A Self Portrait


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Red Dawn

Senior Member
Jan 17, 2002
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Singapore
www.5stonesphoto.com
Hi

This is me, teeming with anticipation and excitement on the morning before setting off for the Great Wall :)

CRW_0895L.jpg


Shown here in full battle order, complete with my fav Domke J3 bag carrying the heavy EF 70-200 f2.8L, and other innumerable pieces of equipment. Photographic vest contains stuff like spare batteries, cable release, filters, my EF 50mm f1.4 lens and my 420EX flash. It is also used to keep either camera body for convenience while the other can be in the bag. My Manfrotto 190B tripod completes the kit.

The SAF would have been proud of me. Frequent reservist training has its uses I suppose ;)

So the next time u get called up for reservist duty, don't complain, cos it helps u get into shape for carrying camera gear :D
 

So it WAS you at the Stadium Waterfront that night, taking a picture of the Indoor Stadium and the Pavilions. Thought I recognized the 20mm 1.8 (you were high on it about that time).

This was taken with the 28-135 IS USM in the evening light. Even the IS did not help. Exposure was about 1/2 second at ISO 800, at 135 mm.

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By the way, did you get hassled by the police in China for carrying so much photo gear? I mean, did they stop you and ask if you were a journalist or something?
 

Originally posted by StreetShooter

This was taken with the 28-135 IS USM in the evening light. Even the IS did not help. Exposure was about 1/2 second at ISO 800, at 135 mm.

wah...dun scare me leh....with IS also cannot???
 

must be because its not an 'L' Lens :rbounce:

Originally posted by kamwai


wah...dun scare me leh....with IS also cannot???
 

Boy, oh, boy, this is gonna get Jed started again. Hehe.
 

Originally posted by StreetShooter
We call it Jed-bait. :devil:

Hehe. Good point. ;p
 

Originally posted by StreetShooter
Exposure was about 1/2 second at ISO 800, at 135 mm.

Off topic but cant help it

i wouldn't even think of doing that with an IS lens! i think 1/30s at 135mm will be the limit for people with steady hands.
 

Originally posted by kamwai


wah...dun scare me leh....with IS also cannot???

Ah, Jed's fav. :)

No, IS/VR is not almighty. It improves handholdability, but no, it's not going to let you hand hold at 1/2s. And definitely not 1 or 2s. Definitely not when you are at the 135 end of a 28-135IS. 1/15 - 1/30s is more like it.

For me, I can hand hold 1/30s at 105mm without help from IS/VR. :)

Regards
CK
 

Originally posted by StreetShooter
So it WAS you at the Stadium Waterfront that night, taking a picture of the Indoor Stadium and the Pavilions. Thought I recognized the 20mm 1.8 (you were high on it about that time).

This was taken with the 28-135 IS USM in the evening light. Even the IS did not help. Exposure was about 1/2 second at ISO 800, at 135 mm.

Hi.......looking at the picture....the person sure does look like me from the side / back. But a few problems:

1) I don't have a polo shirt of that color and collar design. Or maybe i do, but i can't remember :p But i'm pretty sure i don't have something like that...

2) I haven't been to that area in recent times. How long ago was that pic?

3) I shoot with lens hood on 99% of the time. The person in the pic wasn't using one for the (presumably) Sigma 20 f1.8. However, that could be that 1% of the time when i left out the hood

4) Look at my watch (black strapped Guess! watch) in my self portrait and the watch of that person. Different. I haven't changed my watch since getting into photography, which was...hmm.....slightly less than 1 1/2 yrs ago)

but i agree...it sure looks like me. But somehow I don't think so......


By the way, did you get hassled by the police in China for carrying so much photo gear? I mean, did they stop you and ask if you were a journalist or something?

A lot of pple thought i was a photojournalist from some unknown paper, which can be quite advantageous in street shooting since it seems as if i got the perfect reason to stick my camera into pple's faces.

I also asked quite a few times for permission to take their photo, and their usual responses were positive, followed by polite enquiries if i was from a magazine or paper. i always make it a point to deny that - don't want them to be scared or suspicious of any spying activity.

However, the main problem wasn't with the police or soldiers in the country, none of whom really mind when I took their picture, or asked them for permission to take their picture.

The main problem was with the more shady characters on the street, which you will definitely run into if u walk around the streets at night alone a lot. (no choice, i had to work in the daytime, and night time is when i do most of my exploring).

I got solicited no less than 5 times in one night while walking down this busy shopping district - not the most metropolitian part of Beijing, but one in which u would think would be pretty safe.

In all of those cases, it was always 2 (generally) pretty ladies sliding up beside u and asking if u want to go to some karaoke or massage palour. They also make no bones about the fact that

1) the girls there are pretty and will do anything u want
2) If u dun like the service, u can don't pay. This money back guarantee sounds good. I stopped short at asking exactly wat kind of services there are ;)
3) u don't have to spend the night alone - u will be thoroughly entertained.
4) It will be very fun and exciting.

They will walk with u for a distance before they give up.

At first I thought it was because i had the 1v hanging out and i looked like a tourist. So the second night i was there, i kept the camera in my vest (no bag) - a lot of pple wore vests, too. But again i was the target of these girls. One of them, in a desperate attempt to induce me to join them, tried some "friendly" jabs at my photographic vest, which irritated me, since my 50mm f1.4 was inside and the lens cap was off.

