Is it worth the $$ to buy a 100-400 when I have the 70-300?

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Permalink Reply by Mel on March 14, 2009 at 3:16am

Personally, I do not think it would be worth addtional $$ for 100-400 when you already have good quality glass with 70-300. If your sole purpose is to get closer to action during baseball games...I would use a 1.4 or 2x Extender/Tc. There are drawbacks including losing an Fstop and problems with AF. Therefore if you are not good with manual focus, this may not be a good otion for you.

I hope this information is helpful to you.

Mel

2108 Photography

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Permalink Reply by Eagle Photo on April 6, 2009 at 11:30pm

Keep in mind, if you get an extender, images will be darker, and you can not use auto focus at all.

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Permalink Reply by tressillian on April 7, 2009 at 3:19am

This is not quite correct - some extenders maintain auto focus (like Canon extenders on fast Canon lenses), whilst the loss in light is automatically compensated by the camera (in any mode other than the Manual mode) and doesn't result in darker images.

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Permalink Reply by Rod Irwin on April 14, 2009 at 7:21am

Though implied, I think you should note that the "loss of light" is compensated by a slower shutter speed which most likely will require using a tripod. (The tripod probably should always be used with a few rare exceptions.)

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Permalink Reply by Carrie Johnson on April 18, 2009 at 3:03pm

Yeah, my Olympus autofocuses just fine with a 2x extender... Loss of the stops is not bad for day shooting... I shoot hand held with it all the time.

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Permalink Reply by Bert Corliss on March 14, 2009 at 9:07am

I have a Tamron 2X that I quite often use with a 70-300; but as Mel said you will need good light because at 300 you will lose an f stop or more.

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Permalink Reply by stonyzmom on March 15, 2009 at 1:18am

Thanks for the info. I usually shoot in bright daylight......in fact sometimes too bright and since I'm a novice I'm not sure how to handle that. Sometimes I shoot directly into the sun and I'm usually shooting in Tv mode at 1/2000. Any suggestions? I think the extender is a great idea. I've known about them, but I wasn't sure how they would perform. If the only issue is lots of light then I will look into it. I would use manual focus, but I don't trust my eye, and with baseball things seem to happen so fast that to have to adjust the focus and then shoot would cause me to miss a lot of shots. I am thinking about investing in a monopod, but I'm not sure I even need one with the IS feature in the lens.

I know this should be another topic, but do you think it's worth upgrading my camera from the Rebel XTi? Are the extra megapixels and all the other features anything I need to worry about right now since I'm truly wet behind the ears and flying by the seat of my pants here?

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Permalink Reply by Jim Burkett on March 15, 2009 at 2:57am

I have the L Series EF 100-400mm lens for my Canon 50D and it is my mule. I use it almost exclusively for everything I do except when I am shooting groups of people at events. Most of my photography centers around LeMans car racing and different sports. This lens never fails me. I also have a 75-300mm but never use it anymore, in fact, I gave it to my son. With combining the 100-400mm lens with my 50D at 15+mp, it has allowed me to crop even further and still leave a good size print without any loss of clarity or color. If you would like examples, you can go to my site at www.burkettimages.com and almost eveything on the site and in the albums has been shot with this lens.

I just shot the Saks 5th Ave fashion show with Carson Kressley and will be shooting the 12 Hours of Sebring later this week, then spending a day with the NY Yankees on 3/24. I will post these images later if you want to reference back so you know they are fresh. Again, all shot using 100-400mm lens, which is the reason I am mentioning this.

Cheers

Jim
Burkett Images

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Permalink Reply by tressillian on March 15, 2009 at 7:03pm

Like the other respondees - I'd buy and extender (1.4x = 1 stop loss of light, 2.0x = 2 stops loss of light) as long as I was taking in good light (which you are). To answer your other queries:

1 In Tv mode, the camera will sort out the required aperture to get the right exposure - so you don't need to worry. This applies equally if you have an extender on too.

2 Personally I think the greater megapixels have a diminishing return in terms of the size of the shot. This is because there is a squared relationship between megapixels and image dimensions. For example, a doubling of the megapixels produces a 41% increase in the image dimensions. Similarly an increase from 12 mp to 15 mp (say) increases image size by only 12%. I can explain the maths if you like - just ask....

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Permalink Reply by stonyzmom on March 16, 2009 at 1:32am

Hey Peter! I constantly "fight the fence," but for the last two games I've been able to sneak into the dugout and hide near the bullpen. It's given me some great access and shooting on the fly is much easier. I will investigate the TC, but if I lose some focus in AF I won't do it. I've tried manual focus with baseball and it's a no go for me.....things happen too quickly. If you want to look at all of my baseball shots, here's the link:

http://collegeofmarinmarinersbaseball.shutterfly.com/

I have posted a few that I wouldn't normally post due to imperfect focus, but I'm trying to get pictures of all the players so I do post some that are less than perfect. On the whole, I got some nice shots yesterday.

Thanks for your comment. Good luck on your season.

P.S. My kid is the catcher - #40.

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Permalink Reply by stonyzmom on March 16, 2009 at 7:36am

Just ordered the Tamron 1.4X teleconverter. We shall see. I wanted the 2X, but the loss of 2 f-stops scared me. I do shoot in bright light most of the time, but cloudy days are not uncommon. I'm having it overnighted so I can have it for the game on Tuesday. I'm pretty excited. I hope it's a fun little addition to the bag........and it's sure cheaper than a new lens. ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Mel on March 16, 2009 at 2:04pm

I can't speak for the Tamron Tc (since I have Canon Tc) but it is my opinion you made a wise choice for 2 reasons.

1. Your primary question was related to $$!! This is a minor investment compared with what you would have spent otherwise. Especially since u already have 70-300.

2. It will force you to sharpen your manual focus skills.

Mel

2108 Photography

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