At 12:48 PM 7/12/2003 -0400, Lon Williamson wrote:
Got three replies so far; I DO want a fast lens for the following reasons: I'm probably going to buy ONE and ONLY ONE telephoto prime and use TCs to extend its range.
That was my logic in getting the 400 f2.8. I figured that with teleconverters it would provide a range of focal lengths, all useable.
Using a 500 mirror (which is NOT too long for zoo shots, btw) gives me a max shutter speed of about 125 with 800 speed film in most situations on bright days at noon. Many shots are impossible with such a slow lens.
If your subject was in the sun, I'd expect you to have a much faster shutter than that at noon (based on the sunny 16 rule.) But the contrast would be murder!
I shoot mostly ISO 100 and am pretty comfortable if the shutter is 1/30th or greater. At 1/30th I lose a lot of shots due to subject motion though. At 1/15th and slower I start losing shots to camera shake at subject motion both.
I'm afraid I'd run into similar problems with a f4 or f4.5 prime and TC combination, so I think I'm going to get the 300 or 400 f2.8 to make sure slapping on a TC doesn't result in a "too slow" lens.
IMO, fill flash is really a necessity in a lot of situations. The range your flash can reach is determined by your F stop setting. A fast lens lets you get the most distance out of your flash.
Mark, I've got a Giottos M3000 ball head rated at 33 lbs. Subtract 10 lbs. from that to be on the safe side and the tripod, not the head, is my suspected problem. Have you ever used a tube with the 400 to get closer focus?
I've not used a tube with the 400, though there were times when I wished I had broguht one. With the 1.7x you have about 1/15th magnification at the closest focusing distance - which is pretty workable.
Good luck!
- MCC
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Mark Cassino
Kalamazoo, MI
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Photos:
http://www.markcassino.com
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