New Glass Test

So I get all hyped up when reading review after review and watching videos on some new glass. Then I finally pull the trigger and it arrives, and all of a sudden I draw a blank. What do you guys tend to shoot to get those first few test shots just around the house if you cant get out. Had some bad weather lately which has made it worse, I usually do portrait stuff and without a subject and a planned shoot I lack inspiration. Any ideas?

Bracetty wrote in post #17575852
So I get all hyped up when reading review after review and watching videos on some new glass. Then I finally pull the trigger and it arrives, and all of a sudden I draw a blank. What do you guys tend to shoot to get those first few test shots just around the house if you cant get out. Had some bad weather lately which has made it worse, I usually do portrait stuff and without a subject and a planned shoot I lack inspiration. Any ideas?

Heya,

I test things on what I normally shoot so that the test shots represent what the lens would actually be doing and be used for.

Portraits can be anything. I do insect, bird, etc, portraits sometimes, along with people portraits.

Get a stuffed bear. Use an inflated balloon.

Very best,

Newspaper will test for corner to corner sharpness wide open.

Bracetty wrote in post #17575852
So I get all hyped up when reading review after review and watching videos on some new glass. Then I finally pull the trigger and it arrives, and all of a sudden I draw a blank. What do you guys tend to shoot to get those first few test shots just around the house if you cant get out. Had some bad weather lately which has made it worse, I usually do portrait stuff and without a subject and a planned shoot I lack inspiration. Any ideas?

What is your new glass?

Tamron 24-70 2.8

They say it's good luck to use new equipment to take photos of ducks.


* I don't know who "they" are

I always do some sort of a "macro" shot for some reason...lol Probably just because I'm inside when I open it! But then I remember why I bought it and shot what I got it to shoot.

I do test photos of random things in the kitchen or back yard, testing close and far focus, switching between near/far objects, and just photographing random things with the various apertures to make sure everything is working as expected. If I had the space to put up a decently large studio then I would most likely commission a large sculpture piece with high contrast elements to use as a standardized test subject, but for now the box the lens came in or a coffee mug are good enough to check that the lens is functioning, can focus, and doesn't grind or sound broken.

in my experience the most common lens problems will be:

1. decentering (and note, out of all lenses i have tested the majority have some small variation between sides/corners, so this has to b within reason). this is very common.

2. different AF MA needed at different distances (this is a problem for Canon lenses since no body that I know of let's you use different MA values for different lenses yet, note that Sigma does allow calibration in this manner). this is rare but i do have lenses that do this.

3. different AF MA needed in different lighting conditions. unfortunately this is hard to tell if it's working as expected or something is broke. so, dunno if this is worth testing.

note, i don't consider checking general AF to be a "problem". about 1/3-1/2 of all lenses i have ever used needed some kind of MA and various bodies. it's just something you have to do. if you got something like a Rebel that doesn't have MA, well, sorry.

to test #1, you should take pictures of stuff really far away to take DOF out of the equation. also shoot at the biggest apertures in that case--they will be most revealing.

to test the rest, just shoot a variety of things.

Hindsight being 20/20, check the MTF tables to see where the lens preforms at it's best and use that as a reference point.

I always do a static test on a tripod at the subject distance I intend on using the lens the most and at or near the wide aperture.

nathancarter wrote in post #17579962
They say it's good luck to use new equipment to take photos of ducks.


* I don't know who "they" are

That's from the powerful duck lobby bent on taking ownership of the images if a model release isn't used.

I don't do anything to test out a new lens. I just use it the same way I would any other lens, as if I had already had it for a while. I guess there isn't really any excitement or anything about getting it - it is just another tool at my disposal.

Does a plumber get all excited when he gets a new pair of pliers? No. He just uses the new pliers the same way he used the old pliers - he doesn't go looking for things to tighten or loosen so that he can "test out" the pliers. That's how I am with lenses, whether they cost me $8000 or whether they only cost me $400 - just another tool, nothing more, nothing less.

Tom Reichner wrote in post #17593916
I don't do anything to test out a new lens. I just use it the same way I would any other lens, as if I had already had it for a while. I guess there isn't really any excitement or anything about getting it - it is just another tool at my disposal.

Does a plumber get all excited when he gets a new pair of pliers? No. He just uses the new pliers the same way he used the old pliers - he doesn't go looking for things to tighten or loosen so that he can "test out" the pliers. That's how I am with lenses, whether they cost me $8000 or whether they only cost me $400 - just another tool, nothing more, nothing less.

Ha! I invited friends over for a party when my extension tubes arrived!

iowajim wrote in post #17594072
Ha! I invited friends over for a party when my extension tubes arrived!

So, how, then, do you celebrate when you create a great photo? Photography is all about, well, photos. If some side-tracked thing like gear causes you to celebrate, I can only imagine how much you would celebrate when a great photo is made!