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09/20/2010 08:50:00 AM · #26 |
As others have said don't rent.
if you are going there I'd get a wide angle 10-22 landscapes are gonna be great there. your 135 range should be fine on a crop body to get close to the wildlife. |
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09/20/2010 11:38:15 AM · #27 |
Originally posted by WriteHeart:
I think we have it now. We were able to borrow some lenses and are renting some, but only renting ones that are within our reach to buy soon (so no $500 lens rentals, only $50 rentals :-)
So, we are spending very little of our lens budget and are saving the rest until we decide which lens to buy (I was looking at the Canon 70-200 f4L or just the Canon 200 2.8L as the first lens). By borrowing and renting I can try them out and see what we want. Also, we were able to get a 500mm length. So here's the line-up:
Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro
Canon 200mm f/2.8L
Canon 50mm f/1.4
Canon 70-200mm f/4L
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
Kenko 1.5x Teleconverter for Canon
Canon 2x Teleconverter
Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 SP Di LD for Canon
Tokina 12-24mm f/4 Pro for Canon |
Good setup.. Have fun and share some results (actually if you wanted to share your observations on the lenses that would be really cool too.) |
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09/20/2010 01:10:36 PM · #28 |
Originally posted by coryboehne:
Good setup.. Have fun and share some results (actually if you wanted to share your observations on the lenses that would be really cool too.) |
Thanks Cory. I am so excited because I get to buy a steak lens after Yellowstone thanks to your advice. We put away enough for a good lens and by going this route, we can still play with some different lenses, meet the needs of the workshop and buy a steak lens when it is all over. Although renting the 500mm L lens would have been nice, that was most of the money for a lens I could actually afford. So, by borrowing lenses and renting sparingly I can now have the best of both worlds. Enough lenses for all the different workshops in Yellowstone and money in the bank for a good L lens when we get back.
Thank you all again for your feedback!!!! I will let you know about the lenses when we get back. |
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09/21/2010 01:46:58 PM · #29 |
Here is my 2 cents worth...
Good decision to go back to renting instead of buying... Glass is EVERYTHING! Your purchase choices would probably have been disappointing.
For a trip like yours renting quality L glass lenses will make the difference between crisp, sharp images and disappointing results with lesser quality lenses regardless how well suited their focal length range is for your purposes. You probably will not go back for another workshop like that again for a long time so biting the bullet a little to rent high quality glass should probably be a priority.
I was in Yellowstone a few days last summer and feel what is needed there most for photography is a super-wide for landscapes, geysers and geothermal photography and a telephoto longer than 200mm for wildlife. And in that order.
Super-wide:
I'm unfamiliar with the Tokina 12-24mm f/4 Pro for Canon so cannot give input as to how good a lens it will be for you. I really like the focal length range!
You will likely take more geothermal landscapes than anything else so your choice of super-wide is critical to the success of your trip.
The Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 has all the width you need but it's image quality as your super-wide choice may not be up to snuff. The lack of fluorite L-glass lens elements means that image quality will be average at best.
I have two better super-wide rental suggestions:
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM
or
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
I own the 16-35mm and it is absolutely my favorite lens of any that I own for two reasons:
1-Image quality...
It produces noticeably sharper and higher quality images than any of my other lenses (Review my complete equipment list at DPC)
2-Super-wide coverage...
This lens is a dream for framing great foreground interest within a landscape with sharpness from one foot all the way out to infinity when you need it.
You will find a super-wide especially useful in geyser basins and at Mammoth Hot Springs where it is difficult to include the whole scene in a frame from the walkways (you can always stitch images, but that is a different subject). The 16-35mm also goes macro too, for added flexibility.
I tried out the 24-70mm last week photographing an outdoor wedding and the image quality matches or exceeds the 16-35mm. Its a terrific lens! However, this lens will not have as wide of coverage for you as it does on my 35mm 5DII and should be considered a great mid-range lens for you. At the top end it would even qualify as a very mild telephoto on your 40D. But it is an absolute top tier lens, the kind you need for your trip.
Telephoto:
I have no experience with the Tamron 200-500mm so cannot comment on it... but do know about Canon equipment...
Your Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L (IS USM?) selection is an excellent choice for both image quality and portability. It's image quality is slightly better than the considerably more expensive and touted f/2.8 version and it isn't bulky and weigh a ton! In fact, those are the reasons I selected it for my work hiking into wilderness areas.
In telephotos IS(image stabilization) is a must. It will allow you to hand hold camera shots with 2 f/stops less light without using a tripod. Again, L-glass florite lens elements in your telephoto make for better quality pictures.
