400 5.6 on a 5DsR

[Busted Knuckles]

Anyone try this. I am going to be orphaned on Mom's day weekend (my wife is doing a daughters weekend... no boys and the son in law and I aren't going to hang out the opposite - nice enough guy but....)

I am thinking of burning some frequent flyer miles and re-doing some uber huge pano's now that I have computer that makes it fairly straightforward.

An thoughts on this combo - I was very impressed w/ the size and portability when Stuart let me shoot his for a bit.

Mike

[jrw]

100-400 v2 works well enough. Would expect similar from 400 f5.6 with perhaps a bit less distortion. Enjoy the time off hunting out the panos. Sounds like fun!
Curious as to how you will use the resulting pano images. I have a number that are bigger than 3x6, up to 8x12, feet at 300 ppi. Always find myself resizing the image smaller every time I make a print. Have been toying with the idea of triptychs to make a photo wall or two. Wondering if you have tried anything similar yet?

[HDNitehawk]

In what respect? Price, size, quality, rental or??

As you know the 5Ds R is a great camera so for the most part I only have positives to say.
Even for action I have gotten great shots, but the buffer and fps is a negative.

As a lens that cost $1149 the 400mm is around the top of its price class. No IS though, and for lower shutter speeds with the 5Ds R that is a negative.
The 100-400mm II would be my next step up if money allows.

[jrw]

Bit of a sidetrack. Have you considered the Zeiss 135 f2 for making large panos? The resolving power, contrast, and colour rendition all combine to make it an outstanding lens for this kind of work. After making a few monster panos I find myself using more moderate telephoto lenses now, compared to a 5d3 body, with fewer images to stitch together. Still winding up with larger files, in pixel dimensions, than I have needed yet for printing. Just something to consider perhaps.

[Busted Knuckles]

Thanks for all the thoughts and points. Some of this is effort is clearly just because it can be done vs some elegantly thought out plan (I suck at those anyway)

I started the giant panos with the idea of doing a photo wall in my office, and then figure out that my office is both too small (two walls /w door or windows are "only" 12 x8.5 feet. But worse yet was that once up, changing the imaging was going to be somewhat clumsy to say the least.

Good thought on the Zeiss - I did shoot my 70-200 at about 140 for several of the projects so the focal length is right on.

As to really displaying, I am hopeful of finding some sort of slide show type software that would pan the image (hoping not to have to make a movie to do it) As you know I purchased the JS8500 55" Tv and use it as a monitor and my conclusion is 4k can survive going into the 70+" screen size w/o a problem when viewed at more than 3 fee (indeed at more than about 2 feet).

I would be renting the R and the 400. As JRW pointed out though perhaps the right option is just the 400 and more pics (actually the old way of doing it). I am keeping my camera body budget powder dry for at least the next iteration of the 5 series.

I also agree w/ the observation the need for IS w/ the R. When I did my Glacier Park trip, it took me a couple of days to remember to calm myself that little bit extra when firing off a shot at a slower speed - like anything under 1/4xFL - too much coffee

I am just really happy to be able to take pics w/ the great tools we have and make images that simply were unavailable to me (or most of us for that matter) a few short years ago.

[Dave Throgmartin]

I love the 400mm f/5.6. It's really a spectacular lens. I'm not sure about it for panos though.

Dave