Today’s Post by Joe Farace
If you’re a regular reader of my photography how-to Blog, you know that I am a big fan of mirrorless cameras.
For the past several weeks I have been testing a Panasonic Lumix S1R and last month wrote a post for this blog about shooting that camera with Sigma’s L-mount 14-24mm lens. At July’s Cars & Coffee in Parker Colorado, I was back with the S1R, this time with Sigma’s 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art Lens. You can read the specifications and some of my technical testing of this lens here.
After last month’s bulging-at-the-seams Vehicle Vault Cars & Coffee, the July event was a return to form with the added bonus of attendance from a contingent of members of the The Z Car Club of Colorado, who brought a wide spectrum of cars including a beautifully restored 240Z and some of the latest models. There are also a few 300ZX’s that I have always liked. Not too long ago I had an opportunity to purchase a T-top model at a great price but that was when I still owned my CLA 350 and there was no room in the garage.
How I made this shot: Using the Lumix S1R’s non-flippy but tilting screen, I made this Hail Mary shot of this classic lead sled. This kind of shot is a good one to try at a crowded car shows like this one because you can get close to the car, simply the background and distractions from people walking into the shot. Holding a camera over your head also gets you a wider berth from spectators than might otherwise be the case. Lens was the redoubtable 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art Lens at 29mm, with a Program mode exposure pf 1/400 sec at f/13 and ISO 320.
How I made this shot: Using the Lumix S1R’s non-flippy but tilting screen, I made this low-down, opposite of Hail Mary shot of this classic street rod. This is another kind of shot that’s a good one to use at crowded car shows like this one because you can get close to the car, simply the background against a nice blue sky, like I did here. Lens was the 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art Lens set at 41mm, with a Program mode exposure pf 1/640 sec at f/14 and ISO 320.
While slightly heaver than Sigma’s 14-24mm lens (1.84 vs 1.75 lbs,) the 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art lens was exceptionally well balanced when carrying around attached to the not-so-lightweight Lumix S1R. I was quite surprised by the performance of and how much I liked shooting the 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art Lens in this kind of environment. I originally thought that the lens’s widest angle setting would be too wide (it wasn’t) and the short telephoto end would be too long (it wasn’t either.) In fact on a full-frame camera, like the S1R, the 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN Art lens seemed like the perfect compromise and made for an excellent walking around lens at this car show.
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