Canon and nikon users

midnight rider

I currently use a Canon 40D and I mainly shoot macro, birds, and indoor photos of my kids. My question is that my 40D is having a time keeping up with the kids and birds. I also have some macro concerns. I am really wanting a macro lens with IS or VR or whatever. I set my mag and move my camera until I obtain the focus I want meaning I do not use a tripod. So my question is I am really looking at the Nikon D300 and the Canon 1dmk2. Would either of these cameras out shine my 40D in the above mentioned areas? Other recommendations are very welcome.

ziggy53

midnight rider wrote:

I currently use a Canon 40D and I mainly shoot macro, birds, and indoor photos of my kids. My question is that my 40D is having a time keeping up with the kids and birds. I also have some macro concerns. I am really wanting a macro lens with IS or VR or whatever. I set my mag and move my camera until I obtain the focus I want meaning I do not use a tripod. So my question is I am really looking at the Nikon D300 and the Canon 1dmk2. Would either of these cameras out shine my 40D in the above mentioned areas? Other recommendations are very welcome.

Yes, I believe that my Canon 1D MKII will autofocus faster and more accurately than my 40D. Yes, I believe it will do a nice job on moving targets including children and pets. Understand that technique and AF settings do impact the overall success, and even the 1D/1Ds series cameras and Nikons best cameras cannot achieve 100% in-focus even with perfect technique.

Macro lenses are not designed for speed so if your question was to recommend a single lens for both applications, I'm afraid that would not be the case. A lens with very fast AF is recommended for shooting children and most of the pricier "L" series with USM and better primes are recommended for children photography.

I don't have a stabilized macro lens so I can't comment from experience but people that do have a stabilized macro lens suggest that the stabilization is of little or no value at macro distances. (I was also surprised at this.)

Macro lenses can make fairly nice portrait lenses and I gather that stabilization is valuable for that situation. It partly depends on the required DOF and distance to background as to whether a macro makes sense for a particular application at non-macro distances. (Most macro lenses do not have a very large maximum aperture.)

Photoskipper

ziggy53 wrote:

Yes, I believe that my Canon 1D MKII will autofocus faster and more accurately than my 40D. Yes, I believe it will do a nice job on moving targets including children and pets. Understand that technique and AF settings do impact the overall success, and even the 1D/1Ds series cameras and Nikons best cameras cannot achieve 100% in-focus even with perfect technique.

Macro lenses are not designed for speed so if your question was to recommend a single lens for both applications, I'm afraid that would not be the case. A lens with very fast AF is recommended for shooting children and most of the pricier "L" series with USM and better primes are recommended for children photography.

I don't have a stabilized macro lens so I can't comment from experience but people that do have a stabilized macro lens suggest that the stabilization is of little or no value at macro distances. (I was also surprised at this.)

Macro lenses can make fairly nice portrait lenses and I gather that stabilization is valuable for that situation. It partly depends on the required DOF and distance to background as to whether a macro makes sense for a particular application at non-macro distances. (Most macro lenses do not have a very large maximum aperture.)

Agree that Macro lens is not desgin for speed. I usually use tripod and remote control to do the macro shoots to avoid the camera movement. Sometimes, I need to use the long shutter to get better DOF. Many long marco lens has optional lens collar for that purpose.

In order to enjoy the marco with IR/VR, it may be possible to use those lenses with the marco rings (12 mm or 25 mm) to reduce the focal distance and increase the magnifications. I try the 24 -105 F4 IS and the 70-200F2.8 IS and the IS works. But that is not my routine practise, it was just for fun. I like the 100 mm F2.8 Macro which can do nice portrait also.

NikonsandVstroms

you might want to take a look at Olympus, I don't have much experience with their telephoto lenses, but with the E-3 or E-30 which is coming out with the SWD lenses are supposed to be extremely fast for autofocus. and with the in body image stabilization, and the 50 mm F2 macro . You would have a great combination for that work as well. You're one limitation on the system would be for the indoor shots of the kids, since the high ISO performance is not as good as the Canon and Nikon equivalents

midnight rider

I am sorry if I was not clear or if I was misleading. I do not use AF with my macro lens. I know the AF speed on macro lenses leaves a lot to be desired but I find it better to set the magnification and move my camera until I get the desired focus. My concern with AF speed is for birding and indoor shots of my kids.

After doing some more searching the nikon macro with VR does not have good reviews. it is a very sharp lens but it seems the VR is hindered useless at macro distances. very disappointing.

