condyk
26th of April 2005 (Tue), 12:49
OK, my 50-500mm Bigma and 70-200mm F2.8 finally arrived today, so after three big fat blokes helped me carry them both through the door (yes, they are quite substantial!) I unpacked them half expecting to see quite a bit of wear and tear. But no, both are absolutely MINT, even better than the seller had described them and boxed with tripod rings, hoods, caps, manual, the lot. King sized bargains from a fellow forum member :D
Things are looking good already and I look out the window and even the weather is improving. MAYBE if I'm a good boy we'll see some sun in the afternoon. Drizzling at the moment ...
... twiddle thumbs, more twiddling, twiddle again ... and then the clouds start to clear and I'm off to Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire! Not exactly the Etosha Pan but at least there is something worth a look there!
Pay the required entry and within 30 seconds of handing the cash over I feel a first spit of rain on my arm. Quick check to make sure it's not the Baboons mating on the car roof. It's not! So, the next hour and a half we have rain, stops, rain, stops, rain, stops .... Grrrr. In between the rain and the areas where you can't open the car window it's a bit frustrating, but manage to grab a few shots of the animals I am interested in.
Both lenses work beautifully. The HSM motors are smooth and fast, no hunting around and very easy to operate manual focus too. No stiffness at all. Build quality is hefty to say the least: a bit more rugged than my previous Canon 70-200 F4 L and with a very good overall feel of quality. 70-200 F2.8 amazingly fast focusing, maybe a tiny, tiny tad slower than my old Canon 70-200 F4 ... splitting hairs tho'. Nothing in it at all. Is a touch noisier for sure, but again nothing I would be concerned about myself.
I can feel the shake when hand holding: the 50-500 is heavy, but a couple of shots taken with the lens rested on the car door give plenty of reason for optimism. I need to get a beanbag tho'.
So, I have uploaded the first two 50-500mm shots I've processed and the original straight from the camera JPG's:
http://www.buzzdns.com/lion1.jpg (cropped and reduced to ease loading)
http://www.buzzdns.com/lion2.jpg (100% crop of head/whiskers detail)
http://www.buzzdns.com/IMG_0342.jpg (100%, straight from the camera 3.3MB)
The 100% crop gives an idea of sharpness potential. I'd maybe give it 8/10 sharp, as a hand held shot, and I think I can get sharper when the lens is properly supported and I'm not confined to shooting through the car and out the pasenger window. Colour nice and rich with good contrast. No real processing needed in PS, just a tiny bit of contrast. Done on my laptop so may need more work when I check them on my proper monitor.
Very happy with my purchases ... the 50-500mm is definately much more usable for wildlife work than the 400mm L prime I was saving for. Framing shots is so much easier and very smooth and fast. Enjoyed it so much that I forgot to play with the 70-200mm. :lol: :lol:
Things are looking good already and I look out the window and even the weather is improving. MAYBE if I'm a good boy we'll see some sun in the afternoon. Drizzling at the moment ...
... twiddle thumbs, more twiddling, twiddle again ... and then the clouds start to clear and I'm off to Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire! Not exactly the Etosha Pan but at least there is something worth a look there!
Pay the required entry and within 30 seconds of handing the cash over I feel a first spit of rain on my arm. Quick check to make sure it's not the Baboons mating on the car roof. It's not! So, the next hour and a half we have rain, stops, rain, stops, rain, stops .... Grrrr. In between the rain and the areas where you can't open the car window it's a bit frustrating, but manage to grab a few shots of the animals I am interested in.
Both lenses work beautifully. The HSM motors are smooth and fast, no hunting around and very easy to operate manual focus too. No stiffness at all. Build quality is hefty to say the least: a bit more rugged than my previous Canon 70-200 F4 L and with a very good overall feel of quality. 70-200 F2.8 amazingly fast focusing, maybe a tiny, tiny tad slower than my old Canon 70-200 F4 ... splitting hairs tho'. Nothing in it at all. Is a touch noisier for sure, but again nothing I would be concerned about myself.
I can feel the shake when hand holding: the 50-500 is heavy, but a couple of shots taken with the lens rested on the car door give plenty of reason for optimism. I need to get a beanbag tho'.
So, I have uploaded the first two 50-500mm shots I've processed and the original straight from the camera JPG's:
http://www.buzzdns.com/lion1.jpg (cropped and reduced to ease loading)
http://www.buzzdns.com/lion2.jpg (100% crop of head/whiskers detail)
http://www.buzzdns.com/IMG_0342.jpg (100%, straight from the camera 3.3MB)
The 100% crop gives an idea of sharpness potential. I'd maybe give it 8/10 sharp, as a hand held shot, and I think I can get sharper when the lens is properly supported and I'm not confined to shooting through the car and out the pasenger window. Colour nice and rich with good contrast. No real processing needed in PS, just a tiny bit of contrast. Done on my laptop so may need more work when I check them on my proper monitor.
Very happy with my purchases ... the 50-500mm is definately much more usable for wildlife work than the 400mm L prime I was saving for. Framing shots is so much easier and very smooth and fast. Enjoyed it so much that I forgot to play with the 70-200mm. :lol: :lol: