While I was browsing through the Optech USA website for a new Pro camera strap, I stumbled upon this other cool accessory in their lineup, their Compact Battery Holster.
It's stretchy neoprene fabric, like a wetsuit, with a loop attachment that will allow you to attach it to your camera strap, belt, or backpack.
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Just as I was contemplating selling my (almost new) Canon EOS M6 mirrorless camera (because I found some other equipment I'd like to try out, haha), I saw THIS image on the Canon EOS M body Facebook group! So bad ass!
This setup belongs to one of the group moderators, a guy named Januar Kurniawan in Jakarta Indonesia. It looks SO DAMN COOL to have an old school Canon FD mount lens on a silver EOS M6! First of all, one of the reasons I bought the silver version in the first place is because I loved the old school vintage look of the body... but adding the older manual focus FD lens makes it look EVEN COOLER.
However, let's put looks aside for a minute - what about the performance of this lens?
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I finally got my first Sigma Art Lens!
After visiting the Sigma factory in the historic samurai town of Aizu, nestled in the picturesque hills of Bandai-Asahi National Park in Japan's Fukushima prefecture, I was honestly very impressed at the painstaking process that the Sigma factory technicians go through to build each lens, from the barrels to the optics to the packaging. Even though I was shooting stills at the factory, I didn't actually have the opportunity to try out the lenses myself (the factory tour took a long time - or maybe I just took a long time shooting the different areas of the factory). That being said, I decided to take the shinkansen (bullet train) back to Tokyo so I could go shopping at my favorite camera shops.
I started off by looking at the new 20mm, 50mm, and 85mm Sigma Art Lenses, but actually found a used 20mm copy at a discount that was still in pretty much perfect condition. Even though I looked into the Art Series 50mm and 85mm initially, I was really intrigued by the 20mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art because most of the lenses I use often tend to be telephoto lenses or zooms, and I didn't have a wide prime in my collection yet. (I used to own the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L, but ended up selling it because I didn't use it much.)
However, when I tried out the 20mm Sigma Art Lens, I was so shocked at the sharpness and bokeh it produced at such a wide focal length! In fact, from my research, I think this Sigma Art Lens is the highest quality, widest aperture lens available in 20mm. I just had to have it!
I'm not going to get all technical on this writeup - instead, I figured I'd just show some of the images I shot with this lens thus far!
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Whaaat! Sigma just announced today that they will be releasing a brand new 16mm f/1.4 lens for Sony E-mount and APS-C Mirrorless cameras. This got me thinking... I was just complaining (to myself) that I wish the 15-45mm kit lens on my Canon M6 was available with a better aperture, and lo and behold! Sigma came through and created this new lens, without me even having to voice my opinion to them! Arigato!!!
Unfortunately, this lens doesn't work with my Canon M6, and I recently sold my Sony A6000, (which would have been perfect for this lens). The release of this lens has me curious about buying an A6500 just to try out this lens.
The wide focal length will be perfect for videographers using the lens for smooth panning shots. This would be especially perfect for anybody who intends to use their mirrorless camera on a gimbal, like the Zhiyun Crane or something like that - you want a wide lens for smooth pans and tilts!
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I recently purchased the new Canon M6 mirrorless camera, so I could try it out. I was interested in its capabilities as a small, lightweight, portable-yet-powerful camera that I could use for event vlogging and random short trips or shop visits.
I ordered the camera with the kit lens, which was weird for me. In the past 10+ years, I have NEVER ordered a camera with a kit lens. Never. Usually, I dislike kit lenses, because they're cheap and the image quality usually is poor. Sorry to bash if you have an 18-55 EF lens on your Rebel DSLR (if you do, shame on you - upgrade asap!), but this is how I feel. However, this time around, I thought that the specs on the Canon EF-M 15-45mm lens were pretty legit!
Of course I wish the Canon EF-M 15-45mm had a constant f/2.8 aperture all the way through, but that would most likely make the lens huge and heavy. (I'd be OK with that though!) The main reason I thought this lens would be good were because of:
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1DX Mark II: My new baby!
"Well, what had happened was..." (LOL)
Sooo... I was on a leisurely afternoon stroll through Shinjuku (Tokyo), and I remembered that I wanted to buy an extra Canon LPE17 battery for the Canon M6 camera that I recently bought (just about a month prior), so I walked into Yodobashi Camera. Big mistake. BIG MISTAKE.
Not that anything is wrong with Yodobashi Camera - quite the contrary. I'm in LOVE with the store. They have everything you need for your photo project, everything that you didn't know you needed, and everything you didn't even know existed. Yup. Japan has the best camera stores I've ever been to in my entire life.
Anyway - I saw the display for the new Canon 1DX Mark II, and thought to myself, "I've always wanted a 1DX. I wonder how much those are going for used these days...?" So then I looked through 3 or 4 of my favorite used camera shops in Tokyo, and at the last shop I checked... I saw it. A beautiful, gorgeous, incredibly new-looking (but used) 1DX Mark II for A LOT less than the average used price in the USA.
It looks like I'll be working on a special photo project in the Fukushima prefecture in a few weeks, and I just found out that Sigma Photo produces their Art Lenses in Fukushima!!! What?!
Apparently, Sigma has their Art Lens factory in the city of Aizu, and I'm actually planning to shoot IN AIZU for this project, because the city has deep roots as a feudal samurai area! (How cool!)
I just sent a blind email to Sigma USA. I hope they respond! I would absolutely LOVE to visit (and shoot photos at) the Sigma factory. [UPDATE: Their Marketing Manager responded to my email today!!! Thank you!!!]
I don't own any Sigma lenses though, only Canon L glass. I wonder IF they would let me shoot their factory as part of my Fukushima promotional project, and IF they would let me use some of their Sigma Art lenses for this particular shoot? (I'm imagining they might not want a photographer shooting their Sigma Art Lens factory using non-Sigma glass, right?)
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