Want some “L”oving, anyone?

I had a wonderful day yesterday. We had the monthly staff meeting and since it was somewhat special, as all meetings are, there was picture taking. My officemate (is that still correct or is “colleague” more appropriate?) brought with him his DSLR camera. It was a Canon 30D with a 24-70mm f/2.8 USM L lens and a borrowed 580ex Canon flash.

The Canon 30D is an old but nonetheless powerful camera. It was released sometime last 2006 and was the main competitor, back then, of the Nikon D80. It has an 8.2 megapixel sensor, 9 AF points and a 100-3200 ISO range (for full specifications, head on to the Canon website). It’s an OK camera. It will do almost anything a neophyte or hobbyist will want to do and more. And guess what, he lent it to me for the event. He said he was tired and I was to replace him (WEEE!!!). Anyway, I immediately found out why he got tired. The thing was heavy. I mean, with the lens and the flash on it, it was like over 2 kilos, maybe even 3. Imagine having to hold that steady for a shot! In spite of the weight, I simply LOVED taking pictures with the camera. It was all because of the lens. It was an L lens. I have never thought that I would ever use a camera with an L lens (mainly because I don’t know that many people with cameras and that the people I know who have cameras, as well as myself, use Nikon). The Nikon Lenses and even the Canon ones (from the ones I’ve borrowed) I’ve used has nothing compared to this Canon monster. The lens was the best I’ve ever used yet. I cannot express this enough. The way it focuses was just divine. You don’t hear anything. Not a peep, not a whir, not a thing except your exhilarated intake of breath from sheer delight. It was fast. The first time I took a shot with the camera, I thought it was in manual focus mode ’cause I didn’t hear or notice a thing when it focused not even the focusing itself. The focus ring is not locked even if it is in autofocus mode which added to my confusion. But when I focused on a far away object and saw firsthand how the focus worked on the lens, I was taken aback (way back, like 16th century back). It was the smoothest thing ever. Chrome plating and baby’s bottoms shy from the smoothness of its movement. And boy was it fast. I barely notice my (trigger happy) finger pressing on the shutter button when it focuses. I love it, I love it, I love it. Canon has a right to make the L lenses expensive, ’cause they are worth it. Mind you, I won’t switch to Canon over this, but still it does make me love Canon for it. I won’t pass up an offer to use one of these too, so a message to the good souls out there, please please please make me the subject of your charity and let me borrow your cam and L lens (with your supervision and I promise I won’t ever leave your side (even if the temptation to run away with the camera is great)).