Messages

1

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 . . . .

2

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

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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. 

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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.

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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

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Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: April 18, 2013, 01:26:19 AM »

Red Winged Blackbird, at Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson, Az.

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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.

8

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.

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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.

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Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: April 09, 2013, 11:48:58 PM »

Strictly natural light for this photo.  I took the picture about one hour after sunrise, the sun was still fairly low in the sky and was shining from my left to my right.  There was a very light haze and the sunlight was somewhat diffused as a result.  The light really highlighted the bird's eyes and brightened his feathers for me.

11

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: April 09, 2013, 09:55:06 PM »

Cinnamon Teal.  Photographed this morning.  5D iii, 100-400 F4-5.6L IS, ISO 320. 

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Maybe I need to relearn how to focus

« on: April 08, 2013, 03:33:25 PM »

Three questions:

1.  When you took those tripod mounted photos, was the IS on your lens turned on or off?
2.  Were you viewing the image through the viewfinder or the camera's digital display?
3.  What kind of lighting were you shooting in.

Leaving the IS turned on while a lens is tripod mounted can cause blurred images.  The IS is "fooled" by the lack of vibration in those circumstances.

I've found that I get much sharper images with a macro lens when I use the camera's video display in lieu of the viewfinder.  When the video display is turned on the camera's mirror is effectively locked up and vibration from mirror slap is eliminated.

Poor lighting can cause soft focus for obvious reasons.

I have an older non-IS 100mm F 2.8 Macro that I've used with my 7D.  Getting a sharply focused image of a macro shot can be a huge chore, the depth of field is so shallow that the slightest error produces a blurred image.  Generally, I bolt the camera to a tripod and shoot using the video display.  I almost never use the AF in those situations, it just isn't sufficiently precise.  I hand focus everything.  What I really find to be helpful when using the digital display is the magnification feature.  I'll magnify the digital image to 10x and focus with that. That generally gets it sharp.

13

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: April 07, 2013, 10:16:26 PM »

Wow, John, you nailed that one.  What's the megadata for that photo?

14

Animal Kingdom / Re: Show your Bird Portraits

« on: April 05, 2013, 07:47:14 PM »

Not a gull, but this Kestrel's a pretty agile bird.

15

Lenses / Re: I bit the bullet!

« on: April 05, 2013, 12:46:52 AM »

My principal lens is the 100-400, which I use primarily for wildlife photography.  I doubt very much if you'll be disappointed with this lens, it produces beautiful images.  Like everyone else, I long for something longer that is still affordable but I've come to accept the reality that it's not gonna happen.