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.

Cup Weekend Day 2

Day 2 and I took very few photos, just some rolling hills overlooking Sandy Point, Shallow Inlet and of course Wilson's Prom.

Cup Weekend Day 1

Once again it is Cup Weekend in Melbourne and our family tradition (for the last two years) is to spend it at the holiday house in Sandy Point.
Sandy Point is a small beach town in South Gippsland, Victoria, not far from Wilson’s Promontory and surround by some beautiful scenery.  You can see some of my Sandy Point photos here.
This weekend has several priorities, family, sleep (am recovering from the flu) and photos which can be a challenge to balance.   Anyway I’ve been really excited to get back to shooting so headed off in the afternoon, despite less than thrilling conditions.  I started down at Shallow Inlet where there was some windsurfing happening so I thought I’d practice my sports photography and see if I could learn how to pan properly.  Have a look at the difference between the two photos below.

First photos has shutter speed of 1/1250 and the second 1/100 both shot with Sigma 70-200 @200mm

I then moved onto some bird life

All shot with 70-200mm.  I very nearly bought the Canon 100-400 last week but decided I shouldn't make snap decisions that cost that much money.  After having fun with these shots I might just do it if the Aussie $ comes up a bit more again though there a rumors Canon are replacing it next year.

Then some landscapes

Then some driving in the hills behind Walkerville

Then back to Sandy Point just before the sun set

Was a pretty good day!

Black & White Landscapes

I'm the first to admit that I haven't really done a lot of black & white photography, just a few images here and there for weddings and portraits, just barely enough to know that it is a whole new world that requires more than just desaturating an image!  So after seeing so many black & white landscapes on Moose Peterson's blog I thought it was time to have a go for myself.

Here's a side by side comparison of a few photos from a recent hike up Mt Feathertop, let me know what which images you prefer and why.  You may want to click through to see the larger image.

Mountain Ash vertical panorama

Fire ravaged clearing

Resilient snow gum

There's more photos from the trip (including more B&W images) in my Mt Feathertop flickr set and some of the ones above are already up on Redbubble.

DIY solution for sale: Wireless DSLR external monitor

Photographer Robert Benson likes to have the right tool for the job, and, if it doesn't exist at a reasonable price, he heads for the garage.  A couple of years ago he came up with a long range radio (literally) trigger when he found pocket wizards wouldn't give him the range he needed and now he's engineered (and posted for sale) a wireless DSLR external monitor.   It has been made using off the shelf products and will work with any DSLR that has 3.5mm miniphone jack for A/V or video out.  It is based around a 7" or 10" portable, battery powered monitor will display whatever is on the camera LCD be it video, live view or reviewing photos.  Pretty cool stuff, check it out on his blog or view the video below.

Photo & Video merging: Lighting

I picked this one up from @DSLRinformer on twitter.  Litepanels (who produce LED video lights) have just released a LED light panel with strobe function at NAB 2010!!  No idea on the flash specs but it's a cool concept.  Check out the NAB video here.