Lame question - significant differences between lenses...?

[tulips*n*truffles]

I could spend days reading these pages - you guys are amazing instructors! I feel like I'm taking a photography course - for free! :D

 

Specifically for shooting wildlife - whales, bears, and the like...

 

55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS

75-300mm f/4-5.6 III

70-200mm f/2.8L IS

 

What does the 70-200mm get me that the first two don't? Looks like I can rent it for about $100 - I'm already over budget anyway! - but I'm not sure I understand why it's better - just that it is.

 

Thanks!

[pierces]

I could spend days reading these pages - you guys are amazing instructors! I feel like I'm taking a photography course - for free! :D

 

Specifically for shooting wildlife - whales, bears, and the like...

 

55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS

75-300mm f/4-5.6 III

70-200mm f/2.8L IS

 

What does the 70-200mm get me that the first two don't? Looks like I can rent it for about $100 - I'm already over budget anyway! - but I'm not sure I understand why it's better - just that it is.

 

Thanks!

 

The 70-200 f/2.8 is a large, heavy, sharp and FAST lens. It will enable you to shoot at a higher shutter speed with a wider aperture when the light is bad. For whales, it's a little short but it would work for bears if you were on a viewing platform.

 

The 70-300 f/4.5-f/5.6 DO might be a good option, but the 100-400 "L" lens would be the top end for whales. (Big lens and heavy.)

 

I did an article on lenses that may help you choose: http://www.pptphoto.com/ArticlePages/AddingLenses.htm

 

Dave

[tulips*n*truffles]

The 70-200 f/2.8 is a large, heavy, sharp and FAST lens. It will enable you to shoot at a higher shutter speed with a wider aperture when the light is bad. For whales, it's a little short but it would work for bears if you were on a viewing platform.

 

The 70-300 f/4.5-f/5.6 DO might be a good option, but the 100-400 "L" lens would be the top end for whales. (Big lens and heavy.)

 

I did an article on lenses that may help you choose: http://www.pptphoto.com/ArticlePages/AddingLenses.htm

 

Dave

 

It's so funny you just said that because I just got done reserving that exact lens for my cruise! I'd emailed the guy about what lens is most-rented for alaska, and he said hands-down, that's it! Thanks so much for the feedback!! So I guess now I'll fall in love with a new lens - and start saving my pennies! :-)

 

Thanks again!

Natalie

[pilotdane]

I have the 100-400L and it gets a LOT of use. It is my goto wildlife lens and I drag it through the woods every chance I get. When I go hiking looking for wildlife this is the one lens I take. That said, it rewards the good photographer and spanks the bad one. Most people are not accustomed to using a long telephoto and any lens out at 400mm needs some proper technique.

 

1. With the lens hood mounted and extended all the way to 400 you will get attention. You will look like you work for Sports Illustrated or National Geographic, so dress dress nice and brush your teeth.

 

2. 400mm is long so any vibration or movement is bad. The IS helps a lot but at 400mm you still need plenty of good old fashioned skill. I never use this lens without a tripod or monopod. It is not the weight. It's the vibration and movement. Some sort of support (monopod, tripod, resting it on the ships rail...) really helps when you are fully extended to 400mm. At the 100mm end it is just like any other big heavy lens. You do not want to hold it to your face for 10 minutes, but you can take shots without support.

 

3. The lens can be a bit soft when fully opened up especially if you will need to heavily crop. When it is stopped down to f8 it is capable of shots you can crop all the way down to pixels. I have not seen much benefit cropping below f8.

 

4. Because it is a slower lens (decently fast for a 400mm) I do not use a polarizing filter unless I have a tripod and plenty of time. The filter takes away too much precious light.

 

5. Read the instructions a bit and learn what all the switches do. Mounting and dismounting the lens you might turn some things on/off and don't forget to check them occasionally to make sure you have not accidently switched one. I leave the IS "on" and working in both axis even when mounted to a monopod or tripod and have not had any problems. I want all the help I can get.

 

6. Do not be afraid to us manual focus. Because the magnification is so high, your cameras focus points may be jumping around so if you are not stable the autofocus may hunt. It's not the lenses fault if your focus points are jumping from an eagle at 100yards to a twig/branch at 25 yards.

