40 replies to this topic

[Lighthawk]

Tim, the 70-200 / 4 is an excellent piece of glass. I still remember the first time I brought back images that really
popped. It is much lighter and smaller than the 2.8 version, so is a good choice for hiking. Congrats, you will love it.

[Lighthawk]

One other thing, Tim. The 70-200 works very well with both extension tubes and teleconverters. You will lose one stop of light.

With an inexpensive 12mm tube, you gain macro ability. It works great, especially in conjunction with a monopod to compose and stabilize your shot. You do lose infinity focus though.

[Stalking Light]

Agreed about the extension tubes with a 70-200, although mine is Nikon. Makes a great macro setup, I probably use mine like that more often than I use my macro lens.

[Timothy McGowen]

One other thing, Tim. The 70-200 works very well with both extension tubes and teleconverters. You will lose one stop of light.

With an inexpensive 12mm tube, you gain macro ability. It works great, especially in conjunction with a monopod to compose and stabilize your shot. You do lose infinity focus though.

Thanks Guys. I'm meeting my photography partner in Arizona next week for a shoot and will get to play. He has all the toys and is quite generous when it comes to letting me borrow things. Wanting to try a teleconverter. Will report back.

[Lighthawk]

I'm lusting for this camera as well. With the 18-155mm i think it should an excellent all-round system.
Currently shooting a D80 with 18-200 and its almost 10 year old system. Shoots well, no complaints.  

 

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Well, I took the plunge and bought a Big White (Canon 300 2.8 IS).   It is massive!  But ultra-sharp and a bright f2.8.  I'm really excited to use this for wildlife and sport.  I've got a RRS TVC-333 tripod (new used) and a Jobu gimbal on the way to support the beast.  I took it out this afternoon for some handheld shots and it's not too bad to handle, even on a pro body.

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I have been working out how to improve my lens lineup and working into 2.8 lenses and selling off my f4 versions.  This time I bought a used Mark 1 version, so the damage wasn't too bad.   Using a 1.4 TC on my 1D4 body I'll have roughly 550mm reach at f4 and with a 2xTC I'll have 780mm at f5.6.          I hope to find the mustangs near Benton over Thanksgiving and use this set up.

 

But now I'm selling gear to make up for it!  So far I've sold a 70-200 F4is, and have my Canon 400 5.6 listed too.  Next up for sale is the Fuji XT-1 and the 18-55, 35, 18, 14mm lenses.   I am sad, but they have to go!  Fortunately, I picked up a used Fuji 100s that fills the bill for a lightweight camera.  Anyone wants a deal on the XT-1 or a lens, let me know. 

[Wandering Sagebrush]

Andy, you're really going to like the 300/2.8. They're tack sharp, fast focusing, very bright. Congrats!

[iowahiker]

In addition to sorting and labeling over a year of pictures, I spent the winter shopping to upgrade my point-and-shoot camera to improve landscape fine detail and white balance (clouds) since 90%+ of our pictures are landscape.  My priorities were:

 

-  weight under 1 pound and small enough to carry on my belt since 95% of our pictures are while hiking (the "best" camera is the one you have)

 

-  enough zoom, both optical and digital, to identify birds but not publishable quality

 

We currently use a Canon sx700 30x optical zoom small sensor camera which has done very well at bird identification but at the expense of landscape detail on the majority of pictures.

 

We settle on the Panasonic zs100 with 10x optical zoom and a 1" sensor though passing up the Panasonic fz1000 with 16x optical zoom and a 1" sensor for the same price was a hard choice (but cut the weight almost in half).  The many 1" sensor 3x zoom high grade landscape cameras were also hard to pass on at the same price but bird identification by pictures has worked out very well as we spend hours studying pictures to identify birds (the Water Pipit took over a year of studying a lot of high grade pictures).

 

If we went on a wildlife refuge tour, the many ultra zoom small sensor cameras would be a first choice since less hiking would be involved.

 

If we went to Alaska, the Sony rx10 M3 would be at the top of the list since the truck would carry the weight.

 

I tried to convince my wife to switch her 20 once water bottle to the Pansonic fz1000 but only got a dirty look  . 

[Cayuse]

Well after a couple recent trips where I've really enjoyed shooting again I succumbed to the perils of lens lust and picked up a Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 and a Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro.  Now need to look at replacing my well work but beloved D200 with something that will shoot at higher ISO, maybe a D7x00 or the like.  Not sure I'm going to go full frame (yet).

[Vic Harder]

Sony has just come out with the a9.  Appears to have people drooling...

 

 

 

http://www.stevehuff...-sports-camera/

[Stalking Light]

Well after a couple recent trips where I've really enjoyed shooting again I succumbed to the perils of lens lust and picked up a Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 and a Tokina 100mm f/2.8 macro.  Now need to look at replacing my well work but beloved D200 with something that will shoot at higher ISO, maybe a D7x00 or the like.  Not sure I'm going to go full frame (yet).

 

If you can find a good used D700 snap it up. It's a fantastic low light camera and I often wish I still had mine.

 

My latest camera and lens purchase is a Lumix DC-GH5 to replace my GH3 and a 100-400mm lens to replace my 100-300. This combo doesn't have the IQ of my D4s and 600mm prime but it is much lighter and easier to carry around when I go on hikes or just want to travel light. When I head west to Expo next week I think I may just take my Lumix gear (I also have several other lenses) and see how that works out.

 

I don't think the micro 4/3 format is going to replace my full frame Nikons but so far I have been impressed with the images I've taken with it.