Thoughts on using the 50-200 SWD (1 Viewer)

There is an existing thread about this lens but, when I tried posting in it, it came up with a warning that it is too old and that I should start a new one. So here it is.

Being an awkward sort of bloke, after purchasing a 50-200 SWD and then immediately returning it, I finally relented and bought another one last Friday. I have already posted my initial thoughts on it in this linked thread but thought that a new one would be more appropriate for further reactions:
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=1969588#post1969588

I walked to the local harbour this lunchtime to try the lens in better light. Unfortunately, despite being bright and sunny this morning, as soon as I arrived it clouded over and then started to rain. I still managed to get a few shots, though, and confirm my initial reaction that it is much better for flight shots than the 70-300 and much quicker focusing in general.

Here are three shots taken today. I would welcome anyone else's thoughts about the lens and any tips which they have picked up for using it, together with sample photos.

Ron

Unfortunately, the lens is too big to fit into my Think Tank Digital Holster 20 camera case. I like using this case to protect the camera and keep it dry and can either have it slung over my shoulder or on a Think Tank waist belt to take the weight off my shoulders.

I therefore decided to lash out on a Digital Holster 30. I ordered it from Harrison Cameras yesterday morning and it arrived this morning. Excellent service and free delivery too.

With the case in its normal state it will take the E-30 plus lens and teleconverter with the lens hood reversed. The sides of the case are stiff in this mode for storage and transport. When in use the soft extension can be unzipped to increase the depth and it will then take the camera, converter and lens with the hood extended. I had to remove the waterproof rain hood from its pocket inside the case to allow the massive lens hood to pass through easily. That means I will have to find somewhere else to stow the rain hood. Shouldn't be too difficult.

I rate this case highly, although it will only take the camera and lens and a few small accessories, with no room for extra lenses, flash etc. Think Tank have released a new, improved version in the US but it isn't expected in this country until next year.

Ron

Congratulations! I love that lens

NoSpringChicken said:

I would welcome anyone else's thoughts about the lens and any tips which they have picked up for using it, together with sample photos.

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One tip is if you zoom to the 150mm mark the focus is way faster than at 200mm. So what I do with BIF is find focus first at 150mm mark and then zoom in.

Good luck with the new lens!

I've had this lens for about an year now..its the only lens i use during birding..
mostly on the E3 ..it now sits on the E5 and is a pleasure to use ..even in early morning low-light..my most recent posting on the Asia..section Tailor-bird/Parakeet/Blue Magpie http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/345596/ppuser/87599 ...all from this combination....and much earlier posts..the "black shouldered Kite" http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/318050/ppuser/87599
and pied kingfisher http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/315779/ppuser/87599 from the E3+50-200SWD combination...actually all my bird shots are with lens...prior to this i was with the 40-150 kit (which also has served well.
Regards.

Hi,

To those of you who have experience from using the 50-200 SWD: Do you know how it performs together with the teleconverter 1.4X and 2.0X?

/Tord

Hi Tord,

50-200 works very well with the 1.4x teleconverter. Most of my recent pictures are taken with this combo:
http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/54311
I don't use the combo 50-200 plus 2x teleconverter, so I'm not able to say something about this issue.

Tord said:

Hi,

To those of you who have experience from using the 50-200 SWD: Do you know how it performs together with the teleconverter 1.4X and 2.0X?

/Tord

Click to expand...

Hi Tord. I haven't used the 2.0x converter but I have the 1.4x and I use it all the time with the 50-200 SWD. It brings the lens up to a reasonable focal length for bird photography (although the 2.0x would be even better). It doesn't seem to affect the IQ much, if at all. The only real drawback is that it reduces the maximum aperture by one stop, restricting it to f/4.9 at full zoom. This is less of a problem in summer than in winter.

From what I have heard, the 2.0x converter is less successful, as it loses two stops on the aperture and the IQ is, possibly, not quite so good as the 1.4x. The cost is too high for me to take a chance on one, without being reasonably confident of success.

You can take a look at my Gallery to see what you think of my photos. Just about all of them have been taken with the 50-200 + EC-14 combination in the past few months. Attached are two recent uploads taken at 283mm and f/4.9. You can also take a look at Cristian Mihai's Gallery, as he used the same combination too most of the time and he is a much better photographer than me.

