The lens itself is light and very portable. Pretty incredible how small it is considering the range covered. It works best wide open. It's nicely made for a plastic lens and it has a "lock" feature just like the kit lenses so it collapses. Took it to DC but I think I found out I'm just not a good landscape photographer. Unfortunately I think I'll be returning the lens but not because anything wrong with it, I'm just not a good shooter at UWA. I think 24mm is the widest I feel comfortable. Subway shots are NYC. Other lenses:
Can you tell me about your processing on these images? What mode did you use on the camera? The pictures look amazing.
Lord help us if you actually got "good". Great images and a fine example of what this lens can do. Gordon
I agree that you did extremely well and that's not being patronising. It's not a question of being a good or bad landscape photographer, you simply have to learn how to use a wide-angled lens and there's a lot of trial and error. What soon becomes apparent is that the angle and height from which you point the camera has a profound effect on the look of the final image. Don't expect that to look much like the viewfinder or LCD preview, because there is a lot of inherent distortion built in and it's not your fault or that of the lens. Stick with it and use it for different kinds of scenes. There is a common misconception that wide-angles are meant for landscapes. Sometimes they actually make them more difficult to take because of the empty space you need to fill in your composition and distance to the main points of interest. In some of your examples, you made the pictures more interesting by including more detail than would normally have been possible due the extra available width.
They look good shots to me. I think you should keep it. The 9-18mm is one of the best MFT lenses around and certainly the best value. I think it is more that you are uncomfortable exploiting the UWA and that is part of increasing your skills as a photographer. Practice, practice, practice. If you still feel unconfortable with UWA lenses, why not join a camera club or seek some local photographers to go on field trips and learn off others.
DON'T return the lens! You may or may not be fully comfortable with it - it takes a while to really start to 'see' at an extreme focal length like that. But the evidence suggests that if you were fighting the lens in this initial experience, you fought hard and well! Which tells me that you'll be doing mind-blowing work with it once you adapt to it a little bit. Now if you just don't think you'll enjoy it, that's another story. You should obviously do what you want. But I'd say give it a little time - nobody feels right with those kinds of focal lengths initially. -Ray
Thanks for the comments everyone. Hi, I just use LR3 and tweak all the stuff until I like what I see. Helps to use a decent monitor though.
