I hope the following gives folks an idea of how telephoto zoom lenses affect image size. Naturally the lens size in terms of power(mm) is dependant on what you might want to use it for. Tonight it's BIRDS.
I'm set up 12 feet away from my bird feeder and used a tripod for all but the last 2 images. Tripod to fix the distance at 12'.
First lens is a Canon EFs 17-85mm 4-5.6 IS USM. I'll let you know when I change lenses. My bird feeder is 12" tall.
17mm
35mm
60mm
85 mm
I now switch to a EF 70-300mm 4-5.6 IS USM
100mm
150mm
200mm This is where small to medium sized birds begin to show pretty well. At 12 feet!
300 mm and where are the birds? Auto focus struggles.
OK, I'm out of lens at 300 mm so I'm adding a 1.5x Kenko Tele Converter (TC)
375mm Auto focus works with the 70-300 in this range.
450mm Flat out and the Auto Focus just doesn't work. So it's manual.
A camera shy sparrow.
A dove at about 85 yards and 450mm. Click him.
Finally what I was waiting for! These 2 are 450mm and manual focus which is really touchy. I normally back the lens down a bit to a point where the Auto Focus works well. Not the greatest pics but they are not cropped.
Click him:
By doing this I'm able to determine that for small birds I need the EF 100-400 L 4-5.6 IS USM at this 12' range. I would also want a Canon 1.4 TC to get in tighter. I think it would serve my needs well. Prime lenses 400mm and above can get pricy.
Basically when someone says "what do you want to do with it" I hope this may help you answer the question. In my case 400mm at 12' sounds like a bunch but as you can see it's really not.
Forgot! I have a branch wired to the feeder post to get birds to roost above the view of the feeder.
I'm set up 12 feet away from my bird feeder and used a tripod for all but the last 2 images. Tripod to fix the distance at 12'.
First lens is a Canon EFs 17-85mm 4-5.6 IS USM. I'll let you know when I change lenses. My bird feeder is 12" tall.
17mm
35mm
60mm
85 mm
I now switch to a EF 70-300mm 4-5.6 IS USM
100mm
150mm
200mm This is where small to medium sized birds begin to show pretty well. At 12 feet!
300 mm and where are the birds? Auto focus struggles.
OK, I'm out of lens at 300 mm so I'm adding a 1.5x Kenko Tele Converter (TC)
375mm Auto focus works with the 70-300 in this range.
450mm Flat out and the Auto Focus just doesn't work. So it's manual.
A camera shy sparrow.
A dove at about 85 yards and 450mm. Click him.
Finally what I was waiting for! These 2 are 450mm and manual focus which is really touchy. I normally back the lens down a bit to a point where the Auto Focus works well. Not the greatest pics but they are not cropped.
Click him:
By doing this I'm able to determine that for small birds I need the EF 100-400 L 4-5.6 IS USM at this 12' range. I would also want a Canon 1.4 TC to get in tighter. I think it would serve my needs well. Prime lenses 400mm and above can get pricy.
Basically when someone says "what do you want to do with it" I hope this may help you answer the question. In my case 400mm at 12' sounds like a bunch but as you can see it's really not.
Forgot! I have a branch wired to the feeder post to get birds to roost above the view of the feeder.
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