The usually lively 6th street is noticeably calm on Sunday night. I walked past the famous Driskill Hotel and spotted an interesting group, congregating. I raised my camera and fired a couple of shots. Molly, the red-head in the center, spotted me and posed. She seemed curious and a bit confused at the same time. “Why is this guy taking a picture of us?” I’m sure she was thinking.

I approached and had a quick conversation. I explained that I just got my new camera and was testing it out. Molly seem interested and I asked her for a portrait. It was set on f1.4, always a risky aperture to get sharp focus but I was going for maximum shallow DOF.

Portrait of Molly, 6th Street – Austin, Texas

She liked the results and she rustled up her friends for a group portrait. I reset the aperture to f5.6 and fired. One of my new challenges with full frame is to know what apertures to set for different circumstances. Only practice will program my mental depth of field calculator. With micro 4/3, it usually isn’t too much of an issue. With a smaller sensor, f2.8 or so is fine in these situations.

I also bumped the ISO up but neglected to look at the shutter speed — 1/30 of second. Should have been a bit faster. There is a little camera shake but not too bad overall. No in-body image stabilization, drat. Another thing to keep in mind with my full frame toy.

Group Portrait, 6th Street – Austin, Texas

Part of my first real test of the Canon 6D. More to come from 6th street.

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Before I get into it, I’ve happily discovered that the 6D has already broken new ground. It’s going to radically change how I take my most important photos. With a fast prime like my 35mm f2 or 50mm f1.4, I can shoot anywhere in the house at basically any light level. I shot perfectly sharp and decent photographs at night with two very dim compact fluorescent lamps and the glow from the TV. And even with the f4 zoom (I got the excellent 24mm – 105mm f4 L zoom as my “kit” lens) I can still shoot in most places. The camera might jump up to ISO 10,000 or so but the images were acceptable.

Sunday night is a nice time to go downtown. There is a good supply of on street parking and it’s free. The usually noisy and crazy 6th street is remarkably calm. I parked on Congress Avenue and walked several blocks south and turned left to my destination. On the way, I shot this detailed older building on Congress. Up top, you see a boring daylight photo — made better in black and white — shot at the beginning of my photo walk. The night shot, from my trip back, has some good details even at ISO 2500. The deep blue adds interest making it a worthy color image.

I like the 50mm lens a lot more, now that it is a true 50mm. On my 7D, with the 1.6x crop factor, the 50 acts like a 80mm. I tend to like wider and not telephoto so this is a welcome change. My 50mm was always that vaguely sharp, dreamy lens, especially since I tend to shoot it wide-open at f1.4. Somehow, on the full frame 6D, it seems to work better. Possibly because I’m not magnifying the “unsharpness” by the 1.6 crop factor. It’s nowhere near as good as my Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 which, on my Olympus also acts as a 50mm. That lens is fantastically sharp even at f1.4, I wish I had it for the Canon.

The short outing was a success and I got a bunch of keepers. Expect to see a series of postings, with images, over the next week. The real world testing phase with the Canon 6D has begun — today, merely a quick intro. Over the coming weeks and months, I’ll test the 6D versus the Olympus. Remember, I don’t grade on absolute quality. I’m very much a price – performance kind of guy. Or in this case, more aptly, It’s going to be a weight – performance comparison.

UPDATE: More photos from my 6th street photo walk.
Molly and her friends on 6th Street

First Citizens Bank at Night – Austin, Texas

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I hinted about my equipment change in my previous post, Does Canon still care about APS-C DSLRs? I realized, in actual usage, my Olympus Pens now matched my Canon 7D for image quality. More surprisingly, Canon really has not updated their APS-C image quality over the last 4 years. Other than for fast action sports, my big Canon 7D DSLR no longer has any advantages over the compact micro 4/3 cameras. And the shift in my usage patterns is telling. I use the 7D less and less and you know how much more I like my small mirrorless cameras, especially for travel.

I then realized that my kids no longer play fast action sports (like soccer). My older boy started playing tennis and the younger one seems to be following. I no longer needed a sports camera. My 7D was the right camera 3 years ago, but the circumstances have changed.

Suddenly, there is no longer any reason to keep my 7D. Why lug a heavy camera around when it takes inferior quality pictures compared to my light and modern Olympus Pens? But, here’s the problem. I have some wonderful glass for the Canon. My favorite lens is my 70 – 200 f4 IS. It’s one of those big white L lenses, though decidedly on their smaller side in the Canon lineup. It’s up there in quality with my Panasonic Leica 25mm f1.4 that I use on my Olympus. In addition, I have some decent Canon primes, the 35mm f2, the 50mm f1.4 and the 85mm f1.8.

The only logical choice? Move up to full frame. I get to keep my nice Canon glass and I get a level of performance that far exceeds the 7D. Now my lenses also match their originally intended focal lengths, no more 1.6 X crop factor. This is a bigger deal than I thought. With the APS-C sensor, I never got a true 35mm or 50mm lens. The 70 – 200mm zoom became an awkward, 112 – 320mm. It’s a nice focal length boost for birding or sports but terrible for portrait photography and everyday use.

