New Canon 300/2.8 IS

[Dvir Barkay]

Hello

I recently moved to Canon for my wildlife work, was a complete Sony shooter, now I will shoot with both systems. I got a 1DmrkIII and a Canon 300/2.8 L IS with both canon II TCs. My initial thoughts were that the shots aren't as sharp as they ought to be. It seems to like to back focus a lot, so I adjusted to -5. It still back focuses though (I am getting it calibrated by a company on Monday), but it does nail focus on about half of the shots. After the adjustment, I took some shots that looked really nice, when in focus. Because I don't know what to expect, I wanted to ask fellow members opinion on whether the shots are sharp, or they should be even better. Thanks in Advance.

(hopefully the links work)

My Dog: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ukrhtm5rfgldefr/_O2P4690.CR2
Neighbors Dog: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yopx08j0m5j1m5j/_O2P4751.CR2
Neighbors Dog: https://www.dropbox.com/s/41lcqc889nh2c5j/_O2P4739.CR2
Neighbors Dog: https://www.dropbox.com/s/apkpb3gpbcu6bur/_O2P4728.CR2

[Diane Miller]

This is a good way to present the actual file. I think the first and last are sharp, but on the others it is difficult to assess something like sharpness with an animal that is probably moving -- it's hard to be sure the camera focus is perfect. Was it AI Servo? Where was the focus spot? Was the camera on a tripod? Especially the one at f/2.8 could have factors other than the lens involved. Shoot a printed page with fine print, glued to cardboard, with the camera on a tripod and everything else as controlled as possible.

That is an exceptionally sharp lens if it hasn't had any damage. The focus microadjustment might be off -- that could be either the camera body or the lens, or both.

[arash_hazeghi]

Dvir, all of these shots are tack sharp and the focus is where it is supposed to be, it is perfect focus.

good luck.

[Ashley Cohen]

I agree all the images look sharp, I would say the trouble you are facing is down to the extremely shallow DOF when shooting wide open at F2.8 on a 300mm Lens. I've struggled myself with it having had one.

[Dvir Barkay]

Dvir, all of these shots are tack sharp and the focus is where it is supposed to be, it is perfect focus.

good luck.

Thank you all for the help!! I am happy with it now, the shots with the x1.4TC, when focused correctly come out just a tad less sharp than what I posted. And surprisingly the shots with the x2TC look really good as well. I hope that after the calibration and some time to get better acquainted with the camera I will have more consistent results. Arash, what settings would you recommend for the 1DmrkIII in the AF sensitivity submenu? I use the middle one, but would it be wiser to choose something else for tracking BIF?

[Dvir Barkay]

I wanted to add another question. I recently tried to shot flying Bald Eagles and other birds of prey with the x2TC. The light was strong but nasty and harsh. But anyhow, most of the shots were in bad focus and I am not always sure 100% why. I still need to get used to shooting with a 600mm field of view and all. But I just wanted to ask others for tips both with the lens and camera for shooting with the x2TC on the 300/2.8. I got it professionally calibrated and it came out as no need to adjust, but it seems to still like to latch on to things behind the subject of focus.


The sharpest in flight shot I got so far
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hsy36gi96myoxkc/_O2P8970.CR2

Here is one were the focus is on the subject (bad shot I know, but for the purpose of an example it works) and yet the shot is just not sharp
https://www.dropbox.com/s/7su0d95zjb56wb5/_O2P9079.CR2

Again thank you all for the great help!

[Diane Miller]

The 1D Mk III is an older body now, and its AF for a moving subject may not be ideal by today's standards. The Mk IV made some improvements, as did the 1DX. I'll let those more experienced with those bodies give more information.

My comment would be that the shots are underexposed by about a stop, and bringing them up reveals noise. For a subject that small in the frame, you can shoot wide open, allowing some combination of more shutter speed and lower ISO. That doesn't address sharpness, but it's another factor to consider. I understand though that you might have been trying to maximize depth of field for the purpose of assessing sharpness.

[Dvir Barkay]

Thanks for the reply Diane, I think that the 1DmrkIII has so far been pretty good. I am sure that the 1Dx is better, but I can't exactly afford one :). I will try again to get better shots, as I had the wrong calibration setting on the combo :/ haha.

