Following my despair when I was unable to locate a lens-doctor here in Australia who could assist with de-clicking my Samyang 35mm f1.4 lens I decided to give it a go myself, which turned out to be not just very easy but also worth it all!
Before I run you through the process it is important for me to highlight that I do not recommend anyone to this unless they are fairly confident in exposing the inside of their lens – I do not take any responsibility should you stuff it up
If you are already asking yourself ‘what difference does this make’ or ‘whats the purpose of this’ then this is probably not an ‘operation’ for you.
To be successful is de-clicking your own (Samyang 35m) lens you will need:
1 x philips screwdriver size poo (used for optical devises – can be purchased in most hardware stores)
Plastic gloves (you do not want big fat fingerprints on the inside of your lens elements)
A nice and tidy work environment (dust free and preferably dry too)
a tiny bowl or container for all the little screws and parts (you do not want to lose any of them)
So lets get’s started:
Step 1 -remove and expose the 'inside'
Using the screwdriver unscrew the three screws- remembering to put them aside so they do not get lost (they are tiny!) – lift the steel mount off and gently remove the black plastic cover (this is actually the iris-ring) + the inner silver ring (more screws), which will expose something a bit more interesting.
When moving the black ring a tiny(!) steel-ball and spring will pop out, this is where the ‘clicking’ comes from – and your lens will look similar to this:
Be very cautious when dissembling the lens barrel and note how it's put together!
Now is when the difficult part starts: putting everything back together again – The true trick is to remember exactly how everything fits back together and not to have lost any of the tiny screws. Be very careful with the screwdriver as it is easy to scratch the back glass element which will be a disaster !
When fully assembled you will (hopefully) have a fully functional lens with a smooth de-clicked iris which is perfect for video work (note it does not have any advantage when shooting stills/timelapse/etc!) You might find that the iris ring is a bit soft (I do not have this issue, but I have seen rapports online that some people find it too smooth)
Also, let me say that I would probably never do this with a dearer lens; the Samyang 35mm can be purchased 2nd hand for around $300-350 so my loss would not be that much should I end up with a broken lens barrel. I would never attempt this with an expensive Carl Zeiss lens!
If you have successfully de-clicked your lens feel free to comment with your ideas and tips, or maybe you have advise on how to make the process easier.
edit: please not that this lens does exist in a (pre-de-clicked) version, however I have not had any luck finding it any where (after 12 months)
links to companies/professionals who offer to do this service are also welcome in the comments below
National Geographic (Hungary) caption by Ken Kaminesky
Ok. so I admit it; I have not been as active on the blog recently, which I apologise -I have been flat out with work and will hopefully be able to show you some very interesting projects very soon.
However, until then I would like to draw your attention to one of my favourite fellow travel photographers;Mr Ken Kaminesky. I firstly noticed his work a few years back while writing a piece on HDR photography for another online blog. Whether or not you like the almost artificial colours which HDR tends to produce you can not deny that when it is done professionally and correct it does tend to produce a very striking final images.
Ken’s work has won him many accolades, including a cover of National Geographic and a commissioned two week shoot for the Tourism Board of Jordan.
I encourage you all to visit his homepage and his blog where you will find many more of his striking images as well as information about how they were created.
Today I was actually supposed to finish off my review of a macro lens which Sigma Australia recently lent me but instead I feel like I have to share a few words about the RODE workshop I attended the other day.
RODE microphones had brought in one of the major players on the market for DSLR and Video; Mr Philip Bloom himself. If you don’t know who Philip Bloom is take a look at his webpage here.
During the full seven hours (10:00-17:00) we were taken on a journey where Bloom demonstrated the most crucial techniques when it comes to filmmaking. The pace, amount of information and not less the casual relaxed atmosphere in the auditorium made the day a fantastic experience for all of us.
On the large trestle table in front of Bloom he had put a lot of his tools and toys on display for us to touch, admire and play with. The selection included the new Canon C300, Philip Blooms own signature dolly, Sony F3 and not least a whole lot of Zacuto equipment with a retail value higher than most people’s annual income.
The always entertaining Ric Creaser did a quick rundown of the variety of microphones on the market today and Philip finished of with a very interesting segment on time-lapse.
I thank RODE for giving me this opportunity and I am looking forward to the next workshop – If you want the full rundown of the day please check out this great review.
