Getting to know you
20th March 2011
I have to admit to being somewhat tardy in updating my website recently. However this lack of uploading isn’t due to a lack of photography – I have actually been quite busy getting to grips with my new camera.
I have been really surprised at just how different the 1DS is to use, and I’m not talking about the image quality here (which is just stunning), but just the practical operation and handling. All my previous camera upgrades have felt quite natural and it didn’t take me any time at all to find my way around all the customisation settings. But this time it is taking me longer than I expected to feel totally confident in using it. I suppose there are many reasons for this – it is a much more complex beast than anything I have ever used before and it really does do exactly what you tell it to do – even if what you are asking it to do is total rubbish! Everything is really easy to adjust, but the decision making is entirely down to you – and the level of control (which is the reason I wanted this camera in the first place) is just immense - I guess it will just take time to get to be as familiar with it as I was with the 5D.
Still I am loving using it – the dynamic range is much greater than the 5D and the 7 shot bracketing makes controlling high contrast scenes a snip – even if it does eat compact flash space at an alarming rate!
One of the first shoots was on a very frosty morning at Ferryside, the light was stunning, even if the sky was a bit bland:
The G12 on the other hand is just great for those quick grab shots - like this one of the end of the Aberavon breakwater - this was the first and only time I have ever seen the tide so low that you could walk around it - which I did - with the G12!
I have been really surprised at just how different the 1DS is to use, and I’m not talking about the image quality here (which is just stunning), but just the practical operation and handling. All my previous camera upgrades have felt quite natural and it didn’t take me any time at all to find my way around all the customisation settings. But this time it is taking me longer than I expected to feel totally confident in using it. I suppose there are many reasons for this – it is a much more complex beast than anything I have ever used before and it really does do exactly what you tell it to do – even if what you are asking it to do is total rubbish! Everything is really easy to adjust, but the decision making is entirely down to you – and the level of control (which is the reason I wanted this camera in the first place) is just immense - I guess it will just take time to get to be as familiar with it as I was with the 5D.
Still I am loving using it – the dynamic range is much greater than the 5D and the 7 shot bracketing makes controlling high contrast scenes a snip – even if it does eat compact flash space at an alarming rate!
One of the first shoots was on a very frosty morning at Ferryside, the light was stunning, even if the sky was a bit bland:
The G12 on the other hand is just great for those quick grab shots - like this one of the end of the Aberavon breakwater - this was the first and only time I have ever seen the tide so low that you could walk around it - which I did - with the G12!