*UPDATE MARCH 2012* You can now view my video review of these lenses here
Just over a month ago I was looking to purchase some wider lenses for my Canon 5D MK 2, I looked into all the options, Canon, Carl Zeiss, Sigma and Tokina. I previously owned the Canon EF 16-35 f2.8 II lens which although proving very good I never used it wider than 24mm so there was a lot of wasted focal length and I wanted a faster aperture than 2.8 (f2 would be even much better for that extra stop of light), So I decided to sell it and invest in a faster prime wide angle as I knew the prime would give me better overall image quality and a wider aperture.
After doing plenty of research into all the different options I quickly ruled out brands like Tokina who don't have any full frame fast prime lenses in the 24-35mm range. Sigma have a 24mm f1.8 and a 28mm f1.8 which are quite dated now and from what I found weren't all that great when used wide open. I did look into older manual focus lenses being used via an adapter but the stop down metering (darkening of the focus screen when closing down the aperture) was a deal breaker as it made it nearly impossible to focus in lower light. So that left Canon and Carl Zeiss in the running.
Canon have the L primes that everyone rates very highly, the 24mm f1.4 ( a nice fast aperture but at £1429) and the 35mm f1.4 (again very fast aperture at £1220). These lenses would obviously be a great choice, they have really fast apertures which is brilliant in low light and for isolating subjects from backgrounds, they are Canons luxury line so they are very pricey which I would pay if they produce the stunning image quality I was after.
Canon also have a cheaper range of lenses in this focal lengths, the Canon EF 28mm f1.8 (small, lightweight and is fast but not brilliant when used wide open) and the Canon EF 35 f2 (fast but an older design that is very noisy when auto focussing and has a horribly small manual focus ring). To be honest these two were never really an option as I know that they are not built great and I wanted lenses that would withstand a good few years of professional (ab)use.
Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wedding. Show all posts
6 Oct 2011
2 Sept 2011
Kenny & Kayleigh's Wedding
Getting through these wedding photos. Can't believe it was such good weather, been raining almost every day since. Remember the sun getting really bright as Kayleigh arrived at Hoddo House, Couldn't have chose a better day, who ever picked that date deserves a pat on the back. Lovely light to photograph in (slightly diffused sun),worked like a giant softbox, couldn't hope for better. I really enjoyed the day and was a great bunch of people. Kayleigh looked beautiful in her dress, that dress was amazing.
Photo's and full blog post to come at the end of next week.
www.drewportfolio.com
andrew@drewportfolio.com
Photo's and full blog post to come at the end of next week.
www.drewportfolio.com
andrew@drewportfolio.com
24 Aug 2011
Shooting A Wedding This Week (Friday the 26th to be exact)
My good friend Kenny Richardson and his fiance Kayleigh Samantha Betts are getting married this Friday. They asked me and my friend Craig to be the photographers for the wedding. It will be taking place at Haddo House in Scotland which is an absolutely amazing location.
I am really looking forward to it and I really wish them all the best. This will be my first full coverage of a wedding as a main photographer and I really can't wait. This is something I have wanted to get into for a while and now I have a great opportunity to showcase what I can do. I love the journalistic approach to a wedding and I believe my style will fit the occasion nicely. I really will put everything I can into it in order to give them great images to remember their day.
My girlfriend Catriona and I have been planning to venture into the wedding photography business for a while now and we are currently collecting all the needed equipment to have two full camera kits. I have a fully rounded off kit now that I have spent years perfecting and experimenting with many different cameras and lens combinations and doing many photo shoots to arrive at my final choices, we just need to get Catriona sorted out with her choice of kit (which will be happening very very soon) and we will begin to take wedding bookings. So if you or anyone you know are getting married then you should really consider us, I guarantee we will capture the day in a way that will make you want to look at the images time and time again. I personally have been teaching Catriona for the past few years and I couldn't wish for a better partner to be by my side.
An added bonus to Kenny's and Kayleigh's Wedding is that I get to see many of my old friends that I haven't seen in years. I know I will be working but It will be great to catch up, especially after the first few dances and the photographic duties are drawing to a close, I'll be able to catch up with everyone at the bar for a while.
