Ken Durling <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote/replied to: >>The reall question is "Do you need 800mm?" > > >Anybody who regularly photographs birds can only have one answer to >this question!
Isn't it wonderful to fill the viewfinder with a bird. There are photographers who believe that is necessary, but I'm not one of them. That is why I bought a 100-400 and not a 500 or 600 monster lens. Zoom back a bit and capture your bird in it's environment instead of just having only the bird in the picture. It becomes much more of an 'art' photo. There are of course other reasons I chose not to get a monster lens. Another, is the ability to carry my equipment without needing a car to get to the site, or an assistant to carry most of my stuff when I get there. Other reasons are that the type of things I want to shoot are often over a couple of mountains where there are no roads. Ever hiked with a 600mm lens? Full frame birds are great for zoological type photos of cataloging, identifying, etc of birds. That's pretty well been done to death with those monster lenses already. After getting more seriously into this bird photo stuff, my most treasured shots seem to be those where the bird does not predominate the frame, but only is the centre of interest in a scene where the bird is doing something. I have some wonderful shots of birds flying too, but they don't have the same impact and feeling to me as photos where the bird is in its environment. I see guys all the time with these monster lenses on huge tripods. They are not mobile. They are not stealthy. They are not far from their car. I read with great interest an article by Michael Reichmann about his recent trip to Costa Rica. He was very limited in what he could carry and ended up with his trusty 100-400 on the 1Ds for almost all of his shots. Take a look at the shots he got and you will agree that this is a capable lens for birds. http://www.luminous-landscape.com/locations/costa-rica-2003.shtml Cheers, and do the best you can with what you've got! Jim Davis P.S. I'm so sick of film grain. I just can't wait to go digital! * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
