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lens for wildlife


zjx

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Hi

 

I'm selecting a lens for shooting wildlife. from my research the following lenses are on my list:

 

(1) Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR with XF1.4X TC WR converter

 

(2) Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM with EF 2x Extender III Lens Teleconverter

 

(3) Canon EF 100-400mm ƒ/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

 

(4) Canon EF 200-400mm ƒ/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x

 

(my current gears: Fuji X-T2 with 10-24, 16, 23, 35, 90, 55-200mm), Canon 5D Mark III with 50 F1.2L)

 

I prefer to bring the Fuji XT2 out during a travel or for street shooting because its light weight and smaller size. My first dslr is a Canon 5d Mark III. Its lens (new) are pricey and just too bulky to take around. say, I can easily put 3-4 Fuji lens and XT2 into a Thinktank 6, but I definitely need a Large backpack to carry the Canon Full Frame gears. But I'm reluctant to sell my 5d for cash because its current market value is much lower than my expectation, and in the future I can buy some used Canon L lens for shooting, considering Canon lens community is large for deals.

 

If I buy the Fujinon XF100-400, I just need to add it to my Fuji should bag and ready. Or should I build on my Canon 5d and invest in some Full Frame power? Is it a common practice to bring two camera bodies out in a travel? The advantage is to save the interchange time. But who would carry two cameras to climb a mountain trail?

 

what would you do in my case? just sell the 5d because it's out of dated even though it used to be perfect? or buy a FF tele lens to make it a dedicated wildlife system for crisp pictures?

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Canon EF 100-400mm ƒ/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

I have the Mark I, purchased after the new one came out.

 

It is very heavy, but that can be somewhat alleviated by use of the most excellent Black Rapid RS-5 strap. I carried both a 100-400mm and a 24-105mm all over northern India and it was easier than you would image from trying to carry the cameras on regular straps.

India-151118-060-Amer-Palace-cr.jpg.0578f49241d0eb2911486f96f43ddce0.jpg

 

In that combination the 100-400mm is a excellent cover for long telephoto (had it on APS-C body with the 24-105 on a "full-frame")

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I have the Mark I, purchased after the new one came out.

 

It is very heavy, but that can be somewhat alleviated by use of the most excellent Black Rapid RS-5 strap. I carried both a 100-400mm and a 24-105mm all over northern India and it was easier than you would image from trying to carry the cameras on regular straps.

[ATTACH=full]1274400[/ATTACH]

 

In that combination the 100-400mm is a excellent cover for long telephoto (had it on APS-C body with the 24-105 on a "full-frame")

 

my research also points me to this lens.

I also like 300mm F2.8, but its high retail price and 5.2 lbs weight just do not fit.

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WHAT wildlife, and from what DISTANCE?

Both of these variables affect the focal length of the lens that you need to use.

A small bird at 50 ft has the same apparent size as a cow at a few hundred feet.

 

clearly there's a lot to consider. I own a Fuji 55-200mm lens (200mm equivalent to 300mm on FF) but can feel it lacks some reach in wildlife shooting.

so a 100-400 mm plus a 1.4x extender is the clear choice. I'm debating on whether I should build on Canon system, or should I buy Fuji lens and sell Canon 5D for cash?

I incline to buy a Canon 100-400 lens because if this will let me get some power of full frame.

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If it is reach that you want, in a compact size, I would go down to Micro 4/3.

A 75-300 on a m4/3 is similar to a 150-600 on a FF camera, but in a much smaller and more easily carried size. This is definitely an advantage when you are hiking for miles.

 

The problem with APS-C cameras (like Canon and Nikon), is that the LONG lenses are not APS-C sized. Most/all of your longer lenses are FF lenses, so you gain nothing in reduced lens size by going APS-C. Fuji might be an exception, since I don't think they don't make FF, all the lenses are APS-C.

 

If you go FF, you have to haul all that weight around.

This is fine if you are young, and have plenty of strength and energy.

 

There is no "one size fits all needs."

I currently shoot with both APS-C (Nikon DX format), and Micro 4/3.

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All the lenses you describe above are going to feel like a brick in your bag, but that is the price you pay if you need optical reach and high quality images. The Canon 200-400mm cost about $11,000 and weighs about 8 pounds, so that could be a consideration. The 100-400mm options make reasonable sense and cost about $2k and both weigh in at around 3+ pounds. You need to determine what camera system you want to use before you do much else. Note that APSC will always have a reach advantage over FF, and for distant or small subjects will likely get you more pixels on your subject than FF. May want to rent a lens for a week and give it a test drive before buying.
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  • 2 months later...
Hi

 

I'm selecting a lens for shooting wildlife. from my research the following lenses are on my list:

 

(1) Fujinon XF100-400mm F4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR with XF1.4X TC WR converter

 

(2) Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM with EF 2x Extender III Lens Teleconverter

 

(3) Canon EF 100-400mm ƒ/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

 

(4) Canon EF 200-400mm ƒ/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x

 

(my current gears: Fuji X-T2 with 10-24, 16, 23, 35, 90, 55-200mm), Canon 5D Mark III with 50 F1.2L)

 

I prefer to bring the Fuji XT2 out during a travel or for street shooting because its light weight and smaller size. My first dslr is a Canon 5d Mark III. Its lens (new) are pricey and just too bulky to take around. say, I can easily put 3-4 Fuji lens and XT2 into a Thinktank 6, but I definitely need a Large backpack to carry the Canon Full Frame gears. But I'm reluctant to sell my 5d for cash because its current market value is much lower than my expectation, and in the future I can buy some used Canon L lens for shooting, considering Canon lens community is large for deals.

 

If I buy the Fujinon XF100-400, I just need to add it to my Fuji should bag and ready. Or should I build on my Canon 5d and invest in some Full Frame power? Is it a common practice to bring two camera bodies out in a travel? The advantage is to save the interchange time. But who would carry two cameras to climb a mountain trail?

 

what would you do in my case? just sell the 5d because it's out of dated even though it used to be perfect? or buy a FF tele lens to make it a dedicated wildlife system for crisp pictures?

 

 

I'd get the Fujinon 100-400. Love the X-T2 and the lenses are fantastic.

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I can see from your other post here that you will be interested in photographing birds as well as other wildlife.

I am a Nikon shooter, so will answer your question from that perspective and then you can translate that to your chosen platform. Several years ago, when really deciding this exact question, I decided to purchase a nearly new Nikon 200-400/f4 and 600/f4 (not the E version) at a very good price. But still clearly a huge financial investment.

Overall, I have been very happy with the results. I shoot the 600 from a tripod with a Gimbal. I handhold the 200-400 (with or without 1.4 TC). Although I can do reasonably well handholding the 200-400, it is a very heavy lens/body/battery pack combo and after an 8-10 second pan of a bird in flight I am ready to put it down. After several such pans, the arms and shoulders are clearly fatigued. I am approaching 68 years, but am in excellent overall condition, so I'm guessing that this combo being handheld would be somewhat of an issue for a lot of people. I am definitely considering getting the 200-500/5.6 because of this, but worry that my 200-400 will just sit unused. Nevertheless, if I was outfitting myself now, it would probably be with the 200-500 and not the 200-400. I don't know if Canon has a lens of that sort, but I'd probably recommend that if they do.

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