50mm

Philly in 50mm: Museum District

More 50mm shots from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, this time near the art museum (made famous in Rocky). 

The hike from downtown to the museum district is a pleasant one, lined with sycamore trees and art installations along the way. At the start, you have the Barnes Foundation, and then halfway down the path you have the Rodin Museum – a space that looks like an ancient Roman edifice left behind by millennia and plunked down into a sprawling, modern American city. 

Then you get to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, with its Rocky statue and iconic stairway, and you can tell this is where people gather. Especially dudes who just jogged all the way here to run up those steps. 

I haven’t been to Philly in years, not since my big Revoluationary War tour of New England in 2008, and it was great to see some places I didn’t catch on the original trip.

Shot on the Canon R with the RF 50mm f/1.8 lens.

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A Walk Outside With the Canon R

I had a chance to walk around with a new Canon R – one of the mirrorless, full-frame cameras set to take over from the SLR series – on a mid-March evening with the family.

There are little pockets of snow still hanging around, but you can feel spring in the air: the birds are chirping, the crocuses are poking out of the damp ground, and it’s no longer freezing cold outside. This happens every year, when we take our first tentative steps outside and stroll around the neighborhood. 

The camera is slick. It’s so light, it reminds me of my much older, much more creaky Canon M. This one was paired with the 50mm f/1.8, a typical walk-around lens. With the two together, I had a lightweight, easy-to-handle bundle. Snappy and crisp, the lens was perfect for capturing the family and the scenery at golden hour.

A few things I noticed while shooting with the R:

  • I missed the optical viewfinder – the digital viewfinder was decent, but not like looking through a mirror
  • I also missed the instant “on” of an optical viewfinder – the digital version took a second to detect my eye and switch on
  • The grip was perfect for my hands, and the smaller size and weight was a welcome break from my hefty 5D
  • Image quality and classic Canon colors were all there – no need to switch from my Canon-trained eye

This was the camera system of my future. Unfortunately for Canon, I have no plans on upgrading anytime soon. My 5D, 6D, and Canon M aren’t broken, and while I feel a bit of gear lust, it’s not a strong enough pull to make me spend anything on a new camera, let alone new lenses. Someday, sure, but my investments in the EOS system keep me grounded in what I have.

Still, it was nice to get outside and try something new – a rite of spring. 

 

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Things I Like: 50mm Lens

Things I Like: 50mm Lens

All of my “Things I Like” photos were taken with a Canon EF 50mm F/1.4 lens, pictured here – except this one, obviously, which was taken with an 85mm.

But the 50mm is my favorite. I, like a lot of beginning photographers, cut my teeth on the 50mm prime lens. Originally, I had the f/1.8 model that served me well for two years. In fact, I took a lot of my favorite photos – hell, maybe a majority of my photos – using that “Nifty Fifty.”

Over the holidays, I found Canon dropping the price on the f/1.4 model by $100 or more. I thought about it, and thought about it, and finally pulled the trigger in January. Canon has been updating – and raising the price on – their other primes, like the 28mm. I figured with the recent 50mm price drop, Canon would refresh it next. So I pulled the trigger and took advantage of the deal.

I use a 50mm f/1.4 almost exclusively at work, with a Canon 7D. It’s my go-to portrait and classroom lens. I love the quality, the color, and the contrast the lens produces. And I’m super glad to have one of my own now.

There are tradeoffs to having a 50mm lens on a cropped-factor camera like my T1i: you need space to work in, and you can’t capture a whole lot in the field of view. But I find it often takes intimate photos that can’t be beat.

The dream is to someday hook it up to a full-frame Canon. Some day.

For now, though, it’s still my go-to and favorite lens.

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