Super Tele Zoom Lens substitute for a spotting scope?

Landtosea said:
Don Haines said:
I would head to a decent astronomy store. They will have a selection of decent spotting scopes and high powered binoculars that you should be able to get at a reasonable price..... and the best thing is you get to touch and try the gear first.

My suggestion is: Print/draw your target with your 1/4 inch hole... plus one or two sizes larger and smaller, park car 300 yards from store with target on the roof, and try out what the store recommends right there..... there is nothing better than seeing it work to let you know that it will work.

Thanks, but I have done the homework on the spotting scopes and know what models perform and which do not. I am really surprised that senor Steve can see them with his 42x Nightforce, even though that is an expensive high end scope? This is a prime example of glass quality making the difference and why a cheaper spotting scope is not going to help.

What I did not think to try and you brought to mind is my son has a decent telescope. I have to at least give it a shot... I am still interested in my lens options and may pursue the above mentioned 400mm combo.

I was thinking 4"telescope myself..... and a telescope tripod allows fairly easy aiming. I suggested the astronomy store as there are some really nice spotting scopes and astronomical binoculars that you see in astronomy stores that you don't tend to see in hunting stores.... a very different purpose.

BTW, the rifle range at work uses a 4" telescope on the 200 meter range and binoculars on the 100 and 50 meter ranges.
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Nikon 7100 has been anounced

neuroanatomist said:
AvTvM said:
But Neuro ... especially as a Canon-user it is really tough to spot the feature in the somewhat unwieldy spec list! :P
Tough to spot on a Nikon spec list, mabe...but that's better than impossible to spot on a Canon spec list, since it's not there at all (e.g. the 7D has AFMA, but it's not referenced in the specs).

Totally agree on that one. AS I already mentioned when I quoted the D7100 viewfinder details ... it is not possible to find the same, still rather basic product information for a Canon EOS camera on a Canon website.
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Streets of Amsterdam by CCY020

troy19 said:
CCY020 said:
French lady

Great catch.
Did you try to get more DR out of the blacks to visualize her body. Otherwise the head is "flying" over the guitar.
Or maybe it's just my monitor hiding this?

Thanks for mentioning it Troy, comments like this really help! I didn't really try to get more dynamic range, because I also just started with using RAW, Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom. I have a lot to learn haha.
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Canon Service Advisory Emails Sent for 5D Mark III & EOS-1D X

Louis said:
neuroanatomist said:
Louis said:
I wonder if its possible to make the 5D3 -EV3 like the 6D?

Almost certainly not...

If not then I wonder how they are going to fix this problem

The problem isn't one of sensitivity. Users have reported that while AF is slower with the assist lamp on, simply turning off AF assist results in faster focus - that means even when there's plenty of light as far as the AF system is concerned, AF is slow. So it's an algorithm tweak that's needed, as J.R. stated.
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Jon Rafman's work: Unedited or not?

Ryan_W said:
Does Jon claim that his work hasn't been adjusted in post? I don't know of any serious photographer (editorial, commercial or otherwise) that doesn't adjust his or her work in post. I do know of a few who pretend they don't, and do.

The point is it's not really his work in the first place, it's purportedly what he's "collected" off google maps. I think that editing the colors, and then sticking the map controls back in is a bit of a fib.
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How Do You Clean your sensor? And how often?

Faxon said:
The butterfly brush seems awfully pricey for my needs, however. (Maybe I can modify a ten dollar electric toothbrush).

It is, and I guess it's the one thing you don't really need from the lensrentals method - the blower, silicon stamp and brush are less expensive. Concerning the swabs the lensrentals guy says that wet cleaning is a pita because it leaves smears, and he should know and I believe him - that's why I went the dry cleaning way.
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1D X Serial Number with New Firmware

Thanks everyone. I realise it is easy to update the firmware but was just wondering whether it was possible to skip that part (until they release the next update in May) by checking the serial number. No problem though, the guy at the shop assures me it is brand new and just arrived from Canon so will be interesting to see what it has on it.

Thanks. :)
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Considering switching to Nikon

RGF said:
I would like to have a serious discussion. I am not going switch in haste, I am justing thinking about this issues. So please, no flames, etc. Well thought out comments are welcomed.

