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A few animal shots from EF 100-400L
- Thread starter HE15MAN
- Start date
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Nice... I've been considering this lens... what camera, what PP program, and what sharpening settings?
OP:
Those are some Great looking captures. I loved my 1-4, when I had it. Was an awesome lens for shooting critters.
Now your making me miss it. Definitely post some more if you have them.
Exif Viewer is a great add-on. I use it with FireFox, but I believe a variation is available for IE.
Exif IFD0
* Camera Make = Canon
* Camera Model = Canon EOS REBEL T2i
* Picture Orientation = normal (1)
* X-Resolution = 72/1 ===> 72
* Y-Resolution = 72/1 ===> 72
* X/Y-Resolution Unit = inch (2)
* Software / Firmware Version = Aperture 3.0.3
* Last Modified Date/Time = 2010:07:02 10:00:00
Exif Sub IFD
* Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/320 second ===> 0.00313 second
* Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 63/10 ===> /6.3
* Exposure Program = normal program (2)
* ISO Speed Ratings = 400
* Exif Version = 0221
* Original Date/Time = 2010:07:02 10:00:00
* Digitization Date/Time = 2010:07:02 10:00:00
* Shutter Speed Value (APEX) = 67/8
Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/331.99 second
* Aperture Value (APEX) = 43/8
Aperture = /6.44
* Exposure Bias (EV) = 0/1 ===> 0
* Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5)
* Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
* Focal Length = 390/1 mm ===> 390 mm
* Last Modified Subsecond Time = 05
* Original Subsecond Time = 05
* Digitized Subsecond Time = 05
* FlashPix Version = 0100
* Colour Space = sRGB (1)
* Image Width = 1024 pixels
* Image Height = 683 pixels
* Focal Plane X-Resolution = 97379/17 ===> 5728.18
* Focal Plane Y-Resolution = 331079/57 ===> 5808.4
* Focal Plane X/Y-Resolution Unit = inch (2)
* Custom Rendered = normal process (0)
* Exposure Mode = auto exposure (0)
* White Balance = manual (1)
* Scene Capture Type = standard (0)
Those are some Great looking captures. I loved my 1-4, when I had it. Was an awesome lens for shooting critters.
Now your making me miss it. Definitely post some more if you have them.Exif Viewer is a great add-on. I use it with FireFox, but I believe a variation is available for IE.
Exif IFD0
* Camera Make = Canon
* Camera Model = Canon EOS REBEL T2i
* Picture Orientation = normal (1)
* X-Resolution = 72/1 ===> 72
* Y-Resolution = 72/1 ===> 72
* X/Y-Resolution Unit = inch (2)
* Software / Firmware Version = Aperture 3.0.3
* Last Modified Date/Time = 2010:07:02 10:00:00
Exif Sub IFD
* Exposure Time (1 / Shutter Speed) = 1/320 second ===> 0.00313 second
* Lens F-Number / F-Stop = 63/10 ===> /6.3
* Exposure Program = normal program (2)
* ISO Speed Ratings = 400
* Exif Version = 0221
* Original Date/Time = 2010:07:02 10:00:00
* Digitization Date/Time = 2010:07:02 10:00:00
* Shutter Speed Value (APEX) = 67/8
Shutter Speed (Exposure Time) = 1/331.99 second
* Aperture Value (APEX) = 43/8
Aperture = /6.44
* Exposure Bias (EV) = 0/1 ===> 0
* Metering Mode = pattern / multi-segment (5)
* Flash = Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
* Focal Length = 390/1 mm ===> 390 mm
* Last Modified Subsecond Time = 05
* Original Subsecond Time = 05
* Digitized Subsecond Time = 05
* FlashPix Version = 0100
* Colour Space = sRGB (1)
* Image Width = 1024 pixels
* Image Height = 683 pixels
* Focal Plane X-Resolution = 97379/17 ===> 5728.18
* Focal Plane Y-Resolution = 331079/57 ===> 5808.4
* Focal Plane X/Y-Resolution Unit = inch (2)
* Custom Rendered = normal process (0)
* Exposure Mode = auto exposure (0)
* White Balance = manual (1)
* Scene Capture Type = standard (0)
You can see lost of photo samples from this lens (the one with IS) in here:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=373778
And for a lot of other Canon lenses, this one:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=141406
I love the sharpness and want to know how you achieved that... Did you shoot RAW or JPEG? If RAW, what sharpening did you apply in Aperture? Thx.
I like your pictures but have one comment:
Your picture of the snake has me a little worried that your copy of the lens might be front-focusing. You are obviously shooting it with a very small depth of field (likely f/5.6 at 400mm if I guess) and the snake's head was likely the target but his head is out of focus. Is this a new lens? I know you have a T2i so you can't do micro-lens adjustments. You might benefit to try to photograph a ruler and see if your lens is front-focusing. If so it will need to be sent to canon for adjustment. Sorry, just want to help you out as I have a very similar setup (XSi + 100-400L) and love the combo for my bird photos.
