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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Canon IS Lenses
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Showing posts 1 - 12 of 12, (reverse)
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 12/11/2006 03:07:16 PM · #1
Is it worth it trying to find an IS type lens for my 400D? Just wondering if they make THAT much difference to justify the price and does anyone else manufacture an IS type of lens for Canons?

Been thinking of one of the following but not sure if the IS justifies the Price:

Canon EF 75-300mm F4-5.6 III USM: $249.95cdn

Canon EF-D 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 II USM: $289.95cdn

Canon EF 28-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM: $594.95cdn

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM: $699.95cdn

I'm looking for something that I can shoot, landscapes, wild animals, out door kinda of shots, for macro and portraits I'm prob going to use the kit lens...

Thanks in advance,

-dave
 12/11/2006 03:09:30 PM · #2
I reckon it can be useful for the longer shots. For landscapes you'd probably be mounting the camera on a tripod anyway, so you wouldn't use the IS.
 12/11/2006 03:09:41 PM · #3
Originally posted by dknourek:


Canon EF 75-300mm F4-5.6 III USM: $249.95cdn

Canon EF-D 55-200mm f4.5-5.6 II USM: $289.95cdn

Canon EF 28-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM: $594.95cdn

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM: $699.95cdn

-dave


The top two are not IS lenses are they??

I assist on quite a few wedding these days and from experience IS is an absolute godsend during the ceremonies indoors where flash would be far too intrusive. Being able to handhold at 1/60 at 200mm is nice.


Message edited by author 2006-12-11 15:11:46.
 12/11/2006 03:18:11 PM · #4
The one catch with IS is that they cannot stop movement like a fast lens can. All of the lenses that you listed are fairly slow lenses. That won't make a difference for landscapes since, well, the landscape isn't moving (or I'd hope not at least). But when you get to shooting indoor sports or basically anything indoors, a fast lens becomes a great thing to have since it can stop motion. The IS is a great tool, but it's not flawless. And yes, that much of a price difference is justified. The IS system is very complex and adds a few extra lens elements to the mix as well.

Edit to add: The only ones in that list that would be good for wildlife are the 70-300mm lenses. But those aren't nearly wide enough for landscapes. If you're looking for something to do both, the best you're going to get (in a budget) is either the Sigma or Tamron 18-200mm lenses. These also have a catch in that they both lack IS and have a LOT of distortion. Other options (if you have a lot more money) are the Sigma 50-500mm (bigma - about $1000), or the Canon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L ($2200).

Message edited by author 2006-12-11 15:23:32.
 12/11/2006 03:21:30 PM · #5
No the top 2 are not IS lenses, there just 2 non IS that Im thinking of.

Mist: I often find that for alot of my shots I dont have a tripod handy as alot of them so far were, "honey STOP the car" then I run out and shoot :P

kinda like this one where, we were on our way to Glacier nation park and saw this small calm lake off the side of the road, it looks bigger than it actually is, and most of the lake was hidden by trees from the road. For this one I kinda squatted down on the edge of the lake and tried to steady my elbows on my knees...

same with some of the animal shots where Im leaning over a waist high fence trying to get just a tad closer to shoot as with the current lens theres not alot of zoom.

-dave
 12/11/2006 03:39:26 PM · #6
IS is not a substitute for fast glass.

IS does its thing, and it's great coupled with fast glass, but for the money, you'd be better off getting a faster lens.
 12/11/2006 03:42:55 PM · #7
forgive my ignorance, but by faster glass you are refering to a lower F# rite? like F3 is faster than F6?

-dave
 12/11/2006 04:17:37 PM · #8
f/3 is considered faster than f/6. Where IS will noticeably make a difference is on longer lenses.

A rule of thumb says that you can handhold at speeds equal to, or faster than 1/lens length (on the 400D, multiply the actual lens length by 1.6).
Say you've got a shutter speed of 1/125 and zoom out to 300mm (480mm on the 400D) IS on the 70-300 will give you about three stops, so you'd easily handhold this lens. Two scenarios occur to me:

If you're taking wildlife pictures, you'll get sharp pictures of the trees and bushes, but the lion chasing the gazelle will be a blur.

If you're taking pictures of your kids' school play, 1/125 should be fast enough for most of what they do. You won't be able to go faster because of the poor lighting, and the fact that you want a smaller aperture because you want a wide DOF. So you need IS here.
 12/11/2006 04:19:41 PM · #9
Originally posted by dknourek:
forgive my ignorance, but by faster glass you are refering to a lower F# rite? like F3 is faster than F6?

-dave


Yes, like the f2.8 zooms are faster that the f4-f5.6 zooms
 12/11/2006 04:30:19 PM · #10
Originally posted by hankk:
A rule of thumb says that you can handhold at speeds equal to, or faster than 1/lens length (on the 400D, multiply the actual lens length by 1.6). Say you've got a shutter speed of 1/125 and zoom out to 300mm (480mm on the 400D)


If I understand things correctly (and that is doubtful), the 1.6x would not be taken into account because you are dealing with actual zoom length. The 1.6x just means that you are looking out the center of the lens and your shot will be cropped by a factor of 1.6, but the zoom length will be the same.
 12/12/2006 11:21:10 AM · #11
Originally posted by TJinGuy:
Originally posted by hankk:
A rule of thumb says that you can handhold at speeds equal to, or faster than 1/lens length (on the 400D, multiply the actual lens length by 1.6). Say you've got a shutter speed of 1/125 and zoom out to 300mm (480mm on the 400D)


If I understand things correctly (and that is doubtful), the 1.6x would not be taken into account because you are dealing with actual zoom length. The 1.6x just means that you are looking out the center of the lens and your shot will be cropped by a factor of 1.6, but the zoom length will be the same.


With a crop sensor, you will be enlarging the picture more (1.6x more than with a FF sensor). So any blur caused by camera shake will be 1.6x wider, and therefore more noticeable. Its kind of like the difference between looking at your image on a monitor (at 72 dpi) and pixel peeping at 200%. In the first case, lines will look sharp. But when you pixel peep, you may see that there is a fuzzy edge to each line.

Here, you have to use the effective lens length to figure out how fast you can handhold. On the other hand, the 1/focal length is a guide-some cannot handhold nearly this fast, some can handhold much faster. Proper technique helps. And, statistically, you'll get some good shots and some bad shots at the edge of your handholding ability.

BTW, the larger the size of the picture you print, the more the blur shows, so you may be able to take shot that produces a fine, sharp 4x6, but a blurry 16x20. And a picture that looks fine one the web at 640x480 pixels (at 72 dpi) may look bad on a 4x6 at 300dpi (1200x1800 pixels).

Message edited by author 2006-12-12 11:30:40.
 12/13/2006 02:26:44 AM · #12
Just ordered a Canon 300mm F/4 L IS prime. I wish all my lenses had IS, especially my 70-200.
God I hate B&H and that 90 days same as cash.
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