Additional experience with the Sigma i-Series 35mm f2.0 Contemporary Lens. This has almost converted me into a 35mm focal length fan. But the lens had some help from a favorite camera.

the salad dish. Dinner at a friend's house. Fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, purple onions, zucchini, bleu cheese and a wonderful dressing. Handheld in the dining room, in the evening. 

dessert.

It was just last Friday when I decided to replace my first generation Sigma Art lens of the same focal length with the newer, slower, but much sexier looking f2.0 version. I have already fallen hard for the new lens. It just handles so much better. There was really nothing to complain about when it came to image quality with the one stop faster Art lens but damn! it was big and heavy. The new arrival is about half the volume and half the weight of the lens it replaces and the makes a huge difference if most of your shooting (at least these days) is done walking around in the heat, carrying your own stuff with you. 

After swim practice in a too warm pool this morning I had the sudden urge to eat a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast taco at a place called Torchy's. This worked out really well because I also got an email from REI that another pair of "Sahara" long pants I'd ordered online for tromping around in the sun was ready to be picked up from their downtown store. Torchy's and REI are about a quarter mile from each other and so my brain started to map out a route that would encompass both and also provide a loop through downtown so I could walk around and play with the lens again. 

But first, the taco. B. doesn't care for Torchy's Tacos but I find their breakfast tacos, on flour tortillas, to be very good, very authentic and a bargain. I ordered the egg, bacon and cheese taco and it arrived to the table in a paper lined, plastic basket, accompanied by a small container of salsa. I was so far off the reservation today that I ordered a Mexican Coke to go with my taco. For those of you who don't know domestic Coca-Cola is made with high fructose corn syrup while the Mexican product is made with cane sugar. Once a year I get curious enough to want to try a soft drink and when I do I try to make sure it's one of the Mexican Cokes that come in a traditional 12 ounce glass bottle. Yum. But only permissible once a year and on days where it is destined to be over 100°. I haven't gone full "Johnston" on a healthier diet just yet. 

The thing about Torchy's is that the tacos are amply stuffed with ingredients. And I don't know where they find such salty, perfect bacon but the salinity only adds to its "bad boy" allure. Tip the salsa along the diameter line of the taco and indulge. Protein, fat, processed white flour, spicy salsa. What's not to love? But just one. Never two.

Properly filled I headed out to take some black and white images, and the occasional saturated color images, of my favorite area in downtown. 

I used the lens on a Leica SL camera and set the camera for large Jpegs with enhanced contrast for even more snap. The lens balances beautifully on the ample camera body and the combo, especially in high octane sunlight, focuses instantly and with rigor. If you look at the "bendy" building shot a few images down you'll see that with the sun just out of the top of the frame I was able to elicit a bit of flare but I can't imagine any other lens would be much better in that regard. 

Most of the images are shot at ISO 50 which is the actual, native ISO for the Leica SL camera. For the black and white images I set the Jpeg parameters to "monochrome", medium high contrast, low noise reduction and medium high sharpness. Works well for me and I think the medium high contrast setting is what helps to accentuate the tones in the sky. I can't think of anything else that would since there is no option to apply digital color filters to the files (like green, yellow, orange and red...). 

I really like the camera and lens combination now. It's the best combination of all the camera bodies and lenses I currently own. See images below to make assessments about the technical qualities of the files.....

Park car. Turn around. See clouds. Shoot clouds.

devilishly handsome photographer becomes famous by photographing himself

day after day, week after week, month after month, in a mirror at the W Hotel. 

will it ever stop? f2.0 

A welcome (to me) vision of chaos in urban scape.

Look for the flare. Be at peace with the flare. 

Savor all that fantastic dynamic range. Ah. ISO 50.

Minimalist Landscape Photography. Less is less?

for years I have resisted coming to terms with the ever present 35mm focal length on a full frame camera. But not anymore. I have turned over a new leaf of acceptance and emotional regard for it. I must be mellowing from the passage of time. The antidote? More time with the Sigma 65mm f2.0. What a nice pair they make though. An SL on each shoulder. The 35mm on one and the 65mm on the other. Some extra batteries and more clouds in the sky. It's all we really need.