New gadget

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Sun Feb 04, 2007 1:55 pm

Took it to the park yesterday just to fiddle with it and learn the camera. I like it a lot, but I've GOT to get a longer tele. This 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 doesn't get me near close enough.

The 3.5 becomes 4 at about 21mm, too. Ah, well, still not bad for a $70 lens.

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:28 pm

Picked up a Tamron 70-300 today while I was in Arlington Camera. Not the best lens, but extends my reach considerably.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 1:45 pm

Nice! When do we get to see some pics of the be fore and after with the lenses?

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Tue Feb 06, 2007 6:49 pm

Well, I'll take both when I next go shooting, so we can all compare.

BlackRider · Post by **BlackRider** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 12:52 pm

You're going to shoot them?!

o...... nm.......

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Wed Feb 07, 2007 8:55 pm

Ok, I've got two sets of very rough comparison pics here. They were taken out a dirty window of the 12th floor of an office building in Addison. These have been through the exact same post-processing, limited to white balance correction and resizing. EXIF data is in there, so you can see the exact focal lengths used. You're pretty much looking at the short end of the long lens versus the long end of the short lens.

long lens:

short lens:

long lens:

Short lens:

So far, I'm happy with the new lens. It appears to be considerably sharper than the kit, which is no surprise. Cons: max aperture is f/4. Bleh. Also, it has trouble with autofocus if the light's not optimal. I've not tested for CA yet. I'll withhold final judgement until I give it a real workout, but so far, so good.

Defiance.enD · Post by **Defiance.enD** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 11:26 am

Looks okay considering the conditions you had. I hate trying to shoot through glass.

Just remember if you try to shoot at 300mm handheld, that you will need a shutter speed atleast twice that of the lenses focal length.

The good thing is, the 20D still works pretty well at 800iso, so you can always go with the faster ISO if need be.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 12:09 pm

Wow, there's a pretty significant difference witht he lenses... It looks warm down there.. I wiash I was somewhere warm right now.

Defiance.enD · Post by **Defiance.enD** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 4:36 pm

Meant to say as well.

That area is not far from where I grew up, but sure don't look the same.

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 8:21 pm

Hat, I should have taken some today - drizzly, foggy, and about 40 degrees. The pryamid-ish building in the first set was about the limit of visibility. Yesterday was about 70 degrees.

Defiance, I've not heard that rule before (though it sounds good). Does that mean if I'm shooting at 300mm, I need 1/600th or better? And yes, the high-ISO capability was a significant part of my purchasing decision.

XMEN Ashaman DTM · Post by **XMEN Ashaman DTM** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 8:47 pm

Gambino: that would be absolutely perfect weather here.

You guys with cameras just wait till someone decides to put adaptive optics and some fancy folding techniques in there. You'll definitely be amazed. Think dynamic, fully automatic focal length over a very huge range (1 mm to 100 mm). All of this in a very compact design, probably no bigger than one of your smaller lenses.

Yes, it's very doable.

BlackRider · Post by **BlackRider** » Thu Feb 08, 2007 9:33 pm

then do it and make billions

If I get to go to california this spring I'll take some shots from laguna seca.

Post by **XMEN Gambit** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:19 am

XMEN Ashaman DTM wrote:Gambino: that would be absolutely perfect weather here.

Hey, I'm great with either 40 or 70 - I'm pretty happy from 20 to 95. Hat was commenting on the appearance, which varied more than the temp.

Spinning Hat · Post by **Spinning Hat** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 12:42 am

Yeah, It's minus 1 right now, the high was something rediculous like 8 degrees or something today, with a high of 10 tomorrow... Only supposed to get to -13 tonight, rather balmy considering the last few days of minus 20's with windchill of -50 or so. I really need to go somewhere warm right now.. I've been cold for a month, and I think I've permanently lost all feeling in my toes.

Defiance.enD · Post by **Defiance.enD** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:11 am

Defiance, I've not heard that rule before (though it sounds good). Does that mean if I'm shooting at 300mm, I need 1/600th or better?

Yep.

If not, then you will get what appears to be an out of focus image, when actually, you've caught movement of the camera/lens.

If using a tripod, you'll be good to go, but I do highly recommend using the mirror lock up function.