Should be buying my new lens tonight for my Canon EOS 350D, its a canon EF-S 55-250 USM IS and should give me everything i want.. more length of course, im forever on the 55 stop on the kit lens and needing more so this should do the job.
Pictures soon no doubt.
Well its here and awesome!
(http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/zz60/rustycallyt/Lens/IMG_0594.jpg)
The arsenal, new lens and hood on the left, 350D and kit lens on the right.
Now a quick set of shots:
(http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/zz60/rustycallyt/Lens/IMG_2549.jpg)
18
(http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/zz60/rustycallyt/Lens/IMG_2550.jpg)
55
(http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/zz60/rustycallyt/Lens/IMG_2551.jpg)
55 IS
(http://i813.photobucket.com/albums/zz60/rustycallyt/Lens/IMG_2552.jpg)
250 IS
Unfortunately lost my usual hosting so cant upload the full size images :( stuck with photobucket.
That last shot is pretty impressive. How much did the lens cost and from where?
I presume IS = Image Stabilisation?
yeah thats right for the IS, pretty impressive bit of kit.
£220 from castle cameras in bmouth, hood was extra though not that i need it really.
How does IS actually work, is the lens floating/suspended or something?
I guess google is my friend heh.
From what I understand you either have image stabilisation built into the camera body or the lens; its either the sensor that is moved very small amounts or the lens that is suspended using electromagnets that counteracts the movement.
In SLRs its almost inevitably done through moving lens elements inside the lens, simply because moving the sensor wont show through the eyepiece.
On my old Panasonic fz30 its done by moving the sensor because you see the sensor image. Technically this would be a cheaper option overall for SLRs as it wouldnt need it built into every separate lens.
Another option is to have a slightly larger sensor and match the image movement electronically, this tends to be used in video cameras.
i have no idea how it works, its built into the lenses on this nothing in the camera at all, can hear it clicking and whirring when its on though, uses USM (ultra sonic motors) for focus as well, very cool
so when you say the lens elements move do they try to detect and counter movement by the camera (shaking hands or whatever)?
My Pentax has gyro sensor whatsits built in to the camera body which adjust the position of the sensor to compensate for shake. The advantage is that it works for any lens and can also compensate for rotation as well as up/down/left/right.
I got the impression in the past that the Canon and Nikon systems work off the AF sensors, allowing the system to work with older bodies, but I dont know if thats accurate. However it decides what to do, those systems have a movable lens element which does the actual compensation.
However it works, IS/VR/SR/OS is the best thing since sliced bread. Having had it on my K10D for a couple of years theres no way Id be without it.
It analyses the movement and tries to counteract it, effectively its worth 2 to 4 stops.
http://cpn.canon-europe.com/content/infobank/lenses/image_stabilisation.do
Quote from: Binary Shadowso when you say the lens elements move do they try to detect and counter movement by the camera (shaking hands or whatever)?
Theres a pair of angular velocity sensors mounted on the lens that detect the shake on the horizontal and vertical axis and adjust the lens elements very slightly to compensate.
cool..
having looked through it at 250mm with and without IS im very glad i shelled out the extra £90 for IS, its impossible to not get shake at that length without IS
Ive got a 100-300mm lens that I occasionally use hand held, entirely depends on available light though.
Quote from: SeriousIve got a 100-300mm lens that I occasionally use hand held, entirely depends on available light though.
I have my 70-300 sigma without IS and thats the one I mentioned about almost always being soft. Its tempting but not quite a priority at the mo!
its all about technique. Its perfectly possible to get a shake free shot hand held at 300mm and 1/60th shutter speed, it takes practice, concentration and a little luck.
That said, the same level of practice, concentration and luck will get you a clear shot at 1/8th when combined with a decent SR system.
Quote from: zpyderQuote from: SeriousIve got a 100-300mm lens that I occasionally use hand held, entirely depends on available light though.
I have my 70-300 sigma without IS and thats the one I mentioned about almost always being soft. Its tempting but not quite a priority at the mo!
If you are using it on something like the Canon 350, 400, 450, 40 or similar then the sensor is smaller than full, so you need to apply a multiplier of 1.6X to get the actual resulting focal length of the lens. Nikon have a multiplier of 1.5 IIRC.
So your 70-300mm lens would effectively be 112 to 480mm There are also atmospheric issues at longer ranges using this so it might appear soft due to this issue too. At max zoom you should be using 1/500th of a second in order to have a chance of a sharp image.
Aye. If you remember though I also mentioned the soft images resulting when using a tripod+remote also. I guess it comes down to the lens quality and focusing etc!
