cuffbertt

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I am looking to buy a telephoto lens over the next few days and am hoping you might have some advice. I have searched the forums to find an answer, and whilst there are many threads, none seem to be quite what I'm looking for. </p>

<p>I have used a rented EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM quite a bit recently and I found it to be very good (I don’t mind the push/pull zoom method too much, but I don’t particularly like the friction ring, I think it should be loose with a switch to lock it at 100mm for when you are carrying it!)</p>

<p>Is there any advantage or disadvantage to using an EF 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM with a 2x teleconvertor III, compared to the 100-400? I would be buying a used series 1 70-200 as from what I’ve read the series 2 is better, but nearly £1000 more.</p>

<p>I know that the TC adds two stops, so the 70-200 would become a 140-400 f/5.6, this would give me focal ranges of 70-200 at f/2.8 and 200-400 at f/5.6, the same aperture as the 100-400 at the long end. The reason I would like to use the 70-200 with a 2x TC instead of the 100-400 is because of the 2.8 aperture from 70-200 without the 2x TC, and I would find this useful, although I don't really have a main subject: I shoot landscapes, wildlife, portraits, motorsport, cityscapes etc.</p>

<p>I have also considered other lenses:</p>

<ul>

<li>the 300 f/4 and the 400 f/5.6 primes, but I would miss the ability to zoom too much.</li>

<li>70-200 f/2.8 non IS with the 2x TC, but this is not weather sealed and that scares me a bit.</li>

</ul>

<p>If anyone has advice on which of this options is likely to be better I would appreciate it. (I suspect the IQ of the 70-200 is better than the 100-400 , but worse when the 2x TC is used), or if you know of any alternative lenses then that would be great too! I have spent many hours looking at which lens to get, and I don’t seem to be making any progress towards a particular lens! If only I could have them all :( lol.</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>Carl</p>

<p>Just found these photos online of the Canon Professional Service Room at the London Olympics...</p>

<p>Literally cannot get my head round the sheer number of bodies and lenses</p>

<p>Also can't believe how close all that stuff is to the edges of the shelves!</p>

<p><a href="http://www.petapixel.com/2012/07/31/canons-drool-worthy-gear-room-at-the-london-olympics/">http://www.petapixel.com/2012/07/31/canons-drool-worthy-gear-room-at-the-london-olympics/</a></p>

<p> </p>

<p>Eric,</p>

<p>Thanks for the reply</p>

<p>The parts used are small, overall dimensions are 50mm by 12mm diameter. The item does not weigh a great deal (I would estimate the same weight as a large strap) as I was careful to ensure that the weight of the item was a high priority on my product specification.</p>

<p>The item can hang wherever you wish, as it fastens to the bag by using a split ring (keyring); this allows you to fasten it to any place on your bag where you find it comfortable to hang. I have found that the most comfortable place is the bottom of the shoulder strap near to where it joins the main part of the bag (so it hangs under your arm).</p>

<p>Carl</p>

Lex, thank you for doing that. I agree with what you said about tripods, on their own they're not too bad to carry, but when

added to a bag containing a body, a few lenses, filters and other accessories is soon becomes cumbersome!

Thanks for all your responses so far!<br><br>

Lex, thank you for your advice, I have set up a survey on Survey Monkey; the link is <a href=

"http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3XDW2NT">here</a><br><br>

Steve, Will and Nathan- thanks for your input. The carrier is made from two parts, they are small aluminium bars with

neodymium magnets on their ends, one part attaches to the tripod (either to an attachment point or to a leg via a clip etc)

and the second to a strap on the users bag. The two parts attach by the magnets and are held in place until the user

bends two two parts and "snaps" them to separate them. This can be used on any tripod providing that it weighs less than

3.785kg. I do not believe that the location or strength of the magnets will pose a risk to the memory or electronics in

modern dslrs. I will add a paragraph to my test specification to put data on a memory card and then use the magnets to

try and wipe the data. <br><br>

Amusing story- when developing the project I put two magnets in my pocket after using them, I did not realise until I got

home that this was the same pocket that my memory card containing all of my HNC assignment work was in. My heart

dropped when I realised my foolish error, but luckily none of the data was lost! Needless to say I quickly backed the data

up on the computer!

<p>Hi all,</p>

<p>I am studying a HNC in Mechanical Engineering at the moment and am working on a project which I have to design and develop. The project is based on a magnetic tripod carrier that removes the need to carry a tripod by hand or in a bag, making accessing the tripod much faster and easier. The project has now entered the testing phase and I need to collect some information in order to ensure that my test requirements are based on real life figures.</p>

<p>If you have a few spare seconds I would greatly appreciate your responses to the five questions below. The more responses I get, the more accurate and robust my testing process will be.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot</p>

<p>Carl Hall</p>

<hr>

I have set up a survey on Survey Monkey; the link is <a href=

"http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3XDW2NT">here</a><br>

<hr>

<p>1) In a typical month, how many days do you go out with your camera?</p>

<ol>

<li>Every Day (30 times a month)</li>

<li>Most days (20 times a month)</li>

<li>Often (10 times a month)</li>

<li>Not often (5 times a month)</li>

<li>Almost never (1 time a month)</li>

</ol>

<p>2) Out of these times, how often do you take a tripod with you?</p>

<ol>

<li>Every time (100%)</li>

<li>Most of the time (75%)</li>

<li>Often (50%)</li>

<li>Not often (25%)</li>

<li>Never (0%)</li>

</ol>

<p>3) How long does your typical outing with a camera last (not including travelling etc)?</p>

