I shot a couple of gigs of pictures last night in the studio. I was trying to make use of some of the features of the camera that I have ignored up to now, such as the autofocus. For portraiture, the selectable AF area function is really quite nice. The sensor locations are pretty good, though the end ones are next to useless. Running the camera vertically with the grip is pretty nice. The shutter button to 4 way switch distance is almost perfect for me. The switch itself when used with the camera in vertical orientation is quite good, far better than when being used to flip through menu options on the LCD. The camera is a bit short, and I found myself knocking the AF selector button quite often. A lock on it, much like the lock on the Program Plus on/off switch would be nice. The PC socket initially is a pain, I started off cursing where it was, and then came to like it. One of the bains of studio photography is the flash disconnecting because of the stupid PC socket, which has to be one of the most moronic designs for a plug in any application. I quickly came to appreciate that a comfortable way to hold the camera also involved holding the PC plug into the camera when shooting vertically.
The 31mm is, as expected, somewhat short for use in the studio, although I did use if for a couple of longer shots. I ended up using the 77 for most everything. I am getting used to the look of it, I haven't liked it for portraiture up to now. I find it is too sharp. I do like the working distance I get with it, and it's inherent sharpness works advantageously with the sharper look of the digital camera, providing that is what you want. I like not having to use a flash meter any more. The histogram is so much nicer, and having immediate access to a preview, however small, is great for visually checking light ratios. Depth of field is a bit of a bugger. It is difficult to throttle the Normans back far enough to get a wide enough aperture to throw the background out of focus. My next shoot I won't be so lazy, and I'll take my Photogenics downtown with me. I can throttle them back to just about nothing. I did a couple of side of the road landscapey shots with the 31mm today. I will try to post some pictures later on. Thats all for now William Robb
