Tekforums
Chat => Photography => Topic started by: zpyder on May 24, 2011, 14:35:21 PM
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In preparation for a few projects coming up over the summer (expect a lot more seashore orientated images...) I forked up (too much) and have a new 100-400mm lens. First time using something like this pretty much so I was pretty happy with the results as these shots were all hand-held.
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5147/5753760979_329eabb345.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5753760979/)
Gull 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5753760979/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2714/5753762017_f55a6df636.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5753762017/)
Gull 4 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5753762017/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3272/5753776077_e59961939b.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5753776077/)
Tower (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5753776077/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5150/5754323994_edec86e3ef.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5754323994/)
x_gull 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5754323994/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
Also did a video of the "X gul" doing its dancy feeding behaviour, please excuse the annoying music, I had to use that to get rid of the fact we were laughing so much...http://youtu.be/gBDpCeRNcMU?hd=1
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2058/5753769019_fe417ec058.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5753769019/)
Pitchers 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5753769019/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2240/5754315296_221096f942.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5754315296/)
Pitchers 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5754315296/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2038/5754309892_7cf8004789.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5754309892/)
Ladybird (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5754309892/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
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Looks great and versatile.
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is that the L series 100-400? I've heard before that one is supposed to be a very nice piece of glass for (in the grand scheme of long telephotos) not too much money.
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It is indeed. It was a toss up between the 100-400L and the Sigma 50-500, but I decided that I'd rather have marginally better IQ than a bit more reach, especially as I figured if I needed more than 400mm I'd probably also want more than 500mm too. Also I'm enjoying the added security with the weather sealing, given what I'm doing.
This Thursday I'm off in the morning to a local-ish site where some Avocets are breeding (They don't normally breed in the summer down here) and hope to get some good pictures for her PHD. She's looking forward to borrowing the kit in the winter too (me, not so much!)
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It is indeed. It was a toss up between the 100-400L and the Sigma 50-500, but I decided that I'd rather have marginally better IQ than a bit more reach, especially as I figured if I needed more than 400mm I'd probably also want more than 500mm too. Also I'm enjoying the added security with the weather sealing, given what I'm doing.
This Thursday I'm off in the morning to a local-ish site where some Avocets are breeding (They don't normally breed in the summer down here) and hope to get some good pictures for her PHD. She's looking forward to borrowing the kit in the winter too (me, not so much!)
+ you can always get an L quality doubler later.
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I'd avoid doublers on a zoom, even one as good as that, as the combination will be too slow for the AF to function and 800mm f/8 hand held is not going to be funny.
At a guess though I'd say the L series 400 with a bit of cropping will be as good or better than the Sigma 500.
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That's what I was thinking too.
Though I'd say 400mm is tricky handheld even with the IS, if I want the best shots I'm going to need to use a tripod or monopod. On a bright summers day f8 won't be too bad I'd hope, though I'm not gonna go for an extender just yet...
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it's not so much the lens quality or the shutter speed, it's focusing manually on a fast moving target without the benefit of a narrow DOF to help you and with a relatively dark viewfinder image.
Actually I've just looked up the 100-400 and it's slower than I thought it was, you'd be looking at f/11 at 800mm, probably f/16 shooting aperture to get the IQ. I really wouldn't bother with the extender, they're really for prime lenses with f/2.8 or faster apertures.
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Fair enough, though don't you find it fun trying to get shots of birds and other fast moving subjects in manual focus mode? I find it satisfying, kinda like hunting, but without harming anything. It's a challenge and you never know whether you got any really in focus till you get back and see them on your computer :D
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First are last images are very cool, especially like the last.
Very jealous of such nice glass.
Im just moving into off camera flash, hit up a super cheap Deal Extreme shop to get me started.
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I don't know whether I am just super critical of my photos but my favourites are the pitcher plants, as I think they're the sharpest of the lot, as well as offering a slightly different perspective to a subject I've photographed quite a lot in the past. I think this criticalness is what has spurred me to get the L lenses, as 99.9% of photos I've taken to date I'm never happy with as I always feel they could be sharper or better in some way :S
The only flashes I've looked in to so far are macro ring-flashes. There's some 3rd party ringflash manufacturer that begins with "mo..." that I think is meant to be pretty good for a cheap ringflash...
