28-135mm gets new lease of life with a 1D - a few images.

[KennyG]

The 28-135mm isn't the sharpest card in the pack as most will admit. There has always been a thought that it has perfomed best with the 1 series cameras. So, today, the second day for the F3 races, I thought I would give the combination a try. I use the 28-135 so little I don't bother to list it as one of my lenses any more. After today it may find its way into my bag more often. To me it is way better with my 1D than my 10D where it has always been a bit too soft.

Motor racing fans should all know Nelson Piquet, well this is his son Nelson Jnr who races in the UK F3 championship. Unfortuantely, this has not been a good weekend for him on the track, but that's how motor racing is, unless you drive a Ferrari and are named Michael. This weekend was also the 10th aniversary of Senna's death. [Edited to save embarassment]

The shot had a lot of reflected bright sun, F6.7 ISO 200. The 1D handles brightly lit backdrop or reflected shots very well as you can see. As usual, no post-processing other than re-size. All my images are shot in RAW and converted with C1.

http://www.stiuk.dial.pipex.com/np-1.jpg

I promised myself some head shots of Nelson on the grid. Same lens and camera. This time F7.1 ISO200.

http://www.stiuk.dial.pipex.com/np-3.jpg

Two additonal shots, the first is of the start of the first F3 race today and the second is of Nelson on track. Both taken with my 1D, 300 2.8 and x 2TC.

http://www.stiuk.dial.pipex.com/f3-off-2.jpg

http://www.stiuk.dial.pipex.com/np-2.jpg


So, for those of you with a MK-II that previously had a 10D and the 28-135, would you like to see how it compares when used with your new camera and post some results?

[Cadwell]

Um.... Ken... Nelson Piquet Snr is still very much alive. This is the tenth aniversary of the great Ayrton Senna's death...

Nice shots BTW ;) but you will never convince me to love my EF 28-135mm :P

[KennyG]

Um.... Ken... Nelson Piquet Snr is still very much alive. This is the tenth aniversary of the great [i][b]Ayrton Senna's [b][i] death...

Nice shots BTW ;)

Apologies, my brain wasn't in gear tonight. We were discussing it at Croft today and after 8 and a half hours shooting and tromping around the circuit I'm too tired to thin straight. I should know his dad's OK, I met him a while back.

Goes off to bed for much needed sleep.....

[Costa]

Nice pictures. I always enjoy seeing your work!

Dumb question: what are those pods, hanging from the LHS of the cars? They're obviously not turbojet engines! Best guess would be on-board cameras, but I'd always thought they were much smaller than that.

Cheers,

Costa

[vvizard]

You know.. amount of visitors was dropping, and those pesky cars who doesn't let you by easily when thay're "lapped" have always annoyed everyone.. So to solve the last problem, and gain new visitors again, they installed rocket-launchers :lol:

Sorry, have no idea what it is :(

[Guillermo Freige]

Probably they are the air intakers (or wherever they are called in english)

[KennyG]

Nice pictures. I always enjoy seeing your work!

Dumb question: what are those pods, hanging from the LHS of the cars? They're obviously not turbojet engines! Best guess would be on-board cameras, but I'd always thought they were much smaller than that.

Cheers,

Costa

They are air intakes. They are all restricted to the same size so that no team can gain a peformance advantage.

[CoolToolGuy]

Kenny,

As always, your shots are terrific. I especially enjoy the variety of your shots - not just a series of the same shot of different cars. :D

You are raising my anxiety for the weekend after next- The Jefferson 500 weekend at Summit Point. Not the latest cars (its a vintage weekend), but my first all-digital race. From 14mm to 400mm, I may need therapy for my right index finger, 'cause I'll be shooting a ton of images. :D

[2new]

KennyG - I was wondering if you could post some of the samples of the 28-135mm shot on your 10D, and detail why you were not happy with it.

I have read some good reviews and was thinking about picking up this lens as a walkaround lens, and I would like to hear the other side's opinion before making a purchase if you have the time.

I currently own;
17-40 L
70-200 f/4 L
300D kit lens.

Thanks,
Michael

[minicooper]

Those are great shots, although I have to disagree about the 28-135mm not being the sharpest of lenses, it is 99% of the time tack-sharp with my 10D, and I think many people will agree when I say that it is one of the sharpest of all the non-L lenses.

Cheers!
Tom

[KennyG]

KennyG - I was wondering if you could post some of the samples of the 28-135mm shot on your 10D, and detail why you were not happy with it.

What you have to realise is that I have had this lens for a couple of years plus a pair of 10D's and I am a very heavy user of all my camera equipment. This is just to set the ground rules, just in case you thought I didn't know what I was talking about.

I retired the 28-135 about 9 months ago when I got my 24-70L. The IS wasn't much use to me at such short lengths and I couldn't justify the extra weight in my bag (already had 2 bodies and 4 L lenses in it).

It was always on the soft side compared to the 24-70L, but it was just soft enough to take the harshness out of portraits using a 10D which is soft pre-processing anyway. I needed a lens that was sharp in the pit lane, not for portraits.

Anyway, to your request. I did take some F3 driver shots with the 10D and 28-135 just for the heck of it as I has laready done them with the 1D. So, after an almighty battle with C1 to get rid of the 10D blow-out on the yellow race suit, here is a sample for you. This was shot at F6.7, 135mm, ISO200, in RAW and converted with C1. Re-sized in PS.

http://www.stiuk.dial.pipex.com/f3-test.jpg

[De Paula]

Have you ever seen underexposured images in your 1d ?

[Cadwell]

I have to agree with Ken here. I use a 10D and the EF 28-135mm has been a great disappointment to me. I regard it as the one “waste of money” of all my camera purchases. I find it lacks sharpness in comparison with my other lenses and hence I have never been satisfied with the images it produced. I also found it too slow (in terms of aperture) for the kind of shots I want to take (IS doesn’t help me).

I have since covered that focal length with other lenses (which I am happy with) and it now sits in a box on the shelf and is never used. Unfortunately, unlike Ken, I don’t own a “1” body to help me resurrect it.

[Cadwell]

I have read some good reviews and was thinking about picking up this lens as a walkaround lens, and I would like to hear the other side's opinion before making a purchase if you have the time.

I currently own;
17-40 L
70-200 f/4 L
300D kit lens.

Thanks,
Michael

Michael,

I think you will find the EF 28-135mm very unsatisfying compared to your 17-40L and your 70-200L. I also have those two lenses and the EF 28-135mm simply isn't in the same league. If you want to fill the gap without breaking the bank can I suggest the Tamron SP AF28-75mm F/2.8 XR Di. If you are feeling more wealthy, go for the Canon 24-70L.

[Andy_T]

Cadwell,

why is that lens sitting idly on your shelf? Now *that* surely is a waste.

From my sporadic forays into used Canon lenses on eBay I would suppose you could sell it off for a reasonable price without much problems.

(You could also decide to donate it to some less lucky forum owners ... :lol:)

Best regards,
Andy