Tamron 100-400/Canon 80D update

[Winona]

well, months ago I said I would update on my new Canon 80D and Tamron 100-400. Christmas presents to myself. It is a slow process to learn about these due to my inexperience and very little free time. The Canon 80D is very nice. It can be confusing and probably not the best for a beginner. However, I like the touch screen (actually love it) and it is very user friendly. It pretty much gives you hints (do this and you get more light, etc). Hard to explain. It is fast which I needed. I now use my T2i for landscape and 80D for wildlife/pets. There is still a lot I don't know about the 80D. Still learning about all the autofocus options. The Tamron 100-400: Happy with it. If I had felt I could afford/justify a lens with better low light capability that would have been better. If I could handle holding a heavier lens the 150-600 would be ideal. I have trouble holding this lens for any length of time.I was very close to the hummingbirds below and the deer was just out my dining room window. I did just tiny bit of cropping. I seem to get the best photos in good light. Some of the limitations may be my inexperience. Of course using a tripod would give better photos. Overall, it is a very fun lens. I'll try to post some pictures using the above. These are just JPEGs and mostly unedited (my next hurdle).

 

[Winona]

 

[Winona]

Feel free to comment about any of the photos. Not award-winners, but I am happy with them (compared to the million others that came out horrible LOL)

 

[Winona]

The first photo with good lighting and movement away from me was good. When they were skiing and I was trying to follow them-not so good. Hopefully next ski season I will be better.

 

[zombiesniper]

Overall I'd say you're off to a good start.

Editing will be the next learning curve. Until you're ready for that, when shooting moving objects (like the humming birds) take the time to slow down your shutter speed a bit until you begin to see moon blur. This serves a couple of purposes. It teaches you at what speed you can hand hold and get a good image. As well it shows you that not everything in the frame always moves at the same speed.

Photo 1
Overall a good image. Just a little under exposed but nothing a quick edit couldn't fix.

Photo 2&3
Again very nice. Good exposure and clear images. Here is a good place to practice with your shutter speed.

Photo 4
Overall a good image. You may start a new trend. Back portraits.

Photo 5
Nice crisp image.
Here an obvious larger aperture was used to get the large depth of field or this was at a good distance.
It is underexposed due to the camera failing and not you. Almost all cameras want to adjust a white/black object to grey. To compensate for this you would have to slightly over expose a white object and underexpose a black one.

My son has the 80D. It's a great camera. Let me know if you have questions and I'll grab it to help out.

Keep it up your doing well.

 

[Derrel]

Good tip on the white snow tending to be rendered as gray many times, as light meters often are guilty of rendering white as gray, and also of "protecting highlights" against over-exposure, many times causing people or things in shadowed areas to be rendered too dark.

 

[Winona]

Thanks for the nice comments and suggestions. Lots of hummers this year so I’ll try to slow the shutter speed. The comments about the greyness of the ski picture now makes sense. These were very bright days and all of them looked grey. I’m glad you think it’s crisp. I have hundreds and most were blurry or just not clear or bright enough to suite me. I was taking them from pretty far away as well, and getting tired holding the lens. Can’t practice ski pics for awhile. I hope ....

 

[ac12]

For additional stability and weight support for the 100-400

• Get the tripod collar for the Tamron 100-400, and put an Arca Swiss plate on the foot of the collar.
• Then get a carbon fiber monopod and put an Arca Swiss clamp on the monopod.

The AS clamp/plate makes it FAST to attach and detach the monopod from the lens.
You can get an inexpensive AS clamp + plate set for about $15.
A carbon fiber monopod is easier on your hands in the COLD, than an aluminum monopod.

The only thing is, you need something wide to put the monopod on. In the snow, it will just sink into the snow

 

[weepete]

I got a cheap gimbal head and mounted it to my monopod, this way it can take a lot of strain off your arms using the bigger lenses for a day!

 

[Winona]

Thanks for the suggestions regarding the monopod. I have been looking for a decent tripod, but can’t see myself carrying it around ( I have 3 cheap ones I have inherited and use for landscape).
I would be more likely to use the monopod and it would be perfect for our trip. Thanks!

 

[Derrel]

I use NO head on my monopod...no plate either, but there's nothing wrong with an Arca-Swiss or Really Right Stuff "plate".

 

[ac12]

I use NO head on my monopod...no plate either, but there's nothing wrong with an Arca-Swiss or Really Right Stuff "plate".

I don't use a head on my monopod either. For me that just makes the monopod heavier. And I have not found a need/use for a ball head on a monopod, at least not yet.

I use an AS plate/clamp, because it is faster to use, and that is the screw clamp, the lever clamp is FAST. I just hate screwing the tripod screw into a camera/lens. It takes 4-5x as long, and until the tripod screw goes in enough turns, it feels like the camera/lens will fall.