2024 Plan Modified

I might have taken longer to consider whether to stick with the plan I described in my last post or shift to the plan I described in the post on New Years Day. But, I was up against a deadline to return the 85mm lens and thereby avoid having to trade it in at a significant loss. So I did return the lens.

The option to have only the RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens was altered in that I'm keeping the RF 16mm f/2.8 STM lens. Interestingly, the trade in value of the two lenses I am trading in went up a bit since my earlier quote. And I'm getting exactly what I paid for the RF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens.

Here are some shots from the past few days with the 28mm pancake lens and the 85mm lens.

Canon EOS R6, RF 28mm f/2.8 STM, f/4, 1/2000 sec., ISO 100

Canon EOS R6, RF 28mm f/2.8 STM, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec., ISO 100

Canon EOS R6, RF 85mm f/2 IS STM, f/2, 1/3000 sec., ISO 100

Canon EOS R6, RF 85mm f/2 IS STM, f/5.6, 1/250 sec., ISO 100

Another reason to go with the RF 24-105mm f/4L, one of the original RF lenses from when the EOS R was introduced, is that the HDR software I used to use all the time has a lens correction profile for that lens. Without a profile, files need to be corrected in other software first, then saved as DNG files, then processed in Photomatix Pro. Color HDR composites don't work to my liking with files from the EOS R6 for some reason but I do like the monochrome results. 

Here is an example which is from the single normally exposed file of the second scene above. EXIF would be the same except shutter speed was 1/1000 second.

UPDATE 1/24/2023: A week later, I'm still waiting for the 24-105mm L lens to ship from MPB. Everything went smoothly and I got the funds from the STM prime trade-ins but no new lens yet. A downside of this particular process, a return and separate trade-ins, is that I ended up paying sales tax on the whole price of the new lens, a difference of about $70.

And then, despite no email re: shipping or tracking information, the lens shows up on my front porch later in the day.

2024 Plan In Place

The RF 85mm f/2 IS STM lens arrived yesterday and I'm hopefully set with my setup of body, lenses and bags. I'm storing all my regularly used gear in the Case Logic Kontrast Backpack and will use the other two Kontrast bags as the use dictates. 

The shoulder bag will fit the body and lenses without filters and flashes. The holster will fit the body with any of the lenses attached.

Ideally for my uses, the holster would be a bit larger and the backpack a bit smaller. But they will work.

Here are some photos of the gear setup entering 2024.

iPhone 14 Plus

I went out for some exercise yesterday but didn't feel like bringing the camera along. I decided to take some shots of the old Matton Shipyard, now a part of Peebles Island State Park with my phone camera.

The iPhone 14 Plus, not Pro, has a main camera with what Apple says is a 12 MP sensor with sensor shift stabilization and a 26mm equivalent, f/1.5 lens. It also has a 12 MP sensor with a 13mm equivalent, f/2.4 lens. While there are apps that let you control aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc., I just let the phone make the decisions since if I want to get into all that I'll use a real camera.

Here are two shots with the 26mm camera and two shots with the 13mm camera. All are corrected for perspective in DxO PhotoLab which results in some cropping of the original image. The 3:2 aspect ratio image is also cropped to remove some excess foreground snow. The exposure information is from the DxO software and I have no idea if it's accurate.

26mm, f/1.5, 1/11,364 sec., ISO 32

26mm, f/1.5, 1/10,309 sec., ISO 40

13mm, f/2.4, 1/686 sec., ISO 32

13mm, f/2.4, 1/1,033 sec., ISO 32

Plans For 2024

I think 2024 may be the year that I drastically alter my online presence. I have become very disappointed with Zenfolio, the host for trulandphotography.com. It is very slow and they introduced a feature that archives inactive galleries so that it takes days to access those photos. My twelve image 2019 wall calendar gallery, for instance, has been in the process of restoring for about a week now.

Some blog features, such as the article archive function which allows viewing older articles, just stopped working. I can't offer prints at base lab prices as Zenfolio adds its own fees on top of the subscription cost, which I would have to pay.

My yearly subscription ends at the beginning of June and I'll be looking for a downsized alternative between now and then. I will probably keep the domain name and switch it to whatever else I end up using, even if that is only this blog. 

I start the year with a slightly downsized kit having sold my RF 85mm f/2 IS STM lens in my last MPB transaction. Further downsizing is unlikely as I don't have a lot left. Of my one body and four lenses, none are redundant. About the only swap I can think of is to exchange the RF 24-240mm variable aperture lens for the RF 24-105mm f/4L lens which loses a small amount of weight and size and adds weather sealing, better image quality and 8 versus 6.5 stops of image stabilization but at the cost of half the focal length range. The other possibility would be to rely solely on whichever zoom lens I have and get rid of the RF prime STM lenses. This would only happen if I switched to the 24-105mm f/4 lens.

While this is unlikely, you never know. Here are some comparison photos from The Digital Picture showing the two lenses.

UPDATE: As frequently happens, the act of writing about something makes that something, or something else, happen. On this occasion, I took the 24-240mm lens out and mentally compared its features with the 24-105mm lens. Afterwards, I decided that trading all my lenses and a backpack for the 24-105mm L lens didn't make much sense and I would still have to kick in almost $100. 

Instead, I decided to trade in the 24-240mm lens and the backpack and add the RF 85mm f/2 IS STM lens, a lens I've owned up until recently, to my 16mm, 28mm and 50mm STM lenses. 

The 85mm lens gets 8 stops of image stabilization with my EOS R6, the same as the 24-105mm f/4 lens and is two stops faster and focuses to half life size. And I will get almost $200 back in the deal. 

I will lose the 86mm to 240mm focal lengths but will have a more capable setup, as long as lens changes are feasible. 

I had this same exact setup back in September but then added the 24-105mm STM and the cheap 100-400mm lenses, then the 24-240mm lens to replace them both, then sold the 85mm lens because I wasn't using it as both it and the 24-240mm lens are weighty.