charlie_spiekerman

Jay and Jack,

Thanks for your responses, but after studying this for several months I am committed to the 600IS and just need to work out the details of the support equipment. So far the that includes the eos3 w/ PB2, gitzo 1548 w/ gear column (if that works), wimberly w/ C30 & plate, and lowepro for that particular lens. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. (I also am looking at windowpods that will work with this lens if anyone has a suggestion here.) Charlie

Finally getting close to saving enough money for a 600IS come January

and putting together the accessory list including a Gitzo 1548 w/

Wimberly head & C30. My question is whether the Wimberly will work on

a geared column or not? I assume it would, but all the illustrations

appear to be on the flat platform only.

BTW, best price I have found so far is from B&H at $6900 US gray.

Anyone seen a better deal? I have been shooting wildlife, mainly

birds, for many years with a 300f4IS and a couple of old manual

lenses. This of course is a big move and a lot of money, so I'm

getting pretty nervous to say the least. Any other suggestions would

be greatly appreciated. Thanks a bunch.

With the larger Canon telephoto lenses mounted on a tripod, does the

IS have any function to reduce mirror vibrations, or does it just

automatically shut down to prevent any malfunctions from occurring

while on the tripod? I have heard both and the Canon literture I

have read is not clear on this other than it can sense when it is on

a tripod. Any advise is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

From advise I received through this forum, I purchased an eos 7

several months ago with a 300mm IS lens for nature photos during my

hiking trips. They work great together and I really enjoy the freedom

from a tripod and crystal clear shots with provia F100. The minimum

focus at less than 5 feet is truly unbelievable for ful-frame shots

of small reptiles, butterflies, and the like.

My next step is a 600mm for mostly bird photos from a photo blind

setup using the same film. The cost of course is staggering but the

600 is a must for my goals. I am wondering that since most, if not

all, my shots will be on a tripod in a blind, then is the IS of any

valve to me and maybe a used 600 w/o IS could save me enough for the

tripod, Wimberly head, etc. And yes, I know I will probably have to

move to an eos 3, but I plan to try the 7 first to see how it

performs since it works so well now. Your advise is greatly

appreciated.

Thanks for the information on zoom lens min. focus. Since that one

foot difference in min. focus between the 300f4IS and the 100-400IS

is so little, I have pretty much made up my mind to go for the 100-

400 as my next lens, even though the 300 is apparently a little

sharper.

By the way, I assume the 300f4IS & 100-400IS don't have the third

sensor mode to detect tripod use as do the big primes. or do they?

With a zoom lens, does the minimum focus remain the same at all zoom ranges? i.e.; is

the 5.9 foot min. focus for the 100-400mm IS the same at 100mm as it is at 400mm?

Thanks, and thanks to Ming Kuo and Isaac Sibson for their previous answers in this forum. They

were a great help to me.

I am looking for a sharp lens with good color reproduction for wildlife photos and hope some day to be able to afford a 600mm f/4. In the meantime, I was just about ready to

make my first telephoto lens purchase for my 7e with the 300mm f4 IS since I really liked its unmatched min. focus of 4.9 feet, which would really be great to fill the frame with small birds, and also, due to what previous messages on this forum indicating it was a very

sharp lens. (By sharpness, I mean sharp enough for publishing and enlargements up to 16x20 or even slightly larger using Provia 100 film.) My only other serious consideration had been the 100-400mm IS with its great versatility for all sizes of wildlife,

but I assumed a zoom could never be as sharp as a fixed lens.

Now I read from a previous message that lens tests are available through photodo.com and find that the MTF sharpness rating, whatever that means, is higher with the 100-400mm (3,6) verses the 300mm (3.4). Not a bit differnce, but it certainly gave me pause and some confusion. Even thought the min. focus would sure be nice I am now leaning strongly toward the 100-400mm lens which I can also handhold with the IS feature. Which is really the sharpest and gives the best color; and is the �MTF� rating really meaningful for such comparison purposes? Any other suggestions are welcome. Thanks.