Settling on a Combo

Every time I get a new piece of gear it messes up the way I store, carry and use my equipment. My latest acquisition, the 28mm f/2.8 pancake lens, is no exception. I had been using the 24-105mm lens with the R6 and the 14-35mm lens with the R8. 

I started out using the pancake lens with the R6 in order to have in body stabilization. Lately, though, I've been using it on the R8 which, with the accessory grip removed is a very small combination, albeit without stabilization. 

So I have the R6 and the two zoom lenses in a shoulder bag for when I want that flexibility and image quality and the R8, pancake lens and a small flash in a smaller bag for compact, lightweight shooting.

The R6 weighs 680 grams with battery and each spare battery weighs 113 grams. The R8 weighs 461 grams with battery and each spare battery weighs 45 grams. I always carry two spare batteries so the R6 setup weighs 906 grams or 2 pounds while the R8 setup weighs 551 grams or 1.2 pounds. 

The pancake lens only weighs 120 grams. The 270EX II flash weighs 155 grams and four AA batteries (the flash uses two) weigh about 100 grams. So, the R8 kit, including lens and flash with batteries, weighs about the same as the R6.

Here are some images from my two most recent outings at the battlefield and Robinson State Park in Agawam, Mass.

f/8, 1/250 sec., ISO 100

f/8, 1/250 sec., ISO 100

f/11, 1/250 sec., ISO 200

f/11, 1/60 sec., ISO 400

f/8, 1/180 sec., ISO 400

f/8, 1/750 sec., ISO 400

More With the 28mm Pancake

I'm not using the 28mm lens exclusively but here are some shots from the past week using it with both the R6 and the R8. I did create a gallery for photos made with this lens here.

R6, RF 28mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/750 sec., ISO 100

R6, RF 28mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/750 sec., ISO 100

R6, RF 28mm f/2.8, f/11, 1/350 sec., ISO 200

R6, RF 28mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/4000 sec., ISO 200

R8, RF 28mm f/2.8, f/2.8, 1/3000 sec., ISO 100

R8, RF 28mm f/2.8, f/2.8, 1/1500 sec., ISO 100

R8, RF 28mm f/2.8, f/8, 1/500 sec., ISO 100

Amber Waves of Grain

After returning the RF 35mm f/1.8 IS STM lens I saw that B&H was discounting the RF 28mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens. It cost less than half the price of the 35mm lens I returned. While it doesn't have image stabilization, I can use it with the R6 which has its own stabilization.

I tested it out at the Neilson Farm this afternoon.

EOS R6, RF 28mm f/2.8 STM, f/11,1/350 sec., ISO 100

EOS R6, RF 28mm f/2.8 STM, f/11,1/250 sec., ISO 100

EOS R6, RF 28mm f/2.8 STM, f/8,1/180 sec., ISO 100

EOS R6, RF 28mm f/2.8 STM, f/11,1/180 sec., ISO 200

EOS R6, RF 28mm f/2.8 STM, f/8,1/750 sec., ISO 200

July Fourth at the Battlefield

I had the opportunity yesterday to photograph at the citizenship ceremony held every year on July 4th at Saratoga National Historical Park in my capacity as a park volunteer. In doing so, the resulting photos belong to the National Park Service.

Post processing from RAW files, which I always do anyway, is a necessity in conditions like this in order to lower highlights and raise shadows. I used spot metering and bracketed three exposures to get an optimal file to work with. 

Most of the photos benefitted from cropping to a 4:3 aspect ratio. Here are some of the results, all with the Canon EOS R6 and RF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM.

72mm, f/4, 1/1000 sec., ISO 100

93mm, f/4, 1/750 sec., ISO 200

61mm, f/4, 1/3000 sec., ISO 200

105mm, f/4, 1/750 sec., ISO 200

105mm, f/4, 1/250 sec., ISO 200

105mm, f/4, 1/1000 sec., ISO 200

24mm, f/4, 1/6000 sec., ISO 200