Got a new 70-300mm lens today.

[ludnix]

I picked up a 72-300mm Canon f.4-5.6 zoom lens today. I thought it would be an decent lens for me to start playing around in the telephoto field. I'm going to have to get used to how steady you need to keep the camera for clear shots but so far it's been very fun to play with!

I took this shot in my backyard, it's hard to get a picture while the rabbit is still though!
http://www.someawe.com/uploads/rabbit_thumb.jpg (http://www.someawe.com/uploads/rabbit_large.jpg)

I can see how quickly photography can get expensive, after using this lens I noticed how inadequate my $50 tri-pod is and how I'd like to get a new set of filters to play with. I think photography has reef aquariums beat in the $$$ department.

[TitusvilleSurfer]

Reef aquariums have a monthly fee hidden in power bills though. I think that may tip the scale for reef keeping. Of course California has it worse than I do in Florida, so everything is a variable I suppose.

[TitusvilleSurfer]

I am curious whether you picked up a 70-300 or 75-300. The 72-300 is right in the middle but doesn't exist! ;)

[ludnix]

Oops! I got it wrong twice in my post, you can tell I wasn't looking at the lens while writing my post! It's the 75-300.

[TitusvilleSurfer]

Yeah I knew something was fishy! On the subject of expensive photography equipment, I paid over $2,000 for my 70-200 f/2.8 IS lens. It's my baby. :) So is my 24-70 f/2.8 which was almost as expensive.

[ludnix]

I think I'll need have to practice photography for quite a while longer before I'm ready to justify those kinds of lenses! Is the f/2.8 what makes them significantly more expensive than entry level lenses or there is more to it? At f/2.8 you're getting almost 4x as much light as as at f/5.6 right?

[TitusvilleSurfer]

Yeah you get so much more light to work with. The f/2.8 alone makes it significantly more expensive, and then there is a lot more to it that makes it even more expensive beyond a hyper dilated pupil. For one its much more durable. I've never dropped my 70-200 but all other things equal, it would have a much higher chance of survival than a 75-300. The autofocus is exceptionally fast with the accuracy of a veteran sniper. A Canon lens capable of reaching f/2.8 automatically receives an autofocus boost on certain autofocus points. How many points benefit from this depends on what camera you use. This is the lens you would use to shoot the NBA. The 85mm f/1.8 wouldn't be a bad bet either though.

[ludnix]

I'll have to make sure to avoid ever using lens like yours or I'll be forced to start upgrading! I'm hoping to do some exploring later this week so I can get a chance to put the one I have in action, it'll definitely be interesting to experiment with photos with such a different range of vision.