Ron

NoSpringChicken said:

You can take a look at my Gallery to see what you think of my photos. Just about all of them have been taken with the 50-200 + EC-14 combination in the past few months. Attached are two recent uploads taken at 283mm and f/4.9. You can also take a look at Cristian Mihai's Gallery, as he used the same combination too most of the time and he is a much better photographer than me.

Ron

Click to expand...

Hi Ron and Cristian

Thanks for reply and advise, the results you have achieved are convincing.

Would you say the 50-200 is an upgrade over the 70-300, at a retail price 1100-1200€? I have the 70-300 and am quite pleased with the results achieved (considering the retail price 350-400€) even though I admit the auto-focus will often take ages unless you are lucky it has roughly focus right from start. Would the 50-200 make the 70-300 redundant? (Yes I know these are questions that could be difficult to answer).

/Tord

Tord said:

Hi Ron and Cristian

Thanks for reply and advise, the results you have achieved are convincing.

Would you say the 50-200 is an upgrade over the 70-300, at a retail price 1100-1200€? I have the 70-300 and am quite pleased with the results achieved (considering the retail price 350-400€) even though I admit the auto-focus will often take ages unless you are lucky it has roughly focus right from start. Would the 50-200 make the 70-300 redundant? (Yes I know these are questions that could be difficult to answer).

/Tord

Click to expand...

Hi Tord. I would say that the 50-200 is definitely a noticeable improvement over the 70-300. It should be though, at about three times the price! I think the 70-300 lens is outstanding for the money, although, as you say, it does struggle a bit in poor light.

The 50-200 is much heavier than the 70-300, although I have become used to the weight now and compared to similar lenses from other manufacturers it is not really heavy at all. It is also much larger than the 70-300, especially with the huge lens hood in place. However if, unlike me, you use a tripod, the 50-200 has a proper tripod mount, whereas the 70-300 has to rely on the camera mount and feels very front heavy and insecure.

The 50-200 is quicker to focus than the 70-300, although it too occasionally struggles in poor light. I have found that it usually helps to back off the zoom in this case, refocus and then zoom in and focus again. It is also virtually silent when focusing, unlike the 70-300 which whines rather loudly and annoyingly.

It is hard to say whether it is worth buying the 50-200 (it depends on how easily you can afford one) but it is definitely a very worthwhile lens to own. It is noticeably sharper than the 70-300, although that lens is capable of excellent results if used with care, and the wider aperture is extremely useful. As mentioned earlier in this thread it also works brilliantly with the EC-14 converter.

In answer to your last question, since owning the 50-200 my 70-300 has hardly been on the camera. However, I haven't had it very long and have yet to try photographing butterflies etc. with it. The macro facility of the 70-300 is extremely useful. The 50-200 is also splashproof, although you really need a weatherproof body to take full advantage of this. It does mean though that it shouldn't suck in too much dust, when zooming in and out.

To sum up. If you can afford the 50-200, go for it. It is a superb lens and you won't be disappointed. However, if you really can't afford one, then don't worry as the 70-300 is a superb lens, capable of excellent results.

I hope this helps but please ask if you have any more questions.

Ron

Thanks for sharing. What you write made me add the lens to the wish list.

/Tord

I was getting rather frustrated yesterday, trying to photograph some Bullfinches. I was using the 50-200 with the EC-14 and the birds were high up in a tree surrounded by twigs. The light was reasonable, although the weather was grey with no sunshine. I was having great difficulty getting the lens to focus, despite using the single autofocus point and trying to lock onto the bird's head. The lens was jumping about trying to lock focus and every so often it would cycle through the entire focusing range. I suppose I should have used manual focusing but the birds were very mobile and my eyesight is not what it was, so getting sharp focus manually is not easy for me.

Another problem which I had was that, a couple of times, during the day, the focusing effectively 'died' and wouldn't respond at all. I could reset it by switching the camera off and on again, so I think it was the software getting confused rather than a mechanical problem. I don't know if I should be worried by this of if it just 'one of those things'.

Ron

I have never had any of those problems with the 50-200swd and the EC14, but is sounds like you might have dirty contacts? Have you tried cleaning all of them?

Hi

I bought myself a 50-200 SWD lens (found one used, excellent condition, from a nice chap in the UK). Got it delivered today and managed to take just a few shots before sun went down (there were not that many birds around). The sharpness of the pictures seems excellent, jusdging from the few shots taken. The fast autofocus and brightness make this telephoto lens extremely pleasant to work with.

Attached one sample: ISO 250, 1/320 s, F4.0

Well done Tord. I am sure you will enjoy using your new lens. You are off to a great start with the nice sharp shot of the Pigeon. I look forward to seeing many more of your shots when you get used to it.

