Author Archives: complainwall
Looking for a budget lens with great sharpness?
Then the Tamron 70-300mm is the answer
I wanted a camera that I could use during a Europe tour. I was not looking for a fancy lens, I just wanted a simple easy to use lens. I found Tamron 70-300mm. This lens is called Tamron AF SP 70-300mm F/4-5.6 DI VC USD, but who can remember to say all of that?
I combined this lens with my full format camera Canon 6D. It was performing great. The auto focus on this lens is outstanding. It is absolutely steady when you want to take the picture when the auto focus is on. That is a big plus for this budget lens. The price is in favor for this Tamron lens, only 3000 SEK (350 US Dollar).
At 300mm
I combined this lens with my full format camera Canon 6D. It was performing great.
These pictures are taken at a folk dance event called europeade in Sweden with the combo Canon 6D and Tamron 70-300mm. The lens give sharp pictures, even when objects are moving.
This picture is taken with the combo Canon 70D and Tamron 70-300mm
I have noticed a little vignetting when I took some pictures at a airshow with the combo Canon 6D and Tamron 70-300mm. This happen when it was very bright sunshine that made everything look dark in the viewfinder. It can be that the sun was very bright and made the picture little darker sometimes and I had to put up the brightness in the camera. Otherwise the lens have really performed great all the time when I have used it. This picture is taken at 300mm. See example below:
The aperture starts at f4. This means the background might not be as blurry as you might wish for, but this can be done in Photoshop or Lightroom in post-production. So it is not a big deal.
The lens might be little heavy but if you are used to a lens like the big zoom lens Tamron 150-600mm. Then Tamron 70-300mm is not heavy at all.
It fits nicely into my small camera bag where I have a Canon 50mm f1.4 lens and Canon 24-105mm lens. Together all the three lenses will cover all your need when its comes to street photography, travels, dance events and even bird photography.
Want to know more about Tamron lenses? Click here for more info about Tamron 150-600mm. Maybe you are more into macro photography? Then Tamron 90mm is the lens for you
2015©Expressive Photos
Capture PRO – accessory for your camera
Gadget that can make life easier as a photographer
Imagine when you are hiking or walking in the forest and you don’t want to have the camera around your neck but still want to access it fast. Then a camera clip attached to your camera bag’s strap is a good thing to have. I have found one from peakdesign. It is called Capture PRO. You can have it on the belt around your waist or on your bag. You can have it horizontal or vertically. You put the red plate under your camera then you attached the rest on the straps of your camera bag.
It is easy to use and that is the most essential when it comes to camera clips. It has a red button that is the release button. You can also turn the top of the button to stop the plate from moving. There is another screw that can be turned to give more safety and locking it safe. The screws on the far end of the sides control the size of the gap so that you can attached it to a big/small bag strap.
Another good thing is that you can attached it to your tripod. It has a fast grip so you fast can put it on or take it off the tripod. Just release it by pushing the red button.
The picture above demonstrate how the camera will be attached to the bag. I even tried with my Tamron 150-600mm lens which is a huge lens. It still could hold that lens with a camera house. I would suggest to only have smaller lenses on the camera clip for your own safety and because you should avoid uneven and heavy weight on one side of your bag.
If you need to use two cameras and you want to switch fast between them then one you can have around your neck and one attached to the camera clip. That will make the photography process go fast. Otherwise you would have ot open your bag again just to take out the other camera. With the camera clip you can avoid wasting time and enjoy photography.
The cost for the Capture PRO is at the moment around 61 US dollar. I got a good offer from a online site so I bought two. One for me and one as a gift.
To see a video clip of how to use it check it here. If you want to know more about Capture PRO from peakdesign press here. On their homepage they have a lot of other great inventions.
If you have any questions you can always leave a comment.
2015©Expressive Photos
Lowepro Format 150 – a small bag
Looking for a small bag to fit your camera gears?
I needed a smaller bag for my vacation when I travel. Since I only needed to fit a camera house and 2 lenses I found Lowepro Format 150 bag to fit my purpose. On the front of the bag there is a little pocket where you can have extra batteries, memory cards and pens, etc. There is one pocket on each side of the bag for a tripod or bottles. There is no rain cover for this bag which is to bad because its a great bag otherwise. It weighs basically nothing only 0.5 kg.
I also tried to fit my big Tamron 150-600 mm lens in the bag and I could fit it too. See picture below to see how it looked. On the inside of the lid there is also a pocket for a 10″ tablet (Ipad etc). The bag can fit 5 small lenses and a camera house. To the left of the camera house you can see that the padding is divided to make it easier to have a lens attached with a camera house, that is a plus.
I have put the Lowepro Format 150 next to my usual bag the Lowepro 300 AW, so that you can have something to compare with.
All in all it is a great bag for travel. I used it for my vacation in Europe. I could pack it with all that I needed for my travels to different places. It will be the bag I am going to use if I am going out to take some pictures, especially for macro photography where I do not need any big lenses.
