A very mixed experience with the RF 70-200 f2.8

lawny13 wrote:

BobNL wrote:

PGSanta wrote:

These types of posts just make me chuckle.

Well at least it provoked something

1. If you're a someone covering fast paced sports, the throw might be an issue.

yes

2. The lens IS NOT slower to AF than the EF on the R... if you're experiencing this, it's because of YOU, or your lens is defective.

good to know it might just be me... But yes, the AF in itself is not slower. Under the circumstances, it's execution was though. Might have been the lens, the newer firmware, an off-day from me, or... yes I'm trying to figure out what the reason was it didn't work as expected/hoped for.

3. If you're going to make a claim that the lens lacks a certain "je ne said quoi", then proceed to not give examples, you come off as inane. Post examples.

Well, that won't help much with a 'je ne sais quoi'. It's just a subjective observation from my side. Not something that can be pointed out in just 'a' picture. I took about 4000 photos that evening. It's an overall feeling going through them. Can't point out a flaw it just, for me, lacks something.

I gotta agree with the rest. You should post examples. in fact if you have both lenses yous should be able to provide examples of the same scene and see if others "fee." the same as you about it.

Don't have it anymore so can't shoot the same scene with it. Providing photos as examples is more or less impossible, there is no reference. If you want to see some examples have a look here: https://www.vstudio-fotografie.de/f54753930 Most competition shots here are EOS R with RF 70-200. Not that I don't want or can't show examples, I really don't see the point.

Here is the thing I gather reading your post.

You were excited about the lens. You got it and played around with it around the house. It raised your excitement and you were looking even more forward to using it. Up until this point there is no mention of a missing 'je ne sais quoi'

The 'je ne sais quoi' were not my words As an aside, around the house in this case means forest, nature and a fashion atelier. It included people and more but lacked of course fast action.

Then... you shot it at the event. The throw threw you off. The AF didn't work as you thought it should. You even mentioned that you might have been off your game. Maybe you were, or maybe the lens experience through you off your game.
Basically what I am saying is that if it was an off night, could the experience not have influenced your perception of the images as well? Perhaps you didn't capture the moment/emotions as you usually would have. All this plays a role in my opinion.

Agree that that is a possibility but I did grab some good moments. The whole feeling came after processing some bulk. Maybe it would be the easiest to simply state, I don't like the look the lens creates.

But I do get what you are saying. Corrections of the lens might remove certain aberrations and artifacts that sometimes contribute to other things positively. Micro contrast was all the rage once upon a time, as well as contrast images. When sony started coming out with these high DR sensor many people complained that out of camera images looked flat. But that was a product of higher DR. Personally I prefer the higher DR, which I can scale back and add myself.

I sure do wish the R had a bit more DR. Although its not that important for my main shooting which occurs mostly at iso3200 and above.

If this lens requires an extra 10% adjustment to clarity/contrast to give us the same look/feel as the EF III, then I don't see it as an issue. Even after that if there is still more of a soulless feeling about it then I would agree. But without comparison images... it can all be imagined, or way more subtle to others than it is for you.

Problem is that I don't like the effect of the clarity tool in Lightroom. It doesn't make people look nicer. The one in capture one is better but still no substitute for look a lens creates.

Just to be clear, my main issue has been the AF performance. And I am still puzzled by what happened. initial testing revealed fast focusing. Real life experience in a low light environment was very different. Even thinking if the kind of lighting may have been a factor in this.

Anyway, if I could afford it I would have both lenses. As for corporate event work this might be a fantastic lens, clean, light, fast and compact.