Still, cant complain for a £70 lens I guess, it has taken some decent shots, its just the ratio of good shots to crappy ones is a lot lower than with other cameras/lenses.
£70, sounds like a bargain
maybe i just have shakey hands, it was all over the place at 250
It was cheap, but when it comes to photos you either get nice photos, or bad ones. There isnt much of an in-between imo, and so i dont think £70 is worth it in terms of the end result most of the time, I would rather spend more and get a lens like yours! Ill trade ya!
Quote from: Binary Shadow£70, sounds like a bargain
maybe i just have shakey hands, it was all over the place at 250
Thats pretty normal, use a monopod to support it and hold it closely to your face, left hand supports the lens from underneath, right on the grip and spread your feet a bit.
In many respects its like holding a rifle and in this case the weight can help steady the camera too, light lenses tend to suffer more from shake than heavy ones.
As with using a rifle the longer you do it the better you tend to get.
As I said earlier, try using the fastest shutter speed you can, and take several photos to maximise the chance of getting a good one.
Several? I aim for several dozen to get just one or two shots that are any good with my lens ><
i usually snap a few since its digital and not costing me anything, i try to take pictures of birds in flight sometimes so i stick it in "sports" mode and end up taking loads and loads, not many are any good but its worth it for the good ones
seriously tempted to replace my kit 18-55 with the IS version now..
edit: bugger it, just ordered a recond one off ebay
I would have probably went for the 17-85 but the 17-55 f/2.8 is a very nice bit of kit. One Im using is the 24-135 which is nice, I dont do much that requires a wider angle so thats no loss to me.
Generally speaking I put mine on auto and rip off several at once too, mostly all of them come out OK but at odd times you get sequences where one is fine but the rest are all duff.
Main thing is it doesnt cost much to produce all those extra images so you might as well do it.
heres a few technique tips for long tele shooting which I posted to another forum. They work for me, Serious has posted some of them already and as he says its very much like shooting a rifle. Im probably above average at this simply because I have been shooting a rifle since I was strong enough to hold one. SR stands for shake reduction, the Pentax IS system.
Quote from: MongooseTechnique plays a role here as well, here are some tips for whatever they may be worth, they work for me. Im not the worlds best photographer, but I am disapointed if I get noticable camera shake at 1/60th and 300mm (450 equiv) with SR on.
0. Establish a stable base, Seems obvious, but if you arent stable neither is your camera. Get a good footing with feet shoulder width apart. BTW this is zero because I thought of it half way through and didnt want to re-number everything.
1. Relax, dont grip the camera too tight since tense muscles tend to shake more
2. Breathe, take one or two deep breaths, then stop comfortably before you release the shot. By comfortably I mean simply stop breathing at a comfortable point in your breath cycle, not conciously holding your lungs full or empty. For me this is ~1/2 way.
3. Brace yourself, this can mean leaning on a convinient wall, or just tucking your elbows in against your chest will help some. Triangles are the key here. Remember not to tense your muscles, just use any support available.
4. Slouch, youll look stupid and your mum will shout at you for bad posture, but youll shake less. Same reason as 1. I usually go into a slouchy posture as I breath out before I release the shutter
5. Having framed your subject, gently gently depress the shutter. It should take you slightly by surprise when it goes off.
6. Follow Through, when the mirror blackout finishes and the viewfinder image returns, you should still be looking at your subject, beautifully framed. With practice you will have a pretty good idea at this point weather or not the shot came off.
7. Multiple exposures, as a last ditch, when the best shutter speed I can get is really too slow (say under 1/60th at 300mm), I start shooting in bursts of 3 frames. The middle one will often be the best of the three, since you didnt move to take it.
Obviously for fast action some of these become more difficult or impossible, but I reckon good technique is worth at least 2 stops.
Quote from: SeriousI would have probably went for the 17-85 but the 17-55 f/2.8 is a very nice bit of kit. One Im using is the 24-135 which is nice, I dont do much that requires a wider angle so thats no loss to me.
Generally speaking I put mine on auto and rip off several at once too, mostly all of them come out OK but at odd times you get sequences where one is fine but the rest are all duff.
Main thing is it doesnt cost much to produce all those extra images so you might as well do it.
I use the 17-55 F/2.8 IS as my everyday lens - it really does keep me smiling with the results I get.
I picked up a 2nd hand 70-200mm F/4.0 L which has also worked out very well for me.
Id love a F/2.8 IS one day but to be honest this works for me well often.