I also can't wait t use my new Carl Zeiss lenses which are absolutely superb. I recently purchase the Zeiss 35mm f2 (for a journalistic approach) and the Zeiss 28mm f2 for when I need a wider angle (I never go wider than 28 as I hate seeing people distorted in my photos and the 28mm keeps that to a minimum while giving me that wider angle of view when needed). Carl Zeiss have just released the new 35mm f1.4 which has caught my eye and may also purchase, I will see how the 35 f2 fairs first as I love it. The Zeiss just gives images that I have not seen from anything Canon has out there and I am amazed at the quality and rendition of every photo I take with them.
Friday will be a great day all round, seeing my friend kenny getting married, seeing all my old friends and documenting the whole event. Good times will be had and I really look forward to it.
See my wedding package prices here if you are interested in getting Catriona and I to document your special day.
We also offer engagement session packages which are on the price page too.
Send me an email if your interested in our services, have any questions or just want to chat.
Thanks,
Andrew Kelly.
andrew@drewportfolio.com
I am really looking forward to it and I really wish them all the best. This will be my first full coverage of a wedding as a main photographer and I really can't wait. This is something I have wanted to get into for a while and now I have a great opportunity to showcase what I can do. I love the journalistic approach to a wedding and I believe my style will fit the occasion nicely. I really will put everything I can into it in order to give them great images to remember their day.
My girlfriend Catriona and I have been planning to venture into the wedding photography business for a while now and we are currently collecting all the needed equipment to have two full camera kits. I have a fully rounded off kit now that I have spent years perfecting and experimenting with many different cameras and lens combinations and doing many photo shoots to arrive at my final choices, we just need to get Catriona sorted out with her choice of kit (which will be happening very very soon) and we will begin to take wedding bookings. So if you or anyone you know are getting married then you should really consider us, I guarantee we will capture the day in a way that will make you want to look at the images time and time again. I personally have been teaching Catriona for the past few years and I couldn't wish for a better partner to be by my side.
An added bonus to Kenny's and Kayleigh's Wedding is that I get to see many of my old friends that I haven't seen in years. I know I will be working but It will be great to catch up, especially after the first few dances and the photographic duties are drawing to a close, I'll be able to catch up with everyone at the bar for a while.
I also can't wait t use my new Carl Zeiss lenses which are absolutely superb. I recently purchase the Zeiss 35mm f2 (for a journalistic approach) and the Zeiss 28mm f2 for when I need a wider angle (I never go wider than 28 as I hate seeing people distorted in my photos and the 28mm keeps that to a minimum while giving me that wider angle of view when needed). Carl Zeiss have just released the new 35mm f1.4 which has caught my eye and may also purchase, I will see how the 35 f2 fairs first as I love it. The Zeiss just gives images that I have not seen from anything Canon has out there and I am amazed at the quality and rendition of every photo I take with them.
Friday will be a great day all round, seeing my friend kenny getting married, seeing all my old friends and documenting the whole event. Good times will be had and I really look forward to it.
See my wedding package prices here if you are interested in getting Catriona and I to document your special day.
We also offer engagement session packages which are on the price page too.
Send me an email if your interested in our services, have any questions or just want to chat.
Thanks,
Andrew Kelly.
andrew@drewportfolio.com
19 Aug 2011
New Lenses and The Full Line Up.
I just took delivery of the some new lenses that have rounded off my lens line up for everything I will be shooting from now on. I may add a longer focal length at some point , maybe a 135mm or something but I never shoot far away and prefer to be closer to my subject so these lenses are exactly what I need. After years of using different focal length lenses and in different situations I found that I am not a long telephoto shooter and I also don't like going too wide either. All of my subjects are people and I prefer the focal lengths from 28mm, perfect for when you need a wider view without distorting anybody in the frame too much , I find a 24mm to distort a bit too much and my longest focal length is a 100mm macro. The macro is great for small fine detail shots and for tight portraits (head and shoulders).
