1
Animal Kingdom / Re: Birds with attitude
« on: June 17, 2013, 05:42:13 PM »
This Cooper's Hawk was not happy when I interrupted him moments after he'd killed a dove.
June 18, 2013, 11:06:47 PM
Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
2
Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits
« on: June 10, 2013, 11:00:30 PM »
Cooper's Hawk doing her Lady Macbeth imitation. Check out the blood on her feet. 5D iii, 100-400 F4 - 5.6 L IS, ISO 640.
3
Lenses / Re: Why Does the 100-400L Sell So Well Still ?
« on: June 05, 2013, 09:37:48 PM »
My 100-400 is my principal lens. I do mainly wildlife photography and all of my photographs are handheld, shot while walking around. I don't shoot from fixed positions or blinds and I don't even own a state of the art tripod. For me, the 100-400 is the best solution. It's relatively light, relatively compact, and delivers (most of the time) very sharp images.
It's certainly not perfect. I find it to be unacceptably soft at apertures that are bigger than F7.1 and, honestly, it doesn't autofocus with a teleconverter. I'd love an extra 100mm. The predecessor to my 100-400 was a Sigma 150-500 which is, basically, a piece of junk, and I'd be the first in line if Canon came out with a 150-500 for less than $3000. But, as an all-round workhorse telephoto, it really can't be beat.
It's certainly not perfect. I find it to be unacceptably soft at apertures that are bigger than F7.1 and, honestly, it doesn't autofocus with a teleconverter. I'd love an extra 100mm. The predecessor to my 100-400 was a Sigma 150-500 which is, basically, a piece of junk, and I'd be the first in line if Canon came out with a 150-500 for less than $3000. But, as an all-round workhorse telephoto, it really can't be beat.
4
EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Why is my 5D3 so noisy???
« on: May 28, 2013, 09:58:23 PM »
I don't know much about the technical aspects, I just love to take pictures. I know this, however: my 5Diii does a better job handling noise than any camera I've used. Its predecessor is a 7D. I do mostly wildlife photography and my "prime lens" is the 100-400 F4-5.6L. A lot of my pictures are cropped, sometimes cropped quite a bit. At ISO 640 I can crop an image down to about 1/4 of its original size without any discernible noise at ISO 640. That would be impossible with my 7D.
5
Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits
« on: May 28, 2013, 04:34:28 PM »
Common Raven. 5Diii, 100-400 F4-5.6 IS L @400mm, ISO 320
6
Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits
« on: May 26, 2013, 12:18:38 AM »
I haven't posted in a while. Cooper's Hawk and prey (small lizard), photographed in our back yard. 5Diii, ISO 640, F 7.1 @ 1/800.
7
Lenses / Re: Poll: Most Wanted New Lenses of 2013.
« on: May 06, 2013, 09:45:18 PM »
200-400 TC 1.4. My passion is wildlife photography and something like that would give me the capacity to really reach out. A lens like that would bankrupt me, but still, I'd find a way . . . .
8
Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits
« on: May 01, 2013, 09:53:45 PM »
Broad Billed Hummingbird. I took this picture this morning while out on a walk. 5D iii, 100-400 F4-5.6L IS
9
Lenses / Re: Budget lens for birding ?
« on: April 23, 2013, 09:44:09 PM »
I've had the 100-400 for over a year and have taken over 10,000 photos with it. I love the lens, it is sharp, easy to use, very light and portable for its reach, and produces great images for me. I shoot exclusively hand held and use it mostly for bird photography. With IS I can get useable images down to about 1/100. My only regret is that it doesn't work with the 1.4 or 2 teleconverter.
10
Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits
« on: April 19, 2013, 09:25:34 PM »
And, here's a Mexican Mallard -- a subspecies -- ignoring the insect on his neck.
11
Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits
« on: April 19, 2013, 09:00:21 PM »
Not an exotic bird but nice, nonetheless. Mallard drake, 5D iii, 100-400 F4 - 5.6L
12
Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits
« on: April 18, 2013, 01:26:19 AM »
Red Winged Blackbird, at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Az.
13
Lenses / Re: Keep my 70-200 f/4 IS?
« on: April 14, 2013, 09:14:23 AM »
I guess I'm different from most of you. I have the F4. It's among the sharpest and most versatile lenses that I own and I see no reason to buy the 2.8. I love the lightness of the lens and it produces simply spectacular images.
14
EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: So ready for a move up from 450D - But how big? To 5DMIII / 6D or ...?
« on: April 11, 2013, 02:58:27 PM »
I went from a Rebel T3i to a 7D and then, a few months later, to a 5D iii. Both the 7D and the 5d iii are superior to the Rebel for a lot of reasons. I'd rate the 7D as an extremely good camera and I'd rate the 5d iii as extraordinary. My area of interest is primarily wildlife photography. For that, the lightning fast and extremely accurate autofocus of the 5d iii is a huge asset. I'd never been able to capture birds in flight before purchasing this camera. Now, I can and it's a whole new world for me. The 5d iii has a superior dynamic range to the 7D, that is, it captures both shadows and highlights better than the 7D.
As for full frame vs. crop, well, there are dozens of threads in this forum on the subject. Suffice it to say that I'm able to extract some really good pictures from my 5D iii even when I crop substantially. That's because the 5D iii does an absolutely outstanding job handling noise, much superior to the 7D, in my opinion.
As for full frame vs. crop, well, there are dozens of threads in this forum on the subject. Suffice it to say that I'm able to extract some really good pictures from my 5D iii even when I crop substantially. That's because the 5D iii does an absolutely outstanding job handling noise, much superior to the 7D, in my opinion.
15
Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits
« on: April 10, 2013, 09:40:58 PM »
A little bird that I've had a great deal of difficulty photographing. Yellow Rumped Warbler. They don't sit still for very long, that's for sure.