Wildlife of Southern Africa 2012 Calendar

After many late nights since returning from my trip to South Africa and Botswana I've finally got a new calendar together for 2012!  It is filled with 13 (including the cover) of my favorite wildlife photos from the trip printed on A3 200gsm satin art paper with a sturdy top wire binding and hanger.  They are a fantastic gift idea and if you order before the 17th of December in many parts of the world then you will receive your order before Christmas (Redbubble Christmas shipping dates).

If you are looking at this post mid year and don't want to wait 6 months to get a calendar you actually select which month of the year you want you calendar to start when you order.  The default should be Janurary but make sure you double check before you click Add to Cart.

African Wildlife is not your thing then I also have several other calendars available in my Calendar Album or go to my portfolio page for card & prints of all my photos including many more from the trip.  If I can get a few more photos uploaded tonight I might have a "Birds of Southern Africa" calendar too.

For the photographers out there, all images were taken with a Canon 7D with Canon 100-400.

New Canon EF 200-400mm announced

Canon has just announced it is developing the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender1.4x and it looks sensational! It will cost a mint and weigh a tonne but I suspect it was be a sensational lens for wildlife and sports photographers who need some extra length. The Nikon 200-400 f/4 is very highly regarded so provided canon doesn't do anything too silly, I think this lens will be a huge success.

The downside of this lens is going to be the size, weight and $$$$. You can't make a f/4 long zoom without a lot of glass and steel (or magnesium or whatever they are using these days) so it will be big. I heard someone say the Nikon goes for around $7000 so that gives a ball park for the Canon, given it includes a teleconverter I wouldn't expect it to be less.

In my last blog post I mentioned that there were some rumours that canon would be replacing/updating the 100-400 soon. Well there were also some rumours that the new 70-300 IS would fill that gap and that they might go for something new for a new xxx-400 zoom. Looks like they went for something new!

Anyway, not long after that last blog I did end up buying a second hand Canon 100-400mm, and even with this announcement, I'm glad I did for a few reasons.

1. I’m currently getting photos I couldn’t any other way and it was the best option at the time. (Just had a trip down to Tasmania)
2. I won’t be able to afford the new 200-400mm for a very long time, and
3. It’s a less expensive way to try wildlife photography and practice, practice, practice. Results are improving already!

Pied Oyster catchers at Fortescue Bay, Tasmania (Canon 50D with Canon 100-400 IS)

So all in all it looks like a great lens but given the weight and the price it's time to hit the gym... and then the casino?

Cup Weekend Day 3

Day 3 saw me fortunate enough to borrow a lens I'd been thinking about buying, Canon 100-400 IS.  I've been wanting to do wildlife photography for years but I've never been able to justify the big $$ to get started.  So my aim for the few house spent with this lens was to determine if wildlife photography is for me and if the lens is worth buying.

Here's a few of the photos I ended up with:

First bird I shot in the backyard, Crimson Rosella. Canon 50D, 400mm, 1/200, f/7.1, ISO320

Down at Shallow Inlet this was as close as I could get to these tiny Little Stint's.  Canon 50D, 400mm, 1/640, f/9, ISO200

Trying out panning again with an IS lens, only problem was that I didn't know which IS setting was which. Canon 50D, 400mm, 1/200, f/10, ISO100

Large-billed Scrubwren, even at f/9 the depth of field is very shallow. Canon 50D, 400mm, 1/320, f/9, ISO160

Superb Blue Wren.  The IS is a lifesaver here.  Canon 50D, 400mm, 1/60, f/8, ISO320

Jenny Wren. Canon 50D, 400mm, 1/100, f/8, ISO320

More photos with the Canon 100-400mm in my Flickr stream.

So first up, did I enjoy the wildlife photography experience? Umm, YES! Really enjoyed it so will be looking for ways to do more in the future.

Next, what about the lens? As you can see I shot pretty much everything at 400mm and still had to crop the photos so for birds (particularly small ones) 400mm on a crop body only just cuts it. I was not blown away by the image quality but I hear that at 400mm the canon is better than the Sigma equivalents so I probably won't go with them since it will probably be my most used focal length. The IS is a real life saver when you need the extra depth of field which is most of the time with long focal length. I don't have well practised long lens technique but I was able to hand hold down to 1/60th at times. I also wasn't a fan of the push pull zoom, I find it isn't as smooth (something that may improve with practice) but I also found that when zoomed out, your left hand can't support the lens & body very well. I know people say you need lots of practice with this sort of then but I don't think that is going to change. I found that when zoomed out I'd take my hand off the zoom ring and bring it back closer to the body for support, which helped but means I can't zoom.

The other Canon 400mm option is 400mm f/5.6 which is said to be sharper than the 100-400 @ 400 and it's cheaper but it is lacking IS which I think would be a killer for me.

Anyway I heard a rumour that Canon will be releasing a new version of the 100-400 next year so I might wait till then to either get the new version or pick up a cheaper old one.