New Toy

[AlanLichty]

I bought a 2x tele-extender to enhance the reach of my 100-500mm lens this last week so of course we have had heavy fog every day since it got delivered. The exception to that was late in the day on Wednesday right after I got it and ran out on my deck to try it out. I didn't particularly care what was out there I was going to shoot something just to see if it worked. As it happened I could hear the honking of a flock of geese and spotted them flying just barely above the tree tops headed up towards Salmon Creek going almost straight over my head. I got the camera ready for fast frames and pointed it up just as they flew past overhead. This is at 600mm and happily the camera nailed focus on the first shot:

I also wanted to see how well it would work in less than ideal late day light at 1000mm and an Anna's Hummingbird was up in a birch tree that overhangs my deck. Not the best angle for a good portrait but I was more concerned about seeing the result.

Both images were run through DxO PureRAW and are cropped for composition.

While these shots worked as handheld captures I will likely use a monopod on normal use since I did note quite a bit of camera movement in the string of captures I got for each subject using the continuous shutter settings. The shutter speed was locked in at 1/1600s so focus didn't suffer from the camera motion and the lens/camera stabilization assistance helped out as well but I don't see this as a lens combination where handheld work would be a good solution at 1000mm.

C&C always welcome.

 

[Beth]

congrats on the new toy, the results look nice! really sharp details.

 

[AlanLichty]

congrats on the new toy, the results look nice! really sharp details.

Thanks - both images did require some cleanup since the light was at a pretty extreme angle. Both the geese and the hummer were almost silhouettes to the naked eye when I took the shots. Hopefully the fog will lift today and I can try this combination out with some decent light.

 

[JimFox]

Now that's a really nice new toy! That 1000mm image looks really sharp! In the past 2x TC's had a bad rep as being a bit soft, that's why I would go with 1.7x. But this one looks really sharp I would say.

 

[AlanLichty]

Now that's a really nice new toy! That 1000mm image looks really sharp! In the past 2x TC's had a bad rep as being a bit soft, that's why I would go with 1.7x. But this one looks really sharp I would say.

Thanks - one thing to bear in mind is that we have much better software for cleaning up soft images these days. This is certainly softer than what you might expect for a dedicated 1000mm lens but I have zero interest in hauling something like that around. This is something I will yank out when my 100-500mm can't reach as far as what I need. Canon has a 1.4x TC but I wanted a longer reach than that.

 

[Jameel Hyder]

Looks really good and adds quite a bit of reach to your 100-500. Congratulations on your newest toy.

 

[AlanLichty]

Looks really good and adds quite a bit of reach to your 100-500. Congratulations on your newest toy.

Thanks Jameel - the TC does have some quirks that restrict it to 600-1000mm but that's the range I was looking to add anyway. I did get out with it today for a couple of hours and am thinking that it might work best with a tripod in most cases if nothing else for easier mount/unmount of the TC. Pretty awkward changing it in and out with a monopod on a trail.

 

[Trent Watts]

This looks like a great addition to expand your telephoto range Alan. Excellent results I would say.

 

[AlanLichty]

This looks like a great addition to expand your telephoto range Alan. Excellent results I would say.

Thanks Trent - I am starting to fill in my kit of lenses for Canon's mirrorless camera bodies so I can abandon some of my older gear. The newer stuff definitely works better than the older DSLR equipment.

 

[Trent Watts]

I moved to the micro 4/3 rds. style a few years ago when my Nikon full frame and long lenses became to heavy to manage for an old fart. I really enjoy the computational features of the newer bodies with built in ND, subject recognition, auto focus on stars, pro capture and so many more. I'm sure you will enjoy your Canon mirrorless system.

 

[AlanLichty]

I moved to the micro 4/3 rds. style a few years ago when my Nikon full frame and long lenses became to heavy to manage for an old fart. I really enjoy the computational features of the newer bodies with built in ND, subject recognition, auto focus on stars, pro capture and so many more. I'm sure you will enjoy your Canon mirrorless system.

I was looking mostly at the IBIS systems on Canon's newer gear so I could do a lot more handheld work and stop lugging around way too much heavy gear all the time. I still need a tripod for waterfalls and sunrise/sunsets in marginal light but otherwise am leaving my lens collection behind and walking with just one mounted on the camera. I spent 37 years in IT so all the onboard computational features in the new bodies and lenses is right up my alley.

 

[Alisa]

Nice congrats on the new toy! Those are always fun to get!

 

[AlanLichty]

Nice congrats on the new toy! Those are always fun to get!

Thanks Alisa - even better when they work as well as you hoped

 

[Joe Colozzo]

Good luck with the toy, it looks like you're off to a good start. I was debating getting one also, I have the 1.4 for that set up and I don't like not being able to use the bottom half of the range.

 

[AlanLichty]

Good luck with the toy, it looks like you're off to a good start. I was debating getting one also, I have the 1.4 for that set up and I don't like not being able to use the bottom half of the range.

Thanks - I have the same complaint about the 2x. You really have to make the choice to mount the TC in advance knowing you are starting out at 600mm at the wide end. I do like the 1000mm top end however.