Vietnam - Hanoi album IV

And the third day of Vietnam is finished.

For people losing track with all the photos, this was a trip in March 2007, more than two years ago.

It's nice to compare (well, for me anyway) with the more recent albums like China and really see some progress in the photos, subject wise and technically. Good equipment also helps.

I disliked the lens I used most in Vietnam (for the nerds: the Canon EF 28-135mm). Reviews claim it's a fine lens for its price, and be that as it may - perhaps due to me being quite new to it all or maybe it was a not so good copy - it didn't perform very well. Also visible on some of these pictures.

It flared a lot, even with hood, and somehow light would always overflow in the rest of the picture. Look for instance at the guy sitting on the balustrade, fishing in that really green lake. Then look at the top quarter of the photo and see how washed out it is. Perhaps it's the humidity, perhaps simply wrong lighting, but this lens spoiled a lot more photos than my present gear. Dunno if there's a specific technical term for it, but I would call it 'unhappy'. It also produced a dull contrast and rather soft images. It did perform quite well in Cambodia, in sunny dry circumstances, but humidity is a given in a lot of countries in this region.
I sold the lens not long after the trip to Vietnam.

The camera used was the Canon 350D, almost ancient (Canon just released the 500D, that's 3 models beyond the 350D), and obviously that also makes a difference compared to my present camera (the 5D mark II).

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