Patent: 400mm f/2.8 DO and 300 f/2.8 DO

Talys

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Feb 16, 2017
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lens look very interesting but I wonder when/if Canon will be R series body that be able to track a subject (bird in flight, football player and shot at 12 FPS. I understand that this is not easy do on a mirrorless camera.
Automatically tracking a bird in flight isn't a super important thing. Realistically, what happens is that if the bird is small enough in the field of view where tracking is useful, the photograph won't show enough pixels of the bird to matter. The shot you really want has the bird taking up as much of the frame as is possible, and in those cases, you have to manually track (point lens at) the bird, or it will be out of the frame in a fraction of a second.

In my opinion, the more important thing for really serious BIF folks will be, if you take a RF super telephoto and stick a 2x teleconverter on it, will the future, super-pro RF body focus on a single AF point as quickly as a DSLR, and when you manually track the bird, will the AF system keep the subject in focus, especially if it is flying towards you -- for example, launching off a perch.
 
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AlanF

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lens look very interesting but I wonder when/if Canon will be R series body that be able to track a subject (bird in flight, football player and shot at 12 FPS. I understand that this is not easy do on a mirrorless camera.
All of those can be done now on mirrorless cameras. The Sony A9, for example, is in the 1DX league. Sony’s bridge RX10IV and latest RX100 can do do at 24 FPS. Olympus is no slouch either. Canon has a problem in that its DPAF has so many more AF points that it is short of processor power to analyse them quickly.
 
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Talys

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Talys, I used to use just centre AF for BIF. But, after finding that using all points on a mirrorless was superior I switched last month to using all points with the 5DIV and 5DSR with more success for birds flashing across the viewfinder.
It's entirely possible that the 5D is just better at finding birds that flash across the frame better than 6D2 (or A7R3), which I just don't have good enough success on to use. I have the EOS R, but currently, I'm working on some physio/rehab before I can go out on birding adventures again, but it will be soon enough.

I will try it with the R at some point! Thanks for letting me know :)
 
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AlanF

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It's entirely possible that the 5D is just better at finding birds that flash across the frame better than 6D2 (or A7R3), which I just don't have good enough success on to use. I have the EOS R, but currently, I'm working on some physio/rehab before I can go out on birding adventures again, but it will be soon enough.

I will try it with the R at some point! Thanks for letting me know :)
Phil, get well soon and start showing us some bird photos!
The two shots you liked of the yellow-billed kite in https://www.canonrumors.com/forum/i...re-than-75mp-on-the-horizon-cr2.36339/page-12 were both were taken using all focus points. The points danced across the viewfinder with the bird and tracked perfectly a whole series of shots. The 5D series does have better AF than the 6D. I liked the feel of the R in the local store the other day and a future body with more mpx is on my wish list.
 
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RGF

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All of those can be done now on mirrorless cameras. The Sony A9, for example, is in the 1DX league. Sony’s bridge RX10IV and latest RX100 can do do at 24 FPS. Olympus is no slouch either. Canon has a problem in that its DPAF has so many more AF points that it is short of processor power to analyse them quickly.
Let's hope that they can solve this problem.
 
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RGF

How you relate to the issue, is the issue.
Jul 13, 2012
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Automatically tracking a bird in flight isn't a super important thing. Realistically, what happens is that if the bird is small enough in the field of view where tracking is useful, the photograph won't show enough pixels of the bird to matter. The shot you really want has the bird taking up as much of the frame as is possible, and in those cases, you have to manually track (point lens at) the bird, or it will be out of the frame in a fraction of a second.

In my opinion, the more important thing for really serious BIF folks will be, if you take a RF super telephoto and stick a 2x teleconverter on it, will the future, super-pro RF body focus on a single AF point as quickly as a DSLR, and when you manually track the bird, will the AF system keep the subject in focus, especially if it is flying towards you -- for example, launching off a perch.

Really don't understand your reply. you say tracking BIF is not important then you describe tracking BIF. Please explain how you example is not BIF?
 
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Architect1776

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It would be unfortunate if they were restricted to the R range. If Canon continue with DSLRs, then it would seem sensible to make large telephotos compatible with both D and R bodies.

The EF mount is history. Canon won't tell you that until more RF product is available. I see no sense at all in putting much effort into the EF system. remember they just came out with 400 and 600 EF lenses which will cover the transition period from EF to RF. The TS-E lenses were recently updated so most of the EF line is pretty current and when it starts showing any age the RF will be dominating production.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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The EF mount is history. Canon won't tell you that until more RF product is available. I see no sense at all in putting much effort into the EF system. remember they just came out with 400 and 600 EF lenses which will cover the transition period from EF to RF. The TS-E lenses were recently updated so most of the EF line is pretty current and when it starts showing any age the RF will be dominating production.
The RF mount is, indeed, in all probability the future. The problem is that we live in the present and unless Canon can suddenly speed up fps and AF tracking for the R series for the next releases, we will have to live with EF for a few years yet for action work. Sony has shown fast action can be done now with a limited number of AF points and so maybe Canon will have to compromise its DPAF system to compete.
 
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tron

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They've just made the new 400 and 600, they might update the rest as well, but are not going to make yet more versions any time soon, these might even be the last versions as the product cycle can be very long.

After the optical formula has been decided they can move over to figure out how to reduce the weight even more I think this DO stuff is probably more expensive if we compare lenses at the exact same focal length and aperture, so that means even higher pricetag over the version III EF lenses. But it will take a fair few years as Nikon Z-mount super telephotos aren't even mentioned in their 3-year roadmap (but it is a possiblity that they come out earlier than Canon because they will skip updating their F-mount super teles altogether), the newest EF lenses will probably do more than fine for the time being.
They may stop at EF versions III (assuming they make version III for all big white teles) for all I care. Already the version II lenses have top IQ even with 5DsR plus teleconverters. The key is to make a lighter EF500mm f/4L IS III too and maybe I will upgrade my version II in a few years (assuming the weight loss is significant). Now DO lenses is a totally different matter. The 400 DO IS II is excellent but I wouldn't mind seeing it complemented with EF 500 and/or 600 DO versions :cool:
 
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