Occy

rippanics wrote in post #2452963
I use a EF 600mm f4 IS L Lens. I try not to use a 1.4 Extender because of the detail losses, delay in auto focus and the loss of a couple of stops.....and if I'm down in front at Pipe I use a 400mm f2.8...If I need to be tighter, I crop.....I've compared my 600mm no extender on and cropped to my 600mm with extender and no crop, and found my cropped samples to retain more detail........the two exceptions are Sunset and Waimea Bay, there the 400mm with the 2x is "Killer"when you need that kind of reach, but, then alot of folks think I don't know what I'm talking about...and no I'm not a Cali Kid, I'm from Honolulu........

This is interesting. Thank you for the information. I have hard time to make up my mind for choice 300mm or 400mm F 2.8 with extender 1.4 and 2.0 that I plan to buy one of them in around late Jan or early Feb 2007. I talked with few pro photographers of surfing, I was told that 300mm F2.8 lens with extender 1.4 and 2.0 may be good enough for me to shot photos of surfing at Malibu, Trestle, Rincon, any point breaks and some reef in Southern California that where I live in (Oceanside) North San Diego County.

They said If you plan to shot photos of surfing in Central/Northern California and Hawaii, you must use 400 to 600mm for regular shots but sometimes, use extender 2.0 for push 400mm to 800mm like you used this at Sunset and Waimina.

Some pros said they don’t like to use extender 1.4 and 2.0 because they caused photos' quality little fuzzy, others said, use them and just little bit reduced quality but photos look still sharper anyway. 400mm F2.8 seem heavier to carry around. How can you deal with this heavier weight if you have to travel anywhere like 3rd world countries?
That's why I think 300mm F2.8 lens with extender 1.4 and 2.0 is perfect for travel because it is light weight and easy to carry around. Do you agree with pros that they explained to me?

when I started buying my prime lens, I went up with even numbers. I didn't even think about the 300 or the 500 for that silly reason only....the even number primes in my kit do very well for my needs here in Hawaii...and again I repeat...I try Not to use extenders because of loss of detail, Auto Focus slow down, and the loss of f-stops....also I shoot in RAW because its so forgiving on exposure, a jpeg has to be within four tenths of a stop plus and a half stop minus to have a exposure with proper tonality for printing

rippanics wrote in post #2462613
when I started buying my prime lens, I went up with even numbers. I didn't even think about the 300 or the 500 for that silly reason only....the even number primes in my kit do very well for my needs here in Hawaii...and again I repeat...I try Not to use extenders because of loss of detail, Auto Focus slow down, and the loss of f-stops....also I shoot in RAW because its so forgiving on exposure, a jpeg has to be within four tenths of a stop plus and a half stop minus to have a exposure with proper tonality for printing

I understood more clearly now. I am curious, Do most pro surf photographers usually use RAW instead high resolution JPEG? RAW images seem eat lot of your chip if you keep to use RAW all times, means you must bring lot of chips.

Do surf magazines accept looking high quality photos if surf photographers use high resolution JPEG instead RAW that they sell photos to magazine companies? ( I dont think so )

what type do Pro Shooters use....either Jpeg or RAW or film depends on what and where the image is going...my print site requires jpegs, one of the mags I submit to wants RAW files and another likes Jpegs or tiff sized for a centerfold and unsharpened....I just know when shooting jpeg your exposure tolerances are so much more constrained....and with trying to shoot the ocean action with the extreme lighting conditions out there, I need to be a loose as i can be with exposure because it changes so fast ...........the image was about a stop over exposed maybe more and the front wave was outside my depth of field, but, it's Slater so you try to rescue something..looks ok on screen and like crap in print.

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Yes. Sound like I have to ask each surf magazine company which they prefer JPG or RAW before I plan to go out and shot plenty of surf photos.

I am still learning about digital cameras and lens cuz I used to be pro photographer with film cameras only and I retired 15 years ago then I just return to my photography career again after my lady bought Rebel XT with 18 to 200mm Sigma lens recently and I was surprised how photos turned out very good because I am old school. I borrow and tried to test her XT for few months and I decided to love digital cameras! I am addicting now.

I am still doing research and gather all information about Canon (digital) cameras and lens before I plan to spend awful $$$ for new equipment soon. I am thinking about to buy EOS 1D Mark II N and EOS D5 with plenty of "L" series lens soon.