On 12/25/2014 1:54 PM, Chuck Norcutt wrote:
Likewise, the heavy rains of the past 3 days have ended, the sun is
shining and the temp is in the high 50s. Just came back from a walk
carrying the new 9-18 but I don't think there's anything of note on
the card. A bit ominous I think for the utility of the lens. I'll
have to double check but I think I spent more time at the 18mm end of
the range rather than the 9mm end.
I'm sure I've mentioned before that I use it MUCH less than the 75-300.
It's like the OM 18/3.5. When I got it, I thought I'd find all these
great SWA landscape shots. But not so much. :-)
There certainly are landscape shots the 9-18 is great for. I sorta
wished I'd gone to the trunk and pulled it out for the
WA sky reflections shot I recently posted. As it was, a couple of 12 mm
shots, with maybe 70% overlap worked for most of the subject. But the
fence was close enough that the wire didn't line up easily. "What
fence?", someone with an amazing memory might ask. The answer is that I
cropped it out on the wide shot, which worked out well. Still there on
the closer shot.
But in many cases, super wide just makes everything too small. In many
others, even 9 mm is not enough, and a series for stitching is perfect.
Where a SWA really shines is for close quarters. The image of the violin
players in restaurant serenading us, it would have been perfect, but
they were between me, the door and the 9-18 out in the car. There, a
panorama was not practical, as the subject was a bunch of moving people.
This shot of a tree protruding onto a boardwalk (17mm on 5D FF) simply
isn't possible with anything else.
<http://galleries.moosemystic.net/MorroBay/ElfinForest/slides/_MG_1203ptl.html>
This one, very close in, through a small opening into the space enclosed
by the canopy of a dwarf oak tree, might be possible with fancy panorama
gear with pivot at lens nodal point, etc., but a SWA is much simpler.
it's really a closer, more miniature subject that it appears.
<http://galleries.moosemystic.net/MorroBay/ElfinForest/slides/_MG_1141ptl.html>
And sure, a serious panorama would catch more of this, but guided tours
barely give time for a couple of unassisted shots.
<http://galleries.moosemystic.net/MorroBay/HearstCastle/Roman/slides/_MG_1277.html>
Soooo, no, it's not an everyday/every session lens for me, but allows me
to get quite a few shots I would otherwise miss.
And I also wished I'd taken the 75-300. I saw a pretty great blue
heron at the edge of a pond but not near enough reach on the lens to
even make him recognizable.
Ya gotta carry 'em to use 'em. :-)
Wide to Tele Moose