Full frame gives me two features missing from my Canon 7D and the mirrorless cameras. Extremely shallow DOF (depth of field) and truly great high ISO performance. I think these characteristics will be fun to play with. I’ve never shot full frame. I never used a film SLR. The 35mm film point and shoots I used back in the 80s and 90s don’t count. So I’m also going full frame digital out of a sense of curiosity. Sure, it’s still a big and heavy DSLR but perhaps the boost in performance warrants carrying the extra weight? Whenever I get new gear, Lucky gets volunteered to model — sort of a tradition here. I’ve added two examples — they shows shallow DOF and the great high ISO performance.

The APS-C DLSR is dead for me. It’s all about weight vs. performance. Give me the light weight of micro 4/3 or big and juicy full frame. When should I use mirrorless? When do I use full frame? How about landscapes? What will I do with nearly 2 more stops of high ISO performance? I’m going to compare these formats and talk about my experiences on this blog. I bought the Canon 6D. It was an easily decision over the Canon 5D Mark III or older 5D Mark II, but that’s a topic for a future post.

Lucky at ISO 6400 – Austin, Texas

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Curious, I decide to poke around and see what Canon’s done lately.

I was a bit surprised. I’m following Olympus and micro 4/3 lately so I haven’t kept up with Canon. Sure, I knew they introduced the 5D Mark III and the 6D, but what have they done in the APS-C space?

The short answer, basically, nothing.

Canon has 3 lines of APS-C DSLRs. The consumer Rebel line, the XXD series (currently the 60D) and the prosumer 7D. While there are rumors of a Mark II, the 7D has no update since the original 2009 introduction. The 60D, introduced in 2010, also has no update. Only the consumer Rebel line has been updated on a regular basis.

The newest Rebel, the T5i, appears to use the same 18MP sensor, introduced by the 7D back in 2009. The image processor is updated to the Digic 5, also used in the Rebel T4i, and SL1. The Rebel T3i, 60D and 7D use the older Digic 4. So within the last 4 years, it looks like the update to Digic 5 is the only image quality related change Canon has made.

So how good is this new Digic 5 processor? Here is some analysis I did for your reading pleasure.

1. I started with the usual DPReview image comparison application. You can access it via this URL. I compared the Olympus OM-D against the Canon 7D and the Canon Rebel T4i. Make sure to change the cameras you are comparing via the drop down menus. The Rebel T4i is listed under Canon EOS 650D, the European name for the same camera. The OM-D represents the newest of the Olympus micro 4/3 sensors, the same one used in my E-PM2 as well as the newest E-P5. The Canon 7D, the other camera I own, represents the older Digic 4 processor. The Rebel T4i has the newest Digic 5.

You can eyeball the results yourself. Things don’t begin to get interesting, these days, until at least ISO 1600. That is where the noise creeps up and the color quality begins to drop. To my eye, the 3 cameras look pretty close. The OM-D more than holds its own against the 7D and if anything the Rebel T4i seems a bit noisier. So unless Canon purposely reduced the image quality on their consumer line, the Digic 5 processor doesn’t seem improve image quality or at least high ISO performance does not seem any better.

2. Let use another comparison. DXO is a company that does extensive sensor and lens testing for their software. They have an interesting database called DXO Mark where they publish their results. Let’s compare the Canon Rebel T4i (650D), the Olympus OM-D and the Canon 7D. You can see for most results, the OM-D with the smaller micro 4/3 sensor outscored the Canon APS-C sensors. Also, the 7D with the older Digic 4 processor outscored the Rebel T4i with the Digic 5 on every test.

I’ve talked about and featured photographs of Kao=S, a band that fuses traditional Japanese instruments with rock. I’ve taken a keen interest in this band, not only for their unique music but because I identify with their struggle to break through — to get noticed and build an audience. Unlike the other Japanese bands I’ve seen in Austin, Kao=S takes every opportunity to be heard. Beyond performing at clubs, they took to the streets to perform in front of anyone that would listen.

Shuji on Red River Street #1 – Austin, Texas

Daisuke and Jack, Red River Street – Austin, Texas

These photographs are from one of their impromptu concerts. They setup on Red River Street in the middle of the SXSW 2013. You can feel the energy, and a dynamic that’s different from a stage performance. I have tremendous respect for artists willing to perform in front of an unfamiliar audience.

Kaori performing, Red River Street – Austin, Texas

I see many parallels between music and photography. Both are tremendously impacted by digital copies and easy world-wide distribution. Both art forms are stolen by many people without a thought about the consequences. But ultimately, beyond the fear of theft, the fear of irrelevance is stronger. What good is art if it isn’t seen and heard by others? And though I don’t get the impact of performing directly in front of a crowd, I suppose I post my photos to put a piece of me out there. Perhaps something that will outlast me, in the digital ether, long after I’m gone.

Jack with his shamisen, Red River Street – Austin, Texas

Shuji on Red River Street #2 – Austin, Texas

While I don’t think photography has the same visceral impact as music, it’s the way I’m trying to leave my mark. I feature these photos as a proxy for my struggles to be seen. Photographs of me taking pictures or post-processing doesn’t seem as cool as these guys jamming on the street. But the same struggles are there, with any artist, in this modern, digital world. I’m glad that, in some small way, I can share the artistry of Kao=S through my art of capturing life in the city.

Kao=S on Red River Street – Austin, Texas

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