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G'day all:

Was out photographing on the headland on Saturday and happened upon a RipCurl sponsored pro photographer. He was a real nice friendly bloke and was using several Canon bodies, mostly film, but near the end he wound on a Canon 1D MkII and caught a pro surfer on his last wave at 8fps, all on a huge 27 foot long sports lens (well, it seemed that big)! I have two questions here:

1. In lieu of the fact that I cannot afford a proper sports lens at present, would a TC attached to my Tamron 70-300 lens give me a "reasonable" chance of a sharpish shot at increased range? (The pro surfer was just too far away for me to get a reasonable shot off).

2. In lieu of the fact that the 8fps D1Hs is fairly new and expensive, what about purchasing a D5? These are plentiful and around the $800-$1000 range? I'm need to photographer pro surfers to get any interest from mag's and the like. (The D5 would only be a supplement to the D70).

Any comments would be welcomed.

Max

Max, TC will be crap on that combo. Buy a S/h long lens most likely prime, or maybe a 300/f4 + TC, or use the Tamoron on a tripod at F8 or so and blow it up. Cost will probably determine quality in this case

Glen can you recommend a SH prime len(s) which doesn't cost a year's salary? Thanks,

Max

ozimax,
It's a tough recommendation in purchasing a SH long lens, check on eBay you may lucky get some manual focus long lens at a good price.

Max, well we are in same boat nearly although i make do but my dream lens is a 300, F/2.8 would be nice priced at $4,419.52 AUD from Poon with a tc i think you could acheive what you want, maybe even the Sigma 120-300 F/2.8 would be another consideration, $3,082.61 AUD from B&H, i know this lens is very good as well but yeh price is the sacrifice. Well i think investing in good glass is maybe what i think i would do if it came to new camera or lens, but who knows oneday.

BB, we'll just have to keep saving! I musy say I was very impressed by the pro's friendliness, he was happy to chat and offer advice.

Birdie, thanks, I have been scouring ebay, just have to be patient and wait for right lens to come along. Not sure about manual focus, it would take a bit of practice.

What is the price comparison between say D2X and D1Hs thses days?

Max

max ....... have a look at mirror lens for your surf shots......

they may be an option

cheers
bp

ozimax wrote:What is the price comparison between say D2X and D1Hs thses days?

Max

Max,
Sorry, how can I give you a comparison pricing in between the D2x and the D1Hs?

What about a second hand D1h? - what I'm getting at here is raw frame speed - at 8fps for a couple of seconds, there's much better chance of getting a usable surfing image. A bloke at Coolangatta last week got 25 frames from one barrel wave and a pro surfer - he was stoked, but of course that was using film, so it's anyone's guess how they turned out.

D70 can only do 3 fps for a few seconds and then you have to wait while it reads to buffer etc...I understand D2X can do 8fps if you turn it down to 7megapixels, but it's like a Rolls Royce? Top of range and very expensive.

I think I'm rambling a bit here.....

Max

max you need one of these..........

http://www.canonfd.com/mirrorlenses/pages/page10.html

Ozimax, if you're on a budget don't bother going new. As you said it'll cost too much to buy. Go second hand and make sure you can see the front/rear elements (in person is better). I'm looking at buying a second hand 500MM lens at some time in the future as I can't afford a new one.

I've looked at the 300MM F/2.8, I've also shot surfers using 340MM (70-200VR with 1.7TC) from rocks at Port Fairy. It's not enough reach, for surfing I reckon you need 500-600MM F/4without TC. With the option of adding a TC to still maintain AF. Watched a few surfing docos and remember seeing the photogs with huge lenses.

Ah... you can buy Sigma 50 - 500. It is a very popular lens for bird photographers. The main complain about this lens is weight. To use this lens properly, you must use a strong tripod.

regards,

Arthur

perhaps it might be cheaper to invest in a waterproof casing and a surfboard....remember, the best zoom you can have is your legs

Actually Dave, good point, I do have a surfboard (can't surf tho'), and a waterproof housing costs not an arm, just a leg!

Funnily enough, one of the blokes I shot last week offered me a free surfing 2 hr lesson on a big malibu in exchange for a few photos - pretty good deal if you ask me!

Max

The comment above about using the lens on a tripod and blowing it up is very valid.

There is a comparison test here with TCs and results from various lenses. Its a Canon orientated site, but still a valid comparison of results from TC's with various FL's and 'quality' of lenses.
Bob Atkins - Teleconverters and how well they work

Ive seen 300mm F4 AFS lenses new for as low as Kiwi$1500, which would be a nice 420mm f5.6 with a 1.4TC (or 600mm f8 with a 2xTC, though tripod and nice light or higher ISO reqd). Add in the crop factor and you are getting 630mm (35mm equivalence) with a 1.4TC.

HTH

ozimax wrote:Glen can you recommend a SH prime len(s) which doesn't cost a year's salary? Thanks,

Max

Max, will give a rough estimate of costs here for you. The first thing I would buy is a decent tripod if you dont have one yet. There have been a number of great suggestions above about options worth thinking on.

In the new options you have 80-400 VR (TC not recommended) for under $2k (you are a member so look at the prices) or the 300 f4 AFS (takes new TC retains AFS) for under mid $1k (with 1.7 gives 510mm at f6.8 for under $2k).

In the S/H options you have the three super teles, 400 2.8, 500 4 & 600 4. As Birdy suggested only affordable in manual, probably the pick of the group being the 500 4 (also the lightest and cheapest) at about $2.5k. All take most of the older TC, which are probably about $200-300 in sizes 1.4 to 2X. There are two old consumer manual lenses below that, the 400 5.6, about $500-900 and the 600 5.6, about $800-1500. Both lenses work well with the old TC's. There is also the 500mm F8 mirror lens about $300-$600 and works well the old TC's. If you are considering S/H check out the lens review sites I listed under equipment reviews, especially the first as it is very comprehensive.

Thanks Glen for the info, much appreciated, will peruse the further available info and go from there.

Max