Fluidr / Spy-glass's "Gear" set

New Toy: iPod Touch (2008 edition)

A Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II — 1/200s ƒ/2 ISO 200 at 135 mm

N 1 B 2.2K C 3 E Jul 12, 2008 F Jul 12, 2008

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A "Must Have" for location shoots...
for the moments when i'm out of inspiration.

Tags: 135L 135mm ipod touch apple 1ds canon f2 new model portrait young woman girl technique gadget 1DSmark2

Light Gathering Pipes!

N 26 B 5.4K C 21 E Jul 13, 2008 F Jul 13, 2008

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Huge apertures of the EF85mmf1.2LII and the 135mmf2.0L.

The Ultimate Bokeh Machines...

Tags: 85mm 135mm 85LII 135L EF Canon Lens New Model 1DSMK2 Cameraporn Lensporn

The Holy Quartet!

N 47 B 6.0K C 23 E Jul 13, 2008 F Jul 13, 2008

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From left to right: EF14mmf2.8LII; EF35mmf1.4L; EF85mmf1.2LII; EF135mmf2.0L

Tags: 14mm 35mm 85mm 135mm 14LII 35L 85LII 135L EF Canon Lens New Model 1DSMK2 Cameraporn Lensporn

85Lf1.2II Stand Up To 200Lf1.8L

A Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II — 1/250s ƒ/2 ISO 100 at 135 mm

N 19 B 6.1K C 13 E Jan 24, 2009 F Jan 24, 2009

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Big brother and little sister...

Say OOOOH!

A Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II — 1/320s ƒ/2 ISO 100 at 135 mm

N 67 B 17.5K C 13 E Jan 24, 2009 F Jan 24, 2009

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As you can see, the 200L 's aperture is HUGE!

The point I'd like to make clear is that these are not just regular lenses that's been built heavier - they are very specialised lenses that's actually very good at certain specialist applications - portraits being one of them.

When super-shallow DOF shooting is your thing, then the 85/1.2L and the Canon 200/1.8L are undoubtedly "The Daddies" of the genre - tricky to learn, but hard to beat when used well.

At minimal shooting distance and at open aperture the depth-of-field will capture a single eyeball, and most of its eyelashes but beyond that the focus drops away, even the other eyeball or the tip of the nose will be out of focus - so that's a working area of focus of perhaps 1-1.5cm at most.

Frankly in those circumstances I simply turn off auto-focus and focus manually and the results are always stunning. Since a face consists of relatively smooth surfacing and very few hard lines, auto-focus has little to work with and will tend to get confused. However, it's hardly an inconvenience to have to focus manually while shooting a person at such close quarters - for me it's all simply part of the intimate process of portrait work.

That's my suggestion when shooting with this extraordinary-glass.

Tags: EF 200mm f1/1.8 L EF 85mm f1/1.2 L II Lensporn Cameraporn L lenses 85L 200L 85L1.2 200L1.8 DOF Bokeh Canon lens Lens Canon EF EF-Lens Blur