I found some weird stuff.
Canon R & EF 17-40/4 L
Thursday Morning
I took Thursday off. I had a few errands to run, one of them being dropping off the Tamron at the repair shop in Bielsko. I figured it would be a pretty good excuse to take the Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L out for a spin on the original EF to RF adapter. I initially thought it’d be a neat piece of glass for the 5D Mark II, but I also bought the adapter just in case I wanted to slap it onto the mirrorless body. And you know what? It blew my mind.
Said mirrorless is the Canon R, their first stab at moving away from DSLRs. Looking back, I think it was a pretty solid effort. First and foremost, this camera is insanely comfortable. The ergonomics are top-tier, especially when you weigh the body down with a battery grip. The EVF is okay. As you well know, I prefer an OVF, and among my beasts, the Lumix S1 and Leica SL Typ 601 absolutely crush what this Canon brings to the table. What really shocked me, though, was Canon’s manual focus assist system. You have to understand, the only lens I previously used on this body was the RF 28mm f/2.8 pancake. The focus ring on that thing is rather symbolic and a bit, well... cheap. The assist itself worked fine, but I didn't use it much because the ring was just so-so. Throwing a chunky L-series glass with a proper focus ring into the equation completely changes the game.
I bought this adapter to test how the AF would behave. And I was genuinely surprised here, because it works flawlessly. Tracking, face detection, accuracy, speed. It literally performs like a native RF lens. If anyone has a stash of EF glass, you can jump into mirrorless without batting an eye. But the biggest thrill is using MF with the Canon assist. I literally feel like a fighter pilot. Those three little targeting triangles for focus are simply badass. Absolutely every shot in this post was taken on manual.
The whole thing impressed me so much that I'm seriously considering picking up a used Canon R5 just to get a more detailed, brighter viewfinder with a better refresh rate, and access to those addictive arrows. But before I do something that stupid, I’ll try to hunt down a Sigma MC-21 or its Viltrox clone, to have an adapter with electronic contacts for the L-mount. I can totally see this lens mounted on the S1 or the Leica SL. Overall, I’ve also been itching for the 35mm f/1.4L, but let’s take it one step at a time. And for now, let’s step away from the gear nerdery.
Thursday Afternoon
In the afternoon, Michał and I drove down to Katowice for the opening of an exhibition by the late Józef Makal. We high-fived Robert when we got there and went to check it out. Makal worked as a photojournalist for "Dziennik Zachodni" for three decades, documenting the reality of Upper Silesia and the Dąbrowa Basin. He shot official events, but also did what we’d call street photography today, just with a more documentary feel.
I camped out for a bit at the negative viewing table, where people were examining them with loupes. I wandered around the room, took in the exhibition... and forgot to mention that it was held in the Silesian Museum building, right on the grounds of the former "Katowice" coal mine. Long story short, I slipped away for a moment to explore the surroundings. Here is what I found:
The exhibition took place in the revitalized section, and what I’m showing you... well, you can see for yourselves that there's still a lot of work left to do. The scenery feels straight out of a post-apocalypse. And to think this is the dead center of Katowice, with modern skyscrapers and nouveau-riche housing estates right behind my back. Oh well, let’s feast our eyes, because in a few years, this will all be gone. The post-industrial aesthetics, I mean. Looking at these photos, I’m kicking myself for deleting my entire stash of scale-modeling reference shots a few years back. Because it was basically this exact vibe. But maybe it’s for the best? I knew absolutely nothing about the art of composition back then.
Saturday Afternoon
I spent Friday stuck at work, as it was the last day of the month. On Saturday, which is when I’m writing these words (and it’s past 11:00 PM), we had rainy weather all day, and a thunderstorm even rolled through in the evening. But I managed to squeeze into a weather window right after 5:00 PM and took the bike for a spin around the neighborhood. Per tradition, I found some weird stuff.
I rode over to the nearby housing estate where a residential building burned down this past winter. It felt a bit sketchy wandering around with a camera where people actually live, especially since it’s social housing. But I did find an old wooden swing under a large bush, parked in a rather bizarre spot behind a garage.
They also took down the fence around a certain commercial building. For the life of me, I can't remember what kind of business used to be there, but I think the facade and the doors of this joint are simply epic. An empty Coke bottle in the window (they just introduced a deposit system here, so somebody’s a big spender!), a folding rule, and another measuring instrument in the shape of a stick.
On my way home, right by the bike path in the woods, I stumbled upon a spot where locals dump their worldly and no-longer-needed possessions. Shoes, clothes, toys. Under a tree sits the lonely guardian of this abandoned fortune. This is a teddy bear tailored to our capabilities, but not our needs.
Is This Combo Cool or Not?
I think it’s very cool. It might not be compact, but it is turbo-comfortable. Canon’s manual focus assist is probably the best implementation in any mirrorless camera. I mean, the one that brings the most joy, because in terms of raw utility, the PIP on the Lumixes is just in a different league.
To me, this lens is the equivalent of the Nikkor 25-50mm f/4 AIS. Meaning, I rarely shoot wider than 24mm, just like with the Nikkor I rarely shoot tighter than 40mm. Optically, it’s brilliant and has a gorgeous rendering. You have to stop the Nikkor down at the wide end, but here, from 24mm upwards, shooting wide open is more than good enough.
The files out of the Canon R are very specific. On one hand, the colors are really nice, but it’s seriously not the same as the 5D Mark II or the 6D anymore. I still caught glimpses of that old magic in the shots from the seaside: leaden clouds, sand, steel-gray sea, muted greens. Under normal conditions, it’s pleasant, but it’s just not it. I especially like strong primary colors, particularly red and blue. The files respond quite well to sliders, but I still stand by my opinion that aggressively lifting shadows is just asking for trouble. I have to admit that this Canon plays extremely well with my favorite preset; I basically don’t have to tweak anything, especially when I use the “Faithful” camera profile.
What really annoys me about this camera is that even at relatively low ISOs, I can see blotchy noise. Oh man, the old Nikons have truly spoiled me. ISO 6400 and 12800 look really good on them. Here? I start getting a gag reflex at anything over 1000. Obviously, that’s when I’m pixel-peeping, but still. I know that if I zoom in, it looks ugly! So there is a risk that it won’t look much better on the R5... although wait, that one has a BSI sensor. So who knows.
Alright, I gotta wrap this up. My wife just flew in from Italy, time to go say hi. It’s been Sunday for two minutes now. Catch you next time!
Captivating images!
My favorite in this batch (hard to pick just one!) is the one with the mannequin legs. Man! That could easily be an art installation.
That building with no-smoking and coke bottle was former "Bar u Nowoka", later rebranded to "777". I and half of neighbourhood kids were raised there, my little brother took his first steps on its patio.