Weekly challenge 6/5 - 6/11 Zoom zoom zoom! EXTENDED until 6/18

SquarePeg

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In honor of my mew zoom 70-300mm, this week’s challenge is to post photos using your longest zoom lens and/or longest prime. Use it up close to create background blur or use it from afar to get up close. Try using the zoom to compress the photo and change the perspective of the background.

As always, new photos only for the weekly challenge please. Get out there and shoot!!




 
Part 1. I have a Canon 100-400 4.5-5.6 II L. With the 2x teleconverter it becomes 800mm. Put them on the crop sensor they become 1280mm @ f 11. I purchased the R6 because it can autofocus down to f 16 making this combo very good. It has tracked the eye of an eagle in flight. But for the challenge I put it on the crop sensor where it can only autofocus in live view making it tedious...very tedious.

The subjects are about 80 meters away and the aircraft is about 400-500 meters away.

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Part 2. When I got home from part 1 the neighbor kids saw the camera (how could you miss it?) and of course wanted me to take their pictures. So I told them to stand at the opposite end of the yard, went to minimum focal length and took this.

IMG_3467BriiCicada2-RS.jpg
 
We’re extending this one another week. Get out there and Zoom people!
 
Could it be that all the challenge peeps shoot only primes?!
Could it be they’re sick if zoom calls? I did say to use your longest prime if you don’t zoom.
 
Could it be they’re sick if zoom calls? I did say to use your longest prime if you don’t zoom.
Maybe I'll take the same shot with the first generation 300 f4 L and the 100-400 4.5-5.6 L Mark II @300mm to see if anyone can see the different. Zooms have come a looooonnnngggg way!
 
My longest lens is a Tamron 150-600. This evening I took it out and decided to try it on 150 and then 600 on the same subject/focal point. When I got home I realized on the first pic of the hawks it was at 250, not 150.
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Here is the Zoom - Prime comparison. I won't say which is which but one is a first generation Canon 300mm F4 L and the other is a Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 Mark II L set to 300mm. Both are at f 5.0, the lowest common aperture. The exact same post processing was applied to both. The shots are a couple minutes apart.

R6__9993Oprey2-100-400-RS.jpg


R6__9972Oprey2-300-RS.jpg
 
Here is the Zoom - Prime comparison. I won't say which is which but one is a first generation Canon 300mm F4 L and the other is a Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 Mark II L set to 300mm. Both are at f 5.0, the lowest common aperture. The exact same post processing was applied to both. The shots are a couple minutes apart.

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I’m going to guess that the first one is the zoom. The only clue I see, and not sure if this is even accurate, is that the background appears a bit closer in that one.
 
From Dangerfield Island?

Zoom is the first, prime the second. I notice the WB is a little cooler on the second one.
 
I’m going to guess that the first one is the zoom. The only clue I see, and not sure if this is even accurate, is that the background appears a bit closer in that one.

From Dangerfield Island?

Zoom is the first, prime the second. I notice the WB is a little cooler on the second one.
Yes, Washington Sailing Marina (Dangerfield Island).

The first is the 100-400 and the second is the 300. The settings in camera were the same and the post processing settings for one were applied to the other.

The two were shot a few minutes apart and the cloud cover was changing slowly but was still very similar.

My conclusion: some of today's best zoom's are on par with some primes. @snowbear 's 70-200 looks great as does @fishing4sanity 's 150-600 and the flexiblity they provide in a dynamic situation may outweigh any optical advantage in a prime....but I still have four primes.

Maybe @SquarePeg will do a zoom/prime comparison with her new 70-300 and an overlapping prime?
 
I have access to an old 135mm Nikkor, and the 105 Micro that I can test against the Father
 

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