Topic: Landscapes with the 5D (Read 8672 times)

Alex53 · « **on:** February 02, 2008, 08:31:37 am »

After years using a 10D and some of the cheaper primes, I am finally biting the bullet and my 5D + 24-105mm F4 L IS USM arrives Monday.

The main reasons I upgraded to the 5D are image quality, extra file size (useful to submit stock photography) and my wide angle lenses being wide angle again.

My question is how many people are happy using the 24-105mm F4 L IS USM for landscapes and is the barrel/pincusion distortion very pronounced?

My current primes are;

Sigma 20mm f1.8 EX
Canon 35mm f2 (needs servicing)
Canon 50mm f1.8 mkII
Canon 100mm f2.8 macro USM

I also have a seller for a 2nd hand Canon 50mm f1.4, for £100 (~$195).

My current zooms are cheap ones that I only really use for casual shooting, so not worth mentioning.

Are the primes going to perform fine on full frame or am I looking at a further investment on a Canon L prime or two?

ARD · « **Reply #1 on:** February 02, 2008, 01:03:17 pm »

Lens Review

Looks ok to me, you just might not find 24 wide enough

drew · « **Reply #2 on:** February 02, 2008, 01:53:11 pm »

In my experience, the 24-105 IS USM f4 is a great walk around lens. In comparison with the 24-70 f2.8, it is not as sharp at the edges and there is significantly more corner shading at working apertures. This makes it much less good as a lens for stitching panoramas than the 24-70 which is excellent in this regard. It depends on your typical subject matter. I would have no hesitation substituting the 24-70 for prime lenses covering these focal lengths. Wider than 24mm, you will have to accept some loss of lens sharpness at the edges whatever you use. Using the Zeiss lenses via an adapter just strikes me as a pfaff in this day and age and I would recommend stitching to increase your FOV whilst retaining quality.

marcmccalmont · « **Reply #3 on:** February 02, 2008, 02:15:16 pm »

I love the combination of the 5D and the 24-105 IS. DxO V4 is a great way to remove distortions prior to stitching. Both of these were taken with a 5D and 24-105, handheld, stitched with PTGui. An excellent choice.
Marc
[attachment=4987:attachment]
[attachment=4988:attachment]

JohnIgel · « **Reply #4 on:** February 02, 2008, 02:21:12 pm »

I upgraded from the 10D to the 5D a couple years back and find the 24 - 105L lens to be a very good lens. I am continually amazed at how well it does perform for a zoom lens. I run it through PT lens and distortion/vignetting are not an issue. I use PT lens before stitching and have no problems there either. For landscapes, I will also use the 50 f1.4, shoot vertically and stitch.
Happy shooting! You'll love the 5D, but be prepared for a slight learning curve as you will have treat the files differently than files from the 10D when 'developing'.
Cheers, John

pete_truman · « **Reply #5 on:** February 02, 2008, 02:25:20 pm »

I find the 24-105mm lens is almost permanently attached to my camera and use it a lot for landscapes. There's a couple of buts though:

1. I often find that 24mm is not wide enough and resort to my 17-40mm lens for the broader images.
2. At the wide end the 24-105 does start to distort a bit more.
3. If using a polariser with the 24-105 ensure the filter is as slim as possible - you will get some vignetting at the 24mm focal length. I try to remember to turn the zoom to make it less wide, but often forget and then have to adjust and/or crop the image.

In my view the 5D and 24-105 L are the perfect couple!

Of the primes you mention I have the 100mm f2.8 macro and 50mm f1.4. Both are brilliant with the 5D and I use them lots. The only other lens that gets used more is a 70-200 f2.8 L IS, my favourite lens.

I'm sure you will enjoy your 5D; its a superb camera.

Pete

Eric Myrvaagnes · « **Reply #6 on:** February 02, 2008, 05:13:39 pm »

Quote

I find the 24-105mm lens is almost permanently attached to my camera and use it a lot for landscapes. There's a couple of buts though:

1. I often find that 24mm is not wide enough and resort to my 17-40mm lens for the broader images.
2. At the wide end the 24-105 does start to distort a bit more.
3. If using a polariser with the 24-105 ensure the filter is as slim as possible - you will get some vignetting at the 24mm focal length. I try to remember to turn the zoom to make it less wide, but often forget and then have to adjust and/or crop the image.

In my view the 5D and 24-105 L are the perfect couple!

