Lincoln downtown (testing the new lens)

Thought I'd head out today and see what I could see in downtown Lincoln. I've needed a chance to put the new lens through the paces (it only has a 90 day warranty, so if it's busted, I want to know ASAP) -- so far, I really, really, really like it. :) I guess I never realized how much of a difference image stabilization makes. Being able to handhold a 200mm lens down to 1/40th (down to 1/15th at 70mm) really opens up a lot of possibilities. I mean, that's really dark when shooting at ISO 400, which still looks nice on a 20D. Click any of the below images to enlarge. My usual monitor is fritzing out, so I had to tone these on my laptop using only numbers, so hopefully the colors/lighting doesn't look too funky. :)





This was shot through a pane of glass (as you can tell from the reflections.) I think it was like 1/50th.






Another guy shot through a store window (Jimmy John's).






This is a 100% crop from the shot above. Amazing detail for f/3.2 and through a pane of glass, IMO!






This is a test of the lens's Mode 2 IS. Basically, you flip it to mode 2 and you can track objects horizontally. The camera removes all vertical camera shake but allows the smooth horizontal panning. Really quite amazing.










Camped outside this for a while waiting for these folks to walk by. The juxtaposition, along with the color temperature difference, was hard to pass up. :)






A random urban compression. Nice reflections during the golden hour.






While walking back to my car, I ran into someone I work with near the theatre. Portraits? Check!