New Lens

JGD

First Use of new Canon 400mm f5.6 L USM on my 5D.






I bought this len for Astro and wildlife, What do you think? I am pretty happy so far although auto focus seems a little iffy so far. Maybe I need to get used to it a little more.

Dick on Aruba

Congrats with your new lens! I hope you have a strong arm!

Thanks for sharing,

Dick.

mr peas

very cool. im sure the more you shoot the better you'll get used to the AF and the weight. when you get bored, you can try using it to hit a few baseballs out of the field. im sure other wildlife photographers here can give you tips about using that lens especially when they've used it for so long. share some more when you can.

gus

Congratulations.

Isnt it a fantastically sharp lens ! I often just go for a walk with it on to get different perspectives on streets etc. From what i have seen of others shooting this event..it was sharper & performed better than all the massive 500f4's. It just needs that ray of light on the subject to get over that f5.6.

ShepsMom

I really like the duck! Very nice, clear and sharp!
That moon looks familiar, how did you get that one?

dbaker1221

great shots! congrats on the lens

Jeffro

ShepsMom wrote:

That moon looks familiar, how did you get that one?

It should, it's the only one we have!

JGD

Thanks for the comments. The moon was taken on the night of 3/5/2007 at 9:39 pm at 1/80s f5.6 and ISO 50, mirror lock-up, remote shuter release and tripod.

The duck was at a local pond with camera resting on a tree branch. The hand held shots did not turn out as sharp. It seems that this lens needs a solid mount. I'm used to hauling around my tripod, guess I'll have to make sure I have it whenever I use this lens.

gus

JGD wrote:

Thanks for the comments. The moon was taken on the night of 3/5/2007 at 9:39 pm at 1/80s f5.6 and ISO 50, mirror lock-up, remote shuter release and tripod.

The duck was at a local pond with camera resting on a tree branch. The hand held shots did not turn out as sharp. It seems that this lens needs a solid mount. I'm used to hauling around my tripod, guess I'll have to make sure I have it whenever I use this lens.

For stuff with huge crops like the moon you certainly do need a tripod like any other lens. As for doing sports hand held i like to make sure i keep my shutter at a min speed of 1/1500 sec.

TeamSpeed

gus wrote:

For stuff with huge crops like the moon you certainly do need a tripod like any other lens. As for doing sports hand held i like to make sure i keep my shutter at a min speed of 1/1500 sec.

I guess I don't quite understand this. Late evening 5/27, I took the Bigma out with a 1.4x, handheld and manually focused (because the Bigma and the TC don't play nicely together), and was able to get this shot. I think with fast shots like 1/350th and faster, I am not sure why a monopod or tripod is needed on stationary objects. Preventing shake with this combination, however, is next to impossible, I tried bracing against our swing, sat in the chaise, etc.

EXIF:
File Name IMG_8155.CR2
Camera Model Canon EOS 30D
Shooting Date/Time 5/27/2007 9:34:45 PM
Shooting Mode Manual Exposure
Tv( Shutter Speed ) 1/350
Av( Aperture Value ) 8.0
Metering Mode Evaluative Metering
ISO Speed 400
Lens 70.0 - 700.0 mm
Focal Length 700.0 mm
Image Size 3504x2336
Image Quality RAW



Love the duck shot, none of my duck shots have come in that crisp! Go figure, I can capture the moon okay, but cannot get a good duck shot with the Bigma. I will have to work on this.

gus

TeamSpeed wrote:

I guess I don't quite understand this. Late evening 5/27, I took the Bigma out with a 1.4x, handheld and manually focused (because the Bigma and the TC don't play nicely together), and was able to get this shot. I think with fast shots like 1/350th and faster, I am not sure why a monopod or tripod is needed on stationary objects. Preventing shake with this combination, however, is next to impossible, I tried bracing against our swing, sat in the chaise, etc.

This was shot at about 4 or 5 pm with a 400 L & no TC. There is no other way i can say this without sounding like a canon snob but there isnt a lot that will compare to an L series lens other than a good nikon lens. The 1.4 TC will be having quite an effect on your image also.

You need a tripod to stop yourself shaking & no matter how steady you think you are...you will shake.

I would drop the TC off & see what you get.

LCD

Congrats on the new lens! So far so good!