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SecretSquirrel
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It's a MONSTER!!!

Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:53 pm

If you don't care about camera gear, go read something else....

Some of you may know that I'm a member of an RC aircraft club. Once a year we host a huge warbirds event and I do event photography for it. I generally rent some gear and get to play with high end stuff that I don't normally need and certainly can't justify buying outright (I'm getting close though).

I'm a Nikon person and I generally rent an extra body and the Nikon 70-200 F2.8, sometimes with a tele-converter. This year I opted for something different in the lens catagory. I got the new version Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 lens. Sigma refers to it as the OS S. I now refer to it as the arm killing beast! :o I read the specs and reviews on it before I decided to rent it, but I still wasn't prepared for what showed up at the office today.

Image

That is a Nikon 7100 body hanging off the back of it. The beast weighs in at 7.5lb+ and while I suppose you could technically shoot with it hand held, I'm not looking forward to it and I lift weights so its not like I'm a weakling. I've been putting off getting a decent tripod because I had other things I'd rather spend the money on and I don't shoot on a tripod but a few times a year. I went out and bought a fairly nice ball head tripod today, just so I won't have to hand hold the beast for two days straight.

I'll report back in a couple of days on how it performed.

--SS
 
JustAnEngineer
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:04 pm

Yikes! My 100-400L lens weighs 3.1 lbs, and it was literally a pain in the neck to carry around all day until I got the Black Rapid shoulder strap.
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Beomagi
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:10 pm

That's beautiful. How does it handle wide open?
I'm more of a manual guy ;)
 
SecretSquirrel
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:12 pm

JustAnEngineer wrote:
Yikes! My 100-400L lens weighs 3.1 lbs, and it was literally a pain in the neck to carry around all day until I got the Black Rapid shoulder strap.


That's what the Nikon 70-200 weighs. I'm tired after a day with it, but I can hand hold it all day without too much trouble. This thing weighs twice as much. Not only is it heavy, it really is huge. It is 11.5" long without the hood and takes a 105mm filter. The Nikon is only 8.1" long and takes a 77mm filter.

--SS
 
SecretSquirrel
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Thu Jun 12, 2014 9:13 pm

Beomagi wrote:
That's beautiful. How does it handle wide open?
I'm more of a manual guy ;)


Don't know yet. I won't get to really try the low light performance until Sunday. The other thing I shoot on this weekend is a dance receital. I'll be in an auditorium, shooting with nothing but stage illumination.

--SS
 
Airmantharp
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:04 pm

Gorgeous- if I shot Nikon, I'd be tempted to offer up a six pack for the chance to head down the street to give it a 'shot' :).
 
SecretSquirrel
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:20 pm

Airmantharp wrote:
Gorgeous- if I shot Nikon, I'd be tempted to offer up a six pack for the chance to head down the street to give it a 'shot' :).


Come on up: Warbirds Over Texas

The weather is supposed to be pretty nice all weekend. Saturday is the big day and is damned impressive if you like airplanes at all. Bring the camera. :D

--SS
 
Airmantharp
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Thu Jun 12, 2014 10:39 pm

SecretSquirrel wrote:
Airmantharp wrote:
Gorgeous- if I shot Nikon, I'd be tempted to offer up a six pack for the chance to head down the street to give it a 'shot' :).


Come on up: Warbirds Over Texas

The weather is supposed to be pretty nice all weekend. Saturday is the big day and is damned impressive if you like airplanes at all. Bring the camera. :D

--SS


Setting the alarm.
 
SecretSquirrel
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sat Jun 14, 2014 8:26 am

After a day of shooting, here are my first thoughts.

It takes stellars photos. It is too big for day long hand held shooting. If you are shooting in a situation where you can use a tripod or monopod, its fine. Trying to shoot in rapidly changing three dimensions is hard.

Next year, I'll probably go back to the Nikon 70-200 with a 1.4 TC.

--SS
 
JustAnEngineer
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sat Jun 14, 2014 9:07 am

Have you tried the updated AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR? It weighs only 3½ pounds.
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Airmantharp
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:30 am

JustAnEngineer wrote:
Have you tried the updated AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR? It weighs only 3½ pounds.


This lens, Sony's also stellar 70-400G, or even Canon's aging 100-400L can all produce outstanding results; I'd have to say that the 120-300/2.8 OS | Sport really isn't suited for this sort of work without say a 1.4x or 2.0x Sigma TC, which I've read it takes very well. Might try it with the Nikon TC, if that's possible?

And I had no idea you were trying to handhold it. I had to deal with some local effects yesterday, but I'm about to head up; in any case, my 6D + 70-300 non-L will be a very light combination, though totally lacking in reach and/or image quality (I find that it remains coke-bottle-ish regardless of aperture beyond the 250mm setting). Almost wish I had a 100-400L to borrow, I know that the 6D would make good use of it!
 
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:36 am

SecretSquirrel wrote:
After a day of shooting, here are my first thoughts.

It takes stellars photos. It is too big for day long hand held shooting. If you are shooting in a situation where you can use a tripod or monopod, its fine. Trying to shoot in rapidly changing three dimensions is hard.

