Got me a new Swiss Army Knife ®

[Loupey]

Last week, I acquired a new lens. As most of you know by my frequent rants here, I have been "testing" my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS for nature/wildlife use using the 2x TC and extension tubes.

After looking at several other possible contenders (400mm f/5.6L, 180mm f/3.5L macro, and 200mm f/2.8L), I finally settled on the 300mm f/4L IS. With the exception of the 200mm prime, all are similarly priced. The biggest factor for me was the IS. Even though I was always a staunch tripod user in my film days, the IS technology has been revolutionary for me in terms of portability and flexibility. Even though I believe that the other stated lenses are sharper, I feel that the IS will more than overcome that slight shortcoming especially the way I shoot now.

I used the 300mm last fall but returned it because of the fairly loud IS servos. I thought I had a lemon at the time. Talking to several people here at PR since then convinced me that that noise was common in that model.

I will reserve the 70-200mm for use with kid events, sports, photojournalism and such. I feel that I have reached its limitation for use for nature/wildlife. I now only have the 300mm, tubes, and 2x in my bag. At least during the next few weeks of field testing. Unless I state otherwise, you can assume that all posts in this forum will be with the 300mm with some attactment or other.

Some quick examples (all are full-frame): the first two are with the 2x II TC, the second two are with various extension tube combinations.

Now to see how I can get my wife to NOT read this thread

[Old Timer]

Loupey these are some pretty good images. I admire your ability to hand hold with a long lense and close focus setup. Just don't think I could handle that anymore. In my youth yes but not now. Those deep breaths and bracing stances just don't seem to get it anymore. I now take the tripod if I'm serious about getting macro. I still try hand holding on many shots but my keeper rate has fallen sharply. I have yet to seriously try the 80-200 with the tubes. I hope to get a chance this week to give it a workout. I have been very pleased with the 105mm and tube setup. The big advantage I am guessing to the other arrangement is working distance. Now for a question. I have a couple of manuel 2x converters and after seeing some of your images (and my need for a longer sports lens) am thinking about getting a 1.4x or 2x converter to couple with the 80-200 f2.8. What brand do you use and what are the +/- with it's use?

[paulnj]

Loupy, that lens is great for macro work with a tube and TC. You do know that a tube between the TC and lens gives you a different range than a tube between the body and TC

[Loupey]

Loupey these are some pretty good images. I admire your ability to hand hold with a long lense and close focus setup. Just don't think I could handle that anymore. In my youth yes but not now. Those deep breaths and bracing stances just don't seem to get it anymore. I now take the tripod if I'm serious about getting macro. I still try hand holding on many shots but my keeper rate has fallen sharply. I have yet to seriously try the 80-200 with the tubes. I hope to get a chance this week to give it a workout. I have been very pleased with the 105mm and tube setup. The big advantage I am guessing to the other arrangement is working distance. Now for a question. I have a couple of manuel 2x converters and after seeing some of your images (and my need for a longer sports lens) am thinking about getting a 1.4x or 2x converter to couple with the 80-200 f2.8. What brand do you use and what are the +/- with it's use?

Thanks a lot, OT - your kind words are greatly appreciated.

As I see it, lately I've had no choice but to hand-hold as it has been pretty windy here and seems that the bugs only inhabit the tops of very long unstable buds. Constantly shifting for focus and angle has been the norm unfortunately. I've gotten a few now by matching my body sway to the sway of the bud in the wind. Although holding one's breath is not the best technique, I find myself still doing it from time and have gotten a little light-headed more than once

Being new to shooting birds, the hardest thing to deal with is hand-holding a 600mm (960mm with the crop factor - crazy!) locked onto a perched bird and trying to use my will to make it fly off. I can only hold it steady for a few minutes. I tried to use my monopod once but I can't follow them in the air with it - I end up hand-holding the camera, lens, and the monopod as the birds fly overhead :mad2:

As for my converter, I use Canon's 2x II TC. While I had read that the 1.4x was "better" in reports, I bought the 2x originally knowing that it was going to be paired with my 70-200mm f/2.8 and I could work around a 400mm f/5.6 speed. Admittedly, the 2x makes the 300mm f/4 a little slow at f/8. But at least for now, the images from that lens used as a 600mm shot wide open seems on par with the zoom at the same f/8 (but at a shorter 400mm).

Pros and cons about the converters? Lots of pros in my mind, very few cons in my case. Image quality is for the most part retained only because I shoot at f/8 to f/11 (with the zoom) corresponding to stopping down 1 to 2 stops. I'd like to shoot the 300mm + 2x at f/11 but I can't seem to get enough shutter speed as I don't like using ISO 400 and up. That dragonfly was shot at 600mm, f/11, ISO 200 at 1/250s. I can get speeds down to 1/125s at 600mm handheld but that's pushing it. I would think that anyone using the new breed of "noiseless" SLRs could use ISO 800/1600 and really open up using TC's big time.

The biggest reason I use the 2x is that the subject image quality is far better using the 2x than I could ever possibly get compared to cropping.

[kkraczek]

Wow- that is one sweet knife...

[Loupey]

Loupy, that lens is great for macro work with a tube and TC. You do know that a tube between the TC and lens gives you a different range than a tube between the body and TC

Yeah, the former yields a twice magnified 300mm close focused image while the later is a closing focusing 600mm. Have I ever told you how much I love tubes and TCs

I haven't tried a lens+tube+2x+tube combination though

One thing I do miss about not using the 70-200mm with tubes, I can use the zoom ring to set my shooting distance. With that rig, I could dial in the zoom such that the subject could be as close as 2" from the front element so that I could use the lens barrel to help hold the leaves apart. With the fixed 300mm, the focus distance is entirely determined by the amount of extension and the focus ring. I find myself setup (where I would normally want to be with the zoom) only to step back another 2'. Oh well, a little technique adjustment.

It's hard to be upset with a rig that allows me to shoot 1/2 life-size macros from 5' out.

[Knight]

We need drool smileys