(I’ve added a brief update at the bottom of the original article.)
After thinking about it for some time, this week I acquired the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS lens. I’m not always necessarily that much of a “big lens” guy, and for the most part I’m very happy shooting with my Canon EF 17-40mm f/4 L and my Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS, sometimes using my EF 70-200mm f/4 L for longer shots. (More about these lenses and other equipment I use on my Equipment: Reports, Tests, And Commentary page.) But during the past year I have been unable to shoot several specific subjects the way I wanted because I just didn’t have long enough range.
Marsh Grasses and Fog, Dawn
I avoid making purchases driven by Lens Lust. I wait until I identify a specific gap in what I can do with my equipment and specific ways to resolve this before I get out my credit card. I do not buy gear because I have extra money, because it looks shiny and cool, or because I happen to have some extra cash. In this case I knew that the lens would primarily be used on a tripod, though sometimes used hand held; that any low light shooting with the long lens would almost certainly be on the tripod; that excellent resolution would be important; that flexibility would also be important; that the lens would fit into a system of existing lenses; and that I prefer to have lenses whose focal length ranges overlap.
That’s right, my brother Richard Mitchell is also a serious photographer. As a matter of fact, his switch to digital is a big part of what rekindled my serious interest in photography a few years back.
While we share some photographic interests (landscape photography, for example), we also pursue some different subjects. For example, he has done significant portrait work – I have barely touched that aspect of photography, doing only a very small number of informal shots of friends and family. In addition, having a son who is a serious gymnast, he has a lot of experience photographing that sort of sport. He has posted an interesting and useful report and how-to on this topic at his blog.
(When I see some of the lenses he uses and the prices of this gear, I think I’m glad I do landscape! :-)
From time to time I read that some people bemoan the increase in DSLR photosite density (e.g. – “number of megapixels”) because “it will cost so much to store all the data.”
While there could be other reasons to be less than excited by increases in megapixel count beyond a certain point – especially for certain kinds of photography – this “reason” seems very strange to me. A few examples of why…
Today I saw a 32GB compact flash memory card on sale for $135*. It wasn’t that long ago that people were paying this much for 1 GB of flash memory. 32x the memory for the same price in a couple of years? Wow.
I recently purchased a new external hard drive. This 750 GB hard drive cost a bit more than $150. Again, it wasn’t that long ago that we were paying this much for a drives with only one quarter the capacity… and 1 TB drives at this price are just around the corner.
*Oops. I originally made an error and typed “$35” for the price of the 32GB card instead of $135. Now that price would have been truly remarkable. Sorry if I got your hopes up – you’ll probably have to wait a year to see them at that price. :-)
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” (Heyday Books) is available directly from him.
Photographer and visual opportunist. Daily photos since 2005, plus articles, reviews, news, and ideas.
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