In your opinion, Which of the manual focus Canon lens ( above 400mm ) is the best for IQ?? Primarily will be used for spying on my neighbors... NO it will not... I want to use on grazing animals and slow moving landscape.. Disregard size, weight, cost, and availability... I do not go far from the car so portability is not important, quality is... Do not worry about tripods, heads, etc... Those I have... Are there alternative super-tele's you would recommend?? Thank you..
The Nikkor 500mm f4 P IF-ED AI-P & the Nikkor 600mm f4 IF-ED New AI-S are both sharp wide open and do well on digital bodies.
There are also few 400mm Nikkors that have excellent performance on digital bodies.
The Nikkor 400mm f2.8 IF-ED AI-S and the 400mm f5.6 ED or P.C. versions.
Third party lens builder Koburi built a very solid 120-600mm f5.6 that does fairly decent...these were usually sold by Vivitar and Soligor gmbH (Germany)...the Vivitar 120-600mm f5.6 version can usually be found on ebay cheap.These are fairly sharp at the long end. http://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/vivitar-120-600mm-f-5-6-8-zoom-lens.html
Novoflex made some sharp super telephoto lens from 400mm to 680mm...tried a few of these,they are indeed sharp
Century PrecisionOptics also made a 500/3.8 & a 5.6 version,a 600/4.5,a 800/4.7,a 1000/8 and a 1200/6.8...tired a few of these,they do surprisingly well. http://web.archive.org/web/20061118181648/medfmt.8k.com/third/cult.html
oldrattler wrote:
In your opinion, Which of the manual focus Canon lens ( above 400mm ) is the best for IQ?? Primarily will be used for spying on my neighbors... NO it will not... I want to use on grazing animals and slow moving landscape.. Disregard size, weight, cost, and availability... I do not go far from the car so portability is not important, quality is... Do not worry about tripods, heads, etc... Those I have... Are there alternative super-tele's you would recommend?? Thank you..
Keep in mind that old MF Canon lenses can NOT be mounted on EOS bodies without 'invasive surgery' being performed on the rear lens mount. As mentioned in some replies above, old Nikkors can easily be mounted with a simple (and inexpensive) adapter. Some adapters even have a focus confirmation chip and can have the EXIF info programmed for a particular lens as well. Some members over on the Alternative Gear Forum have experince in adapting the old FD mounts to EOS.
Depp wrote:
The Nikkor 500mm f4 P IF-ED AI-P & the Nikkor 600mm f4 IF-ED New AI-S are both sharp wide open and do well on digital bodies.
There are also few 400mm Nikkors that have excellent performance on digital bodies.
The Nikkor 400mm f2.8 IF-ED AI-S and the 400mm f5.6 ED or P.C. versions.
Third party lens builder Koburi built a very solid 120-600mm f5.6 that does fairly decent...these were usually sold by Vivitar and Soligor gmbH (Germany)...the Vivitar 120-600mm f5.6 version can usually be found on ebay cheap.These are fairly sharp at the long end. http://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/vivitar-120-600mm-f-5-6-8-zoom-lens.html
Novoflex made some sharp super telephoto lens from 400mm to 680mm...tried a few of these,they are indeed sharp
Century PrecisionOptics also made a 500/3.8 & a 5.6 version,a 600/4.5,a 800/4.7,a 1000/8 and a 1200/6.8...tired a few of these,they do surprisingly well. http://web.archive.org/web/20061118181648/medfmt.8k.com/third/cult.html
omarlyn wrote:
Keep in mind that old MF Canon lenses can NOT be mounted on EOS bodies without 'invasive surgery' being performed on the rear lens mount. As mentioned in some replies above, old Nikkors can easily be mounted with a simple (and inexpensive) adapter. Some adapters even have a focus confirmation chip and can have the EXIF info programmed for a particular lens as well. Some members over on the Alternative Gear Forum have experince in adapting the old FD mounts to EOS.
HTH,
Omar
Omar; I was not aware of that.. Thank you..Looks like I am after an old Nikon, unless some Canon MF virtuoso helps out.. Jim
omarlyn wrote:
Keep in mind that old MF Canon lenses can NOT be mounted on EOS bodies without 'invasive surgery' being performed on the rear lens mount. As mentioned in some replies above, old Nikkors can easily be mounted with a simple (and inexpensive) adapter. Some adapters even have a focus confirmation chip and can have the EXIF info programmed for a particular lens as well. Some members over on the Alternative Gear Forum have experince in adapting the old FD mounts to EOS.
