New camera and lens

[Garry]

Hi

I have been thinking about this for a long time, but I hope to get, unless otherwise, a camera and new lens.

I have at the mo. Cannon 400D with the sigma 50 - 500mm APO DG HSM, but it does not have an immage stabiliser.

Going through my photos taken over the last two years, a lot have been blurred.

So the one i'm after is the Canon 7D with a Canon EF 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens.

Has anybody else have this set up?, if so is it worth getting.

Thanks
Garry

[marvin]

hi

can't comment on the combo as i use nikon but just a thought...a tripod/monopod would be a lot cheaper.

tim

[Alan Livsey]

Hello Garry. I am using the 7D and 100-400mm at the moment, it's a fantastic combination and i would recomend it to anyone, I upgraded from a 350D in April and now use that as my back up camera.
The image stabiliser certainly helps, but it's not the be all and end all to sharp photos, i sometimes still take blurred shots. A lot has to do with shutter speeds,hand holding technique, what your subject is doing etc...
Since i bought the lens 4 years ago, the lock ring that controls the tightness of the sliding mechanism has lost its tension, and a very fine hair has somehow found its way onto the inside of the forward most glass of the lens, but it doesn't show up on any photos so i'm not going to worry about removing it. However, without sounding too negative, it's still a great lens for the money and i'm keeping hold of it.
I wouldn't mind a bit of extra reach though (who doesn't!) and looking at a possible prime lens sometime in the future.
I've not had a great deal of experience with the 7D yet, but it has some fantastic capabilities, of which i've only just scratched the surface. I hope to get out and use it more when my broken shoulder improves. (knocked off my bike by a car!)
In the meantime i'll look through all the fantastic Gallery shots from other WABBERS!

[Garry]

Hi Alan

Many thanks for your reply, I think but could be corrected, with the 7D and the 100-400, the digital zoom becomes up to 560 mm????

If you get a TC 1.4x its not auto but manual focus....i think.

Looking to get both of them together as a package deal.

Hope the shoulder improves.

I have tried a tripod, but your limited to the amount of light gets into the lens, they still comeout blurred.

Garry

[Words]

I've got the 400D and 7D and have used both with the 100-400 lens. The 7D is a major advance on the 400D, and it controls noise better so you can push the ISO up a bit to maintain a decent shutter speed. The image stabilization will help, but technique is still important. You're are correct in thinking that the crop sensor on the 7D will give you the equivalent of 640mm on 35mm film. But the 400D has the same crop factor so you still won't have as much reach as with your 500mm lens.

In my experience the 100-400 doesn't work well with a teleconverter. You will lose autofocus unless you tape the pins, and in my experience the image stabilization really struggles with the converter. To be honest, with the larger frame of the 7D you may as well just crop images a little tighter when processing for all the gain you theoretically get from a 1.4TC.

[tom w w]

Hi I have a 30D and a 7D and use both with the 100-400mm lens.

Its certainly a combination capable of taking good photos. But you still have to know what your doing to take good pics.

You will find plenty of people who will tell you either is great or either is dreadful, IMHO, they are both somewhere between. There are certainly better lenses. BUT very few if ANY that are as versatile and capable. The 7D has a small sensor. That means the field of view @ 400mm on the lens will be about the same as the field of view of a 600mm lens on a "full frame" camera. (quite why anyone should think that is the perfect combination I don't know) Also a smaller sensor give more "depth of field" so you will get more in focus. The 7D is OK for high ISO if set up well. So for me the 7D is a fine wildlife camera.

If you cant take good pictures with that combination you never will. BUT just because you have good kit will not guarantee good photos.

I'm not sure if I've understood if you are after a 1.4TC or thinking of the crop effect of the sensor. Anyway I have the 1.4TC and the 2.0TC the 100-400mm on the 7D won't autofocus with either, but the video autofocus will work but its slow. You can tape the pins to get it to work. I never bothered but used manual focus.

Anyway - I've taken around 20,000 photos with that combo and over all I think its great. I've just bought a new lens, but certainly wont be selling the 100-400 or the 7D in a hurry.

Here's one I took earlier

[tom w w]

PS I forgot to say

I agree with Marvin - a Tripod or Monopod is esential IMHO

[Geoff F]

I think but could be corrected, with the 7D and the 100-400, the digital zoom becomes up to 560 mm????

Well yes, Garry, but at the moment your 50-500 is equivalent to 700 mm on a 400D so you would still be losing distance without a converter which is liable to cause other problems.

Going up to a 7D won't give you that much difference although admittedly when my 40D died I also went to the 7D and wouldn't want to move to a 400D for various operational reasons. But the specs alone won't make that much of an improvement except possibly for a faster zoom.

However, if you can afford it . . .

I suspect that if a tripod didn't help that much it is probably down to too low a shutter speed for a moving target; but without actual examples and Exif information it is difficult to tell.

When faced with a similar situation of requiring a larger zoom I finally went for the Sigma 150-500 which works well and the stabilisation is excellent.

But I would regard it as basically a good light lens and I normally prefer to work at F8 or F11; and the zoom is a little slow. But, under good conditions it does take excellent photos.

The other alternative I suppose, is to keep your current camera for now and get the new stabilised 50-500.

[Alan Livsey]

Originally Posted by tom w w

PS I forgot to say

I agree with Marvin - a Tripod or Monopod is esential IMHO

I also use a monopod a lot of the time, (combined weight of the 7D and a 100-400mm is approx 2.2Kg) and i've tried the taping pins business with the 1.4TC aswell, but by the time it's finished hunting i've lost patience with it!
So i just use manual focussing. Because of this, and the slight loss in quality, i'm a bit reluctant to use it.
Does anyone know if the Canon Mk1TC will function correctly with a Canon mk2 lens?

[tom w w]

Originally Posted by Alan Livsey

......
Does anyone know if the Canon Mk1TC will function correctly with a Canon mk2 lens?

The Canon TC's are backwards compatible, I've read somewhere. I use a Mk2 1.4XTC and a Mk3 2XTC with with Mk1 and Mk2 lenses. They all work, but the results with the Mk3 converter is definitely better than I expected.