Canon 24-70mm lens and repair paperwork | Panasonic G1 and Olympus 17mm f/2.8 lens; exposed 1/25 sec. @ f/2.8, ISO 400. | Color corrected with X-Rite Color-checker Passport

Background

In my Lightroom library, 5,824 photographs were captured with my Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L lens that I purchased  in the summer of 2005.  While the actual numbers of images made with the lens are certainly higher (I delete a fair amount), it is the most used lens that I have.  The second place honor goes to my 50mm f/1.4, with 1,856, and third runner up is the 400mm f/4 DO IS lens and its combinations with the 1.4x and 2x teleconverters.

Because of the heavy use that my 24-70 receives, I had become concerned that it was getting a little worn.  While cosmetically it looks fantastic–better than camera bodies that have been used less–I noticed that the zoom was a little “stiff” sometimes, one of the mounting flanges was a little dog-eared, and I wondered about the effectiveness of the rubber seal after all of this time.  This lens has been to Africa, the Galapagos, and all over the United States.  It’s been exposed to blowing sand, blizzards, and rainstorms.  It’s banged against countless door frames and walls as its hung on my camera body, slung over a shoulder.

Along with my 1D IIN, it survived the downpour that sent my 50mm to the repair shop this past fall.  My 400mm DO actually went in for a repair in 2007 when its image stabilizer died in Kenya, and the 50mm was inspected and repaired in October.  But I had two vouchers for Canon to clean and inspect my gear for free that were due to expire this coming March, and they were burning a hole in my filing cabinet, so to speak.

I received the vouchers as part of re-upping on Canon Professional Services last year, and did not think much of them at the time.  I’ve had these clean & check vouchers in teh past, and let them lapse without using them.  However, something told me that my semester of working for the Columbia Missourian had strained a lot of my gear.  So, as soon as Christmas was over, I packed up my 1D IIN and my 24-70 and shipped them off to Canon’s facility in Jamesburg.  I figured that the worst that would happen is that Canon would clean my 1D’s sensor for free.

Continued after the jump!

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Tags: Canon, repairs
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Les Bourgeois Winery, Rocheport, Mo. Canon 7D and 16-35mm f/2.8 L II lens @ 16mm; exposed 1/500 sec. @ f/14, ISO 400

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to American readers of this blog.  Here in Columbia, Mo., the weather has been ridiculously warm, with today reaching 71 degrees Fahrenheit.  The past few days have been fairly relaxing–a welcome reprieve from the rest of the semester.  I have mostly been using the 7D to continue my evaluation of the body.

Of particular interest to me was the usefulness of the new built-in wireless transmitter for the Canon speedlite system, shadow noise, and live-view functionality.

More after the jump!

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Tags: Canon, EOS 7D, equipment, Reviews
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Fans wave glow sticks on the balcony of the Blue Note at the start of the Bassnectar concert, fashioned to be like a rave party, on Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 in Columbia, Mo. / Canon 7D and 24-70mm f/2.8 L lens @ 24mm; exposed 1/8 sec. @ f/2.8, ISO 4000.

Last Friday I was assigned by Vox Magazine to go to a pseudo rave at a Bassnectar concert held at the Blue Note, a theater-like venue here in Columbia, Mo.  I decided to pack the 1D Mark III and the new 7D, leaving my 5D II on the shelf at home.  While it is a great camera in low light, I was more interested to see how the other two would perform as they are both relative “unknowns” to me.  Risky?  Sure.  But I figured it made sense to have one pro body with me, and my own 1D IIN is terrible in poor lighting conditions.  The only rule imposed on me was “no flash.”  This was going to be ISO 3200+ territory.

More photographs after the jump!

