Dream Lens... whats yours?

[Mitchell]

I thoguth I would start this to see what lens everyone wants and some pros/cons on them if someone already has it....

[Mitchell]

My lens that i want to get would be the canon EF 70-200L F 4.0 USM ......................

[gldiana]

I have all the lenses I want except for one: a fisheye.

[gdietzman]

I missed this thread earlier, but it was an intriguing question and I thought maybe another post might revive it.

I'd go with a Canon 300 f2.8L IS lens with a 2x converter; I've already got the 1.4x converter.

With these combinations, I'd have the following equivalents:

300mm, f2.8
420mm, f4.0 (w/1.4x)
600mm, f5.6 (w/2x)

There is some loss of quality with the 2x converter, but with these lens combinations there wouldn't be any loss of autofocus, although it would probably slow down some. Best of all, it would be considerably less expensive than a 500 or 600mm.

Anyone see any flaws in my reasoning? What do you think of this combination? Have you had any experience with these combinations?

[bob_r]

I missed this thread earlier, but it was an intriguing question and I thought maybe another post might revive it.

I'd go with a Canon 300 f2.8L IS lens with a 2x converter; I've already got the 1.4x converter.

With these combinations, I'd have the following equivalents:

300mm, f2.8
420mm, f4.0 (w/1.4x)
600mm, f5.6 (w/2x)

There is some loss of quality with the 2x converter, but with these lens combinations there wouldn't be any loss of autofocus, although it would probably slow down some. Best of all, it would be considerably less expensive than a 500 or 600mm.

Anyone see any flaws in my reasoning? What do you think of this combination? Have you had any experience with these combinations?

Gordon, a dream lens doesn't have to fit within your budget. My dream lens would be a Canon 500mm f/4 L IS with a 1.4xTC. This combination would give you a 700mm f/5.6 setup with AF. If you add the 1.6 crop adjustment to the 700mm, you'll get an 1120mm equivalent with AF!

The person that's responsible for me selecting that combination is Tom Munson, a fellow Pbase member. He uses this combination almost exclusively and his work is outstanding. Here's a link if anyone else wants to dream: http://www.pbase.com/clinton62 If you visit his site, I'm sure he'd appreciate any comments that you might want to add to his images. He seems like a real gentleman that shares our passion.

Of course, that lens combination will remain just a dream for me.

Bob R

[Mitchell]

[quote="bob_r
Gordon, a dream lens doesn't have to fit within your budget. My dream lens would be a Canon 500mm f/4 L IS with a 1.4xTC. This combination would give you a 700mm f/5.6 setup with AF. If you add the 1.6 crop adjustment to the 700mm, you'll get an 1120mm equivalent with AF!

The person that's responsible for me selecting that combination is Tom Munson, a fellow Pbase member. He uses this combination almost exclusively and his work is outstanding. Here's a link if anyone else wants to dream: http://www.pbase.com/clinton62 If you visit his site, I'm sure he'd appreciate any comments that you might want to add to his images. He seems like a real gentleman that shares our passion.

Of course, that lens combination will remain just a dream for me.

Bob R[/quote]



Wow he takes some AWSOME pictures i wish i could do that

[bob_r]

Mitchell,

Tom is retired and spends a lot of time traveling around the Northwest taking pics. He said he has a lot of bird-watching friends that let him know where they site birds that they think he would like to photograph. Whatever method he's using seems to work. He has one of the best collections of birds and wildlife that I've seen.

If you're interested in seeing some exceptional bird shots(and other wildlife), there's another Pbase member named Greg Lavaty and his collection of bird shots is unbelievable. Here's a link to his site: http://www.pbase.com/dadas115

Bob R

BTW, Greg's equipment is what one consider selling their soul to get.

[Bonish Photo]

If I answered this this question a few months ago, I would have said the Canon 400 f/2.8 IS, but searching through the POTN Buy/Sell forum a few weeks back, I found it for $2300 under the asking price so we bit the bullet and bought our dream lens.

