Willy waving..(Big lenses)

busterboy

busterboy

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Tim
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I don't want to sound as if I am willy waving but how many of you guys have got a big (Prime/Zoom) lenses for your camera.

I thought about my purchase for many weeks before parting with my hard earned and finally bought myself a Canon 300mm f/2.8 IS for my aviation and sports shooting.

I have never looked back or ever thought I shouldn't have bought it since I got it, All the reviews I read were spot on about this lens, It made me (a moderate photographer) get some really good shots. :woot:

Tell us what you got chaps.. :first:

My weapon.. :D
20D-300mm2.jpg


Example 1
trainer1.jpg


Example 2
harrier.jpg


Example 3
jet1.jpg
 
fingerz said:
What the hell do all the switches on the side of the lens do?
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IS switch on and off.

AF and MF switch

Another switch you can program to set the the various length of your shot. :)
 
crikey thats a biggy! I think Matt and Pink Fairy have bigger though.....(sniggers)but thats still very impressive
 
fingerz said:
What's IS?
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Image Stabilizer... :D

fingerz said:
And why do you need to program the length of your shot?

Sorry if these are obvious questions.
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Not a problem mate, If you are taking shots over the garden wall "ie" close it won't focus unless you pre-set it to take close ups, I hardly use this option because I have other lenses to cover this area..

Or set it to take what it is made for "Long shots" at distance.. :thumb:

Hope this helps. :)
 
fingerz said:
Cheers. Does Image Stabilisation have a downside?
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Not in my book, Maybe another Pro will pop along and tell me why it should be turned off.. :whistling
 
There's no reason to turn IS off at all other than the fact that it does have an impact on battery life as it draws battery power from the camera, but it's probably not significant enough to worry about on a normal days shooting.

IS is a massive advantage for held held shots. I have two IS lenses at the moment, and I'm constantly being surprised just how slow I can still hand hold shots sometimes. You still need a good basic hand holding technique though to get the best results.

IS doesn't work on a tripod though.
 
Biggest I've got is the 70-200, just a tiddler compared with that :shock:
 
Boys, boys, boys, do you guys ever stop comparing sizes. Size doesn't matter does it? Oh wait, it does sorry,:p Honestly though, that's quite the set up you got there busterboy!! Very nice. I wouldn't know what to do with something that big, wowzers.

Jewel.
 
The only people that say size doesn't matter are the ones with small ones ;)

Great lens Busterboy and its good to see that you are getting the results its capable of producing too :thumb:
 
CT said:
There's no reason to turn IS off at all other than the fact that it does have an impact on battery life as it draws battery power from the camera, but it's probably not significant enough to worry about on a normal days shooting.
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Canon say that you shouldn't use IS on a tripod and the only reason I've heard that makes sense is that tiny shake movements can trigger the IS servos to generate a bigger movement that the actual lens shake, which then ends up in a vicious circle until the image ends up not sharp. If you're taking a long exposure with the IS on it will at some point during the exposure move the moving element, again causing unsharp pictures, which happened to me a couple of times on my 100-400 when I forgot to turn IS off.
 
dod said:
Biggest I've got is the 70-200, just a tiddler compared with that :shock:
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Yes but the 70-200 is still a very sharp lens dod, I sold mine to help fund the 300mm Prime I bought.. :)

And you my man are getting some superb images from your 100mm Macro lens..

I have been watching your work.. :thumb:
 
Go away Busterboy :angryfire

I used that lens on a shoot in April with a freind that's a motorsport snapper and it's taken me this long to stop wanting one.

Now you go and remind all about how bloody good it is. ;)

There are not many things in this life that can justify such a huge price tag but the 300 2.8L IS in one of them. As you are proving with the shots you're taking. I also really love the way it comes in it's own vault.... very cool indeed.

I wont mention that 40% of it's lens hood though. :D
 
indeed, :D

Does make alot of sense to have one, a 600 f5.6 IS is ANOTHER serious lens to add to the arsenal for the cost of a 2x.

I use a 1.4x on my 300 f4 but the 600 f8 from the 2x would just get too dark and slow.
 
fingerz said:
Cheers. Does Image Stabilisation have a downside? Otherwise why would you ever need to turn it off?
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another reason i have been told is, if your trying to get a certain aspect of your photo out of focus it can sometimes be a pig when using IS and actualy end up with the wrong bit focused. So for example you are panning through a shot and want the moving subject in focus, sometimes (very rarely) the IS will try to focus the background instead of the image.

Not experienced it myself but that was the answer i recieved when i asked my friend the exact same question after seeing the same switch.


Anyway IS is for girls.... two Jack Daniels for breakfast and you hands will stop shaking :thumb: :whistling :coat:
 
IS doesn't focus, the camera does.

If you use the wrong focusing points while using AI servo the camera will focus on the background instead of the subject.