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Tags: Bassnectar, Canon, concerts, EOS 1D Mark III, EOS 7D, raves, Reviews
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Left to right: T.J. Moe, Kirk Lakebrink, Andrew Gachkar, Donovan Bronner, and Tanner Mills take a moment after their victory over the Kansas State Wildcats at the Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Nov. 14, 2009 in Manhattan, Kan. Missouri defeated Kansas State 38 to 12. / Canon 1D Mark III and 24-70mm f/2.8L lens @ 24mm; exposed 1/4000 sec. @ f/4, ISO 1000

Preamble

I began to write this from up in the press box at the Bill Snyder Family Stadium.  The game had ended a couple of hours before–Missouri won 38 to 12, with most of the points racked up in the second half.

I used two camera bodies (initially I planned to use three, but I loaned my 1D IIn to my colleague whose camera was down to half battery before the game even started): my new 7D, and a 1D Mark III on loan Canon Professional Services.  While I don’t like many parts of the Mark III, especially the way in which one chooses the focusing point, and I am wary of its ability to autofocus given its less-than-stellar history in this regard, I love the way that files look from the Mark III.  And, besides, it’s about to be replaced with Mark IV bodies, so I figured I’d give it a chance as the used market is about to be flooded with them.  And wow, was I surprised.

More after the jump!

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Tags: Canon, EOS 1D Mark III, EOS 7D, football, photojournalism, Reviews, sports
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Baylor Bears' corner back Clifton Odom dives unsuccessfully for Missouri Tigers' wide receiver Danario Alexander at Faurot Field in the third quarter of the game on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2009 in Columbia, Mo. / Canon 7D and 400mm f/4 DO IS lens; exposed 1/3200 sec. @ f/4, ISO 500.

I have not yet formed a clear idea in mind of what I think of the performance of the new Canon EOS 7D dSLR.  I purchased it specifically for action photography–sports and wildlife–to accompany my aging 1D Mark IIn, and I photographed the college football game between Missouri and Baylor with these two bodies this past Saturday.  I made about 800 frames on the 7D (about 700 too many), and was happy with the focus on several, but certainly not all of the frames.  I will be photographing another football game this weekend, Missouri Vs. Kansas State, to be held in the “Little Apple.”  I will go into further detail about what settings I am using in a future posting, but I will make a few remarks about the camera here.

Missouri Tigers' quarterback Blaine Gabbert attempts a pass while the Baylor Bears' Jason Lamb dives after him during the second quarter of the game. / Canon 7D and 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens @ 183mm; exposed 1/3200 sec. @ f/4, ISO 400.

Handing

Without question, I think that this camera feels better in-hand than any other, with the exception of the 1D series.  The grip is, for once, contoured for a person’s hand.  It is very well constructed, and the buttons are easy to find and also “stick out” a bit more so that a gloved hand can actually manipulate them.  As a native of the Midwest, this is particularly important, as our winters seem to last about six months!  Strangely, while virtually every button is improved over the xxD series, the depth-of-field preview button has taken a turn for the worse.  It is almost flush with the camera body, and does not push in very far.  Disappointing.

The viewfinder is a joy to look through with this camera.  Not quite as nice as the 5D II (which, frankly, is not as nice as Sony’s Alpha 900 viewfinder), but worlds beyond the 40D or 50D.

So far I am unimpressed with the RAW/JPEG button, which enables whichever format you are not using by default, but only for one frame.  Nevertheless, it is better than the “direct print” button than it was in the original 5D, and I suppose I should be thankful because it could well have returned to that state of stupidity when Canon moved the “Live View” button from that position, where it is on the 5D II, to a spot above the joystick controller.

What I will also state, to a great deal of dismay, is that this camera feels worlds better in-hand than does my 5D Mark II, which carries a $1,000 premium over the 7D.

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Tags: Canon, EOS 7D, equipment, football, sports
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A month after an opportunity arose to purchase a Canon 7D locally (I simply wasn’t ready, and there weren’t many reviews of the camera at the time), I have pulled the trigger and a 7D body is on its way from Robert’s. I will be photographing the Mizzou Tigers’ next two football games against Baylor and Kansas State, and will report back on my experience with the body afterwords.

Tags: Canon, equipment
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