I tried out the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM and don't think it is at as high a standard as Canon's other L-lenses so do not recommend it. The reason, I think, is because it has fewer florite lens elements than other Canon L lenses.
I've never used this lens - Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM - but sounds like it could be an ideal rental choice for an all-in-one telephoto and worth considering.
Teleconverters:
I don't know about the 1.5x kenko teleconverter but the 2x Canon Extender gets top marks from me. I use it with a Canon 70-200mm f/4L and Canon 300mm f/4L. The image quality with the 2x extender is great. I conducted an image quality test both with and without the extender and the results can be seen here:
//www.pbase.com/azleader/teletest
The test results will also give you a good idea what to expect from a telephoto ranging from 200mm to 600mm. Keep in mind on your camera that the magnification will be the same as the test images but that the field of view will be narrower because of the crop factor difference between our cameras.
However, here is the down side using the 2x Extender with the two lenses I have... at F/4 autofocus no longer works so I have to focus by hand when using the Extender. I quite successfully photograph birds in flight and moving fauna and such but it is more challenging when using hand focus. :)
Other Considerations:
Your 100mm macro selection is a great choice for flora/insect macro closeups. I'm into that sorta thing and use mine a lot, including when I was in Yellowstone. Though I don't use it as such, that lens is a great portrait and short telephoto as well.
If you don't already have a really good tripod I highly recommend you rent a Manfrodo or similar quality tripod with a good ball head adjustment. It is fast and easy to set up and use and will remain steady for those great water-flow and timed exposure pictures that look so nice. There is nothing more useless than a cheap tripod that wiggles all the time and buckles under the weight of your camera and lenses.
It goes without saying that a polarizer is an essential tool for the landscape photographer and that you should have one even for your rental lenses if possible. At Yellowstone's altitude effects will be even more pronounced making your pictures clearer and with more vibrant colors. An inexpensive polarizer solution(and all filters for that matter) when you have many different thread sized lenses is to purchase a polarizer for your largest width lens and then buy adapter rings to fit it to your other narrower lenses. Its not perfect because it interferes with lens hoods and can be a hassle moving it from one lens to the other but works for me.
Lastly...
I sure hope a trip down to nearby Grand TetonNP is also in your workshop itinerary. Some of the best and most famous landscapes in the world are found there.
Originally posted by WriteHeart:
I think we have it now. We were able to borrow some lenses and are renting some, but only renting ones that are within our reach to buy soon (so no $500 lens rentals, only $50 rentals :-)
So, we are spending very little of our lens budget and are saving the rest until we decide which lens to buy (I was looking at the Canon 70-200 f4L or just the Canon 200 2.8L as the first lens). By borrowing and renting I can try them out and see what we want. Also, we were able to get a 500mm length. So here's the line-up:
Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro
Canon 200mm f/2.8L
Canon 50mm f/1.4
Canon 70-200mm f/4L
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5
Kenko 1.5x Teleconverter for Canon
Canon 2x Teleconverter
Tamron 200-500mm f/5-6.3 SP Di LD for Canon
Tokina 12-24mm f/4 Pro for Canon |
Message edited by author 2010-09-21 13:57:40.
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09/22/2010 02:09:00 AM · #30 |
Good advice.
i will say that the 24-70 will not be nearly wide enough for the UWA landscapes although it would still be a fantastic landscape lens. the 10-22 is VERY sharp and from every review that ive read more resistant to flare and CA than any other canon wide angle lens.
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09/22/2010 03:37:44 PM · #31 |
Originally posted by michaelmonn:
... i will say that the 24-70 will not be nearly wide enough for the UWA landscapes although it would still be a fantastic landscape lens. the 10-22 is VERY sharp and from every review that ive read more resistant to flare and CA than any other canon wide angle lens. |
You are correct the 24-70mm on a small sensored camera might not be wide enough to capture full scenes as you might want from the geyser basin walkways in Yellowstone.
Interestingly, Canon's EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM that you mention has roughly the same field-of-view(FOV) on the 40D as the 16-35mm lens has on my 5DII. So it would work well for geyser photography. (Old Faithful is a special case because you are so far away from it)
If the optical quality of the Tokina 12-24mm on the equipment list is similar to the Canon lens then the OP has that base nicely covered.
Because of the differences in glass used neither lens will produce as good results as the 16-35mm or the 24-70mm... but both will have a wider FOV.
Message edited by author 2010-09-22 15:38:56.
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