Just in handling and auto focus I like the Nikon’s capture of the subjects – I was able to nail the shot in one try. And it took several attempts to get the Canon to duplicate the shot made by the Nikon D90. But here you can see side by side comparisons at about 100%. These were cropped so you can see the difference.

Nikon 105mm VR vs Canon 100mm IS

Nikon 105mm VR vs Canon 100mm IS

If I was to pick a winner I would go with the Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 VR. A lot of that is just from my gut in my selection. In testing the Canon 100mm f/2.8 IS this week I have been feeling the Nikon just gives me better results. And I think that is one reason I decided to keep photographing with both camera systems. I was really close to selling my Nikon gear to replace it all with Canon. But that 105mm is hard to beat. If you don’t have one you should go out and buy one.

Or get it from amazon.com.

I can see using a really long lens for models or fashion because you can make the person look thinner with the compression available with really long lenses (one reason you don’t photograph models with a wide angle lenses). And you get the really blurry backgrounds behind the subject.

AF-S Nikkor 200–400mm f/4G ED VR II

So, yeah, the lens isn’t practical but it is really cool. It would be perfect for outdoor sporting events. All you would ever need for outdoor football would be a 70-200mm and the 200-400mm lens. And with improving ISO capabilities on these camera bodies this lens may soon work for indoor sports photography.

And this lens doesn’t have a Canon counterpart. And Nikon is the king of zoom lenses (Canon is the king of prime lenses.)

It has been raining and raining for the past 3 days. At least it isn’t snowing.

Tomorrow there is going to be the annual Walk MS in Salt Lake City, Utah and I will be going to help photograph the event. It should be fun and hopefully not wet. Last time I was caught in an all day event in the rain I was prepared enough with plastic trash bags. They kept the equipment safe in the rain but damn it was difficult to photograph.

So I have my eye on the Think Tank Photo Hydrophobia. It helps protect your camera gear in the rain while letting you access the buttons and controls and continue to photograph. This is on my Amazon.com wishlist and so hopefully I will buy it soon. And I will review it once I do.

There are versions that will even support the big lenses at 600mm! All I will need is the one for my 70-200mm.

As for that rain day last year, I was surprised to see how many photographers were not even protecting their cameras in the rain – I was passing out plastic garbage bags to them and encouraging them to keep their gear safe.

I have finally caved in and purchase a Hoodman Loupe – and like a lot of people I want to know why I waited so long to buy one. Maybe it is because what it does is so simple and the price seems pretty dang pricey. The Hoodman Loupe is placed over the LCD screen of your digital camera so you can see the screen if you are outside in bright sunlight.

It took me a while to figure out how to get the Hoodman Loupe to focus properly. You twist the eyepiece till things come into focus. At first the twisting felt like I was going to break it – it was so tight. But once I got it going focusing was easy. And I won’t have to focus again, unless my vision changes.

$79 sounds like a lot of money – but I imagine you could do this with an empty toilet paper cardboard roll. And with how often I photograph outdoors this will definitely make things easier to know when things are exposed properly and if focus is sharp.

Meet the latest addition to my very big camera bag (ok, I have several camera bags to hold this stuff). I bought the Lensbabies Soft Focus Optic. I will be creating some photographs with this optic in the next few days to show off what it does. But if you don’t have a Lensbaby – you really should get one. It is a unique creative tool that will challenge you – because you will be photographing in manual mode and manual focus. But you will also find that you create photographs that are truly unique and creative.

Practice makes perfect.

I have the whole set of Lensbaby optics – and they are the opposite to the quality of a Canon L series lens or to a Nikon high end lens. These are full of imperfections – that is what makes them appealing. It is my way of creating vintage photographs with digital tools. And without spending hours and hours in Photoshop.

The following photograph was taken with my Canon Lensbaby and the double glass optic.

Lensbaby Soft Focus Optic

Well, amazon.com has a huge selection of Canon lens hoods.

Why would I suggest you use lens hoods? Two main reasons. First the lens hood helps cut down flare and improves contrast in a photograph. If you have bright lights shining at the lens then it does wash out an image. If you want to test this use your hand to shield light from the sun or bright lights. And you will hopefully see the contrast difference. Second, I use lens hoods as protection for my lenses. I don’t believe in using UV filters on the front of my lenses for protection. And (knock on wood) lens hoods have acted as perfect protection for the front glass element of my lenses.

Why would I spend $300-$1500 on a nice lens with excellent glass and precision optics and then place a piece of plastic or a cheap piece of glass in front of the lens?

The only filter that I would use is a circular polarizers. The circular polarizer helps make blue skies bluer and clouds more contrasty and bold. It also helps make colors more saturated. Polarizers also help reduce reflections on water, green plants and even objects. They are the one filter Photoshop can’t imitate.

So there is my mini-soap box on lens hoods and circular polarizers.

This is pretty cool – the two top 50mm lenses from Nikon and Canon. You will probably notice the size difference between the two lenses. Canon’s 50mm lens has a über wide aperture of f/1.2 and Nikon is limited to f/1.4.