My line up now consists of a Carl Zeiss 28mm f2 (brilliant lens), a Carl Zess 35 f2 (absolute gem of a lens), a Canon 50mm f1.4 (a good workhorse that covers most situations, good bokeh too), a Sigma 85mm f1.4 (brilliant portrait lens and i personally prefer it to the expensive Canon 85 f1.2, brilliant bokeh and sharpness), a Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro (for them detailed shots and head and shoulder portraits). I also have some other lenses that I use just for fun, a canon 50mm f1.8 that I took apart and messed around with, put it back together and it now acts as a very weird, painterly, bizarre lens, an Olympus Zuiko 100mm f2.8 (very small and light with great image quality), a haminex 28mm (just fun to use) and a 24mm miranda macro that is also fun to use and creates some very interesting images. All of these sit on my Canon 5D Mark 2 and give me all I need, for now:)
After years of shooting I now have my ideal line up for the type of imagery I like to produce. What lenses you have isn't the most important part of photography as you can get great images from almost any lens and camera (some of my favourite images I have taken are with a lens I got on ebay for £8 and a £3 compact film camera) but knowing what images you want to make and knowing what equipment will get you the results needed is important, there is no point in buying the most expensive if you don't really need them, just try out as much as you can and see how they compliment your vision. I have tried a hell of a lot of lenses now and have arrived at this selection. Would I like the whole set of Zeiss primes and a Leica M9 thrown in with a few fast Leica primes? sure I would but I don't need them, doesn't mean to say I wouldn't buy them if I was rich and money was burning a hole in my pocket though.
Here are the images I took today of my new lenses arrival and the whole assembled line up.
My line up now consists of a Carl Zeiss 28mm f2 (brilliant lens), a Carl Zess 35 f2 (absolute gem of a lens), a Canon 50mm f1.4 (a good workhorse that covers most situations, good bokeh too), a Sigma 85mm f1.4 (brilliant portrait lens and i personally prefer it to the expensive Canon 85 f1.2, brilliant bokeh and sharpness), a Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro (for them detailed shots and head and shoulder portraits). I also have some other lenses that I use just for fun, a canon 50mm f1.8 that I took apart and messed around with, put it back together and it now acts as a very weird, painterly, bizarre lens, an Olympus Zuiko 100mm f2.8 (very small and light with great image quality), a haminex 28mm (just fun to use) and a 24mm miranda macro that is also fun to use and creates some very interesting images. All of these sit on my Canon 5D Mark 2 and give me all I need, for now:)
After years of shooting I now have my ideal line up for the type of imagery I like to produce. What lenses you have isn't the most important part of photography as you can get great images from almost any lens and camera (some of my favourite images I have taken are with a lens I got on ebay for £8 and a £3 compact film camera) but knowing what images you want to make and knowing what equipment will get you the results needed is important, there is no point in buying the most expensive if you don't really need them, just try out as much as you can and see how they compliment your vision. I have tried a hell of a lot of lenses now and have arrived at this selection. Would I like the whole set of Zeiss primes and a Leica M9 thrown in with a few fast Leica primes? sure I would but I don't need them, doesn't mean to say I wouldn't buy them if I was rich and money was burning a hole in my pocket though.
Here are the images I took today of my new lenses arrival and the whole assembled line up.
Todays Arrivals. 28mm f2 Carl Zeiss and Canon EF 100mm f2.8 Macro
Posers.
Final Lens line up from now on for Portraits, Music photography, Weddings and anything else that comes my way.
28mm Zeiss f2 ZE, 35mm f2 Zeiss ZE, Canon 50mm f1.4, Sigma 85mm f1.4, Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro.
andrew@drewportfolio.com
16 Jun 2011
Testing the Sigma 85 f1.4 against Canon 85 f1.2 (With pro wedding and portrait testing) *UPDATED MARCH 2012*
*UPDATED MARCH 2012* I have added some new info throughout this post I did 9 months ago (just look for the * symbol) and a paragraph or two at the end telling of my experiences with this lens over them 9 months.
Since doing the last tests and review (which you can view here) I decided to give the Sigma another chance and try a different copy. True it is not quite as sharp as the Canon 1.2, nearly but not quite, the Sigma does not have 1.2 which would have been nice but 1.4 would be fine for most low light situations and for this price you cannot complain. I won't be directly comparing results between the Sigma and the Canon in this review since I did that in the last one, this is more to see what this new copy of the Sigma can produce and how it handles.
