Aztatlan wrote:
Good to hear you had no problems. From what I've heard, many Parks (if they are open) have been suffering issues related to things like waste management, overflowing toilets, lack of services etc. I suppose coming all the way from Australia I'd rather not be rolling the dice as to whether I could even get in I seem to recall during a previous shutdown (2013 maybe?) most Nat Parks were forced to close.
Is that so? Hmm, not Yosemite though. From what i have been told during the last shutdown they were open as well. We didn't have any problems with waste or overflowing toilets. Most of the misinformation often comes from foreign media. We have been 'warned' several times by relatives and friends that they read in the media that the shutdown was going to get us stuck at the gates in Yosemite. While we were just enjoying our stay with thousands of other visitors. I have to say it was even too crowded in some areas to be honest.
Coming from australia shouldn't make any difference than coming from The Netherlands. A good travel insurance makes it easier to take risks. Besides, we didn't know about the shutdown when we went to our destination, this was all planned a year ahead. You can't anticipate on that i suppose.
Gunzorro wrote:
My overall impression is that of the three lenses, the 35L is the most practical for my use, and has the least objectionable CA and flare wide open. The 50L comes in close second and has additional spherical aberration dreaminess.
Jim, do you have 35L mkI or mkII? Back in Canon days I did shoot few weddings etc. with 35L mkI (w/ 1Ds mkII) and it did not have as bad astigmatism in corners. If you don't notice it immediately, look 35L photo with sand yard in foreground and there the bottom corners. That might be caused by Sony thick sensor stack or it's due to lens design? In either case astigmatism should reduce when you close down. I have never seen this in your images earlier, but you typically shoot f/5.6-8 range where 35L has given decent rendering style despite being Canon (not as nice as your Loxia 35 image rendering is thou).
Most lenses just suck wide open, super good lenses like 85GM are good little bit closed down but mostly you want to close down 1-2 stops to get best results. If I remember correcly how 35L mkI behaved, it's "optimum" aperture was somewhere between f/2.2-2.8. Then focus plane has improved contrast, most aberrations are gone and usually boke quality improves as well, and as we know boke overall smoothness is combination of boke quality and quantity.
Of course one can use the aberrations wide open to create images with character e.g. Derek/sebboh style. For this 50L is better choice, 35L just basically has optical weaknesses wide open, nothing interesting.
From your sample photos I liked 35mm better, but comparing different focal lengths is hard. If I would compare I would try to make the subject same size, you used fixed shooting positions, which produces radically different framing. The first image (tree and barrel in sidelight) had very nice rendering style w/ 35L, also background boke was smooth and nice. On same scene 50L boke was quite horrible.
Talking about trying to compare two different lenses; in November I tried to compare boke with similar subject magnification between Sony 85GM and Sigma 50 Art. I would need meter or two long focus rail for this kind of testing This testing naturally leads different objects size in boke (w/ 85mm objects in boke are much larger), but similar blurriness compared to object size in boke.
What I learned? Well. nothing really Both have very similar boke in background included in both photos [50mm naturally shows much more background] and it's really difficult to frame the subject similarly with two different FOV lenses (and really hard to make two lenses & sensors to produce similar colors). I also shot both @ f/1.7, but boke is too blurry to make any difference between them and I didn't like f/1.7 in this case because whole subject did not fit into DOF. f/1.7 versions: Sigma and Sony.
Sony FE 1.4/85 GM @ f/4.0, 8s, Sony A7r mkII @ ISO 100, Carl Zeiss T* POL Filter (circular) 77mm
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art @ f/4.0, 8s, Sony A7 (Kolari v2) @ ISO 100, Hoya HD CIR-PL 77mm
Samuli Vahonen wrote:
Jim, do you have 35L mkI or mkII? Back in Canon days I did shoot few weddings etc. with 35L mkI (w/ 1Ds mkII) and it did not have as bad astigmatism in corners. If you don't notice it immediately, look 35L photo with sand yard in foreground and there the bottom corners. That might be caused by Sony thick sensor stack or it's due to lens design? In either case astigmatism should reduce when you close down. I have never seen this in your images earlier, but you typically shoot f/5.6-8 range where 35L has given decent rendering style despite being Canon (not as nice as your Loxia 35 image rendering is thou).
Most lenses just suck wide open, super good lenses like 85GM are good little bit closed down but mostly you want to close down 1-2 stops to get best results. If I remember correcly how 35L mkI behaved, it's "optimum" aperture was somewhere between f/2.2-2.8. Then focus plane has improved contrast, most aberrations are gone and usually boke quality improves as well, and as we know boke overall smoothness is combination of boke quality and quantity.
Of course one can use the aberrations wide open to create images with character e.g. Derek/sebboh style. For this 50L is better choice, 35L just basically has optical weaknesses wide open, nothing interesting.
From your sample photos I liked 35mm better, but comparing different focal lengths is hard. If I would compare I would try to make the subject same size, you used fixed shooting positions, which produces radically different framing. The first image (tree and barrel in sidelight) had very nice rendering style w/ 35L, also background boke was smooth and nice. On same scene 50L boke was quite horrible.
Talking about trying to compare two different lenses; in November I tried to compare boke with similar subject magnification between Sony 85GM and Sigma 50 Art. I would need meter or two long focus rail for this kind of testing This testing naturally leads different objects size in boke (w/ 85mm objects in boke are much larger), but similar blurriness compared to object size in boke.
What I learned? Well. nothing really Both have very similar boke in background included in both photos [50mm naturally shows much more background] and it's really difficult to frame the subject similarly with two different FOV lenses (and really hard to make two lenses & sensors to produce similar colors). I also shot both @ f/1.7, but boke is too blurry to make any difference between them and I didn't like f/1.7 in this case because whole subject did not fit into DOF. f/1.7 versions: Sigma and Sony.
Thanks Samuli! Your insightful viewing and wealth of experience are always welcome.
This is the origina 35L, as you had. It certainly is not as perfect or clinical as the new 35LII or some other 35 AF lenses, but used within its strengths (or incorporating its weaknesses), it is quite interesting and useful. I agree, those front corners are problematic and one has to know they will happen with this set-up, probably more exaggerated than using Canon bodies.
You are correct also that I usually use it at f/5.6-8.0, but every once in a while I like to explore possibilities at wide apertures.
I agree, it is in no danger of replacing my Loxia!
This Great Egret looks like it was striking "The Dab" pose at the camera
For those not familiar with the term "The Dab"
Dabbing, or the dab, is a simple dance move or gesture in which a person drops the head into the bent crook of a slanted, upwardly angled arm, while raising the opposite arm out straight in a parallel direction. Since 2015, dabbing has been used as a gesture of triumph or playfulness, becoming a youthful American fad and Internet meme.[1] The move looks similar to someone sneezing into the "inside" of their elbow.[1][2]
Canon TS-E 17mm 4.0L with 150mm NiSi Polarizer (in very bad Benro holder) + Sigma MC-11 on Sony A7rII
Shift Panorama (vertical shift, landscape orientation)
Stood around for a while muttering to myself, "oh, hi, don't mind me - the guy with the camera... just waiting for you all to get out of my frame. No hurry. Taaaake your time."
I seem to recall during a previous shutdown (2013 maybe?) most Nat Parks were forced to close.
This testing naturally leads different objects size in boke (w/ 85mm objects in boke are much larger), but similar blurriness compared to object size in boke. 