 

7. If you use the lens to take photographs of things very close keep in mind that the depth of field gets extremely small at long focal lengths when focusing close. I've shot hummingbirds from 6 ft away at 400mm and cannot get the entire bird in focus. At 400mm f8 and the subject is 10ft away you have .05 ft of "in focus" to work with when using a 1.6 crop body.

 

8. If you get fancy and want to try some hyperfocal landscape photography... at 400mm f8 on my 1.6 crop body the hyperfocal distance is over half a mile (3'455 ft).

 

Now that I've scared you, rent the lens. It is probably the best for the job.

[pilotdane]

Sorry, I got distracted. Back to the original poster. The last lens, the 70-200 f2.8 is great but it is big and heavy. It is also MUCH better quality than the other two. It is a professional grade lens where the others are mass market "consumer" lenses.

 

Consider the 70-200 f4 IS. It is much lighter and a fair bit smaller than the f2.8 version. It is incredibly sharp and the IS is magical. It is an easily packable lens that works well with or without a tripod/monopod. If you want even more reach it works well with a high quality 1.4x extender.

[snowbird1]

It's so funny you just said that because I just got done reserving that exact lens for my cruise! I'd emailed the guy about what lens is most-rented for alaska, and he said hands-down, that's it! Thanks so much for the feedback!! So I guess now I'll fall in love with a new lens - and start saving my pennies! :-)

 

Thanks again!

Natalie

 

Do you have a monopod?

[snowbird1]

I could spend days reading these pages - you guys are amazing instructors! I feel like I'm taking a photography course - for free! :D

 

Specifically for shooting wildlife - whales, bears, and the like...

 

55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS

75-300mm f/4-5.6 III

70-200mm f/2.8L IS

 

What does the 70-200mm get me that the first two don't? Looks like I can rent it for about $100 - I'm already over budget anyway! - but I'm not sure I understand why it's better - just that it is.

 

Thanks!

 

I have a 70-200 f/2.8 VR and for more reach I have a 1.7 Teleconverter (good one). It works pretty well and I lose 1 F stop when using it. The lens works best without it but still much better than my old 70-300 f/4.5-5.6.

[tulips*n*truffles]

Do you have a monopod?

 

I don't, but I've been searching for a compact one that actually fits in my backpack. I have a gorillapod and a couple of homemade bean bags I use. I do have a standard tripod, but I REALLY don't want to pack it. Just too much bulk! Do you have one you'd recommend? The shortest I've found (haven't looked hard) is something like 15" long - I'd love to find something less than 10"...

[tulips*n*truffles]

I have the 100-400L and it gets a LOT of use. It is my goto wildlife lens and I drag it through the woods every chance I get. When I go hiking looking for wildlife this is the one lens I take. That said, it rewards the good photographer and spanks the bad one. Most people are not accustomed to using a long telephoto and any lens out at 400mm needs some proper technique.

 

1. With the lens hood mounted and extended all the way to 400 you will get attention. You will look like you work for Sports Illustrated or National Geographic, so dress dress nice and brush your teeth.

 

2. 400mm is long so any vibration or movement is bad. The IS helps a lot but at 400mm you still need plenty of good old fashioned skill. I never use this lens without a tripod or monopod. It is not the weight. It's the vibration and movement. Some sort of support (monopod, tripod, resting it on the ships rail...) really helps when you are fully extended to 400mm. At the 100mm end it is just like any other big heavy lens. You do not want to hold it to your face for 10 minutes, but you can take shots without support.

 

3. The lens can be a bit soft when fully opened up especially if you will need to heavily crop. When it is stopped down to f8 it is capable of shots you can crop all the way down to pixels. I have not seen much benefit cropping below f8.

 

4. Because it is a slower lens (decently fast for a 400mm) I do not use a polarizing filter unless I have a tripod and plenty of time. The filter takes away too much precious light.

 

5. Read the instructions a bit and learn what all the switches do. Mounting and dismounting the lens you might turn some things on/off and don't forget to check them occasionally to make sure you have not accidently switched one. I leave the IS "on" and working in both axis even when mounted to a monopod or tripod and have not had any problems. I want all the help I can get.

 

6. Do not be afraid to us manual focus. Because the magnification is so high, your cameras focus points may be jumping around so if you are not stable the autofocus may hunt. It's not the lenses fault if your focus points are jumping from an eagle at 100yards to a twig/branch at 25 yards.