Of the primes you mention I have the 100mm f2.8 macro and 50mm f1.4. Both are brilliant with the 5D and I use them lots. The only other lens that gets used more is a 70-200 f2.8 L IS, my favourite lens.

I'm sure you will enjoy your 5D; its a superb camera.

Pete
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=171807\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I will echo almost everything Pete says. I, too, upgraded from a 10D, but my main lens for that was the 17-40/4L zoom. On the 5D I use (and love) the 24-105 for 95% of what I shoot. The 17-40 does fine when I need wider than the 24-105.

I use DxO as my main raw converter, so distortion is no problem. For extra wide shots on the 10D I often used a Sigma fisheye lens, correcting the "fisheye" effect in Photoshop using the no-longer-available Image Align Pro plugin.

Alex53 · « **Reply #7 on:** February 03, 2008, 03:01:42 pm »

First of all thanks for all your replies. Each of them is helpful. I will try all the software mentioned (I suppose they a have trial versions I can try before buying).

Coming from a format where my widest lens, the Sigma 20mm, was giving me a fov equivalent to 32mm, I think 24mm of the 24-105 will feel very wide for a while, plus I also hope the Sigma 20mm isn't too horrible on full frame.

Having said that with so many replies mentioning stitching I must give it a try. I have tried it only once or twice in the past, and my initial feeling was I found it counterintuitive in the way I usually compose, but maybe thats something that I have to insist on to get used to 'seeing' the shot in a different way.

The other thing is how commonly I shoot in quickly changing light, and how that may mean I have to work faster.

With such competent software at putting images together so seamlessly I do appreciate how its a viable option for increased fov while avoiding the quality issues of very wide lenses. The resulting resolutions must also keep the stock agents very happy.

marcmccalmont · « **Reply #8 on:** February 03, 2008, 10:39:45 pm »

Quote

First of all thanks for all your replies. Each of them is helpful. I will try all the software mentioned (I suppose they a have trial versions I can try before buying).

Coming from a format where my widest lens, the Sigma 20mm, was giving me a fov equivalent to 32mm, I think 24mm of the 24-105 will feel very wide for a while, plus I also hope the Sigma 20mm isn't too horrible on full frame.

Having said that with so many replies mentioning stitching I must give it a try. I have tried it only once or twice in the past, and my initial feeling was I found it counterintuitive in the way I usually compose, but maybe thats something that I have to insist on to get used to 'seeing' the shot in a different way.

The other thing is how commonly I shoot in quickly changing light, and how that may mean I have to work faster.

With such competent software at putting images together so seamlessly I do appreciate how its a viable option for increased fov while avoiding the quality issues of very wide lenses. The resulting resolutions must also keep the stock agents very happy.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=172025\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

To help you in the beginning PS CS3 does a great job stitching so initially don't buy dedicated stitching software. Put your camera in daylight white balance to minimize frame to frame color differences. Use aperture priority and take a picture of the brightest area of your scene (I find f9 sharpest on the 24-105). Adjust speed to ettr. Set camera to Manual with the speed and aperture that gave you a proper ettr. From left to right shoot your pano with 20-30% overlap.
I find 24mm will not fit a rainbow so I even use this method to stitch a 2 frame pano for a wider FOV.
Hope this helps
Marc

Panopeeper · « **Reply #9 on:** February 03, 2008, 10:49:48 pm »

Quote

I love the combination of the 5D and the 24-105 IS. DxO V4 is a great way to remove distortions prior to stitching. Both of these were taken with a 5D and 24-105, handheld, stitched with PTGui. An excellent choice.

There is no reason whatsoever to remove curvilinear distortions before stitching if you are using a PT based stitcher, like PTGui.

However, correcting the vignetting would help a lot on the first pano you posted above.

DottieC · « **Reply #10 on:** February 07, 2008, 10:14:40 am »

I have had the Canon 24-105 L IS USM lens for two years. I love the lens but I have had serious zoom creep problems.

See my new topic on this subject in this forum:

Zoom Creep and the Canon 24-105mm F4 L IS USM

Dottie

sojournerphoto · « **Reply #11 on:** February 07, 2008, 12:47:31 pm »

Quote

I have had the Canon 24-105 L IS USM lens for two years. I love the lens but I have had serious zoom creep problems.

See my new topic on this subject in this forum:

Zoom Creep and the Canon 24-105mm F4 L IS USM

Dottie
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=173003\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

5D and 24-105 is a great combination. I use DXo and Lightroom for raw conversion and just stitch in CS3 if I'm doing a pano.

