Canon EOS 50D

I'm new to Photo.net and am interested in wildlife photography, mainly birds.

 

I started my digital photography with a Canon Rebel XT and a EF70-300mm lens. I have an EOS 20D, 40D, 50D and a 5D Mk.II, plus my trusty Powershot G10. I also have an EF 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 II, 2 EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 II's and 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS (=Canon Extender EF 1.4x).

 

For years I used the Pentax Spotmatic F and sometimes use Super Takumar/Takumar 50mm f1.8 and f1.4, 105mm/135mm f2.8 scew lenses on my Canon. Using these lenses in Manual mode is still a work in progress.

 

Two weeks ago I picked up a Silver Rebel XTi for $35, plus an EF-S 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 II and an EF-S 55-250mm f4-5.6 IS (totalling $86). I am quite pleased as the XTi has a fairly low shutter count. After cleaning the sensor, it took beautiful shots, despite my being so shaky.

Edited December 3, 2020 by jamesclick

I mainly use my EOS 50D with my Yashica and Pentax screw lenses, does anyone else use glass lenses in Manual mode? I would appreciate some pointers that might help me get on the right track.

One of the best Glass lenses I have is a Shinon 50mm f1.8

I use Manual Aperture and Manual Focus lenses on my Canon DSLRs and Canon Mirrorless Cameras. I am not sure what pointers you might require, perhaps specifying any difficulties you are having would be a good idea.

 

As a general comment, the Manual Lenses I use range from ultra wide to short telephoto, all were acquired for their extremely fast apertures and mainly used in low light and or for extremely narrow DoF, mainly for Portraiture or Building Interiors.

 

Wildlife Photography (which I don't do much) is akin to Sports Photography (which I do) - I use fast Canon Lenses with fast AF.

 

WW

The 50D with 100-400 L in good light, you can play with 1.4 extender. Try to get as close to subject, Bird in flight you want a good fast shutter speed 1/600 -1/1000 so forget ISO 100 with the big lens at those speeds. Darn limit of focal points is going to make it hard to nail autofocus on birds in flight, 7D would be a bit better. Tripod will help, especially zoomed in. It is doable but frustrating with cameras with limited focal points. Been there done that.. You may want to consider a 7D Mark II (more focal point and the clustered focus point helps), Sigma makes an affordable 150-600 Sport that you can find used pretty cheap. Birds on branches no moving, you will do great with the 50D. Scout your locations, know best times of day for light and activity, set up, be patient and quiet. Tripod, comfortable seat, maybe wear camo, get the birds as close as possible for that feather detail. Practice practice practice. It's a combo of skill and luck. Lol. There are times I miss the BIF with my 5D MK IV and my 150-600 and sometimes I get a bird landing 3 feet from me. A nice place to practice is at the shore with a lot of gulls. Get good at tracking birds in flight, get your exposure and shutter speed right. Practice practice practice.

 

oh,, and you don't always need a big lens if you can get the bird close to you. These birds are used to people and didn't mind being photographed only z few feet away.. Shot this with a 70-200mm. Happy shooting.

Edited December 4, 2020 by Mark Keefer

Many of us, particularly those of us who feel we have enough megapixels for now, use the "crop frame" Canon EOS D50 to get even more "reach" with telephoto lenses

here with the Canon EF 100-400mm.

 

I use my "full-frame" Canon EOS 5D mkII for regular and wide-angle lenses often.

 

When you have both, it gives you more flexibility.

I've been using the Mark 1 100-400 with my 70D for backyard birds for a long time but I cheat. I set everything up on a tripod and use a wireless remote. That works for me, I agree about the seagulls. I photograph them at store parking lots here in east Tennessee and they are great to practice hand held birding.

Sorry, but was there a question there?

 

Not sure what you want with so many bodies. Of the ones you list, the 50D would clearly be the best of the APS-C bodies you have for wildlife. I bought one years ago and immediately sold my XTi, since it was on all counts not as good. The big drawback of the 50D is that it gets noisy very fast in low light, and I'm guessing that the 5DII is considerably better in that respect (it's been a long time since I've looked at specs for that camera), but of course, what you lose for wildlife photography is reach.

Excuse me but what does this have to do with the 50D ?