When I put my camera in it's case, the case asks, "Is it in yet?"
Okay, not really, but that's how I feel after visiting the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. The aquarium itself was nice enough, though I've been to more impressive aquariums (Monterrey is not to be missed!), but I have never seen such an orgy of hot cameras & sexy lenses in one place. It was like a photographers wet dream.
I know it isn't the top choice of professional photographers, but this novice has always liked her sweet little Canon Rebel XTi. I felt all puffed up while pulling out my much-loved camera outfitted with my new 55-250 lens (with image stabilization!) to take some photos. And then I noticed that my camera looked small and so inadequate compared to many other cameras at the aquarium today.
I'm afraid that my lens, which I loved so much before today, can't satisfy my need for awesome pictures any longer. And all because I have discovered that there are bigger lenses out there. Let's be honest here, doesn't bigger really mean better?
My lens would be considered a show-er, not a grower. It probably hangs a good five inches from the body of my camera, but it only grows by about two inches when I zoom in for a shot. I hear what you're thinking, seven inches of lens should be enough for a casual photographer to feel satisfied. But I'm afraid that it isn't now that I realize just how big they come.
Some lenses were so long that the lens had to be mounted to a tripod. The freaking lens was mounted on the tripod! Understand that usually one mounts the camera to a tripod. I guess the camera body would somehow break under the weight of such a behemoth? Perhaps a photographer is reading this and can weigh in on the reason? You know who you are. . .
Though I was experiencing camera & lens-envy, I took some totally fantastic shots today. I am particularly proud of my extreme close-ups of rays and hammerhead sharks. The photos look like something that the aquarium should use in their advertising materials. They really are that good. I really need to get my inner geek on and figure out how to put some samples up on this blog otherwise the readership may think that I'm all talk and no action.
Ah, my dreams will involve me handling a great big and oh so satisfying. . .lens tonight! Come on, you didn't really think I was going to say wiener, did you?!
HAHAHAHA! Yes when you get massive lenses you have to mount the lens to the tripod instead of the camera because the lens can weigh ridiculous amounts. Also don't be fooled by the 'size' of the lens to the amount it can zoom. My 75-300 lens is MUCH smaller then my 70-200 :p However, yes the 70-200 is an L lens and therefore a much better quality at about 8x the cost haha. Also the rebels are FANTASTIC little cameras :) If I wasn't doing it professionally I would most definitely just use a rebel :) It being slightly smaller is a nice advantage :D
ReplyDeleteYou were the one I wanted to weigh in on this topic!!
ReplyDeleteInterestingly enough, I think my standard lens does better for general shots. But the new lens takes such totally awesome close up shots with incredible detail. I have to upload the Aquarium pics to the meetup site (first I have to figure out how to get them from the camera - I'm technologically retarded) so you can see how great these pics turned out.
My Rebel is so much bigger than the cameras used by most of our friends. But, I agree, it is a great little camera!