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new old canon setup, thoughts?
hello everyone!!!
I am totally new here. I am also totally new to canon, and have a few questions. have been shooting birds for 5plus years with a sony dslr and 150-500. I shoot on a tripod, (ball head...) with a better-beamed flash. to get SHARP results, I need to go down to F9!!! anyway, I have decided to sell everything and start again with canon. I am thinking of doing the following- btw I am young and on a TIGHT budget of "as little as possible"
selling all proprietary sony gear to adorama,
buy a used 1dii and a new 400 5.6 prime
also find a used 40d for more "croppablity"
shoot with the a 1.4 ii or iii
also thinking about a lensmaster RH1 half gimbal, as I detest my cheapo ball head.
the questions are as follows- how will the 1dii deal with noise?
how much can I crop with a 8mp 1dii? (thats half the mp of my sony...)
can I af with the 400 plus 1.4 tc with the 1dii
what are the cheapest suitable tripod legs for a stable equivalent of 800mm plus?
ALSO
I realize that this setup will be effectively shorter than my sony, so what can I do to get closer to the birds? techniques? tips?
thank you so much for your time reading this, I appreciate any and all thoughts and ideas. yep!
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The people that I shoot with are either using Canon, Nikon or Sony. The Sony guys are getting stellar results, thanks largely to those super sensors. I worry that you'll actually take a big step backward. Having an actual 500mm of reach and giving up 20% to go down to a 400mm just doesn't make sense to me.
Is there a teleconverter available for you 150-500mm? I'd investigate that first.
I shoot Canon, but mostly the latest generation stuff, like the 5D MkIII, which I combine with a 500/f4 and a 2.0x TC-III.
Getting closer to the birds is always a good place to focus you attention (pun intended). That's free focal length to the extent that you can achieve it. Are you using a portable blind? Are you setting up where the birds come and then waiting at least 20-minutes. I find that, even without a blind, just getting in position and waiting often bring birds in close.
Unless your using all the latest generation Canon, then the TC-II is as good as the TC-III as far as IQ and mechanical/electrical performance.
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Post a Thank You. - 1 Thanks
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hey thanks. I'm a big believer in good glass is the important part- (I JUST sold my stuff to keh, which was visiting my local shop...) and will probobly stick to to 400 prime but re-evaluate my buget for a better body. (like a 7d or 5d2)
there isn't a useful TC for the 150-500... its f6.3 at 500 by itself, and needs like at least a stop of stopping down to be sharp. (tried it with a few, think f20 for sharpness!)
those are just the tips I needed for getting closer to the birds... I don't do any of that currently. THANKS!!!
also, checked out your flickr site... LOVED the shots, esp. the chickadee+olives!!!
-jay
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Jay, thanks for the compliments and looking at my Photostream.
You should be shooting at ISO 800 as a default and pushing up to ISO 1600 when the light isn't as good. The 5D2 is excellent at ISO 1600 and even good at ISO 3200. The 7D starts getting iffy around 1600. Be sure not to underexpose either.
Because you plan to use TCs (I'm sure that you realize that MF is very difficult with any stock Canon viewfinder), then you might want a lens wtih IS. The 100-400mm has IS. With IS, you can consider ditching the tripod. Either the 500/5.6 or the 100-400mm is light enough for hand holding, but when you start adding extenders and slowing SS, then hand holding without IS is troublesome. With IS, you can hand hold at insanely low SS, like this one, hand held at 125mm at 1/25-sec.:
Untitled by dcstep, on Flickr
Probably, since you seem dead set to use TCs, then you need to get the best sensor possible in your budget, IS and a tripod. If I had your budget limitation and burning desire to get a solid 800mm of focal length, I'd go with a used 5D2, used 100-400mm, Kenko TCs and a Induro tripod and ballhead. (For BIF you'll need to take the TCs off and hand hold, which will be easy with this lens).
I used to own the 400/5.6L and found it to be an excellent, quick focusing lens, but it slowed to a crawl with a TC and had no IS. It's a wonderful 400mm lens, but it really doesn't want to be anything longer.
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BTW, what convinced you to jump from Sony to Canon? Given budget constraints, I would have suggested staying with Sony, for now at least. I think that Canon has more lens choices, but you don't have the budget to take advantage of that yet. I'm guessing that you had a Sigma lens, which is not a bad lens, so long as you're willing to stick with a 500mm focal length.
Which brings to mind another suggestion, a used 7D and and a used Sigma. The pixel density of the 7D's sensor get you effective reach of around 800mm, versus using a less dense FF sensor, TCs and a 400mm lens. Being able to use AF would be HUGE for me, vs. being stuck tripod mounted with either very slow AF or MF.
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hey thanks. my 150-500 zoom just wasn't cutting it for af and sharpness. that isn't to say I haven't gotten useful shots- all the shots here http://www.flickr.com/photos/97125918@N04/ are with my sony setup. in fact, I love sony for the fab sensors, cheapness, etc. just their 500mm prime is 13000 USD- not too helpful to me. I like the idea of a 1.6 crop canon like the 7d on a 400- im sure I can swing it, and im now sure that the images will be much better than those from a '05 1d body... also I just found out (doh!) that sony is releasing an uber sharp 70-400 5.6 VERSION 2. the only issue is that it is twice the price of the canon prime. any who, so much to consider, so much time. or something. thanks for the help
-jay
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hey yeah so basically I wanted to upgrade my equipment due to a lower than preferred keeper rate... and I also wanted some nicer glass. the sony equivalent upgrade costs way more, the cheapest being the 2200 dollar 70-400 G2. thats not outrageous, but I cant say its a huge upgrade/ the next rung up is the 13000 dollar 500 f4. I love the 7d option, however the used 500 f4.5's are still in the 4000 dollar range. that would be a great upgrade for later. canon just seems to have more "growing room." any who, I'm still in the saving stage, and, as it is migrant bird season, am probably going to splash on the 400 5.6 and worry about longer later.
that shot above really makes IS shine though... food for thought.... you say the 400 prime doesn't take TC's well? the zoom is better?
btw, this i where you can find my shots with the sony- http://www.flickr.com/photos/97125918@N04/
thanks for all the help!
-jay
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