- Mar 15 10:57 am
#87464
I’m pondering a major lens upgrade for my Canon DSLR. The kind of lens which costs about as much as a used auto. Would this be a good investment, I wonder?
I suspect that mirrorless cameras are going to dominate the future of photography. The problem is that these large lenses won’t attach to existing mirrorless cameras without adapters. Moreover, they generally lose much of their functionality with an adapter – like autofocusing, auto lens stopping, etc. Making them paperweights wrt Bird Photography in other words.
However, in one of my imagined futures, Canon makes a special adapter which will allow these expensive lenses to be used on future mirrorless cameras without the loss of functionality. Any opinions?
The associated problem is that there are currently no supertelephoto lenses for mirrorless cameras. Well, maybe there are.
An ongoing problem with Bird Photography is “reach”. The flighty little subjects have a propensity to move away from prying photographers. So a supertelephoto allows a photographer to obtain reasonable photos while being far enough away so as not to alarm the subjects.
Existing mirrorless cameras have greater crop factors than DSLR APS-C cameras. Panasonic’s is, I think, 2.0, meaning a 400mm lens attached to the camera body yields results equivalent to 800mm for a full-size sensor. However, with a 600mm F4 lens on a Canon APS-C sensor, the reach is equivalent to 960mm – and with a 1.4 converter attached, it is equivalent to 1,344mm. The Panasonic 400mm lens has an F-stop of 6.3 at 400mm. That is, when both lenses are near F5.6, the reach of the 600mm is much greater than that of the Panasonic’s 400mm. (Panasonic’s 400mm lens is an F6.3 model. Sony’s is F5.6.)
Another important factor in Bird Photography is focusing speed. The BIG Canon and Nikon lenses do focus very quickly. I just don’t know how fast the Panasonic and Sony mirrorless cameras focus with their large lenses attached – especially when spot focusing.
Lens stabilization is another factor. The BIG Canon and Nikon lenses have their stabilization functions built into the lenses, whereas the Sony and Panasonic cameras have their stabilization function built into the camera bodies. I think there are hybrid systems available too – both camera body and lens. My guess is that the future of stabilization lies with in-body functionality. My corollary guess is that Canon and Nikon, should they release powerful mirrorless cameras with body-stabilization, will have a hybrid system.
Noise is another factor. Mirrorless cameras should be noiseless, or almost noiseless when shooting at high frame rates. Current DSLRs have some level of mirror flapping noise and this noise definitely affects birds, even if they don’t flee upon hearing it.
And price? Well, here a Canon 600mm F4 lens costs about $15,000, whereas a Panasonic mirrorless body plus a 100 – 400mm F6.3 lens costs about $5,000. The Sony mirrorless equipment costs significantly more than the equivalent Panasonic.
And salvage/residual value? If mirrorless technology totally dominates the future in Bird Photography, then the resale value of used lenses will fall precipitously – unless the manufacturers make coupling of these lenses with mirrorless cameras easy and without loss of functionality.
Tough decision….(For Young Birders, though, I would recommend going mirrorless. Sony, I suspect will offer the best tech in the future.)
I suspect that mirrorless cameras are going to dominate the future of photography. The problem is that these large lenses won’t attach to existing mirrorless cameras without adapters. Moreover, they generally lose much of their functionality with an adapter – like autofocusing, auto lens stopping, etc. Making them paperweights wrt Bird Photography in other words.
However, in one of my imagined futures, Canon makes a special adapter which will allow these expensive lenses to be used on future mirrorless cameras without the loss of functionality. Any opinions?
The associated problem is that there are currently no supertelephoto lenses for mirrorless cameras. Well, maybe there are.
An ongoing problem with Bird Photography is “reach”. The flighty little subjects have a propensity to move away from prying photographers. So a supertelephoto allows a photographer to obtain reasonable photos while being far enough away so as not to alarm the subjects.
Existing mirrorless cameras have greater crop factors than DSLR APS-C cameras. Panasonic’s is, I think, 2.0, meaning a 400mm lens attached to the camera body yields results equivalent to 800mm for a full-size sensor. However, with a 600mm F4 lens on a Canon APS-C sensor, the reach is equivalent to 960mm – and with a 1.4 converter attached, it is equivalent to 1,344mm. The Panasonic 400mm lens has an F-stop of 6.3 at 400mm. That is, when both lenses are near F5.6, the reach of the 600mm is much greater than that of the Panasonic’s 400mm. (Panasonic’s 400mm lens is an F6.3 model. Sony’s is F5.6.)
Another important factor in Bird Photography is focusing speed. The BIG Canon and Nikon lenses do focus very quickly. I just don’t know how fast the Panasonic and Sony mirrorless cameras focus with their large lenses attached – especially when spot focusing.
Lens stabilization is another factor. The BIG Canon and Nikon lenses have their stabilization functions built into the lenses, whereas the Sony and Panasonic cameras have their stabilization function built into the camera bodies. I think there are hybrid systems available too – both camera body and lens. My guess is that the future of stabilization lies with in-body functionality. My corollary guess is that Canon and Nikon, should they release powerful mirrorless cameras with body-stabilization, will have a hybrid system.
Noise is another factor. Mirrorless cameras should be noiseless, or almost noiseless when shooting at high frame rates. Current DSLRs have some level of mirror flapping noise and this noise definitely affects birds, even if they don’t flee upon hearing it.
And price? Well, here a Canon 600mm F4 lens costs about $15,000, whereas a Panasonic mirrorless body plus a 100 – 400mm F6.3 lens costs about $5,000. The Sony mirrorless equipment costs significantly more than the equivalent Panasonic.
And salvage/residual value? If mirrorless technology totally dominates the future in Bird Photography, then the resale value of used lenses will fall precipitously – unless the manufacturers make coupling of these lenses with mirrorless cameras easy and without loss of functionality.
Tough decision….(For Young Birders, though, I would recommend going mirrorless. Sony, I suspect will offer the best tech in the future.)
- By GMcD