Shooting the Canon EOS M5

The Canon EOS M5 is the latest offering by Canon in the mirrorless form factor. Offering the same sensor and much of the performance of the mid-range DSLR’s, the mirrorless bodies are far smaller. This allows the photographer the chance to use these cameras in places a full sized DSLR would be too cumbersome.

The Canon EOS M5 and the 22mm f/2 EF-M lens
The Canon EOS-M5

I am a veteran of the original M and the M3, carrying both cameras extensively. From Nicaragua to Alaska, and around the islands, I have used these little cameras to capture some excellent images.

I had issues with the original, returning my first copy. I eventually gave the camera another chance and have learned to like the capability the cameras provide a mobile photographer. I carry the camera on the job atop the incomparable Mauna Kea, a place where you always want a camera handy!

A trio of EOS-M's, including the original M, the M3 and the M5 (left to right)
A trio of EOS-M’s

The critics have not been kind to the previous M series cameras. While they are decent cameras, offering excellent photo quality, they have lagged behind the competition, particularly the Sony mirrorless, on the features.

The M5 marks a change in this, several reviews from the key sites note that M5 performance and features places it among the best on the market in terms of features and cost. The comment echoed by several critics… This is the camera Canon should have built to start with.

Yeah… I wanted one.

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The 2014 DarkerView Review

In reading my friend Dean Ketelsen’s blog he reminded me that I have not yet assembled my usual year in review blog entry. Darker View is a blog, a web log of my life as blogs were originally invented.

As it is customary to use the new year’s holiday as a reason look back on the previous year I shall do just that. A chance to recall what adventures life has brought us, to remember the little victories, and hopefully not too many failures.

There were 434 blog entries for 2014 detailing a busy year. At least a few folks actually come by to read all of those posts, DarkerView had 69,694 view from 31,607 unique visitors. Looking through the top read posts of 2013 reveals some interesting points…

  1. Astrophotography with the EOS-M
  2. The iOptron ZEQ25
  3. Repairing a Wii Balance Board
  4. A Backyard Telescope Pier
  5. Autoguiding the iOptron ZEQ25 with an SBIG STi
  6. Starscape Photography
  7. Degrees, Arc-Minutes and Arc-Seconds
  8. SBIG ST-i Autoguider
  9. Mauna Kea Claims Another…
  10. Deep Violet, an 18″ f/4.5 Dobsonian
  11. Total Lunar Eclipse 14 April 2014
  12. Rebuilding a 12.5″ f/5 Truss Tube Dobsonian
  13. USB to ST-4 Autoguiding Adapter
  14. Canon EOS-M
  15. Rewiring a Celestron NexStar Telescope
  16. The Hotech CT Laser Collimator
  17. A Red LED Desk Lamp
  18. Shoveling Snow in a Tropical Paradise
  19. Visiting the Summit of Mauna Kea
  20. Elongations, Conjunctions and Oppositions
  21. A Second Try for the EOS-M
  22. Getting Focus Right

It is a surprise just how many of these articles were written before 2014, at least two of these articles are from the old Whitethorn House website, well over a decade old! The telescope making posts make up most of these older, well read articles. It is clear that folks are using DarkerView for reference, finding these old articles in the search engines. Hopefully they are still useful.

Removing the pre-2014 posts from the list dramatically shortens it…

  1. Starscape Photography
  2. Total Lunar Eclipse 14 April 2014
  3. The Hotech CT Laser Collimator
  4. Shoveling Snow in a Tropical Paradise
  5. Visiting the Summit of Mauna Kea
  6. Getting Focus Right

I am not sure that this is good. Is my writing falling off? Or does my older work just have staying power that it continues to serve a use for readers. This will be interesting to watch as I start another year of blogging. DarkerView is here to stay.

Shooting with the Canon 6D

It has been a long time since I shot a full frame 35mm camera. Not since I shot film have I used a camera with a full 35mm image size. My older DSLR cameras have use APS-C sized sensors. The Canon 6D is a full frame camera with a 36x24mm sensor, something that has quite an impact on the camera’s capabilities.

The Gate
Vines now keep this old gate permanently shut, Canon 6D and 24-105mm f/4 L lens
A few months of shooting have given me a better appreciation of the camera. the camera is great to use. It is an enjoyable camera to shoot. The photos speak for themselves, the thousand words thing applies here. I have gotten shots where none of my other cameras would have, particularly in low light. The Canon 6D is one of the best cameras currently available for use in low light. It even edges out its more expensive siblings the Canon 5DmkII and III for making the best use of every available photon. Not just astronomy either, but star parties and lecture halls. The astronomy capability is excellent, attaching the camera to a telescope allows capture of more than just our small world.

Blackjack!
Blackjack and bokeh, Canon 6D and 50mm f/1.8 lens
There are other implications of full frame… The large format sensor behaves much differently than smaller sensors when it comes to focus. Depth of field changes the game. Very small sensors, particularly cell phone sensors, have enormous depth of field by nature of the optical design. Nearly everything is in focus, from near to far. Photographers love shallow depth of field, it allows the subject to be isolated from the background. Everything closer of further away becomes a soft blur, something photographers call bokeh.

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2013 In Review

A year in review article? Really? Yeah, everyone does it, and you get tired of them. I am going to do it anyway… It is a nice excuse to look back over the previous year and see what I spent the last 365 days of my life doing.

As Darker View is intended to be a web diary, in the original sense of the term blog, I can look back through a year of postings to do this. I have to admit a few surprises were to be had, things I had forgotten about!

Pāhoehoe
An active pāhoehoe breakout at Kupapaʻu

Looking back I have to admit it was not a bad year.

Andrew and the Galaxy
Taking astrophotos under the Milky Way Galaxy