Opinions on the Canon 7D and Canon 400mm f5.6 for handheld winter photography on clou (1 Viewer)

I fully understand what your saying about just going out to bird with bins, which is the point of a walk about lens you never know if the right photo opportunity is sitting in front of you that would be missed if you didn't have your camera to hand.

Paul Jarvis said:

I fully understand what your saying about just going out to bird with bins, which is the point of a walk about lens you never know if the right photo opportunity is sitting in front of you that would be missed if you didn't have your camera to hand.

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True..!...true...

But also true is that sometimes the weather just isn't conducive for great photography. When given those times, why not just keep your 400 5.6 for when the weather will allow you to take great photos and walk about with a pair of bino's and perhaps one of those zoom lens. After all, in poor weather, many times you are just going to get at best a 'web-based' photo anyhow.

Don't sweat a camera/lens for all seasons to get that perfect shot that can be blown-up up to poster size with all being clear and perfect. Accept that there is nothing wrong with just an 'image' for that unique situation in bad weather and enjoy birding more.

^^

To play devils advocate, your lens can be your binoculars/scope. You need not take the frame, and you can just observe through it.

lmans66 said:

I suppose a question that has to be asked is "Do you have to photograph everything" and at 'all times of the year'? Is the photography of it all that important to you, or....can you find just as much enjoyment by skipping the camera and lens, and merely bird with your binoculars?

Frankly under some of those conditions, are you really going to get that 'perfect shot' ...7D or 5diii or whatever?

I know around my 'local patch' (I love that British term)....I am pretty familiar with my birds and find that at certain times of the year, it is way more enjoyable just to bird with bino's....take a walk and not have to worry about the light, the image etc. .... Just my thoughts, jim

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When i started with my interest in birds i did not know how long i would go with it, i could of dropped interest in a week for all i knew. I had a choice between a decent set of binos or a scope at $400ish but i would have no use for them with birds. So i picked a cheap super zoom, use it as a digital scope just to see much closer and i could use when ever i wanted to video or photograph anything else. That was years back but there are many days where i won't bring the binos at all and just use the superzoom only and never miss the binos, esp in crappy light because the EVF on the superzoom will bump up the iso in real time so you can identify what you're seeing.

Thanks to everyone for your guidance. After a lot of thought I came to a couple of conclusions:

1. Photos of birds in good light are generally so much better looking than in poor light, that I'm not going to worry about taking photos in poor light. Thanks lmans66.

2. I'm reluctant to spend the amount of money a new 7dmarkii would cost at this stage in my hobby.

3. I'd like a bit more flexibility and a bit more reach than the Canon 400 f5.6 would give me, so I decided to investigate Roy's suggestion about the Tamron 150 - 600.

4. With the Tamron, I'm not restricted to the Canon range of cameras.

The result is that I've gone with a Nikon D7100 paired with the Tamron. So now I'll hang my head in shame and leave the Canon forum. :-C

I'll probably pop again in the Tamron thread, so I'll see some of you there. |=)|

Mad Scientist said:

Opinions on the Canon 7D and Canon 400mm f5.6 for handheld winter photography on cloudy days in Scotland

Scotland: Not the sunniest of places in winter. Natural light levels are low and even lower on cloudy days.

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I'm reliably assured that the result of a 'YES' vote will be far more sunshine and warmth and everything in the garden will be rosy! :-O