Kind Regards
Morts
I will not give a complete rundown of the full day as I know that a few of the other attendees have already posted these online
Long time ago when I started to plan my recent trip to Denmark I decided to produce a little time-lapse clip with the crossing of the Great Belt Bridge between the two main islands Funen and Zealand. The total length of the bridge is close to 7km and with the East Bridge having the third longest main span of a mere 1630meters. This is the longest free span outside Asia.
I had planned the shoot in details but somehow managed to screw it up partly due to a technical glitch and partly due to a weak Bowens Magic Arm that failed.
As you are unable to stop during the crossing of the bridge I decided to use my Apple Iphone so I, at least, could get some footage of the crossing (which sets you back around $102/return)
I used the time-lapse application and set the frequency to 1s/5sec which with an average speed of 65miles/h would give me a 10sec clip when played back with a 24frames/sec.
The result is far from impressive but it gives a good impression of the majestic bridge pillars and the beautiful conditions Denmark offers at night time.
- Always bring back-ups of EVERYTHING
- An Iphone is a fun tool to play around with and can produce decent results
- Denmark is an expensive country
- Bridges are aways good subjects!
If this had been a client-paid project I would of course have brought several back-up cameras, arms, laptops etc. It is always important to learn from your mistakes and instead of seeing it as a negative thing see it as a new opportunity.
Canon is a brand name that needs no introduction for most photographers at any level. Their lens lineup is quite comprehensive and impressive ranging from the cheaper kit/entry lenses which will only set you back a few 100 $ and all the way up to their high-end pro lenses that can easily cost you the same as a new car.
Their latest lens is a very interesting UWA lens which also is the world’s first zoom-fisheye.. The current price-tag is more than $1300 and the use of it us relatively limited… but is it worth the money spent?
Almost a year after this lens was first announced I managed to get my hands on one (actually two as the first specimen I tried was faulty and jammed after two shots) which I have now had a few weeks to try out and test.
A new (big) boy of its own
The first thing you notice when you pick this L-series lens up is the weight, it is a genuine one-ponder weighing in at 546g which makes it more than 225g heavier than the standard EF-15mm which is my favourite WA lens at the moment. The lens is constructed with 14 lenses in 11 groups making it a monster of a lens.
This lens can be used on full-frame bodies as well as APS-C bodies giving you two completely different results. I had the chance to test it on a EOS 7D and a EOS 1Ds III with the latter being much more useful in my eyes. When used with a full-frame camera the lens offers you not just a full-frame fisheye function but also a circular fisheye when used at 8mm. On the 7D the lens only delivers a partial circular fisheye which means that the corners are blackened and the ‘circle’ being cropped. To manage this ‘handicap’ on smaller sized sensors the lens has been created with a ‘limit’ switcher which prevents you from zooming to the dark-cornered focal-lengths (which on a 7D is just around 10mm) . A clever little feature that definitely adds to the overall impression.
I must admit that i have never been a big fan of the circular fish-eye lenses simply because I felt that the price vs. usage was not worth the investment. I have previously had an old russian manufactured Zenith lens which offered me the UWA option. I bought it for around $100 and managed to use it twice in six years so I decided never to purchase another fish-eye again………….. But I did and I am very happy that I did because the image quality this lens produces is nothing but spectacular; Canon has applied their new SWC coating to inner surface if the front element which helps reducing the risk of flare/reflexions before the light reaches the sensor.. All of this in addition to the now-standard L-lens Fluorite coating.
So, are there no bad things about this lens?
Like in the real world we all have our good days and bad days, the same goes for this lens. I could talk for hours about all the things I really like about this great lens, but I know that you can find all these in many other reviews elsewhere. I would rather point out the major two points I have noticed during the last 12 days which could potentially be an issue in the long run: The included lens hood ( EW-77) is great when used at 15mm where it does exactly what expected of a lens hood. However if you decide to use the lens as a zoom-lens you will have to manually remove/attach it again as it will cause physical vignetting when used wider. This is very unusual for a zoom-lens and I doubt that I would find it amusing to constantly removing/replacing the hood every time I zoom back out. Without the lens hood attached the front element of the lens is more exposed and prone to be scratched. My only other concern/observation is that the first lens received only lasted two shots before it jammed which could just be bad luck, but unfortunately does make me a bit concerned and anxious.
