I am leaving in 3 weeks for a buff hunt in Tanzania. I just purchased a Canon D30 for the trip. My question is about a zoom lens for the camera. I have an EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III that I have used with my old camera, how does that lens compare to the EF 70-200/4.0 OL USM or the EF 70-200/2.8 L IS USM? Is it worth the money to upgrade and why? Is there another lens that you would recommend that I use?

I'm still affected by my old film camera days when I took tons of photographs so my response will not answer your question directly. Good photos of trophies are best made with a very wide angle lens, with the photographer getting as low as he can get, preferably lying on the ground. I like the 20mm lens in the 35mm film format or its equivalent in a digital camera. The same lens is very good for general hunting camp and people photography, inside the tent, around the campfire, you name it. Next best is a 24mm.

For a long lens in a digital camera I would opt for one with an anti-vibration capability if I were to upgrade.

Went to Tanzania in August. Took a Nikon D200 with 18-70mm and 55-200mm lenses. These are equivalent to 24-105mm and 82-300mm lenses on a standard 35mm film camera. Used the shorter lens far more often than the longer one. If I were trying to perfect an equipment pack that's the range I'd try to get the very best lens I could acquire.

So if I were you I'd leave well enough alone and look at the other end of the focal length range.

I have an 18-55mm lens that came with the camera as well. I think that between the two I will be pretty happy. If I don't buy a new lens I could use the money for trophy fees.

While I'm sure there are some experts here, I'd suggest a quick search or post over on http://www.stevesforums.com/forums/ - it's one of "the" camera web pages where you will find plenty of good info on just about anything camera related.

Good luck on the hunt.

FWIW, I'd have to throw in with Wink as regards optimal "grip and grin" or "trophy/hero" shots, my favorites have been taken with a wide angle - a Tokina 12-24, from low on the ground or at equal height to the animals eyes. That said, I might be inclined to make do with the 18-55 kit lens you've got, just be sure to stop down to f/8 or so, use a tripod and the on-board fill-flash, and fill the frame.

For "animals-in-the-wild" shots, I'm a firm believer in the longer focal length the better. When I was in Africa, I had a 100-400L on my 350XT. That runs about $1400. But for about $400 less (i.e. $400 savings for trophy fees), the 400 mm f/5.6 prime is even sharper, albeit a little less flexible. And in all honesty, I can't think of a time when I was taking photos of animals and I said to myself "damn, I'm too close and need to zoom out".

A couple of other photopgraphy sites to check and search archives for info: www.dpreview.com, and www.fredmiranda.com.

I have made a decision, hopefully I have made the right choice. I have been doing a lot of sports photography as well of my kids lately with a friend of mine (a Nikon guy). Because of the poor lighting that we get here in Washington during the fall (evening football games with cloud cover) he uses a lens with f/2.8 throughout and is able to get much better shots than I was with my 75 - 300 f/4-5.6 lens, so I decided on the Canon 70-200 f/2.8L USM lens. It is a bit bulky and heavy for my liking, but everything seems to be a trade off. I also purchased a 2.0x Canon Extender, so i can get the wildife shots when I have good lighting. For the trophy/hero shots, I will use the kit lens.

You won't be disappointed with that lens. It's a beauty. And with the 2.0x, you'll get alot closer to wildlife.

If it were me I would purchase the 70-200 2.8 L with the Canon 1.4 and 2X extenders.

quote:

Originally posted by SDHall:
I have made a decision, hopefully I have made the right choice. I have been doing a lot of sports photography as well of my kids lately with a friend of mine (a Nikon guy). Because of the poor lighting that we get here in Washington during the fall (evening football games with cloud cover) he uses a lens with f/2.8 throughout and is able to get much better shots than I was with my 75 - 300 f/4-5.6 lens, so I decided on the Canon 70-200 f/2.8L USM lens. It is a bit bulky and heavy for my liking, but everything seems to be a trade off. I also purchased a 2.0x Canon Extender, so i can get the wildife shots when I have good lighting. For the trophy/hero shots, I will use the kit lens.

You won't be disappointed with the "L" lens, specially for portraits. The kit lens will cover most situations, including landscape photos.

I took this photo with A Rebel XT and the same kit lens you have (18-55 mm), with it set to 18 mm:

Forgot to mention that I used a polarizer filter over the kit lens. A polarizer enhances the blue color of the sky, and the reflection on the water.

Awesome picture Ray. I just picked up a polarizing filter for the lens yesterday.

Thanks for the tip.

quote:

Originally posted by SDHall:
Awesome picture Ray. I just picked up a polarizing filter for the lens yesterday.

Thanks for the tip.

Yes. Keep in mind that the polarizer cuts reflection that's coming directly toward the lens. For example, take a look at the picture above> You can see the river bottom by the right lower corner. Without the polarizer all you would see is reflection.

It does cut a little light, perhaps around 2-3 stops depending on the filter. This is not a problem if there is lots of ambient light, but if shooting at dusk or down with the camera set on M, P, and the other non-auto modes, you may want to "bracket" a stop or two. Otherwise you can always lighten the photo with one of the Photoshop applications.

Is that a clear polarized lens or colored?

quote:

Originally posted by Catmandu:
Is that a clear polarized lens or colored?

A polarizer is just like a set of fishing sunglasses, or dark. However, when you look at the water you can see the fish, since it stops the light reflection on the water from reaching your eyes.

The polarizer used in a photo above is a circular polarizer filter.

Some information relating to polarizers:
http://dpfwiw.com/polarizer.htm#unwanted