Its all about knowing how to use your kit.
If you don't get the result you want, 99% of the time its the person behind the camera thats at fault.
 
Hmmm, but I rely on that 1% to take all the blame!
 
apparently, IS on the cheaper lenses is a pain for panning shots from what i've read, but with that monster up there /\/\, it shouldn't be a problem.
 
wez130 said:
apparently, IS on the cheaper lenses is a pain for panning shots from what i've read, but with that monster up there /\/\, it shouldn't be a problem.
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That's true - unless you have an L series EF lens with two stage IS, panning with it switched on will not do anything to stabilse the image in the vertical plane. Not sure about Nikon VR lenses though although I suspect the technology is identical.
 
A bad workman may blame his tools, but at least its not his fault....
 
The best I can do is the Sigma 28-300 with the Sigma x2 TC which works well although I can't use the 28 end of the lens when using the TC as I'll end up scratching the rear optics. I've only had the TC for a few days now still at playing stage. Think I need to go to a motorsports event or an airshow or maybe some wildlife to give it a good workout!!!

I'm also going for the 50-500 when 7dayshop get some in I also tried Onestop Digital but they are also out of stock so I'll just have to wait. Getting used to that brute will be fun and games and more than a few mistakes me thinks, throw away the manual and play!!!!
 
daveyuk said:
throw away the manual and play!!!!
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Thats the spirit.
This country of ours wasn't built on instruction manuals and how to guides, it was built on a sense of 'it'll be reet' and winging it :D
 
Adrian said:
That's true - unless you have an L series EF lens with two stage IS, panning with it switched on will not do anything to stabilse the image in the vertical plane. Not sure about Nikon VR lenses though although I suspect the technology is identical.
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It is the same technology
 
Apart from switching it off for tripod use, IS should also not be used when panning, as that's exactly the type of movement it tries to 'correct'
 
neos said:
Apart from switching it off for tripod use, IS should also not be used when panning, as that's exactly the type of movement it tries to 'correct'
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Not true with L series IS lenses, my 100-400L IS has 2 mode IS, one is for panning specifically and 2 is for general IS

I may have got those the wrong way round, but you know what i mean ! LOL
 
If I remember rightly, the panning IS (as Ian says) removes up & down vibrations allowing the movement seen in panning shots, whereas, the other mode up, down, left and right motion.

As used in this:
medium.jpg

Canon 10D with 300mm F4L, IS on panning.
 
neos said:
Apart from switching it off for tripod use, IS should also not be used when panning, as that's exactly the type of movement it tries to 'correct'
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Well for right or for wrong I have never ever turned the IS off on any of my lenses, Maybe I should give it a try... :whistling

Results like this make it hard to change your ways..

jet7.jpg


jack.jpg
 
You see, they saaaay it's the person behind the lens that gets the results..... but somehow these disprove that theory!

Hmm, which can only mean that I won't be happy until I get the L glass with USM ..... ;)
 
The IS debate is getting slightly confused here.

The initial IS technology only had a on/off control and when activated it attempted to correct movement in both plains .ie vertically and horizontally. This can be found on older lenses and the cheaper ranges such as the 75-300 IS and the 28-135 IS. As it has been developed further Canon has introduced a mode switch on some of their IS lenses which allows the user tell the IS not to correct the horizontal movement but still be active in the vertical plain, hence making it work and be suitable for panning. This advancement is usually found on the more expensive lenses such as the very popular 70-200 F2.8L IS, 300 F4 IS and the 100-400L IS to name but three.

Both IS technologies should be deactivated whenever the lens is being used on a tripod.

Hope that clears up the confusion.
 
I have never used any lenses with IS and for anything 200 or under dont see the point with good technique it is not required, cannot comment on any focal length above this as I dont have any lenses covering greater than this.

Just my 2 cents
 
CriPPle said:
I have never used any lenses with IS and for anything 200 or under dont see the point with good technique it is not required, cannot comment on any focal length above this as I dont have any lenses covering greater than this.

Just my 2 cents
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In many situations you'd be right, but in some, where using a tripod in low light conditions is impossible or not allowed (inside old buildings etc), the IS can give you up to 3 (or even 4 if you're very careful) stops worth of exposure you wouldn't otherwise have, so it's not really down to technique, just appropriate use of features. On digital cameras it also saves having to use high, noisy ISO settings.
 
Adrian said:
In many situations you'd be right, but in some, where using a tripod in low light conditions is impossible or not allowed (inside old buildings etc), the IS can give you up to 3 (or even 4 if you're very careful) stops worth of exposure you wouldn't otherwise have, so it's not really down to technique, just appropriate use of features. On digital cameras it also saves having to use high, noisy ISO settings.
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Agreed... :thumb:
 
Well they do say that size matters :D

Great jet photos :)
 
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