Now this isnt meant to bash on Canon, Just a slight rant of some of my frustrations over the last year...
Many people here know I've been desperately trying to get a Canon equivalent to a stupidly cheap lens.. the lowly little Nikon 35mm f/1.8G...
I tried the Sigma 30, My copy couldnt focus to the broadside of a tree, and the minimum focus distance just didnt click with me and my way of shooting at times..but i adored the optics
Next was the Canon 28mm f/1.8, Which focuses awesomely, But the results in daylight at wider apertures were very iffy, the lens itself is prone to a lot of flare (even using a lens hood, i had one example at f/4 with the sun way out of frame where theres so much flare its not funny) and the lack of a rounded aperture... annoyed me at times... The lens also could have funky bokeh in some situations which was a little annoying... and it had a metric ton of CA and purple fringing that i didnt have to pixel peep to see... But overall.. Probubly the closest to perfect in all categories i've owned so far
So next up I tried the 35mm f/2, And at first? It was great... I loved a lot of things about it... But now its ugly side is starting to show, Im frequently getting shots with just horrible, terrible, distracting and almost sickening bokeh... And if i try to stop it down any the pentagons in the background are bad.... The autofocus is ok though, the noise doesnt bug me and it works well enough... But the number of shots i keep throwing out because the bokeh is frankly sickening to my eyes is disturbing me... Best i can figure is its related to closer focusing distances... Heres one of the few examples that i still have in my library to show... This is NOT the worst I've seen it mind you...
Steak Frites 2
by Kenjis9965, on FlickrSomething about the way its rendering the out of focus areas just doesnt sit well with me(It actually does make me seriously nauseous, i feel like im looking at a 3D TV without the 3D Glasses with some of the images..its almost creating a double image)... And i have seen ones that are worse.. My eyes are so distracted by the terrible background that i couldnt find the subject.. I pitched them because, Yeah, They kinda werent very good images
Its something to do with using the thing at a closer focus distance, The sad part is thats what i use this lens for a lot...food shots in restaurants and i like getting up close and personal with it... So the distracting bokeh is really starting to kill me...
Basically short of spending $1400 on the 35L, Im now out of options.... Out of options for a lens i could go to Nikon and acquire for $200... Or Olympus has that lovely 25mm f/1.4 Summilux which is $500...
This isnt the usual wish of "I want a $2000 L lens" this is something from my perspective thats more basic... I simply want something affordable with good bokeh, that can actually focus worth a crap, and has a nice MFD
Of course my Sigmalux would work awesome for this work, Except its just too long on the 7D 75% of the time and too short the other 25%... So it sits in my cabinet collecting dust in lieu of other lenses...
Now Nikon announces a $700 28mm f/1.8, And i look at the sample images and adore how lovely the Bokeh looks from it, as well as the contrast, Especially at f/1.8... And all I can sit here and do is stare and just wish Canon would do the same... But I doubt it, Given they want $850 for a 28mm f/2.8 with IS I dont think i wanna know what a 28mm f/1.8 II is going to cost....
Before someone says it, Yes I go out and shoot.. I go out, I shoot the subjects i wanted this lens to shoot in the first place, and I generally come home, load them up and sigh... or:
1. I sit there praying im not going to get wonky bokeh take the shot and end up with the wonky bokeh
2. Dont even bother trying to get the shot because i am going to get wonky bokeh, Why? I know the limitations of the lens, And theres nothing I can do to fix the fact the bokeh keeps going weird with that lens... Except try to avoid having a distracting background... or keep things farther away, Which sadly, Isnt happening as of late...
Or I leave the 35/2 and the 28/1.8 in the cabinet collecting dust with the Sigmalux because none of the three are really "working" for me right now... Mister Siggy is too long, the 35mm f/2's bokeh is bloody distracting and the 28mm f/1.8.. Well I actually pulled that back out of the Cabinet and went back to using it...
The 35/2 is a great walkaround however...so long as the subjects arent too close
I'm not impossible to please(Contrary to what people think), I love my 15-85, my 70-200 f/4L, my 100mm f/2.8L and hey, I love my Sigmalux when I can find a subject the focal length is appropriate for to me(Thats just not too often)... and heck, i love a lot of the shots from the 35mm f/2, Provided the situation didnt cause the weird bokeh to pop up.. I can get great shots with any of the lenses above in fact... But hey, There are those shots that have had nice compositions, great lighting, and the lens blew it in terms of Bokeh
Maybe its time to sell some of my glass and rebuild part of my system... -sigh- I dont know... I need suggestions, I need advice, And I need to go get rid of this headache
The Chicago Photography Experience