The thing I loved this time round is the focus speed which is very fast, I would say about twice as fast as the Canon 1.2. the focus on this copy is very accurate even in low light. The lens is nice and weighty and looks good on the camera, it looks like a nice Nikon lens to be honest. The manual focus ring is still too stiff for my liking and can be a pain to use (*after spending a few months with it I have got used to it and actually quite like the bit of tension, it's easy to precisely focus without over shooting the focus*) but with auto focus this decent I might not need to revert to it nearly as often. Most importantly images that it produces are really really nice. I am very impressed with this lens after spending a bit more time with it.
I did a test by putting a few images taken with the Canon 85 1.2 and the Sigma 85 1.4, I processed them as I usually process my images (white balance and contrast adjustments) and put them into a slideshow, I got a few people (including myself) just to watch these images loop around in the slideshow and the results were very interesting. They could not tell any difference in the images, this is after about ten minutes staring at them. When I looked at them closely I also could not see any difference, now that is amazing considering the Sigma is £1000 cheaper. Now I really was going to go for the Canon 85 1.2 but after spending more time with the Sigma I have changed my mind. I would like the Canon purely because of its image quality, good looks and the 1.2 but if I (and a good few others, who are also quality freaks) cannot tell the difference in the images between the Canon and the Sigma, the Sigma has much better autofocus, it is a bit lighter and costs around £1000 less then Its a no brainer in my opinion. I actually now think that overall the Sigma is the better lens (for me anyway), that was not easy to say. I actually liked the Sigma so much that today I purchased one and have been shooting with it all day. and with £1000 extra still in the bank to spend on another lens, maybe the Canon 135 f2. In the end the quality of the images I deliver to clients is the most important thing and you can't go wrong with either the Sigma or the Canon.
Update after spending 9 months with the lens and using it in a Professional Wedding Shoot:
*Since writing this review I have used this lens in a lot of different situations. The most testing situation for any lens is Professional Wedding Photography, this is when you discover whether a lens should be in your kit or not. I have to say that this lens alongside my Carl Zeiss wide angles (which you can read about here) were fantastic. The Sigma's autofocus was quick and accurate, not missing a beat the whole day. It was my go to lens for any type of portrait work where I had space to step back a little (in tight situations I reverted to my 50mm f1.4 Canon), it was my main lens for the ceremony, bride portraits, dinner, speeches, first dance and the rest of the evening to be honest. I really didn't actually expect to use the 85mm focal length as much as I did, it was almost glued to the camera from the ceremony onwards and every shot was sharp regardless of f-stop used. I mostly shot it between f1.4 and f2 and the bokeh (out of focus areas) were amazing. I did use it on manual focus a bit and like I said above the little extra tension in the focus ring actually made precise focusing easier, there was no over shooting the desired focus point like I sometimes do with my Canon 50mm f1.4 resulting in me have to turn it back and forth till I find perfect focus. This was a surprise as I originally thought the slightly stiff focus ring would be a negative thing, just goes to show that you never really now until you try a piece of equipment in a real life situation.
I can now highly recommend this Sigma 85mm f1.4 lens after putting it through some gruelling use and it not only lives up to expectations but often surpasses them and constantly surprises me with the results. The Canon 85mm f1.2 II is still the most desired portrait lens for Canon users but I for sure will not be buying it as this Sigma is all i'll need in this range for a long time to come, it has much quicker autofocus, almost identical bokeh and sharpness and and at £1000 cheaper it is an absolute bargain.
Here are some images with the Sigma from the wedding and some. Hopefully if I post a good amount of wedding shots with the lens you will get a good idea of its performance in all the different lighting situations. Below the wedding images I will also post a few portraits I have taken over the last few months with the lens.
Since doing the last tests and review (which you can view here) I decided to give the Sigma another chance and try a different copy. True it is not quite as sharp as the Canon 1.2, nearly but not quite, the Sigma does not have 1.2 which would have been nice but 1.4 would be fine for most low light situations and for this price you cannot complain. I won't be directly comparing results between the Sigma and the Canon in this review since I did that in the last one, this is more to see what this new copy of the Sigma can produce and how it handles.
The thing I loved this time round is the focus speed which is very fast, I would say about twice as fast as the Canon 1.2. the focus on this copy is very accurate even in low light. The lens is nice and weighty and looks good on the camera, it looks like a nice Nikon lens to be honest. The manual focus ring is still too stiff for my liking and can be a pain to use (*after spending a few months with it I have got used to it and actually quite like the bit of tension, it's easy to precisely focus without over shooting the focus*) but with auto focus this decent I might not need to revert to it nearly as often. Most importantly images that it produces are really really nice. I am very impressed with this lens after spending a bit more time with it.