HTH,
Omar
oldrattler wrote:
Omar; I was not aware of that.. Thank you..Looks like I am after an old Nikon, unless some Canon MF virtuoso helps out.. Jim
Yes, the FD mount has a register distance (lens flange to sensor) that is less than the EOS register...hence, in order to achieve infinity focus, an FD lens flange would have to (literally) be inside an EOS camera. However, many FD mount lenses can have the lens mount changed entirely to an EOS mount with the proper register distance.
omarlyn wrote:
Yes, the FD mount has a register distance (lens flange to sensor) that is less than the EOS register...hence, in order to achieve infinity focus, an FD lens flange would have to (literally) be inside an EOS camera. However, many FD mount lenses can have the lens mount changed entirely to an EOS mount with the proper register distance.
Omar
Any idea what sort of cost that involves Omar? Is the cost highly dependent on the lens or is it roughly the same irrespective of lens?
I think all thinks FD are wel covered on the alt forum.
The only real issue with the FD lenses and the long ones in particular is they have started to find homes on the new breed of mirror less cams like the m4/3rds and nex cameras as all these have a shorter register distance so can easily take an adapter . Which while a good thing has raised the costs of the FD tele lenses.
Just think about the prospect of a nex7 and a lens like the 150-600
Ian.Dobinson wrote:
I think all thinks FD are wel covered on the alt forum.
The only real issue with the FD lenses and the long ones in particular is they have started to find homes on the new breed of mirror less cams like the m4/3rds and nex cameras as all these have a shorter register distance so can easily take an adapter . Which while a good thing has raised the costs of the FD tele lenses.
Just think about the prospect of a nex7 and a lens like the 150-600
Well it's easy to adapt and EF lens too, so I'd be keen to see how my 500 f/4 went on an NEX-7
Further to my previous post about the price of some of theses lenses now. A quick skim of eBay showed a 300/2.8 for £1.6k which is more than you sometimes see non is AF ones come up for. A 500/4.5 for£2k and that 150-600 going for £3.5k
I would think that before the mirror less cameras came out you could have picked any of those up for way way less than that.
Ian.Dobinson wrote:
Further to my previous post about the price of some of theses lenses now. A quick skim of eBay showed a 300/2.8 for £1.6k which is more than you sometimes see non is AF ones come up for. A 500/4.5 for£2k and that 150-600 going for £3.5k
I would think that before the mirror less cameras came out you could have picked any of those up for way way less than that.
Ouch. I agree at one stage they were almost giving away FD glass. I saw a 200 f/1.8 FD for crazy low price once.
In your profile you listed a 300mm f/2.8 IS. I would try using a 1.4X or is necessary a 2X TC on that lens if I were you. Not only it will autofocus but also it will give you the IS feature. Yes, it "only" has a 2-stop advantage but I would prefer that combo over any "exotic" non-AF and non-IS lens. Again, I would, at least, give that a try first, if were you....
AGeoJO wrote:
In your profile you listed a 300mm f/2.8 IS. I would try using a 1.4X or is necessary a 2X TC on that lens if I were you. Not only it will autofocus but also it will give you the IS feature. Yes, it "only" has a 2-stop advantage but I would prefer that combo over any "exotic" non-AF and non-IS lens. Again, I would, at least, give that a try first, if were you....
Thank you... Yes I actually have a 300 2.8 IS and a Sigma 120-300 2.8.. My wife uses one and I the other.. I have never tried a 2X converter, but have used the 1.4X... My wife shoots a 7D so she has an effective 480 2.8 X 1.4X = 680 4.. I need a 500 with a 1.4X on my FF to out-gun her.. Simple marriage arithmetic.. Jim
Jim,
I am not sure about the Sigma zoom; I am not saying one way or the other but I would use a 1.4X TC on the 300mm f/2.8 IS lens and without any hesitation at that. I am sure your wife will let you use her 7D once in a while as long as you do the dishes.... . Seriously, you will be better off than using a MF lens... YMMV.
AGeoJO wrote:
Jim,
I am not sure about the Sigma zoom; I am not saying one way or the other but I would use a 1.4X TC on the 300mm f/2.8 IS lens and without any hesitation at that. I am sure your wife will let you use her 7D once in a while as long as you do the dishes.... . Seriously, you will be better off than using a MF lens... YMMV.
I agree.. and the wife said dishes for a week... Jim
. Seriously, you will be better off than using a MF lens... YMMV.