Posts Tagged ‘mp’
I bought one of these lenses a couple weeks ago and found it easy to use. I’ve been shooting macro images for over 20 years and have used all sort of devices and techniques for getting images beyond lifesize. I find this lens much easier to use than bellows or stacks of extension tubes. Being able to simply press the depth of field preview button on the EOS camera body is nice. I wanted to know how this lens compared to my Zeiss Luminar 63mm macro lens for resolution. Under test conditions I found the Zeiss lens to be a bit sharper, but I had to enlarge the images many times and search for the tiny details. I did find, based on limited test subjects, I preferred the Canon lens over the Zeiss in color saturation. I also found at 3X the best resolution for this Canon lens was at f/8. At wide open the image is a bit soft and the corners are noticeably lacking, but stopped down everything improved significantly. At f/11 the image started to lose some sharpness. For the price of this lens I could easily get a used bellows and used Zeiss macro lens and make adapters to fit my Canon 5D (I know, I’ve done it), but I find I would grab this lens first just because it’s so much easier and faster to use. I’ve used this both in the studio and out in the field. I find I can handhold it for most still objects I want to shoot but it’s better to carry along a couple bean bags or tripod or whatever to hold it more steady. I think the next thing I buy will be one of the macro flashes, as getting adequate lighting is a bit tricky. If you are new to the whole macro world of photography and not sure about spending this much on a lens of this type I would recommend getting a used macro lens and some extension tubes, or bellows, and playing with those first. After that you’ll really appreciate what this lens can do.
Canon MP E 65mm
I loved this book. I loved the circus atmosphere and the story. It was exceptionally well-written, and I enjoyed every page.
We have a vet student joining a circus, with mistreated animals he’s frantically trying to save and protect. We have a lovable elephant. The narrator is an old man looking back, and he recounts his tale in the immediacy of present tense as he describes situations that happened decades earlier. Interesting, and very effective choice, to write in present tense throughout.
The ONLY thing that keeps me from giving the book five stars was the lack of character development for Marlena. Throughout the story I understood the protagonist loved her, but she seemed to be the woman tied to the railroad tracks throughout – Nell being constantly tormented by Snidely Whiplash – and I never really got a sense of her as a person. Maybe I missed it (not surprising – I read the book in daily spurts while I walked a treadmill), but I didn’t even know how old she was. I got a much clearer picture of minor characters, like Rosemary, Kinko and Camel, than I ever did of her.
I also never understood the whole “water for elephants” thing that the protagonist railed about in the beginning of the book. Perhaps it was something else I missed.
Nevertheless, I loved the book, I loved the ending, and I know I’ll go back to read it again.
MP Cotton Socks