I would really prefer to stick with a Canon or a Nikon. They are the best IMO.

Photoskipper

midnight rider wrote:

I am sorry if I was not clear or if I was misleading. I do not use AF with my macro lens. I know the AF speed on macro lenses leaves a lot to be desired but I find it better to set the magnification and move my camera until I get the desired focus. My concern with AF speed is for birding and indoor shots of my kids.

After doing some more searching the nikon macro with VR does not have good reviews. it is a very sharp lens but it seems the VR is hindered useless at macro distances. very disappointing.

I would really prefer to stick with a Canon or a Nikon. They are the best IMO.

The autofocus is very depends on the lighting and the set up of focus points. In good daylight under the mid-day sun, most of camera and lenses can do a good job. Only challenge is dim light and in-door. Fast lens with F2.8 and below helps a lot.

Many camera has multiple AF points but it may confuse the camera if the object is moving too fast. For bird shooting, I prefer to you single centre autofocus so I just aim the camera centre at the bird. It may affect some composition but I can do the cropping in the photoshop.

For Macro, I do it only manual focus or sliding the camera to get the best manification, focus and DOF.

Jabba

You've left out a significant piece of information in your original post- what lens(es) are you pairing with the 40D when you are encountering these limitations? I'd venture that the camera is far more capable than the vast majority of the folks that employ it- myself included. Let us know what lens you're currently using for these applications and chances are that there is a much more affordable answer waiting for you than either of the cameras you've mentioned so far. The 40D is a very capable camera- often held back by the glass screwed to the front of it and the fleshy part hanging off the back.

midnight rider

Jabba wrote:

You've left out a significant piece of information in your original post- what lens(es) are you pairing with the 40D when you are encountering these limitations? I'd venture that the camera is far more capable than the vast majority of the folks that employ it- myself included. Let us know what lens you're currently using for these applications and chances are that there is a much more affordable answer waiting for you than either of the cameras you've mentioned so far. The 40D is a very capable camera- often held back by the glass screwed to the front of it and the fleshy part hanging off the back.

I really only use 3 lenses now days.
Canon 50mm f/1.4
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 ex dg macro ( I only use this lens in MF )
Canon 300mm f/4L IS

Tee Why

Those are very capable lenses. I'd recommend using the AF on the macro though. In AI Servo mode, if you make small movements back and forth with close focusing, your focus will be off and image stabilization will not help with this. The AI servo mode can detect for such a thing and compensate for you. Using a 150mm macro with a 1.6 crop body at or near 1:1 magnification requires a fast shutter speed and/or a tripod in my view as even a slightest of movement will throw the focus point off.

Both the 50mm and the 300mm should be more than fast enough for moving kids on a 40D for obtaining focus. What focusing modes are you using? Can you also post a typical sample with EXIF for us to see what's going on with the shots?

Robinivich

Tee Why wrote:

Those are very capable lenses. I'd recommend using the AF on the macro though. In AI Servo mode, if you make small movements back and forth with close focusing, your focus will be off and image stabilization will not help with this. The AI servo mode can detect for such a thing and compensate for you. Using a 150mm macro with a 1.6 crop body at or near 1:1 magnification requires a fast shutter speed and/or a tripod in my view as even a slightest of movement will throw the focus point off.

Both the 50mm and the 300mm should be more than fast enough for moving kids on a 40D for obtaining focus. What focusing modes are you using? Can you also post a typical sample with EXIF for us to see what's going on with the shots?

And I would also like to see examples of how you're missing focus with your other lenses.

But... being a loving user of the 150mm macro on the 40d, I understand midnight rider's position on AF with this lens. While servo focusing is nearly quick enough to compensate like you're mentioning, it's much more likely that the lens will miss focus entirely and hunt (the percentage goes higher and higher the closer you are to 1:1). If is hunts, the lens will be off in lala land before you take your finger off the button , and you'll have to MF it back where you started.

The best way to avoid camera shake in macro photography IMHO is flash. I know budget can be a pain, but get yourself a nice off camera flash, look at some brackets to hold it closer to the front of the lens, and voila, at 1/200s-1/250s X-sync, hand shake just isn't that big an issue. This isn't much help with framing, obviously, but that's a knack that just takes practice, especially with an effectively 240mm 1:1 macro lens. I also find that the Ef-S high precision focusing screen (not to be confused with the lens mount) helps me eyeball exactly where the lens is focused.