[Dvir Barkay]

I wanted to ask how do these samples look with the x2TC. To get the most accurate focus it seems the lens needs a -7 adjustment and these are with that adjustment. I got the lens professionally calibrated, but for some reason the calibration doesn't seem to be doing the job for me. The calibration said it needs 0 calibration and in many of the images it seems to back focus as I manually adjusted it. Here are two samples, I don't know if this is considered good or bad, to me it looks alright but I can't compare to anything. These are handheld, but the shutter speed ought to be good enough.

at F/5.6
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xgstgt1kd5r5urs/_O2P9243.CR2

At f/5.6 on Tripod with mirror lockup and 2nd timer
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n4noqq8rx9d0zka/_O2P9469.CR2

at F/8
https://www.dropbox.com/s/o3ef76fhfbjfyzm/_O2P9245.CR2

I would love to see others samples with the new or old 300 or even any other 300.

[arash_hazeghi]

IMO there are several factors that most likely contribute to your poor results, in the order of importance :

1) Poor technique, flight photography is not just point and shoot, that won't get you far. A solid understanding of AI servo AF system, Initial acquisition, stable tracking, AF settings and knowing what your gear can and what it cannot do will greatly improve flight sharpness.

2) obsolete equipment, the 1D3 was a very controversial product. There were many complaints about its AI servo tracking and it was recalled multiple times by Canon. Some photographers state they did not have any issues but there are many reputable photographers who consistently got poor results out of this camera despite the hardware and software fixes. It was overall a failure for Canon. you can just Google search 1D3 AF issues and learn more. It is a risky option.

3) TC 2X, there are three version of this TC, MKI, MKII and MKIII. You don't mention which one you have. MKI was very poor. MKII is OK but you need to stop down by at least one stop to get ideal sharpness. Only MKIII is sharp wide open

4) extremely poor conditions, shooting the bird from below against the sun, underexposing and lots of noise as a result. The quality will be poor even if focus were sharp.

5) your choice of static test subjects is not good. It is difficult to conclude anything from these samples. To test your lens, find a clean dollar bill, stack it up against the wall and take test shots on a stable tripod. see my review of 600 for examples (page 2) : http://arihazeghiphotography.com/blog/ef600ii_review/


Hope this helps.

[Dvir Barkay]

Thanks Arash, I have gotten better results since asking the question. Tomorrow I will go take it on a test drive at the beach, I have seen many black skimmers lately, and its about time I tried photographing them. I did do a dollar bill test, here is an example of one of the shots. Also I use the x2TCII.

Tripod, MLU, 10sec timer
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jbj0jwxjg3elyzu/_O2P9625.CR2

[arash_hazeghi]

the dollar bill is sharp, but it is naked lens. if you want to test your TC, you need to add TC to the same setup, take a test shot and compare side by side. Also try photographing it from closer so you can see the fine lines on the bill when you blow it up.

[Dvir Barkay]

Ok here are two, x2TC shots
F/5.6
https://www.dropbox.com/s/w7vm6esf5kafpi9/_O2P9632.CR2

F/8
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ng4f7d4a3ysc6hm/_O2P9637.CR2

[arash_hazeghi]

This is the kind of sharpness you expect from 2X II, i.e. a bit soft wide open and OK when stopped down. If you want better sharpness you need to get the 2X III.

good luck

[Dvir Barkay]

thanks, you got any examples with the x2tcIII? I was deliberating between the two, but many state that the new TCs add nothing to the generation 1 L telephotos, and only add to the new lenses.

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/R...mp=4&APIComp=0

[arash_hazeghi]

That statesmen is not entirely accurate for the 2X, The 2X MKIII has better sharpness and less CA/fringe/halo compared to MKII even on the old lenses, especially when used wide open. I have some samples with the old 500, but I don't have the time to go and find them now...maybe later. Doug Brown did a nice comparison of old vs. new TC's on his old 600 when the new TCs came out, it is buried somewhere in this site.


I personally don't trust the tests on DLP site, many of his results seem to be skewed by bad focus or bad samples. they are not reproducible.


good luck.

[arash_hazeghi]

there you go this is the thread you want :

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...hlight=TC+MKII

forum search actually works!

[Dvir Barkay]

there you go this is the thread you want :

http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...hlight=TC+MKII

forum search actually works!

Thanks for that, definitely better contrast on the new one, I can't really tell if there is a lot more actual detail, but it feels much better because of the contrast. Considering I paid 200$ for the older one, I feel like it gets the job done. Just for fun here is stacked TCs on a new target that shows fine feather detail.

at F/8
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nm7s5off7wug787/_O2P9757.CR2

at F/11
https://www.dropbox.com/s/uxwxy0x4f2xogzv/_O2P9763.CR2

the shutter speeds might be making things worse, worth a try in better light. To me it looks quite decent considering its 840mm, especially the stopped down version.