taylor, one of my seniors from last year.  She was kind enough to help me take the G11 for a portrait test drive.

(1) ISO 80, f5.0, 1/800 sec, Alien Bee B800 camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(2) ISO 80, f5.0, 1/320 sec, 580exII camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(3) ISO 100, f3.5, 1/320 sec, 580exII camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(4) ISO 100, f3.5, 1/320 sec, 580exII camera right with shoot-thru umbrella

(5) ISO 80, f4.5, 1/200 sec. The sun came out as we were wrapping up the shoot. No flash, white balance as shot using auto white balance.

A note on sync speed:  The specifications state a max sync speed of 1/2000. In practice, I maxed out at about 1/1250.  That's because unless you have some very high-end, expensive flash units with ultra-short flash durations, you'll be limited by the flash duration of the strobe itself, not the sync speed of the camera. But let us not quibble here. The ability to use flash sync at 1/1000 is an incredible luxury compared to the puny 1/200 max sync on my 5D!

As a portrait camera, the G11 will present some challenges. Because of the massive depth of field that comes with a small-sensor, you cannot isolate your subject with depth-of-field control. With a DSLR it's simple - just shoot your subject at 85mm, f2 and voila, instant subject/background separation.

Since you don't have depth-of-field as a tool, you'll have to isolate your subject using composition, lighting or both. In other words, you'll have to work harder and more deliberately to get professional-looking portraits, but it can be done. The G11 is not a miracle camera. Casual grab shots will look.....well....like snapshots from a point-n-shoot.

Compared to the LX3:  The LX3 is a great camera. The G11 is better. It should be, as it's technology is 15 months newer. Noise is about 1 stop better on the G11, and dynamic range is significantly better. Image #5 above would not be possible on the LX3 - the skin would have blown out. Handling is better as well, with lots of control knobs and a more comfortable size. In the LX3's favor is it's wider, faster lens.

What about micro four-thirds?  The Panasonic GF1 and Olympus PEN are really interesting cameras. Much larger sensors than the G11 with bodies that aren't much bigger. If I had an unlimited budget, I would buy one of them today, just for fun. However, in the end they wouldn't really suit my needs. Put the zoom lenses on them and they're pretty big, certainly too big for a small belt pouch. That disqualifies them for me as take-everywhere, always-with-you cameras.  

Conclusion:

My G11 will serve three functions: as a macro camera for weddings, a vacation camera and as an always-with-me camera for casual snapshots and videos of my kids. Professionally, the only time I would consider using it would be when I needed to overpower bright sun with off camera flash using ultra-high speed sync. It's either use the G11 or buy/rent $20,000 worth of high-powered lighting gear.

Landscapes, macro or portraits, there's really nothing this camera can't do. Detail is amazing. Any one of these images would have sufficient detail to print a double truck magazine ad, no problem. In short, the G11 is the best small-sensor compact on the market today.

Part 2 of my G11 overview focuses on macros.  To be honest, doing this little macro test didn't teach me anything. I already knew that high quality compact digicams are the best tool for macro work. I wrote about it here. I pretty much did this shoot just for fun.

My opinion is unchanged:  a high quality point 'n shoot like the G11 is your best tool for macros. Every shot I took was perfectly in focus and tack sharp.

The pencils, strawberry and watch were all set up the same way. I put the items on a white surface - the lid from a plastic storage tub. Behind the items was a softbox with an Alien Bee B800 as a back light. Above and to camera right was a 580EXII with umbrella. To camera left was a white cardboard box that I used for fill. I triggered everything with Pocket Wizards. The leaf was shot outdoors in natural light, no flash. Setting up the shoot took all of 10 minutes.

(1)  ISO 80, 6.1mm (28mm equivalent), f5.0, 1/500 sec. That's right folks, flash sync at 1/500!

(2)  ISO 80, 6.1mm, f5.0, 1/500 sec. Sorry that this strawberry is kinda old and ugly!

(3) ISO 80, 10.8mm (49mm equivalent), f5.6, 1/500 sec.

(4)  ISO 200, 21.5mm (98mm equivalent), f4, 1/160 sec.

I could have done this shoot with a DSLR and macro lens, but it would have been much harder. It would have been harder to nail focus, I would have fewer keepers and I definitely would have needed a tripod. The bottom line:  get a good point 'n shoot and use it! (of course, get it by clicking on the advertisement below...)

Coming next:  G11 part 3:  portraits

I just received my new Canon G11!  Now I'm putting it to the test with a 3 part review. As always, I'm not really a camera tester. You'll have to go to dpreview for that. I'm just a photographer giving my initial impressions from a real use perspective.

I'm dividing my review into three parts:

Part 1:  build quality, usability, and high ISO noise

Part 2:  macros

Part 3:  portraits

Build Quality:

This thing feels more solid than my 5D.  It's nice and hefty. Not Leica-hefty, but pretty darn solid - kinda metallic feeling (as opposed to my 5D, which is plasticky-feeling). I like the fact that the lens retracts into the body (unlike the LX3). It definitely feels more durable. It also has a nice rubber grip - the first time I've ever seen one on a compact camera.

I have mixed feelings about the swivel LCD. On the one hand, it seems like an unnecessary (for my style of shooting, anyway) moving part, and therefore a weak link that's just waiting to break. On the other hand, by swiveling it with the screen facing inwards, it protects the LCD during storage and transport.

LCD:

Gorgeous, big 461k pixel screen. Most importantly, the histogram is large and accurate. Also shows flashing highlight clipping like my Canon DSLRs.

