Re: How should I resolve my birding GAS?
nnowak wrote:
User1303423862 wrote:
You can't get a 270mm FL with a 250mm FL lens
It is more than close enough and would only require the tiniest bit of cropping to exactly hit 270mm. I am quite certain 250mm cropped to 270m will look much better than 135mm plus a 2X converter.
Nice when an opportunity to grab a shot of a close by squirrel pops up while you're shooting more distant birds in flight. Didn't have time to take the TC off.
An original 100-400mm is nowhere near 2kg (1.38kg) and would not have cost much more than your 70-300mm II.
In UK an old well used copy is around £500-£700. My new lens cost £435 and comes with Canon UK warranty.
The 100-400 is twice the weight of my 70-300 (710g).
It has older, slower focusing tech.
The Sigma or Tamron 100-400mm are two other options that would sit between the Canon 70-300mm and 100-400mm in terms of both size and price.
Heavier, older, slower and less accurate focusing, more expensive, no warranty.
While huge, a Tamron 150-600mm is very close to the price of the Canon 70-300mm, especially once you add in the cost of the teleconverter and extension tube.
Twice the price (£900), three times the weight (2Kg), slower focusing, bulky - no thanks.
The TC and extension tube cost me less than £30 (and the optics are high quality).
I know where the compromises I'm willing to make lie and what level of fine detail I'm happy with.
If you're fine with the results, then great. As a technical exercise it is a bit interesting, but optically, I personally find the images with the 2X converter to be pretty lousy. All your images with the 2X have a dull, hazy appearance like you are shooting through a dirty window.
Optically, I'm fine with the results from Larry's excellent handmade 2X TC used in conjunction with a copy of the 55-250 lens he calibrated it for. I agree we're not there yet with the same TC on the new 70-300 lens. Whether it'll be possible to make a 2X TC behave as well on the 70-300 as Larry's does on the 55-250 remains to be seen, it's pioneering territory.
If it can be done, I'll be very happy with a lens + TC combo that weighs under 800g, reaches 960mm FF equivalent, focuses quickly enough to up my BIF keeper rate, fits under my motorcycle leather for quick stop and shoot opportunities while I'm chasing red kites around the valley, and is useable on both my M and R cameras.
Only once the optics are as good as can be achieved within my weight/bulk parameters will I spend money on the latest and greatest de-noising and image cleaning software and start doing some gentle post pro to 'wipe the windows'.
Thanks for your finely barbed criticism, it 'spurs' me on to achieve better results.
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