New 600mm Preliminary Report

Got my 600mm II today. Looking good!

I really don't notice any difference in sharpness between the old and new after performing various tests with test charts as well as photographing a few cooperative birds who posed for me while trying out both lenses.

The weight difference is REALLY noticeable and I can easily capture hand-holdable images. My arms do get tired after a while, but its within minutes instead of seconds.

The new IS is also very nice...almost entirely silent.

I will be doing more extensive testing this weekend.

More to follow...

Alan
www.iwishicouldfly.com

Hi Alan - when did you pre-order and from what store (B/H? Crutchfields?) did you receive the lens? Thanks for the info!

rdc/nyc

Yes, I preordered (Many, many moons ago) from Rockbrook Camera in Omaha, NE. I have found that regional dealers work better than the larger BIG dealers such as BH, etc. for newly released equipment. I have bought a lot of equipment from them through the years. They are a family owned business and have always gone out of their way for me.

Unfortunately I was on the road all day today but hope to take it out tomorrow for a real test drive. It truly is amazing how light the lens is compared to version I of this lens. I would imagine the 500mm II is just as nice with its weight reduction.

Good luck with your order!'

Alan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Robert DeCandido

Hi Alan - when did you pre-order and from what store (B/H? Crutchfields?) did you receive the lens? Thanks for the info!

rdc/nyc

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Hey congrats on the much awaited lens.. :) I handhold the older version, would love to get this one too. Waiting for some images with the new lens. :)

Some comments on the new 600 F4 II - with photos:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1121590
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and an extended thread on these new telephotos:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1109798

I've had a few days to evaluate the lens and I thought I would share a few images. As far as sharpness, I really don't notice any differences compared to the version I of this lens but it's lighter weight opens up the door for many more possibilities. For example, I quite often took my version I of this lens on my canoe-yak, paddling on the Mississippi River. I could never hand-hold it and built a mount for the boat with the lens attached to tripod stem. The disadvantage with this is that I would have to point the boat in the direction in which I wanted to shoot. I could not shoot off the sides of the boat. Now with the version II, I can hand-hold it and take images from both sides of the boat as well as what is in front of the boat.

I also love the collar. Much more fluid and easy to switch between vertical/horizontal. IS also works great for hand-holding the lens. The image below of the Great Egret nest was hand-held.

Anyhow, on to a few images:

http://iwishicouldfly.com/iwishicoul...woodpecker.jpg
Red-Headed Woodpecker: 5D Mark III, ISO 800, 840mm, f/8, 1/1,600 sec


http://iwishicouldfly.com/iwishicoul...ah_sparrow.jpg
Savannah Sparrow: Canon 7D, ISO 640, 840mm, f/7.1, 1/800 sec

http://iwishicouldfly.com/iwishicoul...egret_nest.jpg
Great Egret Nest: Canon 7D, ISO 640, 840mm, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec

http://iwishicouldfly.com/iwishicoul...rairie_dog.jpg
Prairie Dog: Canon 5D Mark III, ISO 640, 840mm, f/9, 1/1328 sec

Alan
www.iwishicouldfly.com

Looking good Alan! Just got word that I'll get mine on Thursday!

Thanks Doug,

You're gonna flip out when you lift it. It's sooo nice and light.

Alan

Doug - where did you order from?

I still haven't got word from B&H, seems like their stock comes last.

Congrats on the new toy! Hope you can make some good images.
As for sharpness, I am not sure about these images and what they are supposed to show at this small size, they could have been take with any camera/lens. Can't say they are impressive. For sharpness you need to do a controlled test otherwise it's all subjective. The old naked lenses and the new ones out-resolve the sensors in all current Canon DSLRs so even if the new lenses are sharper you won't see any difference visually. The MTF charts show some differences with the TCs though. One of the major improvements in optics that came in the past decade after the MKI lenses is the coating material. The new material used in coatings reduces flare, ghosting and has lower dispersion. The new lenses might also benefit from this in some conditions. Any ways, the weight is the biggest factor here and what you pay for.

