Looking for insight on lens

[Josh66]

That is a the price of a used lens, but Amazon has a new one for only about 50 dollars more. That is likely the route I will take. In a previous post many people mentioned chromatic aberrations and vignetting with lenses that have long zoom ranges like this, do you think it would be an issue with the 70-200?

CA (chromatic aberration) is pretty well controlled on the 70-200. I wouldn't worry about it too much. It is an L lens after-all...

There is a little vignetting, but I doubt you would notice it on a crop sensor. Stopping down a little would eliminate it anyway.

The 70-200 f/4 L is a great lens - you won't be disappointed with it.

 

[Overread]

I've seen vignetting even in the new 70-200mm f2.8 from canon, but only on a fullframe camera body and even then it was minor and quite correctable with editing software. Cropsensor though I've never had it with my 70-200mm nor have I heard of anyone else. You really have to push things to get vignetting problems with crop sensor or shoot with the very wideangle lenses.

 

[LiveStrong2009]

Is the lack of IS going to be an issue? For standard shooting, is it likely that I will notice blurry images?

 

[MrBarney]

Is the lack of IS going to be an issue? For standard shooting, is it likely that I will notice blurry images?

It depends

IS is useful for hand-held shots of near stationary subjects either indoors, in moderate to poor light, or if you have unsteady hands.

For landscapes and architecture (which I assume won't be moving!), you'll need to keep the shutter speed up (at least 1/focal length) then you should be fine. You may need to compromise on depth of field or move to a higher ISO to prevent camera shake from blurring the image if the light level isn't so good.

If you're not holding the camera (for example, using a tripod), IS makes no difference; everything I read says turn it off.

If you end up shooting moving objects then you would need to keep the shutter speed high anyway, so IS is not so helpful here either.

 

[LiveStrong2009]

Well, I am about to purchase the 70-200 lens. In a few of the reviews, a collar for the lens was recommended. I have seen them mounted on the camera, but and unsure of the purpose. What is the intention of a collar on the lens?

 

[Overread]

longer telephoto lenses, especaily those with a wide aperture are heavy bits of glass. The result is that when you attach the camera to them the centre of weight is no longer under the camera body (where the tripod mounting hole is) but actually under the lens itself. This means if you mount the camera to the tripod via its tripod hole you put a lot of strain on both the tripod mounting point and on the camera to lens mount because of the weight of the lens out front.

At best this will cause you problems with balance and wabble, at worst it will break either your camera mount, tripod pin or lens mount - heck with the super telephoto lenses the camera body really is just a lightweight handing off the end of the lens.

Thus the idea of the tripod collar is to put a tripod mounting point below the weight mindpoint of the lens and camera body - thus taking strain off the setup by making the weight mostly equal either side of the mount. That makes the setup far more stable, much easier to handle and far less likely to suffer any damage through regular use.

 

[LiveStrong2009]

Thank you very much, your description seemed to answer just about everything I needed to know. So, the tripod pin connects to the lens, but I have one more question then. I am using the Manfrotto Modo tripod, which has a quick release bracket which stays on the camera. Is the collar something that I could leave an extra tripod bracket on?

 

[Overread]

Certainly and many people do.
Also (I forgot to mention) the collar has 360 degree rotation and lock. That means you can rotate the lens in the collar to any angle you want without having to alter the head position = so you can effortlessly change from landscape to portrait aspect.
It is also a useful feature as it means you can twist the collar up to the right so that you can handhold the lens without the collar getting in the way - canon collars slip on and off the lens as a fixed ring, so you have to remove the camera body to moud/dismount the collar.

 

[LiveStrong2009]

Well, today was the first day that I experimented with my Canon 70-200 f/4 lens. 95% of my photos were blurred. Is this due to the lack of IS? I am not sure what to do now, I ordered from Adorama.com which allows a 14day return policy. I am contemplating returning the lens and purchasing a different lens. Perhaps a standard zoom rather than telephoto. Does anybody have suggestions?

My price limit is about $650.00, I am rather disappointed in the outcome of this, I would really appreciate any suggestions.

 

[Overread]

1) The problem is you not the lens
2) The problem is you not the lens

To solve the problem:

1) Post up a few examples of soft photos from your setup
2) Read this thread: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...e-your-posts-get-critiques-your-work-c-c.html and post the tech details it mentions (ISO, aperture, shutter speed as well as if you were shooting tripod or handheld etc...)

I am really willing to bet that the most likley cause is that you have a basic error in shooting - IS can help with handholding, but you still have to have good basic technique first otherwise you'll still get blurry shots. It is a new learning curve but with some direction its not that hard to get around - but we do need to see the results and hear the settings you were using to truly identify the problem.

 

[HelenOster]

...... I ordered from Adorama.com which allows a 14day return policy. I am contemplating returning the lens and purchasing a different lens.....

If you need to return it and require any help with the return, drop me an email.

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador

[email protected]

 

[Stormchase]

i doubt it is the lens too. it does take a little learning sometimes but its nice glass. i prefer IS myself. but im not the stready one with my hands anymore. I have been looking at and into this lens for sometime now and have been fairly impressed.