My conclusion
This is a lens I know will become very popular and for good reason! Compared to the 15mm f2.8 it delivers a more smooth, softer and faster AF, the SWC coating makes a massive difference when it comes to eliminating flare and ghosting. This lens is probably one of the best build lenses I have ever seen. It is weather and dust sealed and feels rugged and solid. The three most important features to me would be:
- Excellent colour reproduction.
- Smooth and silent AF (the fastest I have seen on a WA zoom)
- Solid construction (another HQ L-series lens)
So, would I recommend this lens?
I am not sure whether is is actually possible to purchase this lens yet, but with a price-tag way above what many other WA lenses cost today it is a big chunk of money to pay for a lens that is somehow limited to the UWA end. However, with its solid build and new technologies I am sure it will find its place in the market, and I have no doubt it will be a success for Canon. I can mention a lot of scenarios where I would love to have this lens in my bag. I normally do not hand out stars/marks or even percentages of my reviews as it always comes down to my personal (although very subjective) view.. But if I should give this lens points I would not hesitate to give it 8.5/10 based on picture quality, colour reproduction and technology.
Thanks for reading
Morts
* More photos will be uploaded as soon as my internet is stable again.. stay tuned
As part of the user interaction of this page I would like to invite you to submit YOUR requests and wishes of what you want to read about here on this blog.
I do now have more than 3000 unique visits each week which is more than I could ever have dreamed of five months ago when I decided to close down Photorism and dedicate my work to this blog instead. This is why I ask YOU for help now!
Tell me what is important to YOU and what would make it even more interesting for you to interact and participate on here.
Submit your ideas and wishes to me either via TWITTER, by commenting on this post or via email (post@MortenLindholm.com)
The word is YOURS! (All ideas will be posted here on the blog – spam will be deleted)
Thanks for your input
Kind Regards
Morts
PS. Photo does not have anything to do with this post, I just like it!
OK I admit it! the blog post today has been seen on several other blogs during the last week but it is simply too good not to re-post!
I am a big fan of speedlites, (small compact external flash units) and have always believed that they could be used for almost all kinds of photography, but this amazing clip featuring the Japanese band ‘androp’ completely knocked my socks off..
250 Speedlite flash units and 250 Canon EOS 60D camera bodies were used to make this video, which is an epic masterpiece if you ask me!
When you have watched it, I recommend you taking a look at the Behind-The-Scenes clip below to see how a professional team works! Envy!
Morts
PS. Just realised that they could have saved the 250 camera bodies and just linked up the flash units alone, but I guess that was a part of the deal. (they were supported by Canon Japan)
For most photographers a handful of strobes and a smaller selection of modifiers are more than enough to create absolutely spectacular results, whether in the studio or on location. For Yuri Arcurs too much is never enough.
Being the worlds leading stock-photographer, Yuri has personally been in charge of designing and setting up his brand new photo studio in his home country of Denmark.
In this video he gives us the grand tour of his studio, which will make any photographer green of envy.
to read more about Yuri’s work take a look at his web-universe here.
The TED Prize is designed to leverage the TED* community’s exceptional array of talent and resources. It is awarded annually to an exceptional individual who receives $100,000 and, much more important, “One Wish to Change the World.” After several months of preparation, s/he unveils his/her wish at an award ceremony held during the TED Conference. These wishes have led to collaborative initiatives with far-reaching impact. The 2011 winner JR ahs produced a magnificent and touching video about a recent photographic project which is not only groundbreaking but also very emotional to watch.
The list of previous winners of the TED price includes Jamie Oliver, Bill Clinton and Bono
I know the above video has been available online for quite a while, however it is one of those clips you can watch over and over again.
Keyboard Shortcuts in Photoshop - copyright by Photo-Templates.com
I am an avid user of various computer programmes for post-processing my images with Adobe Photoshop being the one I use the most for RAW processing and colour adjustments. As I often work with a large number of photos and huge amounts of data I have found the Adobe shortcuts sheet above to be of great help to me. It makes it easier for me to work flawlessly as well as speeding up the entire process. There are many different versions of this sheet and they can all be found via a simple google search. If you are using Lightroom, Aperture, Elements or something similar I am sure you can find lists of shortcuts for those too. The basic list above is compiled by Photo-Templates and is in my opinion one of the easiest ones to work with. Feel free to print/copy/save the list for your own personal use.