Alan,
Your results are what I would expect from Canon's published MTF charts. However, I think you will see some small differences when adding TCs, especially 2x TCs. I would hope you might see better chromatic aberration which will show on backlit subjects or high contrast subjects like the Moon, both bare lens and in particular, with TCs.

Of the new super teles, the MTF charts are slightly better than the version 1 lenses, with the exception the new 500 f/4, whose MTF curves are stunning. I really want to see some results with the new 500. It may be the 500 is a sweet spot in optics: as telephoto lenses get larger, the glass thickness and internal uniformity get more and more difficult to make a larger lens and bring all light to best focus, an effect well known to astronomers making large telescopes.
So hoping to see some new 500 performance too. (Then win a lottery to be able to buy one.)

Roger

Arash,

I use B&H a lot, but when it comes to new equipment I tend to stick with regional dealers. They always seem to do better on initial shipments.

As far as the images shown, I was asked to provide a few samples and that's what I did. Just for fun, nothing else. I haven't had a chance yet to take an award-winning photos yet:S3:, so that's all I have to show.

I did do a controlled test between the old and new lens from f/4 to f/22. I used the 5DM3 to perform the test since I wanted to see the corners of the lens. It's not the highest resolving camera, so take it at face-value. (Now if I could attache a D800...) I could not ascertain any meaningful differences, so I didn't post them. Here is a 100% crop taken with both the new and old lenses, side-by-side. This is just a small crop of a much larger test pattern. I picked near a corner for a worse-case scenario. These were both at f/9:

http://iwishicouldfly.com/iwishicoul...00_compare.jpg

The new lens appears slightly sharper but has a bit more CA at the corners. I was surprised to see the CA a bit higher, but the amount of CA is so small that it makes no meaningful difference. Both lenses are stellar for sharpness. (Old is on the left, New is on the right) As always, there will be some variation with the lenses. Others may have slightly different reports.

Alan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by arash_hazeghi

I still haven't got word from B&H, seems like their stock comes last.

Congrats on the new toy! Hope you can make some good images.
As for sharpness, I am not sure about these images and what they are supposed to show at this small size, they could have been take with any camera/lens. Can't say they are impressive. For sharpness you need to do a controlled test otherwise it's all subjective. The old naked lenses and the new ones out-resolve the sensors in all current Canon DSLRs so even if the new lenses are sharper you won't see any difference visually. The MTF charts show some differences with the TCs though. One of the major improvements in optics that came in the past decade after the MKI lenses is the coating material. The new material used in coatings reduces flare, ghosting and has lower dispersion. The new lenses might also benefit from this in some conditions. Any ways, the weight is the biggest factor here and what you pay for.

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Thanks for the above Alan. It's nice if it is sharper in the corners. CA should be easy to remove.

Best of luck with the new lens, sure it will open many new possibilities.

I got to play with a new 600 this past week. The lens did not appear sharper without converters than the version 1, but it did work well with the new 1.4x. The lens does acquire AF quickly and is significantly lighter.
I will need more time in the field with the lens to see if I go with the new super high res 500 or new 600.

Chas

600mm F4 on pre-order for me - that extra 100mm with the weight of the old (generation one) 500mm F4 is hard to pass-up. I look at it this way: I cannot walk around and hand-hold the new 500 F4 II - I will need a tripod for it - so I decided to go for the extra 100mm reach. Now in Thailand where I do much bird migration research, and can sit under a wooden chalet-shelter all day long, I can hand-hold that new 600mm F4 II (just as I did the 500 F4 version one for the last two years) - the weight of the new 600mm F4 II for a few minutes is doable...but not all day long where I have to carry it...in my situation, I can lay it down in a safe area and pick-up when needed. Anyway, here is the 2011 raptor migration summary from Thailand - many birds in flight:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/aljw6rlw0n...KhaoDinsor.pdf

I look forward to shooting them with the new 600mm F4 II this season - so long as the lens arrives soon...