Canon EOS 5D Mark III + EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro Lens an Appetizing Combo (Shooting Food at ISO 6400)

A couple of days ago, my cousin and I along with our spouses went across the border for our monthly seafood odyssey at New Tanjung Seafood restaurant in Miri. Normally on trips like this, a Canon PowerShot G11 fits the pocket and also fits the purpose — pictures of food which you may have see on Facebook: New Tanjung Seafood, Deep Fried Butter Calamari Rings and Seafood Take-out. With convenience usually comes compromise and the trade-off I am talking about is image quality (IQ) — the visual details that jump out at you, mess with your head and make your day miserable. OK, I admit I have managed to pull that off with a G11 too but only because they’re bite size small like Facebook and blogs.

The original file was shot at ISO 6400, f/2.8. Click on image to view unedited image.

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My cousin's glass of Guinness Stout backdropped by New Tanjung Seafood restaurant's red checked tablecloth. I had one of the cross-type AF focus points locked on the beer head (foam). If you've ever shot with a 5D Mark II's and this delightful macro lens, you may already know that focusing using the non cross-type peripheral AF points is a hit-and-miss affair. The 5D Mark III demonstrated no such problems locking focus.

The point I wanted to make in this post pretty much ends with the Stout. Yum Seng! The pictures below are some of our regular favourites I thought I would share.

The original file was shot at ISO 6400, f/2.8. Click on image to view unedited image.

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The starter we can't do without — a large appetizing order of wild ferns cooked in red wine makes this our huge all time favourite.

Click here to see a 100% cropped view of the centre of the image below

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Delicious cockles we normally just call clams or "see ham" in most understood term by the Chinese community.

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Deep Fried Butter Calamari (Squid) Rings with fragrant garnishes. A recipe that has recently inspired Indonesia restaurant Pondok Sari Wangi in Brunei to create a similar offering.

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