Flying Duck

[Jim]

Re: Flying Duck

Hi Stephen.
Have you considered getting an old mirror lens?
I don't know about the Canon, I thought there was some issue about a new lens mount when they went digital, but with Nikon I can get a 500mm 5.6 for a couple hundred and an f8 for a bit over a hundred on ebay.
That'd be a LOT lighter, quite a bit cheaper and arguably more use than a long zoom?
(personally, I don't think you'd need the short end on that 100-400 anyhow.)
Jim

[Stephen]

Re: Flying Duck

Hi Stephen.
Have you considered getting an old mirror lens?
I don't know about the Canon, I thought there was some issue about a new lens mount when they went digital, but with Nikon I can get a 500mm 5.6 for a couple hundred and an f8 for a bit over a hundred on ebay.
That'd be a LOT lighter, quite a bit cheaper and arguably more use than a long zoom?
(personally, I don't think you'd need the short end on that 100-400 anyhow.)
Jim

Hi Jim and thanks for the suggestion. I'm pretty sure that there isn't such a thing as an EF Mirror lens. I've just looked in the Canon book 'EF lens work III' and there isn't one in there. Earlier Canon lens's won't fit of course.

I'm also not sure about the fixed aperture on such lenses though and of course they always suffered from that doughnut specular highlight didn't they. I have/am considering a fixed 400mm f5.6L lens though. As you suggest the short end of 100-400 may not be needed.

[Jim]

Re: Flying Duck

The doughnuts I think are rare enough now that they might be a feature! (Anyway, you said Alaska, not the Bahamas!)
I had a Sigma 400 F5.6 APO with my film stuff, but sold it as it wouldn't work on the D200 for some reason.
Used to get pretty good results, but it was *really* slow focusing! Not fast enough for the whales, I'm afraid.

Anyway, I still don't have my camera back from Nikon yet, so was out with the Olympus (it's a C2000 Z with 2.1 thingys which should be enough.) The pics are certainly as sharp as the Nikon's when you look at them on the monitor. (New monitor arriving next week!)

Off to the Lightroom teach in/seminar tomorrow. I'll tell him Adobe are shipping it North of Watford.

Jim

[Ian]

Re: Flying Duck

Hi Stephen.
Have you considered getting an old mirror lens?
I don't know about the Canon, I thought there was some issue about a new lens mount when they went digital, but with Nikon I can get a 500mm 5.6 for a couple hundred and an f8 for a bit over a hundred on ebay.
That'd be a LOT lighter, quite a bit cheaper and arguably more use than a long zoom?
(personally, I don't think you'd need the short end on that 100-400 anyhow.)
Jim

Mirror lenses, what ever happened to them?! Or Catadioptrics (Cats) - meow!

Ian

[Stephen]

Re: Flying Duck

The doughnuts I think are rare enough now that they might be a feature! (Anyway, you said Alaska, not the Bahamas!)
I had a Sigma 400 F5.6 APO with my film stuff, but sold it as it wouldn't work on the D200 for some reason.
Used to get pretty good results, but it was *really* slow focusing! Not fast enough for the whales, I'm afraid.

Anyway, I still don't have my camera back from Nikon yet, so was out with the Olympus (it's a C2000 Z with 2.1 thingys which should be enough.) The pics are certainly as sharp as the Nikon's when you look at them on the monitor. (New monitor arriving next week!)

Off to the Lightroom teach in/seminar tomorrow. I'll tell him Adobe are shipping it North of Watford.

Jim

HaHa, I'm pretty sure an L series great white will focus quicker than an old Sigma,

North of Watford indeed anyone would think you were talking about the middle of the Alaskan icefields Anyway enjoy the seminar.