Here is our reasoning. Much like Gordon and Bob's reasoning, I'd move up to the 400 over the 300mm f/2.8L. Heres why, with the 400mm you've got a great start, granted a heavy one (11lbs), but a great start for wildlife. This lens is also the crem-de-la-crem for the sports shooters which is who I bought ours from. He shot for Arkansas State Football, and the lens is what I call a 6 packer. Meaning after 6 beers she looks beautiful. Sober, it has quite a few scratches and scrapes on the white body as it came from a working professional. The glass is in pristine condition and all the motors and stabilizers work great.

So back to why this is my dream lens. If we add a 1.4x, we're out to 560 on the full frame 5D, and 896mm on the 30D with the crop factor. If we wanted to get even closer to the animals, then a 2x converter would put us at 800mm f/5.6 on a full frame or an astounding 1280 f/5.6 on a crop factor body and still have auto focus and a pretty fast lens.

By buying used and saving the $2300 off the new price, we can get both the 1.4 & the 2x extender along with a Wimberly head ($500!) to hold this monster stable and still be saming money in the long run. Oh, and I need to get a Kinesis Long Lens bag to carry this thing around. All of Canon's big lenses come with a aluminum suitcase, but that isnt practical to go out hiking with.

So you just got the same talk Cindy did and it made her say "Ok, lets get it!" What do you think.

Canon 400mm f/2.8L IS $6,800 (B&H Price)
Canon 500mm f/4.0L IS $5,600 (B&H Price)
Canon 600mm f/4.0L IS $7,220 (B&H Price)
Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS $10,799 (B&H Price)

Our lens, 400mm f/2.8L IS $4,500 Used. Wimberly Head $500 if I have to buy one brand new. I'm waiting to shop around and find one used like I find everything else. Kinesis Long Lens Bag $199, Canon 1.4 & 2x Extenders $280 each. Total spent to outfit with Dream Kit = $5,759. I know I'll find both the extenders at about half that price, as I see them all day long on POTN and Fred Miranda for $100 off retail price. Just waiting till we get back on the road before we make the purchase.

I'm still $1,041 off the Retail Price for the new 400mm and when we're ready to get to Yellowstone for the summer, we'll have the full dream kit ready for action.

If I was to just talk about dream lens which is unaffordable to anyone except the ultimate pro, it would be the Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 Electronic Power Zoom & Built-In LCD Panel for Focal Info....this puppy will set you back a cool $25,000!! but B&H has a $2,500 instant rebate incase anyone is on the fence for ordering.

[bob_r]

If I was to just talk about dream lens which is unaffordable to anyone except the ultimate pro, it would be the Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 Electronic Power Zoom & Built-In LCD Panel for Focal Info....this puppy will set you back a cool $25,000!! but B&H has a $2,500 instant rebate incase anyone is on the fence for ordering.

You would probably need a bigger mothership, a bigger kayak, a chiropracter on staff, a couple of porters and one monster tripod to handle that "puppy".

[Bonish Photo]

That's the same thing Cindy said. Actually she yelled pretty loudly "What the hell are you looking at that for? You have this beautiful lens right here and you're already looking at another one!?!"

It was like getting caught cheating or something...LOL

[gdietzman]

Gordon, a dream lens doesn't have to fit within your budget. My dream lens would be a Canon 500mm f/4 L IS with a 1.4xTC. This combination would give you a 700mm f/5.6 setup with AF. If you add the 1.6 crop adjustment to the 700mm, you'll get an 1120mm equivalent with AF...

Bob R

Ah, well if money isn't an issue...

Lens use, however, is an issue. I have a tendency to travel light, especially on wilderness trips, and anything larger would be really impractical. It would be nice to have a 600mm f4 IS USM, but it wouldn't be useful for me.

But there is that PRAGMATIC side of me as well. Wish I could shut that part of me down and just purchase two lenses...