Not mirrorless

September 23, 2018September 23, 2018Ulf Schiller Leave a comment

So I have a new camera.

In the days of the mirrorless hype (“the camera revolution has started”) when Canon, Nikon, and Fuji introduced a generation of new mirrorless cameras, my photo friends and I decided to buy… good-old DSLRs.

Why? The reason is simple.

First: for our needs, there aren’t lenses out there and those lenses that have been introduced are not convincing (the only exception being Canon’s new F2.0 zoom lens – this one might be a game changer in the future).
Second: modern DSLR’s (in our case the Canon 1DXii) are 100% reliable. Brilliant autofocus, 14 frames per second, my old one has 376’000 shutter releases and is still working perfectly).
Third: Why do we need more of everything? 20 Megapixels are all we need, I recently even delivered even a 5x5m poster. The video capabilities are really good, and the weight… come on, We’re neither 7 nor 80: the weight is negligible compared to the tele lenses.

I unboxed the camera yesterday. Enjoy some first test shots.

Canon 1DXii with 24-105 F4

Canon 1DXii with 400 F2.8

I am convinced, the future will be mirrorless. But meanwhile the new DXiis will do the better job!

World Class

August 31, 2018August 31, 2018Ulf Schiller

One day after the pole vault competition in the train station, I shot at Weltklasse Zürich. I was part of the athletix team. Hence, my pictures are selective and just pieces to the overall output. Visit www.athletix.ch to see the full gallery.

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Train Station Vaulting

August 30, 2018August 30, 2018Ulf Schiller

A pole vault event in Zurich’s train station was the prologue to this year’s “Weltklasse Zürich”. Location and sport were simply spectacular. Timur Morgunov (ANA) was the winner with 5.91m. In second and third place were Shawnacy Barber (CAN) and Kurtis Marschall (AUS) who improved his PB twice. Both cleared 5.86m. The slightly injured world record holder Renaud Lavillenie (FRA) ended fifth with 5.81m. Enjoy some of my pictures.

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Sigma screwed me up

August 26, 2018August 30, 2018Ulf Schiller

Back to Bundesliga. This blog is about my frustration with my latest football coverage.

For those who follow my blog for photography reasons: maybe you remember that I bought a new tele lens earlier this year, the Sigma 120-300 F 2.8 S. It had been introduced in a video by Stephan Wiesner and we were quite enthusiastic about the first results.

After a few months it is time for a report on its long-run performance. I’ll be short: the lens has a massive problem: the autofocus! Depending on what you want to do, the performance ranges between “good” and “absolutely not reliable”.

The lens performed really well on the first day when the video was made: why? Because I only did two sorts of shots that work with this lens. First, shots when things are not hectic. Second action shots where the distance is predictable. A good example for the latter are the volleyball scenes from the head-on position that appear in Stephan’s video. Below are examples of such shots.

Tiana Dockerey during the Swiss Volleyball Cup Final 2018

Male Ibex near Lake Thun, Switzerland

Lars Voßler: Assistant Coach SC Freiburg substituting the regular head coach Christian Streich

Ehrat Samuel (14), Aleksandar Ljubicic (11) and Nemanja Jakovljevic (13) during the Swiss Volleyball Cup Final 2018

Thays Deprati, Libera of the Swiss National Volleyball Team

However, the lens is absolutely not reliable, if the subject is running towards you, or the exact spot of the action is not predictable. The first is typical for head-on positions in athletics (a 100m sprinter is too fast for the lens) and the latter for football matches (where one intelligent pass requires immediate re-focusing to some completely new spot). I cannot include these pictures, because I delete them immediately: believe me, I deleted many! Also: be grateful to my parents who educated me well. I won’t use strong words here. I was tempted to use them, though, when I missed important shots.
As an aside, the lens also has strong vignetting. This is not bad per se. Some of the pictures have a “cool” look. However, Lightroom is not able to correct this if you want to. So this is worth mentioning.

