Canon TS-E 17mm f/4L

[mackguyver]

BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEPING BLEEP. I decided to cruise over to the Canon USA refurb sale and they had a TS-E 17 in stock. I don't even remember seeing one in the store before. Next thing you know I'm clicking on submit order. There goes my money :'(

BUT, I can't wait for the lens ;D ;D

 

[Eldar]

BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEPING BLEEP. I decided to cruise over to the Canon USA refurb sale and they had a TS-E 17 in stock. I don't even remember seeing one in the store before. Next thing you know I'm clicking on submit order. There goes my money :'(

BUT, I can't wait for the lens ;D ;D

Congratulations. You will not regret it. It is a phenomenal lens. Enjoy!

 

[mackguyver]

BLEEP, BLEEP, BLEEPING BLEEP. I decided to cruise over to the Canon USA refurb sale and they had a TS-E 17 in stock. I don't even remember seeing one in the store before. Next thing you know I'm clicking on submit order. There goes my money :'(

BUT, I can't wait for the lens ;D ;D

Congratulations. You will not regret it. It is a phenomenal lens. Enjoy!

Thanks, Eldar, I'm rather excited for it, and unlike most of my other gear, this one will actually make me money . If anything it expands my options to shoot larger real estate and the bigger the building, the more money the owners generally have ;D

 

[privatebydesign]

Mackguyver,

You need one of these next http://www.wonderpana.com/

 

[mackguyver]

After reading your posts and some of the reviews, it looks like that will be on the my next purchase list. I don't see the C-PL getting much use, but I tend to use NDs a lot with my TS-E 24 to blur out people & cars / soften water features, so that could be really useful. The ND grad might work, too, but I don't shoot a lot of landscapes this wide.

 

[privatebydesign]

After reading your posts and some of the reviews, it looks like that will be on the my next purchase list. I don't see the C-PL getting much use, but I tend to use NDs a lot with my TS-E 24 to blur out people & cars / soften water features, so that could be really useful. The ND grad might work, too, but I don't shoot a lot of landscapes this wide.

I have found the CPL to be good, but it does impact image blends in a strange way with colour shifts, really good for wood floors, granite counter tops etc though. I have settled on masked layer composites for my higher end real estate now rather than Enfuse or even 32bit PS blends.

 

[mackguyver]

After reading your posts and some of the reviews, it looks like that will be on the my next purchase list. I don't see the C-PL getting much use, but I tend to use NDs a lot with my TS-E 24 to blur out people & cars / soften water features, so that could be really useful. The ND grad might work, too, but I don't shoot a lot of landscapes this wide.

I have found the CPL to be good, but it does impact image blends in a strange way with colour shifts, really good for wood floors, granite counter tops etc though. I have settled on masked layer composites for my higher end real estate now rather than Enfuse or even 32bit PS blends.

Thanks for the info and now that you mention it, I have used a CPL on my 16-35 when shooting granite and marble. I try to get around it with shooting angles, but that's not always ideal. I use the masking approach as well -- I have never been happy with HDR results. I prefer to light to match the interior/exterior, but most of my clients don't appreciate, or more importantly, grant me the time required to do that.

 

[privatebydesign]

My latest favourite techniques are the basic layer opacity slider, but more so now, the blending modes. Boy can they save some time!

 

[mackguyver]

My latest favourite techniques are the basic layer opacity slider, but more so now, the blending modes. Boy can they save some time!

I agree - the blending modes are great and I use Topaz ReMask to make quick work of my layer masks. Can't wait to get out and shoot with my TS-E 17 - once it ships and arrives of course. I love the 24and I'm sure the 17 will be a great addition.

 

[mackguyver]

Not my finest work, but I wasn't able to shoot as planned the other day. Exposure is f/8 1/50s at ISO 100 with 2 degrees of tilt.

I wanted to see how the 17mm worked with intense backlit scenes such as this and I'm very impressed with the flare resistance. I also took some photos with the sun flare visible and used my hand to block it, but my hand was in the frame. I shifted the lens down 2mm and voila, perfect. I can't believe how sharp this lens is - the 16-35 doesn't come close.