Your picture of the snake has me a little worried that your copy of the lens might be front-focusing. You are obviously shooting it with a very small depth of field (likely f/5.6 at 400mm if I guess) and the snake's head was likely the target but his head is out of focus. Is this a new lens? I know you have a T2i so you can't do micro-lens adjustments. You might benefit to try to photograph a ruler and see if your lens is front-focusing. If so it will need to be sent to canon for adjustment. Sorry, just want to help you out as I have a very similar setup (XSi + 100-400L) and love the combo for my bird photos.
Will have to wait for an answer, but it's possible the the OP was using all the focus points instead of just one. For example, one can use one focus point to focus on the snake's head. Otherwise the lens will focus on the area that has the greatest contrast.
You may also want to consider the 400/5.6 prime, which runs about the same cost but is noticeably sharper.
Paul
True, that may have been the case, and the picture is a good example of why you don't want to do that in this situation if that is the case.
It was shot in Raw, and then created a full size JPEG version in Aperture. All I did sharpening wise was the "Quick Enhance"
I am not sure and now you have me worried. I am leaving Thursday for a trip to Yellowstone. I hope its ok
I am a camera noob really. This is my first and only real nice lens, and I have only had it for a week. It was shot at 5.6 I believe. Could it be I was just aiming wrong? I have it set on AI Focus I know that much.
Front/Back Focus Test Chart
Go to this link. Print the chart included and use it for your focus test. I need to do this too. I want to assure myself that my 100mm macro 2.8L is on target.
http://focustestchart.com/focus10.pdf
Dale
Go to this link. Print the chart included and use it for your focus test. I need to do this too. I want to assure myself that my 100mm macro 2.8L is on target.
http://focustestchart.com/focus10.pdf
Dale
I am not sure and now you have me worried. I am leaving Thursday for a trip to Yellowstone. I hope its ok
It seems to be OK. The snake's head seems a little out of focus, but that could be because the lens focused on the area that offered the most contrast, which is normal. In other words, the center focus point was slightly below the snake's head, or that the snake moved it's head rapidly for a fraction of a second when the photo was being taken. The simple fact that all the other photos are in focus should tell you that your lens is fine. Look at the band that is in focus just by the snake's body (half-way down the snake's body). Also look at the part of the snake's body between this mid-point to the head, and notice how this area of the snake's body is farther back from the area in focus. The area that is in focus is the mid-body point of the snake, not its head.
Don't be afraid to crank the ISO to attain higher shutter speeds, since birds and small animals can move quite fast. Also, when using your camera on AI-Servo, use one focus point. When taking photos of wildlife with the lens wide open, the DOF is a lot shallower than when the aperture is closed to lets say f/8, f/11 or more. But in such instances what you want to do is to place the focus point on the area you want in focus the most, and ignore the rest. When you take photos of a moose, for example, focus the lens on the moose's head or eyes, not on its rump or something unless that's what you want to show
See this moose? I centered the center focus point of my 40D on the moose's neck near the head since I wanted to show most of the neck and head in focus the most, not its rump:
There is not discernible focus problems with your lens. Go out there and shoot-away
That chart will work with your macro lens, but not with the lens the OP is using since the closest focusing distance for this lens is several feet ahead.
You can always print the chart bigger and move further away. Bigger problem is the widest aperture which needs to be wide enough to get some part of the chart out of focus (but that is why you print the bigger chart).
Just one more pointer to add to focusing well: On critters the best spot to place your focus point is the eye. If the eye is in focus, the creature will look good. I agree that you need to use high ISOs sometime (most of the time) with a f/5.6 most of the time to keep moving creatures in focus. You can also try using one-shot focus/ai servo and you can also try putting the camera on high speed and taking multiple successive shot in attempts of having one in focus. Either way, the lens the way it is should not keep you from enjoying and taking great pictures of your yosemite trip.
That is one thing I havent figured out yet. How do you really know what ISO to shoot with.
100-200 Sunny
400-800 Cloudy
800+ Overcast is what I was told.
I am using a T2i
For beginners you can look at the picture and see if it's blurry (but you have to zoom in on the LCD because everything looks in focus zoomed out). After awhile you will get a sense of how much light is in the picture and also how fast subjects are moving. However, with an f/5.6 in shade you will almost always be shooting at ISO 800.
You should always be shooting a 1/telephoto length. Thus, if you are shooting at 400mm your minimum shutter speed should be 1/400sec or faster. However, with IS and a steady hand you can get away with slightly lower. If you're not able to reach that shutter speed in aperture priority you need to increase your ISO to help you get as close as possible. This is all assuming you're shooting handheld.
EDIT: I should add that of course on your T2i you are shooting at 400 x 1.6 crop factor = 640mm so 1/640sec minimum in case you weren't aware.
Rule of thumb for handholding with a 35mm sensor is that shutter speed should be about 1/focal length
400mm is equivalent magnification (i.e. equivalent hand-shake) to 640mm on 35mm.
So you want 1/640 second shutter speed to try to avoid camerashake (unless you have IS on your lens, or a tripod).
IS means you can shoot at about 4x slower (assuming the subject doesn't move).
A tripod means none of this matters and you can shoot at ISO 100 with 1/2 second exposures -- so long as the subject doesn't move a millimeter.
At 200mm you'd only need 1/320 second.
Your camera I think has an auto-ISO function that will try to do this. If not, just experiment.