Big Scenes With An Ultra-Wide Lens
I was revisiting some photos from last summer at the lake house since that time of year is fast approaching. This is the time of year when I think about what I hope to accomplish with my photography skills while at the lake. Once I know my goals for the summer, I evaluate my gear... then swap gear I don't need for gear I do need.
My gear is weak in two areas... the two extremes... ultra-wide angle and super-telephoto. For now, I am focused on my ultra-wide lens options.
Wildlife photography is always a top priority and that is where the super-telephoto lens comes into play. Capturing Sheila and the grandkids is also a priority topping my list and this involves some portrait lenses... I am covered fairly well here. Landscape photography, including the night sky, is also an area I would like to improve and this involves ultra-wide lenses.
Part of this evaluation process dictates reviewing photos I shot during past year while using my current gear. I try to figure out what was limiting me... Was my skill level limiting me and causing me to get a setting or two wrong (which means I could improve simply by learning and practicing)? Were the atmospheric conditions troubling (which is out of my control)? Was my camera body not the best tool for the job? Was the quality of my lens the limiting factor?
(While evaluating these photos, I realized that Sheila and I did a lot of traveling in 2015! These photos here are just a few of the places we traveled to last year. No wonder I am so exhausted so far in 2016!)
Even though I can always learn more and this alone will help me improve my photography, lens selection is always a major trade-off. This is what I am struggling with right now... and, for today, I am looking at my ultra-wide lens options.
The ideal lens for the night sky is not necessarily a lens which would be good for much else. This type of lens could be nice for daytime landscapes as well but a less expensive lens could also work just as nicely for static landscapes in nice light. There is a sliding trade-off affected by cost, quality, field of view, aperture and type of photography.
A high-cost, high-quality lens is often quite purpose-specific so typically has very few uses which makes it difficult to justify the extra cost. These lenses are outstanding but are tailored for very specific uses. A lower cost lens could be used for more things but will have very clear physical limits due to its lower quality.
The question is... Is it time for me to upgrade to a higher quality ultra-wide angle lens?
Currently (for the past year), I am using a very low cost lens for all my wide-angle needs. The quality is definitely limiting and I would love to get my hands on a better lens for this type of landscape photography.
That being said, this lens was ideal for our travels across the country by train last year when I wanted to travel as light as possible. Actually, this lens was ideal for all of our traveling this past year because it is so small and light! I traded off some quality (and thus cost) for size and weight advantages. This lens actually is outstanding for travel because it is so small and so light while still providing acceptable quality.
I really have been pushing this lens to its limits and every single time I use this lens I wish I had a better lens, yet, I still manage to capture some nice shots as you can see in these sample images here in this blog entry.
After reviewing these photos, I just might stick with what I have for now...
Overall, I'm happy with these images and I have many, many more!
Could they be better with better lenses? Yes, but the best lens is the lens you have in your hands at the moment... you just need to push it to its limits and I believe I have consistently done that with this lightweight ultra-wide lens.
I think I'll stop searching for a replacement ultra-wide lens for now... the need for a long super-telephoto lens, however, is another story for another day...
NOTE: Incidentally, this ultra-wide lens is the lens I broke during our Christmas celebrations in Burlington this Christmas season. I dropped the lens and the elements separated rendering the lens useless. For the rest of that day, I used an old manual focus Konica 40mm lens instead that I had stuffed in my bag "just in case". The 40mm lens is a very different field of view but it worked very well. I knew, however, I needed to replace the broken wide angle lens.
I happened to catch a great sale on the Hasselblad-branded copy of this same lens so I bought that immediately! I was only without an ultra-wide lens for a few days while I waited for this new Hasselblad lens to arrive.
I really love the size of this tiny pancake lens and, as you can see in these samples, the quality really isn't all that bad.
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| Ultra-wide angle lenses are needed in tight spaces especially when there is an expansive landscape right outside. |
Wildlife photography is always a top priority and that is where the super-telephoto lens comes into play. Capturing Sheila and the grandkids is also a priority topping my list and this involves some portrait lenses... I am covered fairly well here. Landscape photography, including the night sky, is also an area I would like to improve and this involves ultra-wide lenses.
Part of this evaluation process dictates reviewing photos I shot during past year while using my current gear. I try to figure out what was limiting me... Was my skill level limiting me and causing me to get a setting or two wrong (which means I could improve simply by learning and practicing)? Were the atmospheric conditions troubling (which is out of my control)? Was my camera body not the best tool for the job? Was the quality of my lens the limiting factor?
