Silverstone on Sunday.. 55-250 or 100-400?

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Soldato
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Hi all

I have a Canon 700D and 55-250 STM lens...

A friend has said i can borrow his Canon 100-400 mk1 on Sunday. I have grandstand seats at Farm Curve. I havent sat in this grandstand before... my question is should I go with just my 55-250 or would I need more reach from this grandstand?

Optically and focus wise i have been reading that there isnt a huge difference between the lenses on a crop body so i guess its just a question of will i need the extra reach?

Correct me if am wrong though on the IQ / Focus comparison!
 
Well I wouldn't expect much difference between the two lenses when it comes to quality so reach will be the main difference I expect.

The only thing I would say is that you should give the other lens a bit of a test before you take it with you and do a day's worth of shooting with it! Don't want to come back with a bunch of useless shots because the micro adjust is way out or something :/
 
You will always need more reach.
I've done Silverstone F1 with the 100-400 from a Grandstand and it still wasn't long enough. The cars awill be far enough away for critical focus not to matter.

I would also suggest that you sit back and enjoy the race. Sure take a few shots but don't watch the race through your viewfinder.
 
smr said:
Thanks. I dont think the 700d has micro adjust Phal.
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Yeah you might not be able to adjust it but its still worth giving the lens a test first to see if it agrees with your 700d.

Odds are it'll be fine but it would be silly to assume it will be fine! Don't want to end up with a bunch of useless shots.

You know what they say about assuming... It makes an ass out of u and a guy called ming! :P
 
Picked it up today and got some practice in, my word, it makes my 55-250 feel like a feather, literally. I had to open my bag to make sure it was still in there when I picked it up!

The autofocus seems really quick on it, but the lens isnt in the best condition, my friends a paid wildlife photographer but doesnt seem to take brilliant care of his kit. looks liek there's some dust trapped behind the lens :(

I'll review the pics I took later to see if thats going to be a problem.

The push pull zoom is actually a lot better than I thought it would be, once you adjust the retention to make it smoother. I think I prefer twist zoom lenses though.

THe grandstand I'll be sat in doesnt actually look that far away from the track so I'll see if I need it, most likely I will, but if I can fill the frame with my 55-250 I'd definitely use that instead - because the IQ I doubt would be much different, the focus in good light will probably be about the same and the weight is just soooo much lighter.
 
Yeah the weight of lenses is definite something you need to get used to. My 200-400mm is almost 3 times heavier and it's definitely taken a while to get used to hehe. If you're going to be seated then it will be a lot easier than standing when trying to keep it still but the IS should also be helping. I can't remember if the 100-400mm had different IS Modes though? If so then you'd need to use the mode for panning I guess :)

I liked the push/pull zoom personally as it always seemed easier to do but it's also the reason why dust is more likely to get in to the lens it seems. Air needs to go into the lens as you extend it so it drags a bit of dust in I guess!

IQ wise I wouldn't expect much difference but 100-400mm is more flexible than 55-250mm for the purposes you're speaking of.
 
Phal said:
Yeah the weight of lenses is definite something you need to get used to. My 200-400mm is almost 3 times heavier and it's definitely taken a while to get used to hehe. If you're going to be seated then it will be a lot easier than standing when trying to keep it still but the IS should also be helping. I can't remember if the 100-400mm had different IS Modes though? If so then you'd need to use the mode for panning I guess :)

I liked the push/pull zoom personally as it always seemed easier to do but it's also the reason why dust is more likely to get in to the lens it seems. Air needs to go into the lens as you extend it so it drags a bit of dust in I guess!

IQ wise I wouldn't expect much difference but 100-400mm is more flexible than 55-250mm for the purposes you're speaking of.
Click to expand...

2 modes on the mk1, 1 and 2 for IS... I read that for stills its best on 1 and panning set to 2.

It's definitely wetting my appetite for a long telephoto lens :)
 
I have a zoom with modes 1 and 2 and even for panning I still find turning it off completely gives me sharper shots. Maybe if I was using a monopod and panning completely horizontally I might think differently, but hand held I just turn it off.
 
strange shooting at at F18 and ISO400. Go with an aperture of F8 (optimal setting on the 100-400) and a lower, cleaner ISO OF 100.
 
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