Advice on New 2.8 Telephoto Lens (1 Viewer)

[Scott Merryfield]

Trust me, when I roll up on 40+ photographers each with $8k+ lenses my gear acquisition syndrome (GAS) goes into overdrive....

I get that same feeling when I visit Yellowstone N.P., Sam. My 100-400L seems so small next to all those 500mm and 600mm primes. If we lived closer to that park, I'd have to figure out a way to fund one of those puppies.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Sam - out of curiosity, what were the guys in the photograph taking pictures of? Are they what we in the UK call 'twitchers' - i.e. bird watchers?
Honestly and truly, I have seen guys using lenses that size, handheld, trying to photograph birds 200+ yards away. The first time I saw the phenomenon, I thought it was a one off but I've seen it several times since. I wonder if these guys ever put two and two together that some of their distance shots are a bit blurry?

 

[Mike Frezon]

Originally Posted by Sam Posten /t/325617/advice-on-new-2-8-telephoto-lens#post_4012720
Trust me, when I roll up on 40+ photographers each with $8k+ lenses my gear acquisition syndrome (GAS) goes into overdrive....

Heh-heh. Sam goes to take photos...and gets gas.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

_Man_

 

[Sam Posten]

Sam - out of curiosity, what were the guys in the photograph taking pictures of? Are they what we in the UK call 'twitchers' - i.e. bird watchers?
Honestly and truly, I have seen guys using lenses that size, handheld, trying to photograph birds 200+ yards away. The first time I saw the phenomenon, I thought it was a one off but I've seen it several times since. I wonder if these guys ever put two and two together that some of their distance shots are a bit blurry?

Bald Eagles.
For reference, this is about as good as I can get with a D300 and a 70-300:

10-ConowingoBaldEagles-8723 by Kadath, on Flickr
This is what the guys with 400s and up can get:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Conowingo-Bald-Eagles/266756446716728?ref=stream

 

[andrew markworthy]

For reference, this is about as good as I can get with a D300 and a 70-300:

Nice photo - if that is without tripod then that is really really impressive.

 

[andrew markworthy]

P.S. Don't you have any large birds in the USA? That's about the size of a British robin.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

P.S. Don't you have any large birds in the USA? That's about the size of a British robin.

Is this big enough for you, Andrew?

 

[Sam Posten]

Nice photo - if that is without tripod then that is really really impressive.

Yes, all handheld, cropped to taste.
But I know there is a lot of muddled detail on there lost by using a consumer grade lens and not an exotic tele... Looking at what the pro lenses are able to resolve on the conowingo FB page and Flickr is very revealing...

 

[andrew markworthy]

Is this big enough for you, Andrew?

Not really - looks like a rather drabber version of the British starling:

[Apologies for the picture quality - I have a much better composed version in higher res but couldn't find it].

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Those things are tacky lawn decorations here in the States, Andrew.

 

[schan1269]

Those things are based on a real bird????
KIDDING...