DPR Forum

Welcome to the Friendly Aisles!
DPRF is a photography forum with people from all over the world freely sharing their knowledge and love of photography. Everybody is welcome, from beginners to the experienced professional. Whether it is Medium Format, fullframe, APS-C, MFT or smaller formats. Digital or film. DPRF is a forum for everybody and for every format.
Enjoy this modern, easy to use software. Look also at our Reviews & Gallery!

Whatbs the final verdict about 300mm f4

DJ, get a primmme !

Leica 180mm f2 for 1Ds2 is an excellent combination. You need good lenses to feed your big appetite from 1Ds2.

The other good one is C-Y 300 f2.8.
 
Canon 300/2.8L IS should be looked at DJ.

Canon is no slouch when it comes to lenses like 135/2 up to the longer telephotos. The 200/1.8 is a fantastic lens if you can find one.

Image Stabilization and AF is invaluable when you pass 200mm focal lengths, and will contribute to better pictures overall more than other attributes may.

Skip the Canon 100-400/4 IS. I tested this lens and sent it right back ... I have seen your prints first hand and know you will not go for it.

If you want a zoom, look at the Leica APO telephoto zooms which produce prime quality images unequaled by anyone no matter what camera body you put them on.

If you want to get better digital images and don't want or need AF and really high ISO performance, skip the Nikon and Canon and get a Leica R9 with a DMR digital module.

This 10 meg "digital back" was electronically done by Imacon and features true 16 bit output. It has a slight crop factor of 1.3X yet is almost the equal to my full frame 1DsMKII in terms of resolution, while producing sharper images that are more film like and crisp than the Canon files due to being an unfiltered 16 bit CCD verses a filtered 12 bit CMOS sensor. The D-Max on this DSLR is as good as or better than the Fuji S3 but produces snappier looking prints: ( See contrasty "Moon Rise" scene shot with a 180/2.8 APO posted with this text).

Coupled with lenses like the ones you already have, it is an astounding performer. A R-180/2 APO becomes a 240/2 APO on this camera. The Leica 1.4X is the best 35mm extender I've ever used, which would make the lens a 335/2.8 equivlant on a Leica DMR.
The R180/2.8 APO is also a killer lens if the 180/2 is too big and heavy.

Lots of ways to skin a cat, as they say ;-)
 
The photo mention in above post:

466636.jpg
 
Or if you really want to blow away any 35mm SLR or DSLR, just move onto a 503CWD with Zeiss lenses. For the type of stuff you shoot DJ, the slower MF camera wouldn't impact your shooting at all.

The files from my CFV back absolutely murder those from my 1DsMKII ... even with Zeiss glass on the Canon. Same meg count, much larger sensor = larger pixels which translate into smoother gradations and fidelity in reproducing that rich Zeiss color.

I love stirring up the pot : -)
 
To me 503CWD is quite expensive, I might go for 500C/M. Its cost is only a tiny fraction of 1Ds2, but it is a lot more breathtaking.

Imagine instead of carrying the IDs2, you used the 500C/M to take those shoots in the pond and the small waterfall. The ripples in the pond will look more real, so are the reflections on the leaves. For 1Ds2, the images look more artificial in particular with high magnifications. The realism is well maintained with 500C/M no matter how big is the magnification. In fact, the more you blow it up, the higher is the degree of realism with medium format in general.
 
OK, who's got the winning lottery ticket to give me along with the advice, or at least a way to declare it as a rental expense since I'm not a registered photo professional but do rent out my 1st floor and basement - any ideas, Marc? :)

Thanks for the input, all. I believe I will skip the 100-400. Now to do some more contemplative thinking / virtual spending ...
 
DJ likes to work with digital capture, that's why the 503CWD recommendation. It's $13,000. USD which isn't inexpensive to be sure. But the new 1DsMKII wasn't exactly cheap either.

The bonus is that there are mind boggling bargains on Zeiss V lenses. And unlike the Canon, you can opt to shoot film at any time with the 503CW.
 
DJ,

As a (primarily) nature photographer the tele's are something I've researched quite a bit.
I use many Contax lenses on a 5D as well as S2b/Aria, including amongst others the 21mm f2.8, 28mm f2, 85mm f1.2 and 135mm f2; but Canon prime tele's are pretty hard to beat (especially on a Canon body!).

I have the 300mm f2.8L IS, and it is a phenominal lens, really quite extraordinary performance and image quality, as is the 600mm f4L IS.
But both were very expensive, and if you're looking for a less financially crippling option, then Canon's 300mm f4 and 400mm f5.6 primes both get very good reports, and I have seen many wildlife photos taken with these lenses that looked pretty damn good to me.

The 100-400mm gets mixed reports, which in my (costly) experience of Canon lenses means that it's a mediocre "consumer grade" lens, raved about by people who've never seen what a really great lens can do.

I believe the 300mm f4 now comes in an IS version, and one cannot appreciate the benefits of IS in a tele' until experienced. It is such a huge advantage that any competition would have to be staggeringly good to better it.

As an indication, I had a copy of the famed Contax 300mm f2.8 (I believe it retailed at GBP13,000 when new) to test against the Canon for a few days earlier this year. As beautiful as it was, and as much as I love the Zeiss look, the Contax did not win that battle.

You can also use a 1.4x extender on the Canon tele's with pretty much no discernable loss of quality.
 
Of course the small factor to take into account is that I already have the 1Ds2 :).

Matt, I was actually leaning toward the 300/4 IS after a little looking and thinking. I'll be debating the issue over the next couple of weeks ...

Thanks for all the input!
 
Back
Top