New accessories for my Canon EOS 40D

Since I first started my aquarium hobby (here), I was getting more and more equipments/accessories for it (here, here, here, here, here and here. Same goes when I had my first cat (here), and 3 more cats (here and here), I started to buy more and more things for my cats (here, here, here and here).

Now it’s time for my new camera. The first thing that I get is this Hoya UV Filter for the lens. It is said that UV rays make outdoor photography hazy and indistinct. But I don’t see much effect of it yet when I tested it last time. Anyway, I buy it is for something else – as a permanent protector for my lens.

This is how it looks out of the box. This is the multi-coated one, and is a bit more expensive than the normal one. Comparing the clarity of the image that I see through the filter makes me buy the multi-coated one. If you see with naked eyes, it seems that there is nothing inside the rig of the filter (i.e the glass is so clear).

I don’t really feel that the kit lens that comes with my camera is good enough. It is good for everyday use with the range of focal length of 18-55mm. But I need something more.

Been reading on the net that prime lens (i.e lens with a fixed focal length) is better than the normal zoom lens. And the 50mm one in particular, has received quite a good review almost everywhere. There is also one person in his blog, saying that if you use DSLR, this is the lens that is a must to get, and your DSLR really deserved this lens. The person even said that go out and buy this, and you will never regret.

Poisoned with what that person said, I went to Sungai Wang plaza yesterday to shop around for 50mm lens. You know what, I was thinking of getting Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM one. But after looking at the price, f****g hell. It costs more than my EOS 40D itself.

So I get the next best one in line, which is Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 USM.

And this is the lens out of the box.

So let test the lens now. This lens has the smallest F-number of 1.4. If you are reading about options, the smaller the F-number, the larger the aperture, the shallower the depth of field is.

This is the first photo that I shoot. Since the lens is set at f/1.4, meaning the lens is fast, i.e letting lots of light to enter, with a very dimmed light from my computer desk’s lamp, I’m able to take this photo without problem with no flash used. But this photo doesn’t really show much about the effect of depth of field. Oh by the way, this is the lens that I got as a kit with my EOS 40D camera.

This is another photo that I take with this new lens. This is Oyen sitting on my bed. At f/1.4, the effect of depth of field is brilliant. Just look at how the background is blurred so much, that makes the subject (i.e Oyen) stand out without distracting background.

And this is another shoot with Ebot as the subject, taken in my living room, just using the rooms light. I really like to softness that this lens gives.

Yes I know. I should clean both Oyen’s and Ebot’s eyes first before doing this photo-shoot. Hehe.

Final test for tonight, I’m taking the landscape photo with this lens. The shopper at where I bought this told me I shouldn’t use f/1.4 that much since it will give strain on the lens. Why arr. So I use f/1.8 for this one.

I’ve talked fish, I’ve talked cat, and now I’m talking photography.