(While evaluating these photos, I realized that Sheila and I did a lot of traveling in 2015! These photos here are just a few of the places we traveled to last year. No wonder I am so exhausted so far in 2016!)
Even though I can always learn more and this alone will help me improve my photography, lens selection is always a major trade-off. This is what I am struggling with right now... and, for today, I am looking at my ultra-wide lens options.
 |
| A fast ultra-wide angle is required for the night sky... the faster the better... the sharper the better... this little lens did a fair job here in this situation. This is a rare photo which includes the moon, Jupiter and Venus! |
The ideal lens for the night sky is not necessarily a lens which would be good for much else. This type of lens could be nice for daytime landscapes as well but a less expensive lens could also work just as nicely for static landscapes in nice light. There is a sliding trade-off affected by cost, quality, field of view, aperture and type of photography.
A high-cost, high-quality lens is often quite purpose-specific so typically has very few uses which makes it difficult to justify the extra cost. These lenses are outstanding but are tailored for very specific uses. A lower cost lens could be used for more things but will have very clear physical limits due to its lower quality.
The question is... Is it time for me to upgrade to a higher quality ultra-wide angle lens?
 |
| Traveling through expansive landscapes you need lightweight, small photography gear and the ability to go wide like here at Monticello. |
Currently (for the past year), I am using a very low cost lens for all my wide-angle needs. The quality is definitely limiting and I would love to get my hands on a better lens for this type of landscape photography.
That being said, this lens was ideal for our travels across the country by train last year when I wanted to travel as light as possible. Actually, this lens was ideal for all of our traveling this past year because it is so small and light! I traded off some quality (and thus cost) for size and weight advantages. This lens actually is outstanding for travel because it is so small and so light while still providing acceptable quality.
I really have been pushing this lens to its limits and every single time I use this lens I wish I had a better lens, yet, I still manage to capture some nice shots as you can see in these sample images here in this blog entry.
After reviewing these photos, I just might stick with what I have for now...
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| Shooting a room that is only 9'x11' requires a field of view into the ultra-wide/fisheye range... there is some weird distortion here but, overall, this is an acceptable image for the purpose. |
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| Our trip to Monticello required a lot of walking while taking in expansive scenes... my little ultra-wide angle lens did a good job here! |
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| Ultra-wide in Texas... big blue sky, long train, tall tower... and I managed to capture it all. |
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| Restaurants are typically dark and tight... this one was neither but an ultra-wide lens captured the ambiance better than any other lens could... |
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| San Antonio... going wide enough to capture an entire church can be tough in a typical city... my little pancake lens managed to capture this wet city scene well enough... |
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| The Alamo... throngs of people... a wide area... the building people know as 'The Alamo' is surprisingly small but the entire Alamo property is actually expansive... |
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| Inside a Mexican bakery in San Antonio... |
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| Chicago's famous Union Station (above and below)... it was really nice being able to use an ultra-wide angle lens here to capture this historic train station... |
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| The view from our lake house... ultra-wide, expansive views... a typical summer morning once the morning fog burns off... |
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| Another attempt at shooting the night sky... ideally, I could use a faster and sharper lens for the night sky but this lightweight ultra-wide lens did a "fair" job here.... |
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| Our annual cruise on Lake Champlain... there are beautiful expansive views on this tremendous lake... |
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| Inside the barn at Shelburne Farms... it was nice to have a fairly fast ultra-wide angle lens here. It was also nice on my spinal injuries that this lens is tiny! |
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| Inside 'The Christmas Loft' with the kids... wide angle was the only way to capture the environment inside this unique store... |
Overall, I'm happy with these images and I have many, many more!
Could they be better with better lenses? Yes, but the best lens is the lens you have in your hands at the moment... you just need to push it to its limits and I believe I have consistently done that with this lightweight ultra-wide lens.
I think I'll stop searching for a replacement ultra-wide lens for now... the need for a long super-telephoto lens, however, is another story for another day...
NOTE: Incidentally, this ultra-wide lens is the lens I broke during our Christmas celebrations in Burlington this Christmas season. I dropped the lens and the elements separated rendering the lens useless. For the rest of that day, I used an old manual focus Konica 40mm lens instead that I had stuffed in my bag "just in case". The 40mm lens is a very different field of view but it worked very well. I knew, however, I needed to replace the broken wide angle lens.
I happened to catch a great sale on the Hasselblad-branded copy of this same lens so I bought that immediately! I was only without an ultra-wide lens for a few days while I waited for this new Hasselblad lens to arrive.
I really love the size of this tiny pancake lens and, as you can see in these samples, the quality really isn't all that bad.
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