yeah it looks great

yeah, $3000 is steep! certainly out of the range of amateurs.

but what a lens.....

yeah mk1 was famous. but it struggled at the wide end and at f2.8 and only got sharp when stopped down around 3.2/4....... it's best performance seemed to be at the long end but still needed f3.2 and higher.

at that point it was cheaper to buy the f4 version and get sharper images for less cash

i think the mk2 is now sharp wide and at open apertures and almost matches the prime lenses at really open apertures.

i guess that's why so many have ditched the mk1 version for the mk2.

that said i've been looking at the mk1 myself now that they are getting cheaper.

aus301 said...

I'm chasing a hire of a 100-400 L Cannon for the weekend of the 29th 30th May. Any ideas on where I might get that sorted on the Goldy?

What's the event ? I asked the missus, but she does not know of anywhere. Call Ted's at Southport. If they don't hire, they might be able to point you in the right direction.

^^
Nice pics !
You can put an extender on that lens, but you will lose auto-focus on any lens with a max aperture less than 2.8, which is everything except L series lenses, and you know if you have one of those by the smoking hole in your pocket.
Surfing shots are great, as your subject is moving in a predictable direction across your field of view. Afternoon on the East Coast gives you sun behind your back on the subject, which makes for great lighting. Lots of dynamic action in surfing too, with wake and spray.

they are nice pix

it would be nice if laurie would allow uploaded jpeg photos under a certain size, say 800x600, to not be re-sampled into jpeg again by the server

need quite a powerfull flash to fill a room at 1/250th (or even any speed shutter) if relying on flash alone for any light. Ive got 3 580ex2 and all synced together still won't adequately light a large room

not sure if you are aware - on the 40d, anything faster than 250th you will start to see the shutter curtain cutting off the bottom of the shot (black band), and that is if there is no lag between the shutter press and the flash (like hotshoe mounted or built in) otherwise you may see the black band at even slower shutter speeds. The camera blocks faster shutter speeds from being selected when using the flash for that reason, unless u have a flash with high speed sync capability which very rapidly strobes the flash long enough that the shutter curtain has time to pass right across the frame with light. The strobing effect reduces the overall strength of the flash as a trade off

soooo....to freeze action when using flash, turn off all other lights where possible, set flash to max power, keep cam at 1/250th or slower, and crank up the iso somewhat. The flash burst will be so brief that it will only be the equivalent to approx 1/3000th or greater of a second i think for many flashes

cheers for the heads up greg.

that would have been worth it for me as i know almost nothing of flash photography. time was against me today though......

trying to kick some projects out so i can hit the water tomorrow and wednesday.

see ya at the beach!