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[photo] Boston fireworks / I chose Canon over Pentax.
Fireworks photos start here: http://www.chaosreigns.com/gallery/CRW_5864.jpg.html
I wanted to watch them from a distant hill, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cathijosephine was going to watch them up close and that wasn't negotiable, so I went with her. I'm really glad I did. Yes it rained some, but I read the weather report and had my rain jacket with me, and it turned out fine. They timed the fireworks for the lightest rain so I was comfortable pulling the camera out. All shots were with my 50mm f/1.8 at ISO 800 on a tripod which I purchased for this event (but also had for fire spinning). I did some shooting at 4 seconds, and 2.5 seconds, but the ones I was happiest with were at f/1.8. I'm really glad I was there, and I expect to be there in the future.
My experience greatly contradicts what I had heard about photographing fireworks. Recommendations of anywhere from 3-8 second exposures, and zoom lenses. 50mm is not a zoom lens, and shooting at f/1.8, resulting in very fast exposures. I think more than anything this is evidence of how impressive the Boston fireworks are, that they gave off enough lite to shoot like that.
Today I bought my second Canon mount lens, marking my official choice to go with Canon over Pentax.
The lens is the Tamron 18-250mm. That works out to 13.9x zoom. Yes, that's fun. And yes, that convenience comes with a compromise of image quality, but it also is 3.3" long when closed, and therefore fits much more nicely in my bag with my 50mm on the camera thancathijosephine's 70-300mm.
The Pentax K10D really excites me. It shows how stingy Canon is with features, particularly weather seals. Shortcomings of the K10D resulting in my choice of Canon:
I'd buy a 30D now, but Canon is overdue to release its successor (it was expected this past spring), so I'm waiting.
I wanted to watch them from a distant hill, but
cathijosephine was going to watch them up close and that wasn't negotiable, so I went with her. I'm really glad I did. Yes it rained some, but I read the weather report and had my rain jacket with me, and it turned out fine. They timed the fireworks for the lightest rain so I was comfortable pulling the camera out. All shots were with my 50mm f/1.8 at ISO 800 on a tripod which I purchased for this event (but also had for fire spinning). I did some shooting at 4 seconds, and 2.5 seconds, but the ones I was happiest with were at f/1.8. I'm really glad I was there, and I expect to be there in the future.My experience greatly contradicts what I had heard about photographing fireworks. Recommendations of anywhere from 3-8 second exposures, and zoom lenses. 50mm is not a zoom lens, and shooting at f/1.8, resulting in very fast exposures. I think more than anything this is evidence of how impressive the Boston fireworks are, that they gave off enough lite to shoot like that.
Today I bought my second Canon mount lens, marking my official choice to go with Canon over Pentax.
The lens is the Tamron 18-250mm. That works out to 13.9x zoom. Yes, that's fun. And yes, that convenience comes with a compromise of image quality, but it also is 3.3" long when closed, and therefore fits much more nicely in my bag with my 50mm on the camera than
cathijosephine's 70-300mm.The Pentax K10D really excites me. It shows how stingy Canon is with features, particularly weather seals. Shortcomings of the K10D resulting in my choice of Canon:
- Short focus under tungsten (under low incandescent light, autofocus fails).
- No ISO 3200.
- No AF assist lamp.
I'd buy a 30D now, but Canon is overdue to release its successor (it was expected this past spring), so I'm waiting.