People will often complain that professional lenses weigh so much – well that is due to physics and if the lens is made out of metal, alloy, or plastic. More and more Nikon lenses are made from plastic – at least on the outside.

Will Nikon ever make an f/1.2 50mm lens? They already do! However, it is manual focus. I have heard from someone who heard from someone who works on Nikon lenses that the Nikon mount cannot support an f/1.2 lens if that lens has a focusing motor onboard. I don’t know if that is true. However, Nikon’s lack of f/1.2 is one reason I am adopting some Canon gear.

Nikon f/1.4 vs. Canon f/1.2

And aperture really is my deciding factor when buying a lens. If I can afford the wider aperture (lower numbers) then I will buy it. Otherwise I will upgrade when I can. The Canon lens is so much larger because the glass has to be so much wider. It is huge! But it helps the camera shoot in the dark and my favorite feature is the control over the depth of field.

Nikon f/1.4 vs. Canon f/1.2

Nikon f/1.4 vs. Canon f/1.2

I love my new camera bag – I have as many camera bags as some people have purses. This is my rolling bag that carries all my essential cameras, lenses, and some flashes.

And why I am blogging about it today? The security features built in to the bag. There are two locks for the bag. One lock is to keep the bag closed and the second lock can be used to attache the back to something stationary. Just my luck today I am showing the back locked to a plastic chair at an event from the weekend. In the future I will be doing my best to lock the back to something more solid.

Typically I like to keep things locked out of sight – maybe in the truck of the car. If that isn’t available you have to hide your bag at an event – maybe there is a backroom that limits access to the general public.

The best security is to keep your gear on you. If you can’t, then keep it out of view and as many obstacles such as locks to keep it safe.

Lock up your camera gear!

Think Tank Photo Airport Security 2

Yeah, I was and still am saving up money for the Canon 85mm f/1.2 lens – that is the gold standard lens that I have been lusting after for quite some time now, however, it is about $1900 online and it is going to take a while to save up the dinero for that bad boy.

In the meantime I figured I would take a baby step in that direction by investing in the Canon 85mm f/1.8. Is there a difference in the two lenses besides that magic f-stop? No, that is ridiculous what kind of stupid question is that?! I kid. The 85mm f/1.2 comes with a lens hood. Oh, and the 1.2 is an L series lens.

Right now I have one Canon lens – which is ok – but what happens if I am out photographing and that lens breaks? Then I have a camera body with no lens. I have my Nikons to pick up the slack – but it’ll be nice to have a few Canon lenses.

Also – photographing with a full frame camera – such as the Canon 5D Mark II I have realized that 50mm almost feels like a wide angle lens. So the 85mm will give me a little bit of a feel of a telephoto.

My luck? I will probably get the 85mm in the mail before my Canon 5DII gets back from repairs.

And I am also thinking of buying a Canon 28mm f/1.8 – that would be a baby step till I can afford the Canon 24mm f/1.4. It is weird – Canon has a HUGE selection of lenses – much more than the Nikon world.

I think most photographers have a favorite lens – and that they keep that lens on their camera almost all the time. I would say that I am a fan of my Canon 50mm f/1.2 (although that lens is my only Canon lens right now). It is on my camera 100% of the time. For my Nikons I find that I use my Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 80% of the time and only change it when there is a need for a different lens.

So I decided to ask photographers on Twitter and Facebook what their favorite lenses were and here are some of the responses:

• favorite lens is the Canon 24-70 f2.8L USM. It is pretty much glued to my camera body.
• I love my 70-200 2.8 IS.. I love the depth of field I can get with it &I love the crisp photos it creates. I use it 50%
• My 85 1.8 is my favorite, but it’s my least used since it’s not practical for my usual applications. 28-75 2.8 is most used
• Canon 28 2.8 (I’m on a crop sensor) is on my camera 60% of the time.
• I use my 50mm 1.8 the most. Want to replace it soon though, it’s getting old..
• Great question. My favorite lens is my 35/2 Leica, but I don’t use it the most. The lens that gets used the most is the 24-70 on the D3.
• 24-70 2.8 %95 of the time

Recently I received an email asking which lens to buy – and they were comparing a Canon 24-70mm f/2.8 and the Canon 24-105mm f/4 IS. They like the functionality of the IS (image stabilization) but they also like the f/2.8 of the other lens. (hey Nikon and Canon – when are you going to build a lens that is 24-70mm with f/2.8 AND VR or IS?)

My recommendation was to buy BOTH! Actually I am joking. I recommended he try them out first and then decide from his experience which lens he could buy. I recommended he check out http://borrowlenses.com. For about $100 he could rent both lenses for a week and see which lens he liked more.

There are so many types of lenses out there – and lenses that meet the different needs and budgets for each photographer. And I would highly recommend renting or borrowing a lens to try it out before you buy. There is nothing worse than buying a lens and then never using it. I have one or two that just stay in my camera bag.

Me? I will go for aperture over VR or IS. It isn’t just photographing in low light – it is creating the magic blur behind the subject and you really can only do that with a wide open aperture.

Maybe I should write my next post on which lenses you should consider…