Boundary Waters Quetico Forum :: Group Forum: Photography in the BWCA :: thinking about adding a lens
|
Author | Message Text | ||
jeroldharter |
I looked up used monpods on Ebay and they are not much of a bargain and most of the used ones are heavier aluminum. For the money, I would buy a new Feisol carbon fiber monopod. For your gear, you could get the smaller one (CM-1401) which I have used with a Pentax 67II with 165mm lens: Feisol Monopods |
||
jeroldharter |
Canon telephoto zoom For low light, there is no substitute for a tripod. If you are trying to get around that by purchasing a wide aperture telephoto zoom with image stabilization, you are looking a a large expensive lens that would be tiring to hold without a tripod (or monopod) anyway. You might consider a fixed focal length lens instead of a zoom. You did not say why you want a longer focal length. You could get a lighter, smaller lens with a wider aperture by using a fixed focal length lens. Canon has a vast array of lenses. With the popularity of zooms, they have gotten away from fixed focal length lenses unless they have very larger apertures, L glass, and a lofty price. But they will have a wider maximum aperture if that is your primary goal. |
||
john 800 |
I also would like something that will allow me to shoot in lower light without flash, maybee an image stabilized lens? Does the lens itself have nything to do with the depth of feild? Meaning is there any spec like a numerically smaller aperture setting I should be looking for? this sounds expensive already LOL Thanks for bearing woth me I am kind of new to this!! |
||
john 800 |
is image stabilazation worth the extra money for a genral purpose lens? I am primarily after something more flexibleas far as zoom, if a tripod is the way to go for light so be it |
||
jeroldharter |
Only the pro level digital slr's have a sensor as large as 35mm film, so the effective focal length on many slr's has a multiple, commonly 1.6. That is a big plus on the telephoto end but a big minus for wide angle lenses. So the top 300 mm focal length of a zoom for your camera would be like using a 450 mm lens on a 35mm camera. That is good for sports, action, wildlife - especially with image stabilization and a monopod. A carbon fiber monopod like a Feisol weighs almost nothing and makes the camera much more stable. With a long telephoto, it is nice if the lens has a tripod socket which provides better balance than using the camera's socket. Using the monopod, spares your arms or your neck from extended periods of waiting for the shot with camera in hand/neck. This would be the best, non-L series Canon lens for your purposes but is much more costly than your current lens because of the ED glass and IS: 70-300 |
||
john 800 |
|