Next year, I'll probably go back to the Nikon 70-200 with a 1.4 TC.

--SS


Interesting. So available light isn't a deciding factor? I would think this range at f/2.8 would be amazing for overcast shooting. But, that may not be a factor for you.

This seems like the perfect indoor sports/entertainment lens.
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:37 am

JustAnEngineer wrote:
Have you tried the updated AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR? It weighs only 3½ pounds.


This is a superb lens, and if light isn't an issue, the aforementioned Sony version would be my go-to for outdoor shooting.
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
Airmantharp
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sat Jun 14, 2014 10:43 am

Given the size of what he's shooting and distance of subject, f/2.8 is probably fine, i.e. not so wide as to have say blurry wingtips. There's plenty of light here too, so a slower lens, like what I'm about to try to use when I get up there in an hour or so (it's in the boonies!), shouldn't be an issue either; honestly, popping a TC on there would probably be perfect, even if stopping down for better IQ for the combination (say f/4 maximum with a 1.4x, but shooting f/5.6) shouldn't be an issue with plenty of shutter headroom while keeping the ISO in check.
 
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sat Jun 14, 2014 1:11 pm

Yeah. I don't know. I may want an f/5.6 aperture lens. The Nikon 80-400 is sharp wide open, and it could be stopped down to give a bit deeper depth of field. Maybe even an f/8. Might give you more in-focus shots. And Sigma's AF system can be a bit inaccurate (at least with the lenses I have tried).
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
Airmantharp
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sun Jun 15, 2014 3:32 am

TheEmrys wrote:
Yeah. I don't know. I may want an f/5.6 aperture lens. The Nikon 80-400 is sharp wide open, and it could be stopped down to give a bit deeper depth of field. Maybe even an f/8. Might give you more in-focus shots. And Sigma's AF system can be a bit inaccurate (at least with the lenses I have tried).


Well, f/8 and be there was the order of the day- despite the overcast skies. Even had to stop down more to get a shutter speed slow enough for proper propeller shots.

As for the Sigma's AF accuracy on his D7100, I'll have to let SS comment; however, with the advent of the 'sport' variety of the 120-300/2.8 OS, accuracy may have improved, and effectiveness of the AF can be very highly tweaked using the Sigma dock. That lens, in particular, should honestly ship with the dock, as it has a raft of configuration options that can switch the lens from being more of an 'art' lens for more sedentary subjects to being a pure 'sports' lens for a wide range of tracking scenarios. At least, that's what I've read from those that have used it in depth.
 
SecretSquirrel
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sun Jun 15, 2014 8:48 am

Airmantharp wrote:
TheEmrys wrote:
Yeah. I don't know. I may want an f/5.6 aperture lens. The Nikon 80-400 is sharp wide open, and it could be stopped down to give a bit deeper depth of field. Maybe even an f/8. Might give you more in-focus shots. And Sigma's AF system can be a bit inaccurate (at least with the lenses I have tried).


Well, f/8 and be there was the order of the day- despite the overcast skies. Even had to stop down more to get a shutter speed slow enough for proper propeller shots.

As for the Sigma's AF accuracy on his D7100, I'll have to let SS comment; however, with the advent of the 'sport' variety of the 120-300/2.8 OS, accuracy may have improved, and effectiveness of the AF can be very highly tweaked using the Sigma dock. That lens, in particular, should honestly ship with the dock, as it has a raft of configuration options that can switch the lens from being more of an 'art' lens for more sedentary subjects to being a pure 'sports' lens for a wide range of tracking scenarios. At least, that's what I've read from those that have used it in depth.


So far, I would say that autofocus was excellent. Perhaps not quite as fast as the Nikon 70-200 but a lot of that I would attribute to shear physics of the heavier glass. I didn't have any issues with front or back focusing, which can be corrected with the doc.

Light certainly wasn't an issue. It really hasn't been an issue for the four years we've done this event. Morning shots are extremely hard because you are shooting directly into the sun and everything is backlit. For the curious, I made a histogram of the f-stop used for my collection of shots from Friday.

Image

Yes, I really did keep so shots taken at f16 and above. The thing to remember is thay everthing is moving. The subject (an airplane) is moving, perhaps on the order of 75mph. The camera is moving as you track the airplane across in front of you and because the subject is only 100 feet away, or so, the angular velocity is very high when the subject is in the best position for pictures. Parts of the subject are moving as well (the propeller). The props turn anywhere from around 5000-10000 rpm. Finally, you have the background. In shots when the background isn't just the sky, the background will have motion relative the the subject because of the movement of the camera.

All those factors compete. To get a good blurred prop arc, say 1/8th of a revolution, max shutter speed is 1/640-1/1200 or so, assuming the motor is a full throttle. At idle when landing, it may only be turning 1500-2000 rpm. In bright outdoors these are the shots that are so stopped down. I high shutter speed will help with the inherent blur of the subject due to my swinging the camera around, sometimes almost as fast as I can physically turn. Unfortunately, the higher shutter speeds obviously kill much of the prop arc, but even more, they significantly reduce the nice blurred background that gives you a sense of motion in a tracking shot.