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Fair enough, though don't you find it fun trying to get shots of birds and other fast moving subjects in manual focus mode? I find it satisfying, kinda like hunting, but without harming anything. It's a challenge and you never know whether you got any really in focus till you get back and see them on your computer :D
Dude you're talking to a man whos weapon of choice in such situations is a manual focus Tamron 300mm prime, nothing more satisfying than nailing the focus on a bird in flight by hand, but for me f/11 is no fun. The viewfinder image is dim and grainy and you don't really see what your photographing, it goes from a game of skill to one of chance where the odds are stacked against you.
Now my Tamron with a doubler on it to get 600mm f/5.6, THAT's a challenge (and one I've not beaten yet).
I like the ladybird shot best I think, similar reasons to your comments about the pitcher plants, it's a slightly different perspective on a well known subject. Focus and DOF spot on, I'd call that a wall hanger.
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Lady bird for me too, it really draws your eye, i'd be proud to hang it if it was mine ;)
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Ah but when you look at it any bigger than medium size on flickr you can see even the ladybird is a bit soft on focus :( If only it was a bit sharper and facing in a way where it's not a coleopteran moon...
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Ah but when you look at it any bigger than medium size on flickr you can see even the ladybird is a bit soft on focus :( If only it was a bit sharper and facing in a way where it's not a coleopteran moon...
man you ARE hyper critical! LOL. Yes if you look for it you're right the ladybird is a touch unsharp but it's no where near enough to spoil the shot for me.
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I told ya, I am uber critical :roll:
What does my head in most is when I take a few shots of something from slightly different angles or perspectives, and show them to friends, most of the time they choose the ones I like the least, seems my view on what are my best shots are different to most peoples views!
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I find it often helps to come back to shots a week or two after I took them. By then I can't really remember what I was trying to achieve, and I find that some of the shots I thought were rubbish to begin with are actually alright.
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Hmm, good idea. I do find myself needing to go through and purge my shots though as HDD space is an issue with the file sizes going on :D
I'm also having to remove photos from my photo site that I feel aren't quite good enough, as I'm trying to start to break into selling the images, which is going to be tough given how many free nature photos are out there!
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Its great that you are massively critical. I think you may be judging shots based more on technical issues rather than the composition and overall effect of the shot, hence you often like different shots to those viewing them.
A technically perfect shot can be an increadably boring image, whereas some shots which are terrible technically can be amazing.
I think your drive for perfection will pay off though, once you are technically perfect and taking nicely composed images im sure they'll sell like hot cakes.
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So here are a few from "the big day" where we went to a site with Breeding avocets, took 1048 photos, after going through and deleting rubbish ones I'm down to 367, but those are as focused as they're gonna be. All hand held at 400mm.
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5061/5762729213_72d4271489.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5762729213/)
Reed bunting (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5762729213/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3626/5763262484_35293c0328.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763262484/)
Avocet 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763262484/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/5763417908_4e7333a4d0.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763417908/)
Avocet Chicks (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763417908/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5142/5763359704_d669325b9f.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763359704/)
Avocet Flier 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763359704/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3210/5762816521_6f9b2593e4.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5762816521/)
Avocet Flier 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5762816521/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5305/5763352040_14d3b192ed.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763352040/)
Avocet Flier 8 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763352040/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
This is my favourite from the trip. I've got the whole sequence, from the Avocet sneaking up on the gull, to the gull flying off :D
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2588/5763407152_75c290a5fc.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763407152/)
Avocet attack 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763407152/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
This one was with my 100mm macro, some baby tits kept poking their heads up to see if I was still there, so I took a shot :D
(http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2117/5763429684_5e19ee69ed.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763429684/)
Baby Tit in a box (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zpyder/5763429684/) by Chris_Moody (http://www.flickr.com/people/zpyder/), on Flickr
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Looking good!! :ptu:
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the 1st 3 in that latest set dont look to great tbh
are you a member on photography-on-the.net
worth asking for QQ there.
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They are all pretty much 100% crops, 400mm wasn't enough to get any closer.
Given the heavily overcast and occasionally raining sky, distance, handholding, and 2nd time using the lens I don't think they're that bad. If I can't get any better in better conditions and with practice I think I'd start to look into it more.
What doesn't look good? Colours? Noise? Sharpness?
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mostly because your focusing through grass.. I hate it in the UK how its difficult to make photo's pop because most days are overcast/cloudy.
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Indeed. I'd agree about 2&3, #1 though I think the grass works. Unfortunately I couldn't leave the hide and climb on the roof to get a clear shot!