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Wm. Bates | all galleries >> A New Beginning...Picture A Day >> Click Here for April's Photos > Killdeer 04_12_05.jpg
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12-APR-2005

Killdeer 04_12_05.jpg

I spent the afternoon again down on the marsh again. I'm still chasing my elusive bird. He didn't show up tonight. No matter it was a great evening. I got this little killdeer standing on a rock along the edge of the dike I was walking on. You have to love Canon's Image Stabilization when you can get a shoot this sharp handholding a 600mm lens.

A flight shoot of a sandhill crane from today equally worthy of being a PAD photo

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM
1/400s f/7.1 at 600.0mm iso200 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Argishti Khachik15-Apr-2005 07:40
So wonderful!
John S. Nasche14-Apr-2005 16:08
Ahh! I think I understand now! You said “So...say you had a 70-200f/4 and put a 2x extender on it to make it a 140-400f/8 it won't auto focus. If you put a 2x extender on a 70-200f/2.8 you get a 140-400f/5.6 and it will auto focus.”, … so in other words, as long as the new “fastest f-stop” is 5.6 or faster it WILL auto focus, but because the new “doubled” f-stop of the f-4 became an f-8 it will NOT auto focus! Interesting! (Who said an old dog can’t learn a new trick?) So the key is, no matter what lens I purchase, as long as the doubled f-stop is f 5.6 or lower (faster), it will auto focus.

Hmmm, ... the 400mm f5.6 L is going to sit on a shelf huh? Send it my way! I’m sure I can find a use for it! I’m always up for a free lens, … and you can use it anytime you want! LOL!
Wm. Bates14-Apr-2005 13:30
John, The 10D,20D and digital Rebel series will focus any lens with a maximum aperture of f/5.6 or faster. The 300f/2.8 becomes a 600f/5.6 with the 2x extender so it will auto focus without problem.

So...say you had a 70-200f/4 and put a 2x extender on it to make it a 140-400f/8 it won't auto focus. If you put a 2x extender on a 70-200f/2.8 you get a 140-400f/5.6 and it will auto focus.

I use to have a Canon 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS lens. I won't say it was a junk coke bottle but without a doubt it was the softs and lowest contrast lens I have ever owned. A shot like this would have lacked any feather detail. Really it is a complete different league of sharpness and contrast.

I have other Canon "L" lenses and they are amazingly sharp and have that certain "pop". The 300f/2.8L IS is a big step up from the others. Even with the 2x extender on the 300f/2.8L IS will out do my 400f/5.6L bare. I have a feeling the 400 may start to collect dust sitting on the shelf.
John S. Nasche14-Apr-2005 13:15
Okay, … dumb photographer’s question, but I just gotta know. (Well actually a couple of questions.) Bill, the 2X doubler with the 300 L glass, … someone told me the doubler prevents auto focusing. True? Do you have to manually focus every shot? (Not that this bothers me, just curios.) 2nd dumb question, … by any chance to you have either the Canon 300 non L glass lens or the Canon 75-300 non L glass zoom lens? I would absolutely LOVE to see a side by side comparison at 300mm with the camera on a tripod and same exposure of the same subject with L glass and without the L glass to see for myself just how much sharper the image is. Oh, I know everyone says “Ho HYEAH! It’s sharper! Spend the extra mega bucks!”, … but I’d rather see wid’ me own eyeballs the difference before dropping that kind of coin.
Robin Reid13-Apr-2005 23:46
Right on! Sharp as a tack. Well done.
Wm. Bates13-Apr-2005 19:45
Jon, I really have to say I'm appreciating the IS on this lens...I'm just not that steady to handhold 600mm plus even over 1/focal length per second. I took about a dozen shots of this killdeer all razor sharp.
Guest 13-Apr-2005 17:20
Wow Bill thats great. And handheld at 1/400th w/ an effective zoom of 960mm. The lense impresses me. I've been tetering on the edge for a while now, deciding if I want used non-IS or the IS...think I've made my mind up...
Eric Hewis13-Apr-2005 08:37
A great picture, but keep looking for that elusive Wanda bird
Wm. Bates13-Apr-2005 05:22
Full frame no crop on this one. Just for fun here is a crop from this at 100%... straight out of the camera..click this
Guest 13-Apr-2005 04:37
I gotta know...full-frame or cropped? If full-frame its great. If you have some cropping I'm beginning to be a big believer in the Canon TC's on prime lenses. The TC's on my 100-400L are pretty aweful.