Comparing Nikon and Canon bodies here are my thoughts

5D M3 no match
D800 no match, when/if Canon comes out with a high MP body, it is likely to be expensive.

Canon 1.3 crop in a 1 series body is great, Nikon's FX/DX lacks this feature. The 1.3 crop makes my 500 a bit longer

Not sure how I would compare the 1D X versus D4 (correct body?), but not terribly important since the 1D X is out of my price range.

Canon vs Nikon lenses

Nikon wins in wide angle.
Canon and NIkon both have great mid range lenses (24-70, 70-200). Canon's 24-105 is probably better than Nikons 24-120.

On the long end, similar quality though with the new super telephotos Canon may have an edge in optical quality and definitely on weight. But at what cost?

Nikon has 200-400, Canon has an interested lens in development, not out yet, costs $3000 (?) than Nikon's.

Speciality lenses - Tilt shift I think Canon wins at least for wide angles. Macro - both are great.

Conclusions

Canon - more expensive, lighter weight Super telephotos, weak in the wide angles expect for Tilt Shift
Nikon - less expense, stronger in wide angles,

Anything else?

Thanks for everyone for their serious thoughts.

Since my passion is wildlife, I will be sticking (at least for the moment) with Canon.

Reasoning:

- New 200-400 is rumored to be great, built-in 1.4x converter may allow me to get the shot I would lose will taking the lens off the camera and adding the converter. Plus I have heard that Canon's version will be lighter than Nikon's. Definitely more expensive, though with the weakending Yen, perhaps the lens will not be that pricey.

- With a 200-400, I will sell my 500 F4 and get a 600F4. Again here Canon wins on weight, if not sharpness.

- In the mid-ranges (24-70 and 70-200) the version II Canon lenses are superb.

- Nikon beat Canons in wide angle lens/

- Bodies: AF Nikon wins but Canon is doing better.

I will make my final decision after the 200-400 is introduced.

Thanks again for all the discussion.
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Camera body lens mount removal

Mt Spokane Photography said:
R1-7D said:
Thanks for the responses.

At least I was smart enough to experiment on something first before messing with my $2000 camera:

I know I said it was my 5D2, but I actually was playing with the mount on my 25mm extension tube to make sure it could be removed easily enough first. The reason is that I have quite a scratched mount on my 5D2 and was thinking I could replace it if it were an easy job.

I simply said 5D2 in the thread to for simplicity for getting my question across.

Now that I know my answer, however, I have another question as a result of my stupid tinkering:

Since I had the four mount screws out on the extension tube, will that too throw the focusing out of whack when used with another lens?




Thanks for the help and everyone's patience. In the future I'll try to make myself leave this stuff alone and control my OCD better.
Extension tubes are very precisely machined as well, the good ones, anyway. Most tube users are not worried about edge to edge sharpness, and you are magnifying the image anyway to only see the center portion.

Unless you see a problem with the image, don't worry. I would avoid messing with the camera mount though.

So would you say over time all lens mounts need adjusting just from long-term use? I would assume that putting heavier lenses on the camera would also theoretically loosen the lens mount as the metal and plastic fatigues over time.
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Tamron's fast 24-70mm zoom rates well in testing compared to Canon and Nikon

Marsu42 said:
eyeland said:
I guess thatr the Tamron wins hands down for video use over the canon mk2 due to the VC?

Only if you use handheld static video, but for most professional applications a body stabilization gear is used which prevents the typical IS/VC "skip" when moving around.
+1
When handheld the VC is better than my Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II ... but once you set it on a tripod and shoot, Canon lenses produce superior clarity, sharpness & colors. The 24-70 f/2.8 VC is a great lens for its price - basically value for money. But if you want tack sharp image across the image, get Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L II
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Buyers held hostage - CameraMator App pulled from App Store

Mt Spokane Photography said:
Thats why smart companies license software and include it in the package.

A example might be Canon Cameras and the software included with them does include patented software licensed from third parties, including MP4 codecs. Its also why you can only download updates from the Canon site. I use Nero software, and they include third party patented software which has its own software agreement and activation before you can use it to play MP4 files.

The point being that they include it, and do not subject you to having to hope to get it from a third party.
I suppose the problem with small start up companies is that they don't have the resources, so they depend on third parties.
When this was a Kick Starter project, I almost invested in it ... but for some reason I did not go through with it.
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