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Archive 2015 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2

  
 
arbitrage
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


Here is my first selection from my comparisons yesterday. EXIF is included...after all this is a gear forum

The contenders are:
1) Canon 100-400 II +1.4TC III
2) Sigma C 150-600
3) Canon 200-400 f/4 + Int Ext

These will all be at f/8 to normalize to the 100-400's max aperture. But trust me the Canon 200-400 can shoot equally as sharp at f/5.6. It is not a lens that requires any stopping down until you add 2 teleconverters.

I will share a wide open shot of the Sigma at f/6.3 and of the 200-400 f/5.6 later.
I also plan to share some Sigma+1.4TCIII vs Canon 200-400 with Internal extender and external extender later.

But for now these three images. Sorry the eagle move a bit between testing but I do have another series in duller light to share later also.
















Edited on Jun 08, 2015 at 08:55 PM · View previous versions



Jun 08, 2015 at 06:12 PM
jcolwell
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


They all look pretty good, Geoff. Do you carry all of them in the same bag, at the same time?


Jun 08, 2015 at 06:22 PM
arbitrage
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


jcolwell wrote:
They all look pretty good, Geoff. Do you carry all of them in the same bag, at the same time?


I did yesterday!! Gura Gear Kiboko 30L. Those three lenses, the TC, 7D2 and 1DX. Water, Monopod with RRS head. Bug spray

Normally I wouldn't go out with 3 overlapping lenses but I wanted to compare and the eagles are my most static subject I have. I could do a setup at home but don't have a yard so no good outdoor place to shoot stuffed animals and pepsi boxes

These images were taken about 15 mins after a crazy hail storm. The 7D2 and 200-400 stayed out in the hail and got drenched but got me some cool images of the eagles huddling under dad and hail on the nest. I'm sure the Sigma would be heading for the trash bin if it had been out of the bag during the storm. Or maybe not but I wasn't going to risk it. The Canon 100-400 stayed in the bag also. Having the lens coat on the 200-400 kept most of the lens dry anyways. The 7D2 was drenched and kept shooting without problems.



Jun 08, 2015 at 06:28 PM
takowasa
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


Based on the [outstanding] photos above, I can't see anything that would lead me to favor one over the other, IQ-wise.


Jun 08, 2015 at 06:30 PM
arbitrage
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


I should add a few of my impressions....

In LR viewing on MacBook Pro Retina display at 1:1 magnification, the 200-400 does show more detail. The other two are dead even. Displayed here after resizing and stuff I can't really say that this size of picture (1600px wide) really shows any difference. They all look similar to me and all are really nice in my opinion. My main gage on bald eagles are the fine feathers under the beak and I think all of these resolved well.

I will say the f/6.3 shot on the Sigma showed a noticeable decrease in resolution of those feathers.



Jun 08, 2015 at 06:31 PM
arbitrage
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


takowasa wrote:
Based on the [outstanding] photos above, I can't see anything that would lead me to favor one over the other, IQ-wise.


I totally agree. In LR their is an edge to the 200-400 shots but not all that much. Paying an extra 10,000 for the 200-400 is a tough pill to swallow and no one should really feel the need to have to own it to get good images. However, it does have better AF response, a wider aperture and amazing flexibility with the built-in TC. Both Canon's have noticeably better IS than the Sigma but I don't own the dock yet so can't conclude if the Dynamic OS setting will be better for me.



Jun 08, 2015 at 06:46 PM
jhayesvw
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


I think it shows you get what you pay for but he difference is not huge in good light.

I'm betting as the light falls, the 200-400 stays looking great and the other 2 fall off.
Still for $1000 hat Sigma C is a great lens.



Jun 08, 2015 at 06:59 PM
arbitrage
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


jhayesvw wrote:
I think it shows you get what you pay for but he difference is not huge in good light.

I'm betting as the light falls, the 200-400 stays looking great and the other 2 fall off.
Still for $1000 hat Sigma C is a great lens.


I will post some lower light shots from before the hail storm later. And you are right, the less expensive glass did start to fall behind a bit more in lower light.

For the price the Sigma C is an amazing lens. It is even better on a FF body which I will demonstrate later also.



Jun 08, 2015 at 07:07 PM
mitesh
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


I'm beginning to think that the people of the YT must have excellent dental hygiene, and that's why you have the time to do these tests, Geoff

In all seriousness, thanks for the work you put into these threads and comparison images. The photos you routinely show as test images could have been shot through coke bottles for all I care - the subject matter and compositions are absolutely riveting!



Jun 08, 2015 at 07:18 PM
arbitrage
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


Here are some lower light shots before the hail storm.

















Jun 08, 2015 at 08:53 PM
arbitrage
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


Pushing the focal lengths we have the 1.4TCIII on the Sigma C and the 1.4TCIII on the 200-400 with internal 1.4 extender engaged. 784mm vs 840mm. Again the Sigma needs to be stopped down to f/11 as f/9 was noticeably worse. The Canon is still wide open.

In LR the Canon wins this but the Sigma is very nice. This test is on the 1DX. So far I haven't been happy with the Sigma C +1.4III on the 7D2 but it was better yesterday in the nicer after storm light.

Unfortunately the lighting changed between these shots and then another storm approached so I left early. Still it is what it is...












Jun 08, 2015 at 09:51 PM
jeetsukumaran
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


Nice work! Thanks for sharing!


Jun 08, 2015 at 10:56 PM
mogud
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


These are tremendous pictures Geoff! Sure do like the last shot with the 1Dx and the 200-400.. and 1.4x III.


Jun 09, 2015 at 12:10 AM
alundeb
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


Thanks for this, those are all very good.

I think the Sigma C with a 1.4X TC on the 1D X looks softer than the rest, including the Sigma C on the 7D II. Based on these samples alone, it seems better to use a high pixel density sensor than a teleconverter with this lens.



Jun 09, 2015 at 03:49 AM
Guest

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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


The 150-600mm shot in the second batch looks misfocused... this lens fared much better in the first iteration. What is the cause of that I am of course not fit to say...


Jun 09, 2015 at 04:45 AM
Stoffer
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


mogud wrote:
These are tremendous pictures Geoff! Sure do like the last shot with the 1Dx and the 200-400.. and 1.4x III.


Yep, especially that last one is a lovely shot, Geoff!



Jun 09, 2015 at 04:54 AM
guyed1
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


Geoff
An incredible series of posts, have you considered putting them into a book?
Hard to believe how big the chicks have grown so fast. Wonderful study even without the lens info.
Guy



Jun 09, 2015 at 06:26 AM
psharvic
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


Thanks for posting these, Geoff.


Jun 09, 2015 at 06:31 AM
SFMedic
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


Geoff you have some "beautiful" captures of Eagle family, if you don't my asking, where were these taken from? How close were you to nest when you were testing the different lenses?


Jun 09, 2015 at 08:31 AM
arbitrage
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Battle of the x-600(560)mm lenses....Round 1 and 2


SFMedic wrote:
Geoff you have some "beautiful" captures of Eagle family, if you don't my asking, where were these taken from? How close were you to nest when you were testing the different lenses?


These are taken in Whitehorse, near the airport. I am fairly close in the summer when I can walk down the hill a bit more than I did in the winter. I'm probably like 50ft from the nest or so. In winter from the top of the embankment was around 80ft or so.



Jun 09, 2015 at 04:05 PM





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