<ol>

<li>Very long (8 hours)</li>

<li>Long (6 hours)</li>

<li>Average (4 hours)</li>

<li>Short (2 hours)</li>

<li>Very short (1 hour)</li>

</ol>

<p>4) How often on these trips do you go near salt water (i.e. the sea)?</p>

<ol>

<li>Every time (100%)</li>

<li>Most of the time (75%)</li>

<li>Often (50%)</li>

<li>Not often (25%)</li>

<li>Never (0%)</li>

</ol>

<p>5) How many times per outing do you pick up and carry/move your tripod from one location to another (i.e. more than 50 metres)?</p>

<ol>

<li>Very often (10 times)</li>

<li>Often ( 7 times)</li>

<li>Average (4 times)</li>

<li>Not often (2 times)</li>

<li>None or N/A (0 times)</li>

</ol>

<p>Hey everyone,</p>

<p>I am doing a HNC in Mechanical Engineering at the moment, and as part of this I have to do a project in which I solve a problem. I need to conduct research to find if other people have the same problem before I continue to see if it is indeed a problem worth solving.</p>

<p>The problem that I have chosen is carrying a tripod with all my other equipment whilst out taking photos. I have a large bag in which I put my camera and other gear, but my tripod does not fit in the bag, nor does it fit in the straps on the sides or front. Because of this I have to either carry my tripod or place it in a separate bag, both of which prove to be awkward and inconvenient when walking or scrambling over rocks etc.</p>

<p>I plan to design and manufacture a solution to this, but first of all I need to find out if there are any other people that find it inconvenient and awkward carrying their tripods?</p>

<p>Many thanks</p>

<p>Carl</p>

<p>Hey all, I've done a few searches and I can't find what I'm after so I thought I'd ask :)</p>

<p>Just wanted to know if anyone has any tips for predicting what days are going to have nice colourful sunrises and sunsets? is there a certain thing to look out for on the forecast? or do you just turn up on a clear day and hope that it's got nice shades of reds and oranges? I check the weather forecast before I go and it always says it will be clear or slightly cloudy.</p>

<p>I only ask because the last few times I've gone out in the early morning or evening to take such photos, I've arrived to a disappointing sky that doesn't seem to have anything colourful about it :( Is it just the time of year or is there an element of luck involved? </p>

<p>Any tips or advice would be appreciated, I'm not moaning about the weather or anything, I just wondered if other people often go home empty handed too?</p>

<p>Cheers!</p>

<p>Carl</p>

<p>Thanks guys thats a load off my mind!<br>

I think I'm gonna send it off to be inspected, just to play it safe. Pretty sure I can claim the cost back from the other insurance company.<br>

Cheers everyone you've been a great help!</p>

<p>Does anybody have this lens? if so I have a quick question for you...</p>

<p>I had been saving for ages to get this lens, I'm not a professional so it was quite a big purchase for me, I got the lens on Saturday and was extremely excited. :D</p>

<p>Then I was involved in a car crash on Saturday evening (not my fault and I'm more or less ok apart from whiplash etc) and the lens was in the back behind my seat in its little pouch in a carrier bag, I hadn't even got to use it yet! :( my attitude was basically screw my car (which is probably a write off), I just hope the lens is ok!</p>

<p>anyways, the lens seems ok, there's a little scuff on the lens cap, but I can't really see anything else wrong with it. Hoewver, when I rotate the ring for focal length, its nice and loose at the 70mm end, but at the 24mm end it gets a little tight, not enough for me to assume it's damaged, I just want to know if it's a normal thing for this lens (I have never bought an L series lens before, or anything close)? When the lens extends outwards at 24mm you can see where it has been rubbing as it comes out, again nothing huge but I'm worried that this could be the tip of the ice berg so to speak.</p>

<p>I'm not overly knowledgable with the internal workings of it, if something was indeed damaged would it be immediately obvious or could it have just damaged the inside parts enough that I wouldnt really be able to tell? The image quality still looks amazing but I have nothing to compare to as this is my first decent lens. </p>

<p>I dont want to find out a year down the line that it's f**ked, the lady from my insurance company said that I can try and claim against the other drivers insurance if it is damaged.</p>

<p>anyways I'm rambling on a bit, if anyone could shed some light on this I would greatly apreciate it!</p>

<p>Thanks<br>

Carl</p>

<p>Hey everyone, I've been taking photos for a couple of years now and I think I have made pretty good progress, so I have decided to make a website and sell canvas prints of my photos. But I'm stuck on one small (very large) problem...</p>

<p>How exactly does one go about getting canvas prints of their images? I originally thought about just doing them on a one off basis, say if someone chooses to buy a print, then I would order one from a website and then sell it to my "customer". But then the prices set by these companies are really high, so I would be very lucky to get anyone to buy a print at the price that I would pay, let a lone make any money from it!</p>

<p>I can't really seem to find any information about buying multiple prints, and to be honest I can's see myself selling enough to warrant buying several of each image just in case.</p>

<p>Anyone got any tips or solutions that they would care to share? I would appreciate it a lot.</p>

<p>Also making lots of money isn't my main aim here, I've just finished an apprenticeship so this is pretty much just a hobby (for now?), maybe sell a canvas every month or two if I'm really lucky. I just quite like the idea of someone thinking my photos are good enough to buy! haha</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

<p>Carl</p>

<p>Hey everyone, I've been trying to find out some things about ND filters, but tbh theres a lot of junk on the internet and I'm not entirely sure about it all!</p>

<p>I'm after a <strong>10 stop ND filter</strong> as I want to take some urbany photos during the day with a fair bit of motion blur. I use Cokin filters atm but it seems that they don't make a 10 stop ND filter?? I think I have found a B+W one but they're screw in and it's a bit of a pain in the ass as I've got three lenses atm with 52mm, 58mm and 62mm threads on them. Buying three filters seems a bit stupid...</p>

<p>Is there another way to do this or are they only available as screw in types?</p>

<p>Cheers!<br>

Carl</p>