70 - 200 f4L

[bilko2]

Thinking of geting one of these and spreading the cost maybe. I have heard loads of good stuff about them and although i know the f2.8 is better ( and heavier ) there is no way i could stretch to it. Also i wouldn't have much occasion for the 100-400.

I was thinking of using 7day shop as they are the cheapest.
Also i understand you need a tripod collar thing for tripod work and know they are bloody expensive for what they are. Anyone know where the cheapist ( uk ) place for them is?

I have heard that there is a black one for a different lens which is cheaper and still fits. It wouldn't worry me about it being black really. Does anyone know what lens that was?
I know there have been bad ones reported with back focus (whatever that is) on the left hand side. Also i am not averse to changing lenses for low light stuff. Or using my excellent manfrotto
Also any thoughts on this lens and 7 day shop would be greatly appreciated

[bilko2]

Well i got it anyway and i think i have a good one
A different world from my kit lens although i miss the extra stop or 2? i simply couldn't afford the 2.8.
The AF is quicker than a quick thing and the weight isn't realy that much of an issue.
I got Jessops to match warehouse express as i got wobbly about buying from 7day shop.

I took this earlier at full zoom. Handheld at well under the speed it should be and was quite impressed with the overall quality of the image not the picture but hey. 20 minutes earlier the light was sufficient for 350 which would have produced a clearer pic but i was happy with this one being hanheld at 100.


I did put it through unsharpen mask although i don't think i needed to.

[_Dobbo_]

Nice tit...

sorry

[Ffirg 005]

Fantastic lens - you won't regret it. I thought the kit lens was pretty good until I got the 70-200 f/4 L (the kit lens has now been ebayed and replaced by the 17-40 f/4 L).

This is with the 70-200f/4L and a Kenko MC7 2x converter on my 300d - no retouching. It also does great portrait shots.



I bought from 7dayshop.com which was cheaper, but not everyone has had a good experience with them. I bought the 17-40 and a 300 f4 L from Hong Kong suppliers on eBay. Cheaper than any UK price and no VAT on import if they mark it as a gift....

Don



>> Edited by Ffirg 005 on Friday 25th February 18:20

[bilko2]

I like that Robin
gives me a good indication of how clear the image can be with the right shutter speed.
How many stops do you loose with that 2x?
And where can i get one cheap?
Also can you tell me about the 1.2 and 3m infinity switch and how to use them please?


>> Edited by bilko2 on Friday 25th February 18:30

[Ffirg 005]

2 stops lost. The implied wisdom said that the autofocus wouldn't work with the 2x and this lens, but it does. Fractionally slower to hit the focus but no hunting and to my eye there's not much lost in sharpness.

I got mine used off a guy at work for £50 and have seen them on ebay and a camera shop (used) for about the same.

[nighthawk]

Nice shot Bilko, but why didn't you focus on the bird?

I'm still trying which lens to replace my 75/300 IS with, it's a choice between the 100-400 and the 70-200. I can't help feeling i'd go for the f2.8 IS though....tis an awful lot more cash though

L series telephoto's can't be compared to the kit lens, the gulf is just too wide.

[bilko2]

You know those films where someone fires a machine gun and it runs away with them?
Well i spent about 20 minutes waiting for these birds to come and was prefocused on the feeder. When he showed up i just burst off 4 shots with him flying off half way through the second.
Good point though and i shall try not to panick so much next time.

[bilko2]

100% better when you focus on the bird


a decent shutter time or tripod would help even more.



>> Edited by bilko2 on Friday 25th February 19:52

[nighthawk]

Much better.

I find that wild birds in the garden, you'll soon learn to panic shoot less because the cheeky little tits keep coming back for the peanuts.

much the same as squirrels if you can get them in the garden.

without wishing to take the topic away



20D/17-40 L (converted from raw to jpg and resized only)

[D_Mike]

these photos are all fantastic guys

[bilko2]

Nice shot brian
How do you get the black border?
Also is it better to convert to jpg or tif 8/16 bit?
Also ( bet your sorry you commented now )
do you know what the 1.2 and 3m infinity switch is for? Anyone?, you can tell iv'e never used a real lens before
PS iv'e got ps7

[nighthawk]

bilko2 said:

Nice shot brian How do you get the black border? Also is it better to convert to jpg or tif 8/16 bit? Also ( bet your sorry you commented now ) do you know what the 1.2 and 3m infinity switch is for? Anyone?, you can tell iv'e never used a real lens before PS iv'e got ps7

I use Photoshop CS but 7 should be the same
with your image open

image/canvas size/ from there, you will see the bounding box and a set of arrows showing the direction of expansion

From there just choose the colour of the extension and the size.

makes the world of difference to a shot, and you could even put your own frames in instead of a plain colour.

if i'm working in PS, i'm usually in 16bit and save as psd or tif, only then will i save a copy of it to jpg 8bit.


Re the switches, i don't have a lens with them on yet m8, i'd guess at it being able to keep the focus set in certain distances for faster lock on.

[Ffirg 005]

I think the 1.2 and 3m represents the nearest point the autofocus will range to. Keep it set for 3m unless you need to shoot something close and it'll be faster to lock on throughout the range.

Love the squirrel shot Brian - you must have been really close to get that with the 17-40!

Don

[nighthawk]

Don

Thanks, the 1st element of the lense was about 10" away from the squirrel, on cold days they don't go far if you give them enough peanuts.

[bilko2]

Thanks for the info guys, for some reason my canvas size box hasn't got the colour extention at the bottom but i think iv'e found another way to do it.

[nighthawk]

If you don't have the option to select a colour to extend with, TRY selecting the colour you want in the pallet prior to opening the canvas size, if i'm on the right track it'll use the selected pallet colour as a defualt.

Not tried it though,

[bengie]

Or select the 'back colour' as the colour you want the frame to be, then rotate clockwise by 1deg, then counter-clockwise by 1deg.

This also fills in/smooths the colour-histogram - useful after you've been playing with filters etc.

[Ffirg 005]

Just saw this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4687&item=3875919344&tc=photo

Cracking price and good seller feedback... you know you want to

[bilko2]

Ffirg 005 said:

Just saw this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4687&item=3875919344&tc=photo Cracking price and good seller feedback... you know you want to

Thats only £20 cheaper than 7day shop.
I got the tripod collar today. I can't use the battery grip with it on, on my manfrotto head. The grip just fouls the head by about 3mil. very dissapointing.