New Lens

[GrahameA]

Evening All.

After thinking about buying a long Lens for a number of years I finally took the plunge today.

A couple of shots with new lens - these were taken at 1730 this afternoon under low light conditions. The camera was handheld with the ISO set to 400 and Image Stabilisation switched on.

mynah01.jpg (55.02 KiB) Viewed 3750 times

So here is a shot of a Mynah in tree around a 100 ft or so away from me.

mynah02.jpg (41.46 KiB) Viewed 3750 times

This is a cropped image of the same bird a little further away.

[piggy]

Well what lens did you get?

[Gringa Bows]

Nice clear photo's Grahame,we use to call those birds Micky's when we were kids.

[Roadie]

Great Photos, the bird looks like an Indian Miner, down our way they were considered a pest. Cheers Roadie

[piggy]

Rodie here in Vic it's a noisy mynah, The Indian mynah is brown and white has a yellow beak and black head a real pest, Jindy will give you the news on these nasty critters

[GrahameA]

Evening All.

Well what lens did you get?

Sigma 150-500. All 1.9 kgs of it.
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/150-500m ... -hsm-sigma
If nothing else it looks impressive.

.. the bird looks like an Indian Miner ...

Related bird. That is a Noisy Mynah (aka Mickey Bird) and are an Australian native.
http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/No ... e-by-Nest/

[Nutgrass]

Very nice mate, 150-500 very nice a mate of mine has just brought the same lens, I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with as well I am sure I could go have a look at what you have it mounted to or I could just ask you here & you tell me Very sharp pics mate, look forward to seeing some corkers in the future

[Stickbow Hunter]

Congrats Grahame; with that kind or reach you should be able to get some great wildlife shots.

Jeff

[GrahameA]

Morning All.

Very nice mate, 150-500 very nice a mate of mine has just brought the same lens, I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with as well I am sure I could go have a look at what you have it mounted to or I could just ask you here & you tell me

At the moment it is attached to my well loved Canon 300D - still a better camera than the Photographer. As far as sharpness goes I am very happy with it.

Congrats Grahame; with that kind or reach you should be able to get some great wildlife shots.

Yes I want to try it out over the Christmas period on some of the fauna around Noosa and the Windsurfers. It will be interesting to see how it goes with Butterflys - I should be able to stand off from them and take shots. I want to try it on some Bees as well I should be able to sit back (or lie down) and fill the frame with them.

I started on doing some Moonshots last night but the the clouds rolled in as I was setting it all up. Will try again tonight. I did notice the extra weight on my tripod and am thinking of perhaps buying something a bit more sturdy - then I will face the issue of not taking the tripod as it will be heavier. A physically large lens which is relatively heavy offers a whole new set of challenges and issues.

Caveat. For those who are now thinking about long lenses there is a plethora of information, tests and opinions on them on the Web. Not all purchasers have been happy with their Sigma's. I am in raptures over mine and have experienced none of the issues that some people have. (I have read of all sorts of issues with all sorts of gear over the years and I have not experienced them - or perhaps I understand my gear a little better.) This came down to a choice between a Canon L or the Sigma and the Sigma won on a bang-for-buck basis. If I was making a living shooting stuff then I probably would have lent towards the Canon more but I am extremely happy with the Sigma and would happily buy again. Hmmm........I wonder how the latest Sigma 70-200 would go...... http://www.dpreview.co.uk/lensreviews/s ... 0_2p8_n15/

[Stickbow Hunter]

I did notice the extra weight on my tripod and am thinking of perhaps buying something a bit more sturdy - then I will face the issue of not taking the tripod as it will be heavier.

Carbon fibre mate.

I agree with your last comments; if you look you will find people have problems with most things. So called better quality camera company lenses do have their quality control problems also. Just go out and enjoy that new found longer reach you have with the 500mm and have fun mate. Sounds like that is just what you have planned for over Christmas - enjoy!.

Jeff

[gundy]

Nice!!!

My wife has just enrolled herself into a Diploma in photography. We went down yesterday and the choice of cameras was surreal!

We spent the money once (I hope!!!) and got her a Canon EOS 7D with 18-135 lens in the kit - I hope that's an all rounder, which is how I read it. The lenses really confuse us as there is soooo much choice and application.

Leanne has also taken a massive interest in wildlife so when she gets going, ill see if I can take her hunting with me...

Keep up the great work mate.

By the way, we have been using www.dpreview.com and the info is excellent...

[GrahameA]

Hi Gundy.

Nice!!!

Yep.

My wife has just enrolled herself into a Diploma in photography. We went down yesterday and the choice of cameras was surreal!

We spent the money once (I hope!!!) and got her a Canon EOS 7D with 18-135 lens in the kit - I hope that's an all rounder, which is how I read it.

Someone once said, "Poverty is owning a horse". Photography has the potential to be the same.

Choice being surreal - yes I would agree with that. Once you move into the SLR world you do not buy a camera - you buy a lens system. The bodies may change but the lens are forever - or at least until you go for something else.

Congratulations on choosing a Canon - great choice (as would have been a Nikon).

The 7D is a wonderful piece of kit. All cameras are all-rounders - the camera just records the image it is the photographer that takes the the photo. Nah - you haven't spent the money once , the bad news is that you will buy more. Then again as long as you do not get conned by the adverts you do not need to have the latest and greatest. Just like people who buy bows.

BTW - she will need a camera that she everywhere with her. I take my Casio or a little Samung just for those spur of the moment shots that you see as you wander along.

The lenses really confuse us as there is soooo much choice and application.

Lenses - what to get next, or even what to get. $0:02 worth of advice - you get what you pay for and some great photos have been taken with pretty cheap gear.

EOS Lens Work.
Go here and download each of the chapters - that will keep you reading for a while or you could just buy the hardcopy book.
http://www.canon-europe.com/Support/Doc ... iii_en.asp

Be nice to your wife, for xmas, and and buy her a set of macro-filters. They are reasonably cheap and Hoya sell a nice set of three - then she can start exploring the world of insects and such at a low cost.

Leanne has also taken a massive interest in wildlife so when she gets going, ill see if I can take her hunting with me...

Hmm...... all the best. More likely you go hunting and a long walk and she will go for a much shorter walk and see more wildlife. Blinds can be rather nice - and you can sit on a chair and have a coffee whilst waiting for the wildlife to turn up. You may be surprised at how much Wildlife there is around - even in he middle of town.

By the way, we have been using http://www.dpreview.com and the info is excellent...

Excellent site - especially the reviews.

Some more places to spend a few hours -
Fred Miranda http://www.fredmiranda.com/
Luminous Landscape http://www.luminous-landscape.com/

[gundy]

Excellent info mate!