I did a test by putting a few images taken with the Canon 85 1.2 and the Sigma 85 1.4, I processed them as I usually process my images (white balance and contrast adjustments) and put them into a slideshow, I got a few people (including myself) just to watch these images loop around in the slideshow and the results were very interesting. They could not tell any difference in the images, this is after about ten minutes staring at them. When I looked at them closely I also could not see any difference, now that is amazing considering the Sigma is £1000 cheaper. Now I really was going to go for the Canon 85 1.2 but after spending more time with the Sigma I have changed my mind. I would like the Canon purely because of its image quality, good looks and the 1.2 but if I (and a good few others, who are also quality freaks) cannot tell the difference in the images between the Canon and the Sigma, the Sigma has much better autofocus, it is a bit lighter and costs around £1000 less then Its a no brainer in my opinion. I actually now think that overall the Sigma is the better lens (for me anyway), that was not easy to say. I actually liked the Sigma so much that today I purchased one and have been shooting with it all day. and with £1000 extra still in the bank to spend on another lens, maybe the Canon 135 f2. In the end the quality of the images I deliver to clients is the most important thing and you can't go wrong with either the Sigma or the Canon.
Update after spending 9 months with the lens and using it in a Professional Wedding Shoot:
*Since writing this review I have used this lens in a lot of different situations. The most testing situation for any lens is Professional Wedding Photography, this is when you discover whether a lens should be in your kit or not. I have to say that this lens alongside my Carl Zeiss wide angles (which you can read about here) were fantastic. The Sigma's autofocus was quick and accurate, not missing a beat the whole day. It was my go to lens for any type of portrait work where I had space to step back a little (in tight situations I reverted to my 50mm f1.4 Canon), it was my main lens for the ceremony, bride portraits, dinner, speeches, first dance and the rest of the evening to be honest. I really didn't actually expect to use the 85mm focal length as much as I did, it was almost glued to the camera from the ceremony onwards and every shot was sharp regardless of f-stop used. I mostly shot it between f1.4 and f2 and the bokeh (out of focus areas) were amazing. I did use it on manual focus a bit and like I said above the little extra tension in the focus ring actually made precise focusing easier, there was no over shooting the desired focus point like I sometimes do with my Canon 50mm f1.4 resulting in me have to turn it back and forth till I find perfect focus. This was a surprise as I originally thought the slightly stiff focus ring would be a negative thing, just goes to show that you never really now until you try a piece of equipment in a real life situation.
I can now highly recommend this Sigma 85mm f1.4 lens after putting it through some gruelling use and it not only lives up to expectations but often surpasses them and constantly surprises me with the results. The Canon 85mm f1.2 II is still the most desired portrait lens for Canon users but I for sure will not be buying it as this Sigma is all i'll need in this range for a long time to come, it has much quicker autofocus, almost identical bokeh and sharpness and and at £1000 cheaper it is an absolute bargain.
Here are some images with the Sigma from the wedding and some. Hopefully if I post a good amount of wedding shots with the lens you will get a good idea of its performance in all the different lighting situations. Below the wedding images I will also post a few portraits I have taken over the last few months with the lens.
Most above shots weretaken between f1.4 and f2.8
PORTRAITS
All portrait shots between f1.4 and f2
Sigma Un-boxing images (not important but good presentation can be a nice bonus and shows the care the company take with there lenses)
Nice case you get, better than the soft Canon L lens cases, not that I will use it but it's great for storage.
Nice bit of glass there.
Overall the presentation of the lens is nicer than any Canon L, not that this is too important, just a nice addition.
View all my favourite shots and slideshow video from the whole wedding day here
Read my review on the other lenses I used on the wedding shoot here and here (The Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm f2 and 28mm f2 ZE)
Read the original Sigma and 85mm f1.4 and Canon 85mm f1.2 II review here
I hope that this review helps someone who is considering purchasing the Sigma 85mm f1.4. I know everyone is different and shoots different but in my experiences this is a great lens that I don't think you will be disappointed with. If you have the money and have your heart set on the Canon 85mm f1.2 II then you can't go wrong with that either if you can live with the slower autofocus.
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