Mine has been behaving perfectly since my last post. Just one of those strange things that happen from time to time, I suppose.

Ron

Hi all,

Having used the 50-200 SWD for some three weeks now (in parallel to also using the 70-300) I would like to provide a short report.

- The likelihood of producing sharp images is much higher compared to the 70-300 (possibly as a result of improved AF?)
- Some pictures have higher sharpness than the sharpest ever picture ever taken (by me) with 70-300
- 50-200 SWD produces images with higher contrast than 70-300 and with a pleasant color
- 50-200 SWD outcompetes the 70-300 on AF performance (both velocity and accuracy)


Next step would be to use the 50-200 SWD with EC14 and evaluate the benefit from the extended range vs. losing one EV (and possibly also losing image quality), this combo should be equivalent to the 70-300 looking at focal length and speed only.

Hi all

Here is an update on this thread.

I have been using a EC14 with the 50-200 SWD, with some mixed results. I believe the main drawback (except from losing 1EV) is that the AF performance is impacted. What I mean is that when photographing birds in flight, zoom fully extended, quite often the AF will fail in locking and end up in the close range, and there it will give up. That almost never happened when using the lens without the teleconverter.

The workaround is to lock the AF with shorter zoom (perhaps 100?) where the AF usually will find the target fast, and then zoom in.

I should perhaps also mention I use AF-C and all 7 AF points on my E620 when taking pictures of birds in flight.

Anyone else experienced this behavior?

/Tord

Hi Tord. I am not very good at photographing birds in flight, full stop, but sometimes I get the same problem as you. In my case I think it is a lack of confidence. I find if I can get the focus point dead on the bird and half press the button, it will focus instantly. Many times, though, I am 'chasing' the bird with the focus point so I end up missing it. If you miss the target the lens cycles through the whole focusing range which is hopeless.

I sometimes use multiple focus points if the bird is against a clear sky but that doesn't work well if it is flying against a busy background. In that case I use the single focus point which requires very careful placement. I nearly always use Single Autofocus shooting. Of course, the real secret is to pick birds which are close enough to fill the frame as much as possible but most of the time we don't have that luxury.

Ron

All my BIF shot are taken using a sigle focus point (center) and with IS off.

Cristian Mihai said:

All my BIF shot are taken using a sigle focus point (center) and with IS off.

Click to expand...

I never think about switching IS off. I don't usually set out to take bird in flight shots. What normally happens is that a flying bird will suddenly appear and, as I leave IS on permanently, I don't have time (or remember) to turn it off. I suppose I should give it a go and see if it makes any difference. I guess you really need good light and very fast shutter speeds in this situation.

Ron

NoSpringChicken said:

I never think about switching IS off. I don't usually set out to take bird in flight shots. What normally happens is that a flying bird will suddenly appear and, as I leave IS on permanently, I don't have time (or remember) to turn it off. I suppose I should give it a go and see if it makes any difference. I guess you really need good light and very fast shutter speeds in this situation.

Ron

Click to expand...

Hi,

AF: The rationale behind using all AF points is that I usually capture BIF against sky, unobstructed sight. I also agree the recommendation to use 1 AF point only when there is a background.

IS: I always use IS.1 and also monopod to the extent possible.

IS on or off has been a subject for many discussions I suppose. What I actually have done is to perform tests (using a method inspired from Wrotniak's setup) to find the benefit of IS and monopod on longest acceptable exposure time.
I used a E620 body with the 50-200SWD @ 200 mm and also the 70-300 @ 420 mm (with EC14). Target was static, outdoors @EV14, distance ~3/6 meters for full frame shots. Wrotniak advocates sequences of 20 pictures but I only took 10.

My findings are that, with the lenses above:

• The benefit of no IS vs IS.1 is somewhat less than 1 EV in favor of IS.1
• The benefit of monopod is around 1.5 EV in favor of monopod

I have the graphs and data sheets on another computer. I can share with you if you are interested (I will have access to the said computer on Sat/Sun).

Above does not however provide answer to the question regarding required shutter speed for sharp pictures of BIF. I suppose a theoretical model and a sheet could be worked out with input parameters:

• Motion speed of target
• Direction towards camera
• Photographer ability to track the subject
• Sharpness requirement (how many pixel deviation is acceptable)

And I realize we are now off-topic. Should we start a new thread?



/Tord