2015©Expressive Photos
Sandpiper in sunset
Sandpiper looking for food
Pictures taken when it is sunset makes great pictures. The light is just right that that time. The sandpiper gets natural light on the front and the colors of the grass glows. This picture is taken in south of Sweden. This bird might look big but its very small. Luckily I had my Tamron 150-600 mm with me so that I could zoom in on the bird. It was taken from the car and through a fence.
2015©Expressive Photos
Eurasian Curlew with Tamron 150-600mm
Do I have something on my beak?
Eurasian Curlew
On a sunny day I took this picture of a Eurasian Curlew. Its a mid sized bird that looks very interesting with the long beak. It is taken at 600 mm with Tamron 150-600mm lens and with Canon 70D. Even if this picture is taken at the maximum length of 600 mm it still turned out sharp. Tamron perform great when it is sunny weather. All the details will be seen and it nicely blurred out the background. The aperture is at f7.1 in this picture.
2015©Expressive Photos
I want food!
Black-headed Gulls
Begging for food
I took this picture when I was near a pond in a park. These birds looked very funny, like they were having a conversation so I quickly took a picture of them. I think the little black-headed gull is saying to the other that it wants food.
I used Tamron 150-600 mm with Canon 6D. The 6D really make the picture look softer and I like the result. Have you ever tried this lens and camera combination? Which combination do you prefer?
To see more pictures of this combo click here or follow me on facebook by clicking here.
2015©Expressive Photos
Damn, I lost it!
Damn, I lost it!
Talk about having something at the tip of your tongue. A fun picture of a nuthatch eating seeds, it was not easy for it to get a seed. The nuthatch kept dropping the seeds and had to try again to pick one up. The picture is taken with a Canon 6D and Tamron 150-600mm.
2015©Expressive Photos
Canon 70D vs 6D using Tamron 150-600mm
Quantity or quality, what do you want?
I recently got the Canon 6D and there is a great difference in quality when you are using Tamron 150-600mm. You can for example go down to 6.3 when you are using 600mm without any problems. On 70D the ISO would shot up very high if you were at 600 mm and you would get a lot of pixels showing when you were looking at the picture in your computer.
With Canon 6D you get better picture quality, since it is a full format camera house you can easier crop the picture in post production to only focus on the parts you like to keep. If you would crop a picture taken with Canon 70D that would effect the picture quality and make some parts blurry.
Canon 6D is not made to take pictures of birds flying by, that is much better with 70D since the picture per second is 7 and only 4,5 with 6D.
Duck sleeping peacefully
This picture is taken with Canon 6D and Tamron 150-600mm. It was little dark but 6D managed to take a great picture anyway. This picture is only taken at 250mm so there is a great sharpness in the picture. The ISO is at 1000 but there is no pixels visible compared if I would take this picture with 70D.
The softness that you get in the background with 6D is always a plus. I am now considering always using my Canon 6D for wildlife, but it is good to have 70D if you are expecting to take picture of flying birds or bigger animals like a tiger or leopard on a wildlife safari trip. I recommend to have both camera houses in your camera bag if you have the possibility.
Nuthatch hanging on
This picture is also taken with Canon 6D, this is taken at 600mm but there are still nice sharpness and the background is blurred out to make the picture even better. The aperture is at f7.1. If I would take a picture with Canon 70D I would use f9 to f11 in aperture to get a sharper image. The amount of pictures that turns out great are more with Canon 6D then 70D.
If you have any question feel free to ask in the comments field below.
2015©Expressive Photos
Is it possible to take photos of insects with a telephoto lens?
Tamron 150-600mm lens delivers quality close-up photos of insects
I was out shooting some pictures of birds with the Tamron 150-600mm and then suddenly I saw a dragonfly on a leaf. I quickly zoomed in on it and took a picture. The result is showed below.
Red dragonfly (Oriental Scarlet Crocothemis servilia), its a male. Male is totally red colored and female is olivaceous brown in color. It lives everywhere near stagnant water reservoirs such as tanks, ponds and paddy fields. This shot is taken with my big lens, but I got it to look like macro photography. It’s taken in India.
Now who says you can’t take a good macro picture with a big lens? I just proved it is possible. Here is one more proof:
Green dragonfly
I also took a picture of a butterfly. I think the result turn out pretty good. I have not done anything to the picture just added my logo.
Grey Pansy Butterfly taken with Tamron 150-600mm
I am not saying that you should replace your macro lenses with a telephoto lens. I am just glad you can take different photo styles with one lens.
Dont forget to follow this page and like the FB page. You can also check out more pictures on my Flickr page, the link is in the right menu.
2015©Expressivephotos
Crested Hawk Eagle – Tamron 150-600mm
Close up of a crested Hawk Eagle from India
The pictures below is Taken with a Canon 70D and Tamron 150-600mm. I took this picture in south of India. The Crested Hawk Eagle blend in with the environment so they can sometimes be hard to see. I was lucky enough to see this kind of bird twice.
2015©ExpressivePhotos
Expressive photos 