Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur at sunset, photo taken from KL Tower (through glass) during one of the moody storms

 
This post is dedicated to Robin Wong, a Malaysian photographer whom I first knew about from Kirk Tuck's post about the BERISH 3.0 Malaysian Protests.
 
You see, I have traveled to Kuala Lumpur once and enjoyed my trip there immensely, and I really wish to go back there. I am also quite interested in Olympus M4/3 system, so when I saw Robin's blog, I enjoyed looking at his photos (especially the sharpness and the B&W treatment) and started back reading lots of his older posts that I missed, I have since been subscribed to his blog, and I enjoy reading everyone of his posts. More after the break.

35mm f/2 in Alexandria

We're back, yes, we're back (you'll know what I mean if you're an avid Top Gear fan like me), I have been away for quite a long time now, but for reasons that were totally out of my hands, the situation is not over yet, but it has gotten much better. I thought to make it up to you with a quick post with images from my last trip to Alexandria with my work colleagues, hit the jump for more.

Canon EF 35mm f/2 Review

So you're one of those people looking for a 50mm equivalent lens for your crop sensor Canon DSLR? Were you considering the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 or the Canon 28mm f/1.8? Hit the jump to see how I made my choice and went with the Canon 35mm f/2, one of Canon's understated lenses.

Portrait On a Crop Sensor: 35mm vs 50mm

NON SUBJECT RELATED INTRO:

Before I begin I'd like to apologize about my lack of contribution lately, but after I thought my schedule was stable once again after my return trip from Malaysia, it got unsettled again and we have a very long vacation here (almost 10 days), and I will be traveling to the red sea and taking tons of pictures there.

I already have a long queue of new equipment that I want to talk about and I promise you I will do, so today's post will be a quickie.

THE REAL POST:

While in Kuala Lumpur I went to a nice camera shop where I had the opportunity to try the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 lens, and since there was only me and the shop owner inside I took a quick available light portrait of him using the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 and the Canon 35mm f/2 that I had with me at the time.

I didn't move back or move my subject between the shots, and I shot both lenses wide open, and the Sigma nailed the focus perfectly. You can see in the pictures below the difference in DoF (I calculated it and the DoF for the Sigma at this distance was like 5 cm, while it was 14cm for the 35mm) and how tight the 50mm is (look at the objects in the background). You can also see the effect of the different focal length on his face, I will leave you to observe both pictures for yourself, but it is obvious that longer focal length results in more pleasant portraits.

P.S. The 35mm equivalent focal length for both of these lenses are 56mm and 80mm.

Canon 35mm f/2 @ f/2

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 @ f/1.4

Japan's Earthquake Consequences: Canon EF 35mm f/2

If you have read my prime lenses chat article, you should know that I was looking for a wide aperture prime that would give me a 50mm equivalent focal length on my 1.6 crop sensor, I was torn between the Canon EF 35mm f/2 and the Sigma 30mm f/1.4, but Japan's earthquake solved the problem for me. Hit the jump for more.

Canon Lenses Chat - Part 3: Prime Lenses

If you are a regular on this blog then by now you should know that Mic sports a Nikon system, and we got to know each other because of some of my comments on his posts then came a day when he made me a contributor to this blog, we agreed that I should address the Canon half (red team) of the blog while he will keep you posted about the Nikon half (yellow team).

So, this is the third and final part in a series of posts where I get to ramble about some of Canon's consumer lenses, the first part was about standard zoom lenses, the second part was about telephoto zoom lenses and in this part I will talk about prime lenses.