 

7. If you use the lens to take photographs of things very close keep in mind that the depth of field gets extremely small at long focal lengths when focusing close. I've shot hummingbirds from 6 ft away at 400mm and cannot get the entire bird in focus. At 400mm f8 and the subject is 10ft away you have .05 ft of "in focus" to work with when using a 1.6 crop body.

 

8. If you get fancy and want to try some hyperfocal landscape photography... at 400mm f8 on my 1.6 crop body the hyperfocal distance is over half a mile (3'455 ft).

 

Now that I've scared you, rent the lens. It is probably the best for the job.

 

That was an amazing post! Thank you! I did rent the 100-400mm - and read your post before I panicked - so I think I'll be alright! :-) Thanks so much for the great info. I hope I've selected the right lens. I really thought I'd go with the 70-200, but over and over I read the 200 won't get me too far as far as whale-watching goes. The fellow over at lensrentals.com said by far the 100-400 is the most popular for Alaskan cruisers - so I'll take him at his word - at least as far as rentals go. Seems like a great value for the 2 week rental.

 

Can you tell me what to expect with the zoom? I read it's a push-pull rather than rotating. Is that hard to get used to?

[tulips*n*truffles]

I have the 100-400L and it gets a LOT of use. It is my goto wildlife lens and I drag it through the woods every chance I get. When I go hiking looking for wildlife this is the one lens I take. That said, it rewards the good photographer and spanks the bad one. Most people are not accustomed to using a long telephoto and any lens out at 400mm needs some proper technique.

 

1. With the lens hood mounted and extended all the way to 400 you will get attention. You will look like you work for Sports Illustrated or National Geographic, so dress dress nice and brush your teeth.

 

2. 400mm is long so any vibration or movement is bad. The IS helps a lot but at 400mm you still need plenty of good old fashioned skill. I never use this lens without a tripod or monopod. It is not the weight. It's the vibration and movement. Some sort of support (monopod, tripod, resting it on the ships rail...) really helps when you are fully extended to 400mm. At the 100mm end it is just like any other big heavy lens. You do not want to hold it to your face for 10 minutes, but you can take shots without support.

 

3. The lens can be a bit soft when fully opened up especially if you will need to heavily crop. When it is stopped down to f8 it is capable of shots you can crop all the way down to pixels. I have not seen much benefit cropping below f8.

 

4. Because it is a slower lens (decently fast for a 400mm) I do not use a polarizing filter unless I have a tripod and plenty of time. The filter takes away too much precious light.

 

5. Read the instructions a bit and learn what all the switches do. Mounting and dismounting the lens you might turn some things on/off and don't forget to check them occasionally to make sure you have not accidently switched one. I leave the IS "on" and working in both axis even when mounted to a monopod or tripod and have not had any problems. I want all the help I can get.

 

6. Do not be afraid to us manual focus. Because the magnification is so high, your cameras focus points may be jumping around so if you are not stable the autofocus may hunt. It's not the lenses fault if your focus points are jumping from an eagle at 100yards to a twig/branch at 25 yards.

 

7. If you use the lens to take photographs of things very close keep in mind that the depth of field gets extremely small at long focal lengths when focusing close. I've shot hummingbirds from 6 ft away at 400mm and cannot get the entire bird in focus. At 400mm f8 and the subject is 10ft away you have .05 ft of "in focus" to work with when using a 1.6 crop body.

 

8. If you get fancy and want to try some hyperfocal landscape photography... at 400mm f8 on my 1.6 crop body the hyperfocal distance is over half a mile (3'455 ft).

 

Now that I've scared you, rent the lens. It is probably the best for the job.

 

So you're telling me I shouldn't run up on deck in my pjs...?! :-) HA! At this rate that might be all I can afford to pack! :eek:

[pilotdane]

I've owned the 70-200. It is an incredible lens but it has one flaw... it does not go out to 400mm.

 

The push/pull of the 100-400 is different than twisting to zoom. I will not say better or worse. It works well and is incredibly simple and easy to use but I think most people would be happier if it were a twist to zoom instead.

 

What to expect? I am at home on dial-up so I have to pick some shots I already have uploaded.

 

If you use the lens up close you can bring out some incredible detail in animals. This is an extreme crop of a frogs eye at 400mm f8 and 1/400 and ISO 1000. If you look closely to can make out the reflections of trees, me and my boat.