I've not had any prblems with zoom creep on the 24-105 (yet).

Mike

Alex53 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 07, 2008, 03:32:21 pm »

Hi again, I have been testing the 5D and 24-105mm. It is my first L lens, so obviously I am happy with build quality, relative sharpness even wide open, etc.

The distortions arent too great and as stated above also easily dealt with.

What I am not too happy about right now is the CA. I wasnt expecting it to be so obvious in so many shots. Here is an example of an image taken at 93mm;

200% crop

There is green fringing along the underside of the blank stripe, and red fringing on top of it.

marcmccalmont · « **Reply #13 on:** February 08, 2008, 12:51:07 am »

Quote

Hi again, I have been testing the 5D and 24-105mm. It is my first L lens, so obviously I am happy with build quality, relative sharpness even wide open, etc.

The distortions arent too great and as stated above also easily dealt with.

What I am not too happy about right now is the CA. I wasnt expecting it to be so obvious in so many shots. Here is an example of an image taken at 93mm;

200% crop

There is green fringing along the underside of the blank stripe, and red fringing on top of it.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=173091\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

What RAW converter are you using?
Marc

Alex53 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 08, 2008, 02:15:08 am »

I use Adobe Camera RAW.

ChrisJR · « **Reply #15 on:** February 11, 2008, 05:09:13 am »

I had a 5D prior to purchasing a 1d mk3 and if anything the 5D files have more detail and of course wide angle lenses work like they should. The 24-105 lens can tend to creep a little though but usually this happens after a lot of usage. Both the 5D and the lens are great pieces of equipment and a considerable step-up from the 10D model.

marcmccalmont · « **Reply #16 on:** February 11, 2008, 12:25:05 pm »

Quote

I use Adobe Camera RAW.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=173230\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

DxO does a good job removing the color fringing that you are seeing if you don't want to spend the $ on DxO try www.shaystephens.com/ca.asp for an action to remove the color fringing.
Marc

Dave Gurtcheff · « **Reply #17 on:** February 11, 2008, 02:53:45 pm »

Quote

After years using a 10D and some of the cheaper primes, I am finally biting the bullet and my 5D + 24-105mm F4 L IS USM arrives Monday.

The main reasons I upgraded to the 5D are image quality, extra file size (useful to submit stock photography) and my wide angle lenses being wide angle again.

My question is how many people are happy using the 24-105mm F4 L IS USM for landscapes and is the barrel/pincusion distortion very pronounced?

My current primes are;

Sigma 20mm f1.8 EX
Canon 35mm f2 (needs servicing)
Canon 50mm f1.8 mkII
Canon 100mm f2.8 macro USM

I also have a seller for a 2nd hand Canon 50mm f1.4, for £100 (~$195).

I'm using a 1DS MkII. My walk around lens is the 24~105, and like so many others, I use DXO as my converter from raw. I do find my favorite seascape lens is the 17-40, which I also use with DXO. I would think the 5D and 24~105 would be a nice combo.

Dave
www.modernpictorials.com

My current zooms are cheap ones that I only really use for casual shooting, so not worth mentioning.

Are the primes going to perform fine on full frame or am I looking at a further investment on a Canon L prime or two?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=171746\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Dave Gurtcheff · « **Reply #18 on:** February 11, 2008, 02:55:11 pm »

Quote

[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=174009\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I'm using a 1DS MkII. My walk around lens is the 24~105, and like so many others, I use DXO as my converter from raw. I do find my favorite seascape lens is the 17-40, which I also use with DXO. I would think the 5D and 24~105 would be a nice combo.

Dave
www.modernpictorials.com

gdanmitchell · « **Reply #19 on:** February 12, 2008, 12:20:09 am »

My two main landscape lenses on my 5D are my 17-40mm f/4 L and my 24-105mm f/4 L IS. The latter can be a very sharp lens when stopped down to typical FF landscape apertures. Mine comes close to but doesn't quite equal my stopped down 50mm f/1.4, but in practical terms that is really quite sharp.

There is some pincushion/barrel distortion at the ends of the focal length range, though it often isn't visible in landscapes unless there is a horizon or similar to make it visible. In a minority of my photos it can be an issue and I've had very luck adjusting in those cases with LensFixCI.

While primes can get you a bit more resolution, though perhaps not as much or as often as you might suspect, the versatility of this lens makes it very valuable.

Dan

Author Topic: Landscapes with the 5D (Read 8672 times)