Canon 5DS R Hits New High, With Zeiss Otus
Get Canon 5DS R and Zeiss Otus and Zeiss ZE SLR lens B&H Photo.
A double-entendre, but I could not resist.
More resolution than ever seen before in a DSLR, taken at 14,252 feet elevation (4344m) with the Zeiss Otus 55m f/1.4 APO-Distagon. I lugged it and the Canon 5DS R and a small tripod to the summit. It makes me wish for an Otus f/2.8 line (for much smaller size and weight), because for such things, lugging a beast of an f/1.4 lens is a chore.
It was a slog up to the summit (somehow I acclimated superbly well in only 48 hours from ~sea level at home!). In the past in dry conditions and with minimal pack weight, I had nearly “cleaned” the entire route (one foot dab in loose gravel on sharp turn), but yesterday was tough, with soft slurry in places and loose stuff and some knee-deep post-holing through snow. The road should be clear for riding in about a week. Going down was a blast as usual. The Moots Mooto X YBB 29er performed superbly as usual, the Schwalbe Hans Dampf used as front tire being an outstanding choice for the extremely rough and rocky terrain.
But I’m really bummed that the 2015 Alta Alpina 8-Pass Challenge has been canceled due to road closures and hazardous smoke conditions, and my fitness just hit a fresh peak (I was hoping to win it this year, vs 2nd for 2012). The forest fire smoke is polluting the entire area; this morning it even made its way over the White Mountains, though later in the day winds seems to have pushed the smoke back to the west. Still, the Owens valley, Eastern Sierra, Yosemite are all polluted with smoke as I can see from my vantage point at about 11,000' in the White Mountains.