wildlife

[gary_block]

I'm really new at this. I have a 30D and want to take wildlife pictures and

need a nice lens that will get me up close. Like 10X+ magnification. I dont

understand the mm stuff..i.e. 17-85mm IS USM lens I now have is 5X but the

100-400mm IS USM is 4X so that would get me further away than the 17-85mm

 

I got a t-ring and put my 30D on my Celestron 80MM wide view scope and was

really disappointed as it focused really far away, the closest I could focus

was around 50ft! and then the magnification seemed to be about 2 or 3X? I

have no idea of what the mm of a lensless 30D is so I can

focal_length_of_scope / attached_30d_mm == magnification...

 

I'd like to be about 20ft away and have a small bird fill the frame, really up

close and personel.

 

 

Thanks for any help

Gary

[peter_white2]

You'll need 500mm or longer if you want to fill the frame with a Chickadee at 20 feet.

[kin_lau]

Get a longer extension tube for the Celestron, the T-mount extension should be cheap. The longer the tube, the closer you can focus. Just don't expect the birdy to sit still for you :)

 

Otherwise, a 500mm lense is what you need. The Tamron 200-500 or Sigma 50-500 are amongst the more affordable models.

[matt_sallis]

A "standard" lens is 50mm. Lower numbers than that indicate a wider field of view, higher numbers (eg 500mm) will give a narrower field of view - what you want.

 

As Peter says, you will need a 500mm + lens for your requirements.

This link to the learn section may help:

http://www.photo.net/learn/making-photographs/lens

[pturton]

Gary, The following link shows a cardinal which is about 8 inches long shot with my 10D using the 400mm f/5.6 + EF 1.4 TC (560mm total). This cardinal was 20 feet from the front element (actually measured). The ends of the image were cropped from a 4x6 aspect ratio to 5x7 for presentation here. http://www.photo.net/photo/4276752&size=lg

 

Most of the small birds I've been able to capture have been within 12 feet.

[awindsor]

Paul,

 

Do you manual focus the combination ?

[pturton]

"Do you manual focus the combination ?"

 

Alistair,

 

Most often I do use manual focus but sometimes I cheat and stick an EF 12mm Mk I between the TC and lens to get a reasonable AF in good light and contrast. I tried taping the pins and it works as well as the extension tube trick but the tape becomes a nuisance because I do use the TC on my 300 f/4 also.

[mike_hodson]

Forget about the X "magnification" factors when talking about lenses. That is just what point & shoot cameras use to tell you the range of the focal lengths...not the actual magnification. For example a zoom lens that goes from 100mm to 300mm would be called 3X because 300 is three times as long as 100.

 

A 50mm to 500mm lens would be a 10X lens.

 

The magnification of a lens is dependant on the focal length...not the range of focal lengths. You will get more magnification with a 1X 600mm lens than with a 10X 50-500.

 

Go into a camera store and ask to try different lenses on your camera (or similar display camera). Then you will have a better idea of the focal length you will need.

[cliff_henry]

Gary,

 

"I'd like to be about 20ft away and have a small bird fill the frame, really up close and personel."

 

Then you will need a minimum of a 400mm lens, giving you a 640mm equivalent lens on your 30D. If you are on a budget, look at Canon's 400 5.6L, if not, look at either 500 f4L or 600 f4L.

 

"...17-85mm IS USM lens I now have is 5X but the 100-400mm IS USM is 4X..."

 

In this case the 5X and 4X reference the zoom range of the lens, not the magnification power, i.e., 100mm x 4 = 400mm.

 

To equate a lens' mm's to magnification: on a 35mm full frame camera a 50mm lens is considered standard or 1x magnification, e.g., a 400mm lens would be 8x magnification or power: 400/50 = 8. So, a 400mm lens on a FF 35mm camera would give you the same magnification as an 8 power scope or binocular.

 

Cliff

[greg s]

Gary,

 

Besides focal length (300mm, 500mm, etc) different lenses will have a different 'minimum focus distance' which equates to "how close you can get to the subject with the lens". My 500mm has a mfd of about 18 ft, while some 300mm lenses have a mfd of 5 ft. If I happen to be 5 ft away from the subject with the 300mm lens, it will fill the frame more than the 500mm at 18 ft.

 

Most people take both the focal length and the mfd into account when buying a lens... plus the price and the weight and the image quality (aka sharpness).

 

If I was using Canon I would take a look at their 300mm f/4 IS and a 1.4x teleconvertor (combined = 420mm stabilized prime).

 

Cheers, -Greg-

[images_in_light_north_west]

Get a Cannon 300mm F4L and 1.4x TC about $1600 =672mm should do the job

[wolver]

Maybe have a look at the Tamron 200-500, it has gotten reviews comparable to "L" zooms for it's optical quality. I have one and the images are outstanding for sharpness, contrast and bokeh.

[jamesdak]

I've been concentrating on bird photography this spring with my Minolta 7D which has an APS size sensor. My main lens is a 300mm f/4.0 combined with a high quality 1.4x t-con sometimes. It takes patience, hunting skills, and luck to get close to wild birds with this combo. You can crop later for good results for images to post digitally but prints around 8x10 will suffer the more you crop. Full frame birds are the exception, not the norm in my case. Here's an example of the exception. This was captured with the 300mm & 1.4x t-con at an unusually close range. I was also handholding the gear but the built in anti-shake of the Minolta 7D saved the shot. The image was cropped very litte.<div></div>

[jamesdak]

Now this one is more typical. About a 50% crop of the original image.<div></div>

[ray_rupnow]

I really like the zoom lenses...just for the abillity to frame a subjet. They are a little sfter I think then primes...but more flexible. I use an old 150-500 5.6 APO Tokina AIS zoom on my Fuji S2 and love the results...and it ends up being a 750mm on the long end on my digital...without loosing any speed.<div></div>