Plateau Mont-Royal and downtown Montreal
Being more of a (concert) portrait photographer, I rarely get a chance to shoot wide angle lenses. When I shoot portraits of musicians performing live, my usual "go to" lenses are the smc Pentax DA* 50-135mm f'2.8 and the smc Pentax FA-50mm f/1.4 lenses. So on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I decided it was time for a "wide to normal angle" downtown walkabout shooting.
The following pictures where taken on my first "photowalk" of the year. I used my trustworthy Pentax K-5 DSLR mounted with a Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC (OS) HSM. It's actually my first outdoors shooting with the Sigma lens since I got it in fall 2012. I've only had the opportunity to shoot with it a on some rare occasions at indoors concerts and in low light. In daylight, the lens performed a lot better than I expected. Auto focus was very fast and accurate. Pictures are sharp and well detailed. The lens produces some normal distortion at 17mm but things get better as you move towards the long end. The lens is a little on the heavy side, so it's not the ideal walk around lens if you plan on carrying it for many hours on a standard neck strap. I use a BlackRapid RS-Sport 2 (the slim model) slingshot strap and even with that I was tired from the weight at the end of the day. The RS-2 is not the widest at the shoulder, so a wider strap would've been preferable with the weight of the K-5 and this lens. The lens also suffers from zoom creep while walking. The lens has a zoom lock at 17mm to prevent the zoom from extending.
Being more of a (concert) portrait photographer, I rarely get a chance to shoot wide angle lenses. When I shoot portraits of musicians performing live, my usual "go to" lenses are the smc Pentax DA* 50-135mm f'2.8 and the smc Pentax FA-50mm f/1.4 lenses. So on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I decided it was time for a "wide to normal angle" downtown walkabout shooting.
The following pictures where taken on my first "photowalk" of the year. I used my trustworthy Pentax K-5 DSLR mounted with a Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC (OS) HSM. It's actually my first outdoors shooting with the Sigma lens since I got it in fall 2012. I've only had the opportunity to shoot with it a on some rare occasions at indoors concerts and in low light. In daylight, the lens performed a lot better than I expected. Auto focus was very fast and accurate. Pictures are sharp and well detailed. The lens produces some normal distortion at 17mm but things get better as you move towards the long end. The lens is a little on the heavy side, so it's not the ideal walk around lens if you plan on carrying it for many hours on a standard neck strap. I use a BlackRapid RS-Sport 2 (the slim model) slingshot strap and even with that I was tired from the weight at the end of the day. The RS-2 is not the widest at the shoulder, so a wider strap would've been preferable with the weight of the K-5 and this lens. The lens also suffers from zoom creep while walking. The lens has a zoom lock at 17mm to prevent the zoom from extending.
All in all, I'm very satisfied with the result of the Sigma lens. There's nothing bad to say about the image quality and the lens handles quite well.
Photos edited in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop.
Rue de Maline, Plateau Mont-Royal (near Sherbrooke metro).
A typical scene from Le Plateau Mont-Royal, rue de Maline (near Sherbrooke metro).
"Sooo Montreal" ― Plateau Mont-Royal (backstreet off of rue Drolet, near Carré St-Louis).
Graffitis on le Plateau Mont-Royal (backstreet off of rue Drolet, near Carré St-Louis).
Le Parc Jeanne-Mance, Plateau Mont-Royal.
Le Parc Jeanne-Mance, Plateau Mont-Royal.
Le Parc Jeanne-Mance, Plateau Mont-Royal.
Downtown Montreal seen from le Parc Jeanne-Mance, Plateau Mont-Royal
(walking South on l'avenue du Parc).
A nice walk through le Parc du Mont-Royal, Montreal.
(walking South on l'avenue du Parc).
A nice walk through le Parc du Mont-Royal, Montreal.
The traditional lineup at the world famous Schwartz's Deli
(3896 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Plateau Mont-Royal).
(3896 Saint-Laurent Boulevard, Plateau Mont-Royal).
Nothing better than an iced latte to finish it off at Café Dépot on Ste-Catherine Street
(Complexe Desjardins - Montreal).
(Complexe Desjardins - Montreal).
Wow je m'ennuie de Montreal a voir ces photos la! Elles sont super belles :)
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