My dad has recently bought a Sigma 120-400 APO DG OS USM lens. It was reasonably priced and a nice piece of kit. He has a 550D and with his 1.6 crop factor its 640mm, which is a fair old reach. He is using it for wildlife photography. With my full frame sensor i would need a dedicated long lens to get anywhere near to this. What do people use? I heard that the extenders are poor and have serious autofocusing issues and the lens needs to be f4 or less for this to work. So i couldnt even use this with my 100-400. So what do people use to gain that extra reach?
I'd get a 2nd 1.6 body just for the long tele. It will be better quality and cheaper than teleconvertors, on full frame lenses, etc.
Hi Mark. Thanks for the reply. I thought you might say that. I popped into the local jessops and spoke to the senior assistant. She is a Canon owner with a 40D and very knowledgeable, she said the same thing. Looks like its the only way to get that sort of reach without spending mega money and the only disadvantage of a full frame sensor. But, i was hoping for cheaper solution tbh. Ive spent a lot recently and need to draw the line somewhere. My dad wants to book a wildlife photography safari and has invited me to go hence the question. It would to pointless to go and not be able to get the shots I want. So its either hire a super long lens or buy a 1.6 body or hire a body possibly? I have read a few threads where people have mentioned hiring lens and bodies. Can any one who has done this please post up some links to the companies they have used. Cheers Mike
A second body is always handy IMO. If I were going on an imortant trip i'd get one anyway as an insurance policy. For you it could also come in handy to remove clicks from your FF camera, also for general use to stop you having to take the FF to dirty/risky places like the beach. Will be lighter too, so you may end up having it with you more. It may have lower quality than the FF, but it will still be better than anything else you might have with you, like a phone or compact.
Lenses for Hire are brilliant for...errr...lenses! Optional whether you want to pay a deposit or not (though recommended if your going abroad with it), and very fast/friendly. Or for a body, find your local Calumet. Very knowlegable, but you will have to pay the deposit unless you sign up with them as a `pro` (which is basically just giving your details and a couple of references to prove who you are), then you can hire as much as you like with no deposits, but still be covered (to an extent)
I need Fast AF for tracking and with a tele its not any good. Ive bought a 1.6 body now. Which will be of use for aircraft work and wildlife with birds in flight. I would like a 400 2.8 but cant afford that sort of kit. there seems to be a big divide in prices between proper long lenses and 400mm
A bit of an update. I decided to buy a Canon 40D 2 weeks ago to use the 1.6 crop factor for long distance shooting. I read a lot of reviews and decided the 40 was perfect what i needed. I picked up a mint second hand example from a chap who was upgrading to a 5D mk11 for 300. He treated it very well and it looked mint with a recent service and was a really nice camera. Literally the day i picked it up my mate decided he was going to sell his 7D as he was not using it enough. Always things come at the wrong time. It is 6 months old and only been used 3 times with under 1000 actuations. He decided he needed the cash and was not using it enough. So after a bit of bargaining and some beer buying on my part i bought it off him along with his unused grip and spare new battery for a tidy sum of 870 pounds and sold on the 40 i had bought. He gave me the invoice he got from park cameras and he paid 1368 for the camera, grip and spare battery and that was including a bulk buy discount. I have no idea why he let it go for that but im not complaining at all. Since getting it i have used it quite a bit and done some back to back testing against the 5D MKI and I’m very pleased with the results. The 7D has fantastic picture quality, very fast AF and great results with a Speedlight attached. The 5D MKI holds its own with picture quality but when you pixel peep the 7D wins but the images from the 5D have the classic full frame 35mm look which is very pleasing on its own and it still feels a awesome piece of kit when you hold it. I have read other people mentioning this on various forums and i have no idea why it feels 'special' So the conclusion is the 7D will be my general use camera with the 5D MKI kept just for portraits, landscapes and art based work a lucky position to be in. Cheers for the advice once again