I was ready to test Canon's mighty claim about their 1v construction by swinging and whacking her with the all metal magnesium alloy body of the 1v if she try anyhing funny. :devil:

Am i hot or wat? :rbounce:

Then there are the other characters on the street who woud look very hard at your camera, then at you. It's rare to see a Japanese camera being used by the native Chinese - most use SeaGull or Phenix. So it's a dead giveaway that i'm either a tourist, or a very rich man. And that's dangerous knowledge.

Thank God I'm always a very alert person, and I can (i hope) pretty much seize up a scene to determine if i am in friendly territory.

I guess no need to worry too much. After all, either the L lens, or the 1v, or the tripod would be more than enough to be used as weapons ;)
 

Originally posted by Red Dawn
the heavy EF 70-200 f2.8L

The heavy 70-200L ?!?!

I just spent the afternoon shooting terns in flight with a rig twice that weight, and you're complaining ?!?!

Photographers these days... :bsmilie: :bsmilie:

On a more serious note, I'm deeply offended that somehow you guys think I make it a point to go after pro-IS people or to jump at examples of IS not working. I'm really hurt you know... like, seriously, really.

If this is an offshoot of that lens for D60 thread thing, let me emphasise that I do not have something against IS simply because of what it is. I maintain that the reason I made my points there was because I completely fail to see Victor's line of reasoning in the given circumstances, and not because I have some kind of thing simply because IS is IS.
 

Originally posted by ckiang

No, IS/VR is not almighty. It improves handholdability, but no, it's not going to let you hand hold at 1/2s. And definitely not 1 or 2s. Definitely not when you are at the 135 end of a 28-135IS. 1/15 - 1/30s is more like it.

For me, I can hand hold 1/30s at 105mm without help from IS/VR. :)

i never try any IS lens yet so i am not sure how useful it is for me...i will defintiely try it out before i get it.

For me, i have confident to use handheld at very slow shutter speed, all thanks to SAF's training

if there is a proper support eg. wall, railing or at squatting position, >1s wouldn't be much problem, but of cos, that's all depends on the weight of the lens and also it's focal length.

the reason that i need an IS lens is to hope to use even slower shutter speed.....such as >1s handheld w/o support....i wonder if it is possible with training and proper technique?
 

Originally posted by kamwai
the reason that i need an IS lens is to hope to use even slower shutter speed.....such as >1s handheld w/o support....i wonder if it is possible with training and proper technique?

IS AND VR ARE NOT REPLACEMENTS FOR A TRIPOD.

That's all I have to say, thank you.
 

Originally posted by Red Dawn

I got solicited no less than 5 times in one night while walking down this busy shopping district - not the most metropolitian part of Beijing, but one in which u would think would be pretty safe.

In all of those cases, it was always 2 (generally) pretty ladies sliding up beside u and asking if u want to go to some karaoke or massage palour. They also make no bones about the fact that

1) the girls there are pretty and will do anything u want
2) If u dun like the service, u can don't pay. This money back guarantee sounds good. I stopped short at asking exactly wat kind of services there are ;)
3) u don't have to spend the night alone - u will be thoroughly entertained.
4) It will be very fun and exciting.

ah! that explains the bra by the pillow on the bed next to the wall, you notty notty boy......

any "action" pics? *nudge nudge wink wink*
 

Canon claims that the IS gives an equivalent effect of a shutter speed 2 stops faster (in terms of camera shake) In other words, for the 28-135 lens at 135mm, instead of a shutter speed of 1/125, you can use a shutter speed of 1/30 or maybe 1/15 and have little to no camera shake. Using shutter speeds slower than that is pushing your luck :eek:
 

Yes, I believe IS can be a devil to push beginning users to ridiculous standards. 1/2 s at 135mm is unthinkable. I have pple using 1/8s or 1/15s with IS and they thot their pics were sharp. Till I showed them what a tripod could do at a much smaller aperture and slower speed, giving sharrrp images with extensive DOF. As Richard said it, IS is NOT a replacement for tripods and being lazy to carry one, thinking your 28-135 IS will help is only deceiving yourself. Yup, I couldn't follow parts of Victor's arguments about the IS in another post too. It's a common fallacious thinking, especially among taking-the-easy-way-out beginners.

On a lighter note... Yup, Red Dawn, I think you are rich. :) Owning 3 bodies as an amateur, 1 being a D30 and another 1v. Wow... Singaporeans can really afford it yeh. :) *admire*
 

Originally posted by David
Yes, I believe IS can be a devil to push beginning users to ridiculous standards. 1/2 s at 135mm is unthinkable. I have pple using 1/8s or 1/15s with IS and they thot their pics were sharp. Till I showed them what a tripod could do at a much smaller aperture and slower speed, giving sharrrp images with extensive DOF. As Richard said it, IS is NOT a replacement for tripods and being lazy to carry one, thinking your 28-135 IS will help is only deceiving yourself. Yup, I couldn't follow parts of Victor's arguments about the IS in another post too. It's a common fallacious thinking, especially among taking-the-easy-way-out beginners.

On a lighter note... Yup, Red Dawn, I think you are rich. :) Owning 3 bodies as an amateur, 1 being a D30 and another 1v. Wow... Singaporeans can really afford it yeh. :) *admire*

Look at it this way, he is helping to boost the economy. :)

Regards
CK
 

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