16 replies to this topic

[Chris_Doane]

This is the first-gen version of the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM zoom lens.

It just had a clean & check/overhaul from Canon Factory Professional Services, so it's all up to spec and, um, sparkly?

Comes with the lens hood, caps and the soft case that came with it originally.

The tripod collar has a few scrapes, but other than that, the lens is in good shape. The lens hood has some scuffs as most of them do.

I've used this lens to shoot hundreds of prototypes!







$1400.

[Z-06]

I have one similar. I think you are pricing it a little low. How is the MK II working for you? I have heard the bokeh for MK II is not as buttery as this one produces.

Edit: You got yourselves a treat on your birthday?

I think you need this:

[Señor Ding Dong]

Do you give student discounts? To the tune of 90% off?!

[Chris_Doane]

I have one similar. I think you are pricing it a little low. How is the MK II working for you? I have heard the bokeh for MK II is not as buttery as this one produces.

Edit: You got yourselves a treat on your birthday?

I think you need this:

Mark II is good so far. Haven't shot much with it yet, I've only had it about 2 weeks.

Ha, I actually have that 400...

[Chris_Doane]

Do you give student discounts? To the tune of 90% off?!

LoL, fraid not.

[Chris_Doane]

Sold.

[dfelt]

Nice Lens at a reasonable price.

Are any of your lenses APO lenses? Would love to hear what equipment you have,

I still have my first professional camera kit, a Minolta 9000 with a 1.4F 50mm macro APO as well as their 100mm macro APO and a 400 APO, then I picked up when I was at Kobe University and doing an intern for Minotla at employee pricing a Fisheye and a few other lenses. I also have a complete medium format Hasselblad setup my grandfather got me as a gift when I graduated the first time from college with a degree in Biomedical Photography.

I should look and see what I might be able to get for all of it on ebay or craigs list, maybe even post it at Seattle art institute. Course probably not much since these are real film cameras.

With the wife in college, I have not had a chance to move to Digital, but I do have my eye on the Canon EOS 5D, hopefully now that I am back at work with a company that pays performance bonuses, I can finally move over to Digital. Would love the EOS 1D Mark IV but hard to justify that price.

[Chris_Doane]

Are any of your lenses APO lenses? Would love to hear what equipment you have

Nope, I don't have any APO glass.

I've got a Mark IV and a 16-35, 24-70, 700-200, 100-400, 400 and a 1.4x TC.

[Z-06]

How is the 100-400 in low light conditions and focusing?

[Chris_Doane]

How is the 100-400 in low light conditions and focusing?

Pretty good. Though, not surprisingly, it doesn't track as well as the f/2.8 glass.

Then again, it doesn't weigh 12 pounds like the 400 f/2.8 does.

Then again, again...the 400 f/2.8 is crazy sharp.

[Señor Ding Dong]

Since we're on the subject, I've a question for Chris.

Going into auto-writing, and journalism in general, what sort of D-SLR should I be looking at? Are there certain qualities that I should look out for? And what sort of lenses should I be considering if I am not aiming to do spy-shots?

I use a Pentax 'istd L2,' but I'm eying the Rebel T3 as it's a fairly light camera. I had to cover a demonstration yesterday, and having something that's easy to run with, while juggling a bag and recorder, would have made the day a little less stressful.

[Chris_Doane]

Since we're on the subject, I've a question for Chris.

Going into auto-writing, and journalism in general, what sort of D-SLR should I be looking at? Are there certain qualities that I should look out for? And what sort of lenses should I be considering if I am not aiming to do spy-shots?

I use a Pentax 'istd L2,' but I'm eying the Rebel T3 as it's a fairly light camera. I had to cover a demonstration yesterday, and having something that's easy to run with, while juggling a bag and recorder, would have made the day a little less stressful.

Well the short answer is really just whatever you're most comfortable with and understand the best. That will give you the best chance to make the strongest images.

A lot of people get hung up on the idea of the gear making the photographer, but that's not it at all. You probably hear people say "wow, your camera takes great photos." Well, no, the photographer using it takes great photos.