 

If you point it at the sky you can pretend you have a telescope. This was shot at 400mm f9 1/160 at ISO 100 with a fair amount of crop.

 

The lens is a lot of fun. You can really get up close with things you never thought possible. If you have it stopped down and held steady you can crop very heavily and see even more. Short of buying a $6'000 lens this is about as good as it gets for catching a whale or bear half a mile away.

 

Don't sweat your decision. You will have a great vacation and bring back some incredible photographs.

[tulips*n*truffles]

Dane, I can't even believe that picture of the moon! That's incredible! I'm pretty sure you're a pilot based on your ID - and probably a great one - but you should be taking pictures! :-) So cool!

 

One more question. When you're talking about cropping - do you mean manual cropping? I do all of my graphics work in various Adobe programs - mostly photoshop and indesign - would you mean cropping in like those programs? Or is that something I haven't learned about my camera yet?! :-)

[TheRoff]

Thought that I would add:

 

The 70-200 is very sharp but isn't 400. It does suburban "wild life" nicely.

 

I WILL HAVE THE 100 - 400 BEORE OUR ALASKAN CRUISE.

 

For what its worth, and knowing the dangers of suggesting the amount of memory, on our recent Panama Canal cruise I planned on having 4GB available per day. I had a bunch of 4 and 8 GB cards. I took something like 3000 photos, a few keepers, but had plenty of memory.

 

I believe Pilotdane is referring to the crop tool in Adobe photo shop or some other similar editing software.

 

Larry

[tulips*n*truffles]

Thought that I would add:

 

The 70-200 is very sharp but isn't 400. It does suburban "wild life" nicely.

 

I WILL HAVE THE 100 - 400 BEORE OUR ALASKAN CRUISE.

 

For what its worth, and knowing the dangers of suggesting the amount of memory, on our recent Panama Canal cruise I planned on having 4GB available per day. I had a bunch of 4 and 8 GB cards. I took something like 3000 photos, a few keepers, but had plenty of memory.

 

I believe Pilotdane is referring to the crop tool in Adobe photo shop or some other similar editing software.

 

Larry

 

Great deer! I have an acreage behind my property that must have an extended family of deer - dozens at a time - and they're gorgeous! But I must say, I've never gotten a shot that clear of them - ever! Nice!!

 

I currently have a 16GB card, 2 8GB cards, and a 4GB card. I was thinking that might be overkill, but I'd hate to run short. I'd like to shoot the largest pictures I can, and I'm working on understanding my camera's settings to make that happen - but I also don't know if that's expecting too much from what I've got for memory.

 

Thanks guys for the help!!

[mnbruce]

You've chosen the right lens for the occasion. While it is a very good wildlife lens,in the end you will find yourself spending just a small fraction of your cruise actually shooting wildlife, but never fear, you will realize that it can be quite a versatile lens. These are from our Alaska cruise last September,all shot at 400mm hand held.

 

 

 

[tulips*n*truffles]

You've chosen the right lens for the occasion. While it is a very good wildlife lens,in the end you will find yourself spending just a small fraction of your cruise actually shooting wildlife, but never fear, you will realize that it can be quite a versatile lens. These are from our Alaska cruise last September,all shot at 400mm hand held.

 

 

 

 

WOW. Just wow. Thank you for sharing those! You got those hand held?! You must have an incredibly steady arm! Just gorgeous. That last one - I have to ask - did you use a filter? The blues are incredible! And the eagle - how far were you from that bird when you got that shot?! Wow. :D

[snowbird1]

You've chosen the right lens for the occasion. While it is a very good wildlife lens,in the end you will find yourself spending just a small fraction of your cruise actually shooting wildlife, but never fear, you will realize that it can be quite a versatile lens. These are from our Alaska cruise last September,all shot at 400mm hand held.

 

 

 

 

Very nice photos and I really like the way you set up the middle one. Where you close to the people (just focus on them) or did you just shoot with a shallow Depth of Field in the picture. All great pictures, when I in Alaska I never had the opportunity to get a nice eagle shot like that, they were always flying by.

[mnbruce]

That last one - I have to ask - did you use a filter? The blues are incredible! And the eagle - how far were you from that bird when you got that shot?! Wow. :D

 

No filter used on that last one. It was early evening and the light was just right. What you see is exactly how it looked at the time.

