Karl Stanton

My new toy!

By karl ⋅ August 18, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

I used to have the Canon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM that I bought just before we went and saw The Police at the MCG in Melbourne, Australia.

I found this lens to work pretty well for its size. The image stabilizer was definitely the strong point of the lens. Because it extended beyond it’s balance, it was pretty shaky at 300mm. It got me by for the most part. It worked excellently in the day light, and was a great companion because of its size and weight.

The only problem I found is that it wasn’t fast enough in low light.

This was one of those moments where you had to be quick. Normally I forget to adjust my camera settings (if I’m shooting still life I normally have it on A priority and the widest I can go), but the lens failed me for the last time. This was shot at f/4.6 at 800 ISO (from memory), and the capture was still blurry and random. I put this lens on eBay the following day.

I sold it for just under US $1000 (I bought it for AUD $1200 3 years ago), and was extremely happy with the resell value. Lenses, if cared for, hold their value! The first replacement lens I had on my radar was the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. Canon have recently released the MK II version of this lens, so there are a lot of portrait and wedding photographers selling their MK I’s, and this is what I picked up.

Overall, I am extremely happy with this lens. I spent the weekend getting to learn it’s strengths (fast aperture, with sharp, high-contrast results) and it’s weaknesses (weight, size), and I will share some of the better results with you soon.

Keep an eye on my Flickr for the latest shots as they come off the camera.

5:30am. We dived right in…

By karl ⋅ June 23, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

I took this shot while I was walking home after a long night (day?) out in Stockholm. The water was beautiful, warm and crystal. We decided this was the perfect time to take advantage of the popular lake Trekanten (the Triangle).

Manhattan

By karl ⋅ June 8, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Taking a trip across from South Ferry over to Governor’s Island.

Manhattan, NYC, New York.

Coney Island

By karl ⋅ June 1, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

Shot at a very packed Coney Island. This was officially the first day of summer in New York City.

Kungsträdgården, Stockholm, Sweden

By karl ⋅ April 27, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment

I finally got my Yashica 635 film developed. This roll had been in that camera since my trip to Hong Kong in 2008. Not longer after that I moved to Sweden and fired off the last few. This is taken in Kungsträdgården, in the center of Stockholm, Sweden. Spring 2009.