cj_newton

<p>Forgot to mention - I haven't had time to stop for a bird (or anything else) in the last couple weeks since I bought the new 70-300 IS. I have football tonight, and parades tomorrow, so, unless an eagle or osprey lands on a parade float, I'm not likely to have time the next few daze either.<br>

My friend Mike and I are just now trying to start a side biz selling shots of kids sports. We've got lots of images, but haven't figured out the best way to go about selling them. Back in the '70s I'd shoot LL baseball every night, go home and develop and print B&W and bring them to the field the next night. Sold literally ALL I printed every evening.<br>

That's not realistic now. Looking at options - Shutterbug offers interesting services. time for a new thread, I guess</p>

<p>Ain't life grand</p>

<p>cj</p>

<p>I have the older (AE) 2.0 converter which I use behind an old 300 f4 lens sometimes. It's manual focus, of course, and manual aperture, but I've had to use it a couple times. It makes a real sharp image but it's REAL cumbersome.<br>

My 300 2.8 also is old, manual everything, but I use it almost exclusively for sports at night. I was using it during the day for sports, but it, too, was awkward, though easier to focus than the f4. I use it wide open at night and do OK. My friend Mike can't grasp the concept of manually focusing on a running football player, but I've been doing it since the '70s. I get a higher percentage of sharp stuff using the newer 80-200, but I get plenty enough for the paper.<br>

I mentioned birds - I haven't made a hobby of shooting birds, though I like them and there are a lot around - I see ospreys and eagles and hawks every day and lately I've started trying to get some good shots. I stopped on the way to work a couple weeks back and shot an eagle with the 80-200 then put my off-brand 2.0 converter behind it and shot a few more. It won't autofocus with the converter, though it's supposed to. Below is an eagle shot with the Vivitar 1.4 behind the Canon 80-200 2.8. Sharp enough, but not quite sharp enough. Certainly not poster size.<br>

cj</p><div></div>

<p>That's a good answer - I doubt I'll ever be able to afford to go anywhere like that, though. But I find I can handhold shorter lenses pretty well - certainly well enough to produce an image decent enough for newspaper work.<br>

I have a 20-35 2.8 and a 10-22 2.8 that are pretty sharp, though the 20-35 is nearly 20 years old. (It's no longer sharp, but it's going in for a cleaning and realignment in a couple weeks. They promise it'll come back sharp as new. We'll see.) I've handheld them down to more than a second. Images are not razor sharp in most cases, but are plenty good enough.<br>

Somewhere I have an old B&W print of a shot I made in the late '70s of a crumpled bicycle on the highway where a kid had been hit and killed. The only illumination I had was from car headlights. I started about 1/4 second and tried a variety up to about 8 seconds. I got a really good, sharp (and correctly exposed) image about midway - probably about 2 seconds.<br>

I've never tried to shoot where tripods/monopods weren't allowed, though I have shot indoors at events where I couldn't haul a tripod/monopod. After my son's wedding in Chicago, we went to a museum (???) and I got a bunch of shots of my grandchildren. I always stick that 20-35 on when I know I'm gonna be in low light situations like that because I know it can be handheld. Maybe someday I'll get to try an IS 20-35.<br>

I'm interested now in that 24-70 that Scott wrote about. I'd read about it a couple months back, but needed the 70-300 more. Now I need (want) something even longer - for birds.<br>

This didn't start as my thread, but I appreciate the comments. My next lens probably is going to be a long one. I'm saving for the 400 2.8. I hope I live long enough ...</p>

<p>cjn</p>

<p>I'm an old guy - been working at newspapers (shooting) since mid-1974. I traded in my Nikon stuff for Canon back around 1992 when my eyesight started going. Not long ago I bought digital bodies for all those lenses. Late last month I bought my first IS lens - 70-300 IS USM f4-5.6. I learned Friday night that it's not much benefit for night football other than for a few minutes between daylight and full-dark.<br>

I used it a while and put it away, went back to the 300 2.8 on a monopod and 80-200 2.8 handheld.<br>

Saturday morning, however, I used it at youth football and found it to be wonderful. With the IS turned on I got shots of a kid running with the ball and a horde of other kids chasing him. The kid with the ball is tack-sharp and the others are soft and streaky. This stuff's beautiful. I was experimenting with the new IS lens, so was also shooting with the 80-200 on another body and also let a friend who's learning to shoot use the 80-200. The difference in the results between the two lenses is amazing.<br>

The IS also is useful - VERY - in shooting at 300 mm handheld at a far away subject. I shot painters hanging over the edge of the roof of a several-story-tall building yesterday and was awed by the change when I turned the IS on and off. After that I shot some close-ups of a big spider, experimenting turning the IS on and off. Makes a BIG difference.<br>

I guarantee you, I'll have more IS lenses as I can afford them. I don't foresee a need for IS on shorter lenses, though. If anyone does, I'd like to hear about it.</p><div></div>

<p>I'm a newspaper photographer. I keep two bodies around my neck. One almost always has the 80-200 2.8; the other always wears the 20-35 if I'm outdoors or the 10-22 if I'm indoors.<br>

I'd retired in 2000 when we were still shooting film, and only recently ran out of money and went back to work. Now learning digital.<br>

The 10-22 is extremely versatile in that, aside from allowing otherwise-difficult shots in tight areas, it can be held overhead and just generally aimed at something. I've put it on a monopod with a ball-head and held it overhead after activating the self-timer. Easy way to get a shot of something you can't even see. With its short focal length, and autofocus, it'll provide a useable image. cj</p>