Lens:

Only f2.8, which is slower than the LX3 or the S90. However, it goes to a 140mm equivalent focal length, so I'd say that's a pretty good tradeoff. Unlike the LX3 or micro 4/3 cameras, the lens retracts into the body, which is a huge advantage. You don't have to fiddle with a lens cap, there's much less possibility of damage, and it makes the camera more compact.

Size:

In my opinion, it's just right for a compact camera. The LX3 was, for me, a bit too small. Unless you have very small hands, it's just hard to hit those tiny buttons. The G11 is still small enough to put in a coat pocket (remember that the world's best camera is the one you have with you) without being too small to be easily handled.

Usability:

This is where the G11 shines.  Having never owned a G series camera before, imagine my shock when I looked at the top of the camera and saw this:

Mein Gott - a dedicated exposure compensation knob and ISO knob!  Holy crap Batman, you've got to be kidding me!  For the first time since I went digital, I now have a camera that doesn't require pushing buttons and looking at LCD screens to change exposure comp and ISO.  The 5DmkII doesn't have these control knobs, neither does the D700. This alone is worth the price of the camera. So as far as usability goes, I'd have to rate this camera as better than a DSLR in some ways.

Viewfinder:

Pretty tiny and crappy, but at least it has one. That's pretty rare, as viewfinders on compact cameras have become all but extinct. In most circumstances, I'll probably compose images using the viewfinder instead of the LCD.

IQ test #1: high ISO

Shot RAW, using "tungsten" white balance. No flash. Converted and resized in Lightroom. The room was pretty dim. (The ISO 1600 shot was at f2.8, 1/60). And yeah, I know, I'm a bad father for pestering Theresa while she was trying to do her homework!

(1) ISO 200. Clean. Print it out and you'd never notice any noise. Shot at 1/13 sec, which also demonstrates how well the image stabilization works.

(2) ISO 400. Some shadow noise, but still pretty darn clean. Looks a bit better than ISO 200 on my LX3, and the LX3 had the lowest noise of any compact I'd ever used before. If noise in this image bothers you, then you probably didn't have a date to the prom.

(3)  ISO 800. Still okay!  In a real print, you'd probably notice some shadow noise, but only if you were looking for it. Very useable. On the LX3, I would only use ISO 800 for black & white. (however, in defense of the LX3, it's lens is one stop faster so I could have taken the same shot with the same shutter speed at ISO 400)

(4)  ISO 1600.  Now it's starting to get noisy. Still, easily the best ISO 1600 I've ever seen in a small-sensor camera. If I ran this file through some noise reduction (I use Neat Image) I could probably make 8x10 prints without any issues.

(5)  ISO 3200.  Very noisy and losing detail, but still useable, which is incredible.  For a competition print, no. But would probably make a decent 4x6 snapshot for grandma.

(6)  One more in case you're not convinced. This was shot at much lower light levels. ISO 800, f3.5, 1/13 sec. How's this for 800 ISO on a small-sensor compact?

Conclusion:  I could be wrong because I'm really not much of a pixel-peeper, but I'd estimate that the noise is slightly more than 1 stop worse than my 20D and a bit more than 1 stop better than my LX3. Nikonians might take issue with this, but I'd say the noise is about equal to the Nikon D200, which was Nikon's top pro-sumer DSLR only, what, 2 years ago? I can make this claim because I've seen thousands of D200 files taken under low light by 2nd shooters I've worked with at weddings.

As camera manufacturers continue to advance sensor and processing engines for their DSLRS, it's clear that this technology is trickling down to compact cameras. And that's a great thing! Although I've only taken a handful of frames, it's already hard for me to imagine a better compact digicam out there than the G11.

Why I sold my Panasonic LX3

I've written several very favorable blog posts about the LX3. Just look under the "gear" category and you'll see a bunch of posts. It's a great little camera. Great for landscapes, fine art and macros. So why did I sell it? (by the way, I sold it for nearly as much as I paid for it!)

In the end I followed the old adage "horses for courses".  My primary reason for owning a small point 'n shoot is to have something to take snapshots of my kids with. I hate lugging my DSLR around when I'm not on a paying gig. Anyway, the Achilles heel of the LX3 is it's lack of dynamic range. So it is pretty much impossible to get a clean shot of my kids in any kind of sunlight. In the shade, yes, but not in the sun. Look at the image below and you'll see what I mean:

So with some reluctance I retired the LX3 and decided to give the G series a try.

Coming next - G11 part 2:  Macros.

Just got back from Maui - my first 2 week vacation in nearly 5 years.  Like most professional photographers, I don't take many pictures while on vacation.  I was there to relax.

Of the pictures I did take, 90% were with my little LX3.  Lugging around a big dslr is too much work on vacation.  

The results were about as I expect. I love the LX3's ability to shoot at 24mm - rare in a point-n-shoot. It also took reasonably sharp images with decent color.  The biggest drawback versus a dslr - which should be apparent from the images below - is the lack of dynamic range. It struggles in high contrast situations.

(1) ISO 200, f3.5, 1/400 sec.

(2) ISO 400, f4.0, 1/50 sec. This was the luau at the Wailea Marriott, one of the better ones I've been to. Pretty decent ISO 400 performance from a point-n-shoot.

(3) ISO 200, f3.2, 1/100 sec.

(4) ISO 200, f2.8, 1/200 sec. One reason many photographers don't like point-n-shoots is that the small sensor means it's hard to get a shallow depth of field. I don't mind this, actually. Consider it's advantages. Here I'm shooting at f2.8 to get a reasonable shutter speed, yet I've got both Theresa and Annika in focus.

(5) ISO 200, f5.0, 1/500 sec.

(6) ISO 200, f2.2, 1/1000 sec.

(7) ISO 200, f4.0, 1/200 sec.

(7) ISO 100, f3.2, 1/80 sec.