 

[GMCPhotographics]

Not my finest work, but I wasn't able to shoot as planned the other day. Exposure is f/8 1/50s at ISO 100 with 2 degrees of tilt.

I wanted to see how the 17mm worked with intense backlit scenes such as this and I'm very impressed with the flare resistance. I also took some photos with the sun flare visible and used my hand to block it, but my hand was in the frame. I shifted the lens down 2mm and voila, perfect. I can't believe how sharp this lens is - the 16-35 doesn't come close.

Nice shot! The flare resistance is good, but not as good as the 16-35IIL. What I like about the flare I see from the TS-e 17L, is that it's small and easily cloned out. The Sun stars are better on the 16-35IIL too. Sharpness, at f8, there's little real word value between them. The TS-e 17L's sharpness is less good once shifted to extremities and it's use with a tele-converter isn't that great either. Usable but not great when shifted. Sure a nod to the TS-e 17L with over all sharpness...but it's mechanisms are what we are paying for here! Naively and wide open, with out shifting...it's a very classy optic.
Here's a shot I took last year in Yorkshire, it's a shifted pano to make a 5x4 high MP image. I left the flare in this shot for reference.

The sun wasn't in the shot, but bounced off the big front element from the left. For me, this image shows how easy it is for the flare to enter the shot even though the sun isn't in the shot.

Here's another recent shot, again I left the flare in. I may have postede this image earlier...I'm not sure:

With this shot, I'm shooting directly into the sun. But the sun wasn't particularly clear or bright. If it was, then this image probably wouldn't be usable with out a lot of in camera work and Post Production.

Blessings!

 

[mackguyver]

Great shots as well and as someone who has far more experience with the lens, I appreciate the details. I guess I was surprised that bulbous front element didn't have more flare given my experience with other similar lenses and I was impressed that the contrast didn't get blown out, either. The original shot is almost black & white given the dynamic range, so I was happy with the lens. In terms of the sharpness, I do see some softness in the shifted shots (more so than the 24mm) but I find the central 2/3 of the frame to be extremely sharp and without any movements, razor sharp. Looking at your shots, the flare is the same as what I'm seeing and is much smaller than what I get with the 16-35. I'm definitely looking forward to shooting more with this lens - I have been tied up with a ton of commitments since December, but in about 2 weeks, my time will be my own again, well, mostly, I'm still married...

 

[mackguyver]

Here's a shot I'm a bit happier with on my 2nd adventure with this lens - Jacksonville Florida as seen from the Friendship Fountain, once the biggest in the world. f/16, 15s ISO 100, Shift +2, Tilt +1, DxO PRIME:

 

[mackguyver]

 

[Eldar]

This is one of the coolest mountains there is. A natural hole goes through the center of the mountain. Mankind seems insignificant when you walk through the 160 m (525 ft) long, 25–75 m (80–245 ft) high and 12–27 m (40–90 ft) wide hole that feels like a grand hall. There are of course a couple of legends on how this hole was made. Only thing we know is that it was not made by man.

 

[Eldar]

I was in a historic building the other day, called Alstadhaug (a famous priest and poet came from here). I was going to shoot some interiors, when an actress appeared out of nowhere, portraying a house maid. I only had the 17 TS-E lens available and only available light through the windows. Considering what I was there for, I am fairly happy with the result.

The first is when she is singing one of the priests hymns. The second is when she is going through her chest of possessions. And the last is when she is reading the love letter from Copenhagen, from he who might come ...

 

[Eldar]

No.2

 

[Eldar]

No.3

 

[mackguyver]

Cool shots, especially this last one. I really like the lighting. Using a 17mm for portraiture is quite challenging to say the least, but you kept the camera nice & level, so they turned out really well. You must have been quite close to the actress!

 

[Eldar]

Cool shots, especially this last one. I really like the lighting. Using a 17mm for portraiture is quite challenging to say the least, but you kept the camera nice & level, so they turned out really well. You must have been quite close to the actress!

He he, I got a few strange looks, when I came crawling across the floor. But the fun was to use the T&S on something as active as this and not just tripod mounted, live view architecture and interior shots. Phenomenal lens!