Christs´ Armpit - Carnival in Rio

[Rawfa]

Suvaco de Cristo (Christs´ Armpit) is the funy name of a very traditional street carnival troupe in Rio de Janeiro. I´ve taken some stills with my NEX7 + Tamron 18-200mm (a not on the Tamron, it´s small for a zoom with that range but the AF is a hit and miss)

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9 (which one?)

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[Vivek]

Wham! The first thing that struck me when I opened the thread is the tonality of the images!

Nice stuff Rafa!

 

[Rawfa]

Praise from Caesar....nice
Thanks, Vivek.

 

[Vivek]

I am shocked to see that no one else fancies this superb set! :shocked:

May be folks were looking for colorful scantily clad women and disappointed?

 

[Rawfa]

Thanks, Vivek. I think it´s a superb set too...but then again I might just be biased hahaha

 

[peterv]

I agree with Vivek, very nice series. Good PP work, thanks for sharing.

 

[D&A]

I am shocked to see that no one else fancies this superb set! :shocked:

May be folks were looking for colorful scantily clad women and disappointed?

I'm not a Sony shooter and have rarely seen this forum (although that's certainly not a good excuse on my part).

Rawfa, lovely series of images, espcially from a country I've longed to visit. Nicely done, both in capture, subject matter, phoptographic eye and post processing. Glad I stopped by and didn't miss them!

Dave (D&A)

 

[Rawfa]

Many thanks everybody for the nice words. I´ve moved to Brazil about 3 years ago and this was one of the first times I´ve witnessed the Carnival in person. I was amazed at how fast these people move...on tv it seems almost in slow motion. I usually meditate a little on my framing, but I had to rely a lot on instinct as you could not stop among the crowd to think about how to frame things.

A quick note on the on the e-mount Tamron.
I´ve just got this lens and these were my first shots with it. I´m a bit disappointed with its´ accuracy and AF speed (maybe the new NEX7 firmware I´ve just installed will improve it a little bit) but I needed an all terrain long zoom to take to a trip I´m taking to the Amazon Jungle next weekend. I would say I missed around 30% of the shots with this lens and this had me a bit worried because nature can be way faster than a carnival parade...I hope I don´t miss too many shots.

 

[D&A]

Many thanks everybody for the nice words. I´ve moved to Brazil about 3 years ago and this was one of the first times I´ve witnessed the Carnival in person. I was amazed at how fast these people move...on tv it seems almost in slow motion. I usually meditate a little on my framing, but I had to rely a lot on instinct as you could not stop among the crowd to think about how to frame things.

I needed an all terrain long zoom to take to a trip I´m taking to the Amazon Jungle next weekend.

Wow, I'd love to put on my answering machine a little message saying "Hi, can't come to the phone right now as I'm spending this weekend in the Amazon Jungle, but will get back to 1st thing Monday morning after my return!"...LOL!

Just trying to image whats it's like to take a little juant to the Jungle (the real jungle) for some images...maybe right after the work week on Friday Got to say, I'm impressed!

With regards to your Tamron, I know next to nothing about the Sony e-system but know and have used virtually all Tamron lenses for close to 35 years..each incarnation of them from the earliest days prior to their adaptall lenses to the present.

I assume your model of 18-200 isn't with BIM, which I don't think they made a early BIM version except in one mount I can think of and is different than how its implemented today. BIM would slow things down even further. Additionally some of the older 1st and 2nd generation 18-200's were somewhat slower than later ones, but not significantly.

Unless it has something to do with mounting this lens to your Sony, I wonder if it would be better to sacrifice zoom range with a zoom lens with a shorter focusing throw. Not sure if Tamron's current or recent 18-300's have a shorter throw, focus wise? Just a thought.

Now, I have to go pack for my weekend trip to the Amazon. Oh wait, it's only Wednesday, I have plenty of time .

Hope you post these images upon your return. Have a good trip!

Dave (D&A)

 

[peterv]

Yes Rawfa, I can understand your frustration with slow AF. Still, if you got 70% right, I think that's quite an achievement with this camera/lens under these circumstances. I don't know how much 'reach' you're gonna need in the jungle, but another option you might consider is going for PDAF with the LA-AE2 and an A-mount zoom.

 

[Rawfa]

The thing about the Tamron is that it´s a really compact lens for its´ range.
I have to say I´m a bit afraid for my gear in the jungle. It rains a lot and when it´s not raining it is very very humid. I´m crossing my fingers for some sunny days.

 

[D&A]

The thing about the Tamron is that it´s a really compact lens for its´ range.
I have to say I´m a bit afraid for my gear in the jungle. It rains a lot and when it´s not raining it is very very humid. I´m crossing my fingers for some sunny days.

Is your Tamron the one with the Built in Motor (BIM)? It came both ways (with and without) for Nikon in some of its itenerations but not sure for Sony (not being familiar with the Sony system).. BIM versions of Tamron lenses are often slow to focus and something tells me the Sony requires it?

I can imagine you have to be prepared for ever changing weather conditions in that enviorment.

Dave (D&A)

 

[Vivek]

Based on my limited (limited because I prefer manual focus prime lenses) experience with AF on NEX, I would say, for the light you have been shooting under, the following would have had no trouble with accuracy:

1. The Zony 24/1.8

2. The Sony 50/1.8 OIS

3. The Sony 18-55 OIS

No idea on the superzoom.

I downloaded the updates for the 6 and the 50/1.8. Have not updated the cam/lens yet. I do not expect much difference in speed/accuracy though.

 

[contrelamontre]

Suvaco de Cristo (Christs´ Armpit) is the funy name of a very traditional street carnival troupe in Rio de Janeiro. I´ve taken some stills with my NEX7 + Tamron 18-200mm (a not on the Tamron, it´s small for a zoom with that range but the AF is a hit and miss)

Rawfa: A really nice, atmospheric series, conveying a concise impression of the event, strong impact in quite a few of those. I'd favour # 1, 3, 4, 8, 9a, 11, 16, 19, 20, 24 due to composition and content. :thumbup:

To be honest: I'd like them even more with a rather "conservative" B&W conversion, but that's only me.

 

[contrelamontre]

Suvaco de Cristo (Christs´ Armpit) is the funy name of a very traditional street carnival troupe in Rio de Janeiro. I´ve taken some stills with my NEX7 + Tamron 18-200mm (a not on the Tamron, it´s small for a zoom with that range but the AF is a hit and miss)

Rawfa: FWIW, I tried to capture similar street portraits at last year's carnival in Munich (Germany) with the NEX-5n, EVF and the Sony SEL 18200. AF proved to be mostly correct but too slow and indecisive. Lesson for me: Next time I'll probably prefer my Nikon(s) for that kind of shooting. OTOH the small size of the NEX is a real advantage particularly in such an envirionment. Not an easy choice ...

 

[Rawfa]

Thanks for the comments, guys.
Regarding the Tamron, I´ve recently took it to a farm in the country and it failed to hit focus at tele end even with optimum light. I was trying to shoot my sister riding a horse in a very moderate to slow pace.
I hope the NEX7 and the NEX lenses get a juicy firmware upgrade soom to address the AF speed.