 

Before that trip I was hoping for some good opportunities for some eagle shots but the weather was dreary most of the time and when we did see eagles it was from a long distance. Our last Alaska port was Ketcikan so I was up early and headed out alone while my wife relaxed and got ready to go shopping. I walked down to some private docks and was just sitting and watching a incredible salmon run in the river when all of a sudden this eagle lands on a post about 30 feet from me. I did not want to spook it so I slowly lifted my camera and took at few shots. It sat there for a few minutes and took off over my head ,those shots did not come out so great.

 

 

 

 

 

Where you close to the people (just focus on them) or did you just shoot with a shallow Depth of Field in the picture.

 

They were actually quite far from me. I just had my focus points on them and the land they were standing on and shot it at f/5.6. I was quite happy with how that shot turned out.

[pilotdane]

mnbruce: That eagle is an absolutley incredible photograph! Any professional photographer for National Geographic would be jealous.

 

I love it when somebody comes up with a world class image. It means there is hope for the rest of us to catch an image like that.

[pilotdane]

I did not want to pollute congratulations with business so...

 

Cropping is basically zooming in on part of your photograph and can be done in most photo editing programs. I did these in Adobe Lightroom.

 

Here is an uncropped picture taken with the 100-400L at 380mm f8 and 1/500.

 

 

This is a crop of the photograph above. Both images came from the same picture but this one look like you zoomed in.

[mnbruce]

mnbruce: That eagle is an absolutley incredible photograph! Any professional photographer for National Geographic would be jealous.

 

Pilotdane,thanks so much for the very kind words! Obviously I got lucky, right place right time . I still would have liked an eagle in flight shot.

[snowbird1]

Pilotdane,thanks so much for the very kind words! Obviously I got lucky, right place right time . I still would have liked an eagle in flight shot.

 

LOL, I think if I had the one you got I would be pretty happy. As I said, I have never had one land that close to me that would even allow a shot like that. Hum, think I need to go back to Alaska and instead of fishing for Salmon where you got that picture, look in the creeks for Salmon and the Eagles.

[jacquid]

Incredible pictures Bruse !!! Love that Bald Eagle !!!! and your alska photo gallery just rocks!!! I'm hoping to get some inspiration on what to look for and how to frame shots from your experiences !

Now since I'm rather new to this, should I really try to work with a polarozer for the 70-200 f2.8 ? How about a 1.4x converter...is it worth it ? I can rent a good one for about 45 bucks for 2 weeks along with the lens. The 100-400 gives gorgeous results but with my inexperience I thing might be way toooo much for me to handle and actually impair my ability to take shots...thoughts???

[mnbruce]

Hum, think I need to go back to Alaska and instead of fishing for Salmon where you got that picture, look in the creeks for Salmon and the Eagles.

 

Like I said, right place right time,however creeks,rivers and lakes give you the best chances of viewing wildlife no matter what part of the world you are in. We are visiting Vancouver B.C. and the mountain community of Whistler this summer and I am already searching for bodies of water that might give me the opportunity to view some wildlife. We all need to go back to Alaska by the way. We were scheduled for a short Alaska cruise on Princess two weeks ago but I wife came down with a nasty cough and cold so we cancelled.

 

Incredible pictures Bruse !!! Love that Bald Eagle !!!! and your alska photo gallery just rocks!!! I'm hoping to get some inspiration on what to look for and how to frame shots from your experiences !

Now since I'm rather new to this, should I really try to work with a polarozer for the 70-200 f2.8 ? How about a 1.4x converter...is it worth it ? I can rent a good one for about 45 bucks for 2 weeks along with the lens. The 100-400 gives gorgeous results but with my inexperience I thing might be way toooo much for me to handle and actually impair my ability to take shots...thoughts???

 

Thanks for the kind words jacquid! You are going to have such a great time on your cruise. You don't need my shots for inspiration,Alaska will take care of that herself.

 

As far as the polarizer,it's up to you,but to be honest I just don't use mine that often anymore. If you do use one make sure it's a high quality filter. You don't want a inferior filter in front of that great glass.

 

If the $45.00 is no sweat ,go for it,the extra length may come in handy in some situations. That is just a awesome lens! Here are a couple recently taken with that lens.

 

 

[jacquid]

Bruce one word...WOW !! :D Those colors just pop so beautifully !!! i cant wait to get behind that lens !! Thanks for the advice I'll certainly look into the filter quality.