For my weekly video this week I have an episode of my “Vinyl Survivor” series. This series is where I talk about vinyl records I have put through a critical listening session. I talk about what I liked or disliked about each one. I give a good look at the sleeves inserts and the records themselves. And I let you know whether they are destined to stay in my permanent collection or whether they are going to be passed on.Enjoy the show!
So I never gave this blog much attention, now that I am working on changing my role at work I think it would be helpful practice to update this blog on a regular basis. I will make this a place I share the photos and videos I am creating. There will be commentary on tech related things, I find myself talking back to podcasts, from now on I will turn those thoughts into blog posts. A place to share neat or funny things I see, and just a semi personal journal to collect and share my thoughts.
A few weeks ago I placed a low-ball bid on E-Bay for a lens I have been curious about for a while. Lo and behold I was the winning bidder, and less than a week later it was in my hands. Meet my new Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4 Contemporary Lens.
Being part of Sigma’s “Contemporary” line of lenses this 17-70mm lens is meant as an upgrade or replacement to your camera’s “kit” lens without the shocking price of a professional lens. Sigma dubs their professional line of lenses the “Art” series. I do have one Sigma “Art” lens in my collection and they are truly superior quality lenses.
I first had an experience with the older brother to this 17-70 lens when I briefly had Sigma’s SD Quattro camera in my possession. That camera came with an “Art” lens of its own, a 30mm f1.4 prime lens. While it was a high quality and sharp lens to use I found its output to be almost sterile and boring. I had also ordered a somewhat older 17-70 f2.8-4.5 lens to use with that camera and found I really enjoyed using it. I found it to be a very versatile lens with pleasing output. It’s not going to win an sharpness contests, but the further I get into photography the more I realize that is not the only quality of a lens. Plus, only the most fervent of pixel peepers could really tell the difference, it is plenty sharp. There are also factors to consider when choosing a lens, such as color rendition, Bokeh (the blurry background), and contrast to name a few.
If anyone considering this lens for themselves happens to find this post, here is what makes this lens a good choice. First off, it lets in twice as much light as your kit lens. This means you can get better pictures in low light or use a higher shutter speed than you previously would have been able to to freeze the action. It also obviously will get a bit wider, though honestly there is not much difference between 17mm and 18mm. However 70mm on the long end versus the 55mm your kit lens likely reaches is a very nice and welcome feature if this is to be your only lens, or at least the one you take with you. It’s build quality and image quality will be noticeably better than what your kit lens produces. The longer reach and wider aperture should allow this lens to make some very nice portraits if that is your thing, put your camera in aperture priority, set the ISO at 100, or as low as it will go (assuming you are outside or in a well lit area), zoom to 70mm and shoot away!
I took the new lens out to a favorite local park of mine a few days ago to put it through it’s paces, Morningside Nature Center. The park features many miles of hiking trails and an 1800’s Florida living history farm. The weather was uncooperative as it tends to be in the afternoon in this part of Florida, it was overcast with on and off light rain. So I looked for some flowers to shoot in my short time there as I didn’t want to spend too much time out in the weather. The lower light levels allowed me to test out the lenses Image Stabilization, which woks great I might add. I managed to find a nice Passionflower and some clumps of Coreopsis, our state flower. Here are the results of my brief hike, I look forward to using this lens more in the future. So far I am happy with the photos it is allowing me to make, they certainly have that pleasing look I remember and I would recommend it to anyone looking to upgrade or replace their “Kit” lens!
A Passionflower with a Passionflower bud in the foreground. f11, 1/13 second (thanks to image stabilization) ISO 100
Passionflower with a few raindrops. f8, 1/30sec, ISO 100
Passionflower again, from the top. f8, 1/15sec, ISO 100
And finally a Coreopsis, the Florida State Flower. f11. 1/25sec, ISO 800
Thank you for reading, have an awesome day!
All images copyright Wesley Hetrick, do not use without permission!
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