My background is actually in photojournalism. Hahah, none of my equipment is really geared towards spy photography. Well, OK, the 100-400 sort of is since it was a great range to shoot with at some of the tracks.

Anyway, on the technical end, any pro or semi-pro dSLR you buy these days will have more than enough megapixels. I would probably stick to Canon or Nikon. Bit of a different story on lenses. If you have the money, then don't buy anything with an aperture lower than f/2.8. That is not to say f/4 or f/5.6 lenses won't be sharp, but those extra two stops can be a huge help in lower-light situations. On the flip side, high ISO is getting pretty good now, so there would be times f/4 or f/5.6 might be OK. Still, you want to shoot a lower ISO when possible to produce a higher quality image.

If you're doing photojournalism, frame rate, and the overall speed the camera can process images, is something to consider. If you're trying to catch that decisive moment, it might not hurt to be able to rip off 8-10 frames in 1 second. The overall ruggedness of your gear is also something to think about. While a camera like the Mark IV is weather sealed and built on a metal chassis, a camera like the Rebel is not. Photojournalism is VERY rough on gear.

During my days as a newspaper photographer, I always shot with 2 cameras (one on each shoulder) and some gear in a hip pack. One camera usually had a 70-200 on it and the other a 16-35. If I were you, I would not use a camera bag simply because photojournalism can be too "run and gun." You don't want a big bag swinging around or possibly falling and bumping into stuff/people when you're trying to work. I usually took the "fly on the wall" approach in photoj and tried to blend into the background and let life unfold before me. Keeping the smallest physical profile helped me do that. A heavy camera bag will also eventually kill your shoulders/back/neck.

Going back to the speed of the camera, there were times when I was on some sort of breaking news scene, or covering a sporting event, where I would need to be able to lay into the shutter for several seconds and rip off 40-50 photos. If the camera buffer starts choking half-way through, or you're only shooting with a camera capable of 3-4 frames a second, you might miss something.

However, on the flip-side, some guys would use this argument to justify buying $5000 cameras when, frankly, they just didn't have the skill to warrant it. A $5000 camera in the hands of crap photographer will still produce crap images. You sort of need to develop the ability to see a moment coming. I don't really know how you teach that, it's just something that comes to you as you watch people.

I would probably have a little more to say, but first, what is it exactly that you are wanting to do? Auto-writing specifically, or something more broad?

[Z-06]

Going one further on Chris' excellent comments above, for your basic needs a APS-C sensor camera like 7D which has fast frame rate, decent IQ and good focusing system would be a good starter camera along with a 24-105 and 100-400. Basically covering the gamut of images you will be looking for. You are looking for a set for roughly $4,000. Additionally you need fast cards, don't cheapen on them after getting good camera system.

Chris, what is your other camera?

[Chris_Doane]

Chris, what is your other camera?

I would've always had 2 of the same camera.

Once my career shifted to automotive, I didn't really need two cameras anymore, so now I have the one Mark IV.

[Z-06]

I think a 1DX would be a good camera for your needs, if you decide to upgrade.

[Chris_Doane]

I think a 1DX would be a good camera for your needs, if you decide to upgrade.

Ha, eh I don't really need that.

Unless you wanna give me $7000?

[dfelt]

Everything Chris and Z-06 have said I cannot stress enough when it comes to the pro field of photography. Depending on where you get your Photography training all schools do a pretty good job on teaching the basics, but as Chris mentioned, Developing the ability to see the bigger picture so you can be ready to capture the moment takes time and training of which not every school does a good job at. Some teachers / professional photographers can explain better about how to approach a scene and look for certain markers that seem to make an impact and could lead to other things happening that could get you a great picture.

Take time to go out and people watch so that you get comfortable seeing the interaction and what might happend.

In regards to Photography equipment, yes professional work is very hard on camera equipment. I personally believe that for people starting out in the field, refurbished is a good place to start.

http://shop.usa.cano..._10051_-1_29252

This is Canon's own refurbished web site, but compare it to new and you get a nice savings wih warranty. Bing canon refurbished dslr and you will find plenty of retailers having prices even cheaper.

Eventually you can move up as you gain experiance and earnings and eventually buy yourself a new badboy top of the line DSLR to become your prize tool for your work.