These are the behind the scenes and outtake photos of Project L: Part 25 – Around Tampere.

About the process

of photography – and a new lens, 16-35mm f/4L IS

As usual, I chose not to use my flash, but relied on the ambient lighting. Dragging an umbrella around me would’ve not conveyed such relaxed and natural images.

I had recently changed my 16-35mm f/2.8L II to its newer sibling, 16-35mm f/4L IS. The f/2.8 never performed well. The images were often low in contrast and there was plenty of backfocus. The latter one could be fixed with my 5D Mark III’s settings, but even after that the results were quite dull, especially for a such expensive lens. I’ve also often complained about the lack of image stabilization. I also considered prime lenses, but I really need to own an ultra-wide-angle lens – you never know when you’ll need one.

After reading few reviews, it was obvious that the newer f/4 version was quite sharper. There were some complaints of the efficiency of its image stabilization, but I chose to believe that even slight image stabilization would be better than none.

After the photoshoot it was obvious that the f/4 was way much sharper than its predecessor. The images had more contrast and were overall much nicer. I didn’t shoot it against any brick walls, as a true geardo would’ve done, but empirical experiences made it clear that the barrel distortion was much lower in the f/4.

The worries about its image stabilization were in vain, as I could even achieve sharp images at exposures of one second at 16 millimetres. The lens will surely be an excellent addition to my photography – and even to video! All of the clips in the video were shot with the f/4 with its image stabilization turned on.