European Championships Berlin

August 19, 2018August 19, 2018Ulf Schiller

The Europeans are history. One week, up at 7am, bedtime at 1pm (in case of Swiss medals 2pm). No wonder, was I exhausted after I returned. But every second was worth it. Enjoy a little video that I prepared in the aftermath.

Alpine Ibex

July 12, 2018August 31, 2018Ulf Schiller

During the 18th century, the Alpine Ibex became extinct in Switzerland. Only a small population in Italy/France (Gran Paradiso and Vanoise Massif) remained. When I was a child, I concluded that it would be extremely unlikely that I would ever see one.

Today the total population of Ibexes comprises about 45’000 animals with several groups in the Swiss alps. The species might be considered as not threatened, but the genetic diversity is low.

During our involuntary vacation week at home we went for a hike at the Niederhorn and met a population. We found two groups: the first was small – three males. In a distance of maybe 10 walking minutes was a female-and-offspring group, comprising about 25 animals.

Of course I had the necessary gear to take some pictures: a 24-105 zoom lens and my 120-300 zoom lens.

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Gallery CITIUS

June 19, 2018July 12, 2018Ulf Schiller

The first edition of the CITIUS meeting is history. Six young organizers were rewarded for their effort by perfect weather conditions, great performances, a big crowd, and good mood everywhere. Joint with Hannes Kirchhof, I was the official meeting photographer. Here’s a gallery with some of my pictures.

Martyn Rooney (GBR) during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Pascal Mancini (SUI) during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Frederick Kiptoo (KEN) during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Burghardt Alexandra (GER) during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Wilson Alex (SUI) during the 100 m race during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Pereira do Nascimento Rodrig (BRA) wins the 100m race during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Agne Serksniene (LTU) during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Ralph Joshua (AUS), Kessler Christoph (GER) , Benmahdi Khaled (ALG) at the finish of the 800m race during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Mujinga Kambundji during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

from left to right: Julien Christen (Organizer CITIUS Bern), Matyas Kobrehel (Organizer CITIUS Bern), Gas de Graf (Organizer CITIUS Bern), Franco Noti (Organizer CITIUS Bern), Raphael Clemencio (Organizer CITIUS Bern), Abdul Kadir Omar (Organizer CITIUS Bern) during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern

Cornelia Halbheer during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern

Robine Schuermann and Cornelia Halbheer during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern

from left to right: Lea Sprunger (SUI), Sarah Atcho (SUI), Amy Allock (GBR), Laura de Witte (NED), Marit Dopheide (NED) during the 4 x 400 m relay during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Lea Sprunger (SUI) , Laura de Witte (NED) during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Lea Sprunger (SUI) during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Sarah Atcho and Robine Schuermann during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

The Belgian relay, van Puyvelde Margo , Claes Hanne , Bolingo Cynthia , Laus Camille 93, sets up a national record during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Jason Joseph runs 13:48secs in the 110m hurdles race during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Jason Joseph sets up a Swiss U23 record during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Joseph Jason (SUI) sets up a Swiss U23 record over 110m hurdles during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Alex Wilson sets up a Swiss record over 200m during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Sclabas Delia (SUI) wins the 800m race during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Mfomkpa Alain-Herve (SUI) gives the baton to Burgunder Joel (SUI) during the 4 x 400 m relay during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Italy (Davide Re) wins the 4x400m relay during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Italy wins the 4x400m relay during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

The Swiss 4x400m runners during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Swiss U23 record for 4x400m during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

from left to right: Ajla del Ponte (SUI), Lansiquot Imani-Lara (GBR), Kambundji Mujinga (SUI), Lalova-Collio Ivet (BUL) during the 100 m race during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Mujinga Kambundji wins the 100m race during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

Kambundji Mujinga (SUI) during the Citius Meeting Bern 2018 on 16 June, 2018 in Bern (Wankdorf Stadion), Switzerland, Photo Credit: Ulf Schiller / CITIUS Bern 2018

schiller photo

all you need is light

Not mirrorless

World Class

Train Station Vaulting

Sigma screwed me up

European Championships Berlin

Alpine Ibex

Gallery CITIUS