Extremely challenging, both technically and physically, but a heck of a lot of fun!

--SS
 
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:20 pm

Glad to hear it was working well- and I felt for you when you were trying to get those panning shots; my 70-300 non-L is as light as a feather in comparison, I could do that all day; and I certainly wish I had a 100-400L or the Tammy 150-600, which would have been perfect out there along with say the UWA on my EOS-M.
 
JustAnEngineer
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:37 pm

I sold my EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM (2005) lens, not because the subjects weren't imaged well enough for the cost of the lens, but because the out-of-focus backgrounds were unpleasant. The EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM (1998) with which I replaced it does a better job at everything and the backgrounds are smooth. The EF-S 55-250mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM (2013) didn't exist when I bought the 70-300 IS or the 100-400L, but I expect that between that on the low end and the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM (2010) on the high end, the 70-300 IS doesn't really have a reason to exist any more. Of course, that hasn't stopped camera manufacturers from continuing to sell some really old lens designs that are much worse than that.
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Airmantharp
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sun Jun 15, 2014 12:57 pm

I agree wholly, with the exception that the 70-300 non-L is decent to about 250mm, and it's a full-frame lens- and I'd argue that it's worth all of the $350 or so that it goes for refurbished, which is how I acquired mine. And at that price point, nothing really compares for full-frame body usage, and full-frame bodies are plummeting in price now that Canon, Nikon, and Sony are in the race with lower-end semi-pro cameras in the market.

And hell, my 6D did excellent with the 'R/C Warbirds', even with that lens; it was still able to lock and track them flying straight at me, and as I followed them in long panning shots. Nikon's D610 has a far more advanced AF setup (except for extreme low light), and I'd suspect would be even better suited. A D610 with Nikon's 80-400G or Tammy's 150-600 would have been ideal, I think, as you'd definitely want the cleaner base-ISO shadows of the Sony sensors in order to balance the exposure with the highly backlit aircraft.
 
SecretSquirrel
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:39 am

Dance recital went well, though I haven't had a chance to go through the shots to see how they turned out yet so more on that later. Figured I'd post a few from the warbird event.

These were taken with the Sigma:

Image


Image


Image


Image


Image


And here are a couple taken with the Nikon 18-200 f3.5-5.6:

Image


Image


Those are all from day 1. I should finish culling day 2 today and get them uploaded.

--SS
 
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Tue Jun 17, 2014 6:02 am

SecretSquirrel wrote:
I've been putting off getting a decent tripod because I had other things I'd rather spend the money on and I don't shoot on a tripod but a few times a year. I went out and bought a fairly nice ball head tripod today, just so I won't have to hand hold the beast for two days straight.

You'd probably be better off with a monopod than a tripod, wouldn't you?
 
SecretSquirrel
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Tue Jun 17, 2014 6:51 am

Usacomp2k3 wrote:
SecretSquirrel wrote:
I've been putting off getting a decent tripod because I had other things I'd rather spend the money on and I don't shoot on a tripod but a few times a year. I went out and bought a fairly nice ball head tripod today, just so I won't have to hand hold the beast for two days straight.

You'd probably be better off with a monopod than a tripod, wouldn't you?


I've shot with a monopod in the past. Where I tend to have problems is in rapid changes in the vertical direction. As a plane goes overhead, having to lean a monopod back involves a lot of body movement and seemed to be very problematic. A monopod with a ball head would help with that, but the stability during rapid movements doesn't seem like it would be there.

I ended up not shoting with the tripod a whole lot. For some of the longer shots it worked great, but it was still hard to get the range of motion necessary for high speed tracking shots. That said, Sunday I shot with both my new and old tripods. I'm getting rid of my old one. Man does it suck. It is, admittedly a cheap (probably ~$25) tripod, but I never realized how much it sucked....

--SS
 
Airmantharp
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Tue Jun 17, 2014 10:28 am

My old tripod has been relegated to EOS-M duty; couldn't handle the 60D or 6D with the lightweight 70-300 on it. Spec'd the new tripod out for at least a pro 400mm lens if need be, should handle the 150-600 with ease :).
 
Airmantharp
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sun Jun 22, 2014 10:13 pm

Here's the first I've exported (have >600 shots to cull, and life's happened since the event). As JAE has mentioned, the background rendering of Canon's cheap 70-300 is less than desirable, but what is in the focal plane is rather sharp :).

Image
IMG_8918 by John C. Tharp, on Flickr
 
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Sun Jun 22, 2014 11:38 pm

I'm presuming that that Me 163 model is not using the original Me 163 propellants? Nasty bit of kit there.
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Airmantharp
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Re: It's a MONSTER!!!

Mon Jun 23, 2014 12:00 am

I can't speak to that- but fly it did:

Image
IMG_9001 by John C. Tharp, on Flickr

Image
IMG_9003 by John C. Tharp, on Flickr

Image
IMG_9013 by John C. Tharp, on Flickr

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