Getting to 500mm - help!

[Scott Stephen]

Are you already shooting a 1.6x crop frame camera? If not, you could buy a good crop body for little more than a 1.4X tele-extender, which works out to just a fraction of what a super-tele lens costs.

[thekingb]

Are you already shooting a 1.6x crop frame camera?

Yes, a 7D.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I need to go on a 5 year savings plan for that 500mm lens....

Anyone have ideas about my other question: how much shutter speed can I save on the 400 f/5.6 by using a monopod? From 1/800 or 1/640 handheld down to ____ on a monopod?

[FastGass]

http://www.canonrumors.com/tech-arti...-your-ef-body/

Need I say more?

Cheers,
John.

[HDNitehawk]

Anyone have ideas about my other question: how much shutter speed can I save on the 400 f/5.6 by using a monopod? From 1/800 or 1/640 handheld down to ____ on a monopod?

I have never seen a review where someone tested this. For one thing it probably depends on how steady you could hold the lens to start with.

From my experience with the 100-400mm and using a monopod, I would say the monopod would give you more stabilization than the IS system of the 100-400mm, or at the very least it would be equal to it. But I think everyone is different, and it would matter what monopod you used and how you used it. With a monopod on the 100-400mm I could exceed what I could do with the IS system hand held.

[dsiegel5151]

Yes, a 7D.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I think I need to go on a 5 year savings plan for that 500mm lens....

Anyone have ideas about my other question: how much shutter speed can I save on the 400 f/5.6 by using a monopod? From 1/800 or 1/640 handheld down to ____ on a monopod?

The 400mm f5.6 is sweet b/c of the weight. Not only is it relatively easy to handhold in decent light, but you don't have to dump $2000 into a tripod setup to support the lens. B/c of the light weight, I've had what I would consider critically sharp images with the 400mm f5.6 at 1/200s on a monopod. However, this is with me holding down the shutter and picking the one sharp one out of 15 from a 6fps burst. I wouldn't expect to use a single frame to capture a keeper with the 400mm f5.6 on a monopod at 1/200s. Anything under that and you pretty much just have to get lucky unless your technique is far superior than mine!

Now, I have a question: has anybody used the 400mm f5.6 with a 1.4x III. The posted iso charts look pretty good. The third generation teleconverter definitely gives you some better sharpness at the periphery. I've been throwing around the idea of getting a used 1d mark III (especially b/c you can pick these up for almost the price of a new 7d) for awhile and I was wondering if anybody uses this combination and how much AF speed is lost? Sorry if I change the direction of the thread, but I thought it was somewhat pertinent.

[Scott Stephen]

Now, I have a question: has anybody used the 400mm f5.6 with a 1.4x III. The posted iso charts look pretty good. The third generation teleconverter definitely gives you some better sharpness at the periphery. I've been throwing around the idea of getting a used 1d mark III (especially b/c you can pick these up for almost the price of a new 7d) for awhile and I was wondering if anybody uses this combination and how much AF speed is lost? Sorry if I change the direction of the thread, but I thought it was somewhat pertinent.

Does this lens AF at all with the TC? I could be mistaken, but I thought not.

[jrw]

I did try it out many combinations in stores within a couple of hours driving distance before making the decision to go with the EF300 and the 2x tc to fill in on the long end. The 400 f5.6with the 1.4 TC on it is just soft enough in the center to make extreme cropping more of a challenge in PP than I want to deal with.

The other factors that entered in were losing AF and no IS in the 400. With changing to a 1D body, AF is retained. The difference in cost between lenses was going to shrink considerably if another body was purchased to go with it. In my area, 1D bodies seldom come up for sale used in a condition that would make me want to buy them. that 400 is lighter, but the 300 is still very handholdable and the IS is of great benefit.

There is very little effect on focus speeds with lenses I have when using the new TCs. Not sure how that holds up with older bodies, as I haven't kept any.