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danielb
Apr 28, 2003, 9:55 AM
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How big a zoom is needed for taking pictures of climbers? I have a Fuji Finepix 2600 Zoom that has a 3x optical zoom which is ok for distances of about 1 rope length 50m. I'm thinking about getting a newer camera soon and am stuck between getting something with a bigger zoom (8x or 6x) or something that is more compact.
Any advice?
danielB
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dmon
Apr 28, 2003, 11:04 AM
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Don't worry about zoom, get WIDE. From your post it sounds like you're going digital, so you can always zoom in afterwards but you can't get a wider angle. Get as wide as possible. Wide is good.
Duncan
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dirko
Apr 28, 2003, 8:58 PM
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Young Luke--soon you will turn to the power of the WIDE side.
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timstich
Apr 29, 2003, 1:11 PM
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I have a Nikon Coolpix 950 with the telephoto lens attachment. I tried to steady the camera by hand several times in good sun to get pictures, but the CCD simply can't seem to scan fast enough to provide the shutter speed you need for hand held shots. So that is probably your bigest concern with using a telephoto lens or a zoom with a high end telephoto range. I got a micro tripod for $20 that fits in the camera case now.
I like wide angle shots most of the time anyway.
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krillen
Apr 29, 2003, 10:56 PM
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Wide is fine and good, but if he wants to zoom there is nothing wrong with that . It's his personal style, just because some don't like it doesn't deminish it's worth.
As for zooming, you could go with a zoom attachement as was stated above, but you loses stops with that. So, as was said, a tripod cant' hurt. this is much cheaper than buying awhole new camera. maybe rent/borrow/test an adapter out and see how yo ulike it, then make your dicision.
I use a 210mm (35mm SLR) zoom, and there is little I can't get that I want, maybe a 300mm but not much more than that. Digtal zoom is a little different so you'll have to look at the equivilancies.
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pbjosh
Apr 29, 2003, 11:48 PM
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I have a zoom range of about 25-320mm on my 10D Digital SLR, because the camera has a built in (like it or not) 1.6x telephoto effect because the CCD is closer to 20mm than 35mm. So anyways my 16-35mm lens becomes ~ 25-55 and my 70-200 becomes about 110-320. It's hard to handhold above about 150mm with good results, too much shake. So if you're not going to get a tripod, anything beyond about 150mm (5-6x in terms of fixed configuration digital cameras) is going to be hard to shoot hand held. Canon (and now Nikon I understand) make image stabilization lens but they're hella-pricey. However I can hand-hold my friends IS lens at 300mm (480mm on my 10D) and get pretty decent results.
All the details aside, 4-5x zoom on a fixed-configuration camera is probably plenty and tends towards the limits of utility. Make sure it's "optical zoom" and not "digital zoom" because digital zoom is just cropping the edges of the picture and blowing it up, something you can do later with photoshop if you want, and something that WILL result in poorer quality.
josh
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dmon
Apr 30, 2003, 10:06 AM
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In reply to: Wide is fine and good, but if he wants to zoom there is nothing wrong with that . It's his personal style, just because some don't like it doesn't deminish it's worth.
No one said it did diminish its worth. Read the freaking posts. We merely said that wide angle was more useful when photographing climbing. And it is.
So there.
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tenn_dawg
May 6, 2003, 4:16 AM
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pbjosh,
You should be able to handhold up through 300mm without much trouble. The secret is using a shutterspeed greater than or equal to the focal length of the lens.
I do LOTS of nature photography with a 300mm prime lens on an old Pentax manual. As long as I keep the shutter speed at 250, or better yet, 1/500th I get reasonably crisp shots.
Try putting your 10D in shutter priority mode (I believe it's called tV on your camera) and keep the shutter speed high. It should be easy since 10D's have shutter speeds in 1/3rd stop increments. Let me know if this helps.
By the way, how do you like that 10D anyway? I'm saving up to buy one, but it's going to be tough as broke as I usually am. I've finally decided to make the Digital jump with the introduction of the 10D, but already i'm looking at how much better it is than the D-60, and wondering if I shouldn't just wait another year. UGH, what I really need is a big pile of money so I can play without having to work so damn much.
Travis
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dirko
May 6, 2003, 4:58 AM
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Just to agonize you Tenndawg--the EOS 3D that comes out in September is going to multiply by 1 or 1.3, not 1.6. Mmmmmmmmmm good.
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tenn_dawg
May 6, 2003, 5:03 AM
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Oh jesus christ.
How much is THAT camera going to cost?
Travis
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apollodorus
May 6, 2003, 5:19 AM
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What sort of shots are you trying to get?
Here's a 1000mm zoom (zoomed all the way in?) shot of climbers about 2000 feet above El Cap Meadows:
Telephoto shot of El Cap
I have a 80-300mm zoom lens, but would like a 500mm reflex (mirror) lens, too, for the odd close-up from afar. The reflex/mirror lens is smaller than a conventional lens.
300mm is pretty easy to shoot freehand, as long as you "French Freehand" it (Freedom Freehand it???) by leaning against something for stability.
"Find your target, then take a deep breath. Let half of it out, hold it and fix on the target. Squeeze, don't pull, the trigger. That's the secret to a great shot." - Dr. Johnson
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pbjosh
May 6, 2003, 5:33 AM
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I know about the shutter speed > focal length rule and I can handle shutter priority vs aperature priority :) Call me shaky or something but I can definitely get crisper shots at 100mm than at 300mm, heh. I think part of it is looking at a 3000x2000 image which becomes 6x the size of your monitor and seeing in phenomenal detail just how sharp or not it is. Odds are the shots are sharp enough for printing at 5x7 say but when you're using a 21" monitor to view 1/6 of an image, you see EVERYTHING.
As an aside on the 10D, I like it a lot. The #1 cool thing about it is instant feedback instead of waiting for film to be developed. It's what I've been waiting for to actually train myself and learn something about photography 'cause I hate the hassle of film, the delay in development and the lack of quality in development. Digital skips the BS which makes it easy enough for my lazy ass to start learning.
The EOS 1Ds which is out now has a 1x telephoto effect instead of the 1.6x, all for a mere $6500 or so. Blech.
josh
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krillen
May 6, 2003, 5:17 PM
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In reply to: In reply to: Wide is fine and good, but if he wants to zoom there is nothing wrong with that . It's his personal style, just because some don't like it doesn't deminish it's worth. No one said it did diminish its worth. Read the freaking posts. We merely said that wide angle was more useful when photographing climbing. And it is. So there.
Ummm.....that wasn't an accusation or anything, relax man. All I was trying to stress was that people shouldn't be restricted by pre-conceived conventions. Zooms are great, Wide Angles are great, but when he said "How big a zoom is needed for taking pictures of climbers?" I just wanted him to think about his personal style and use that in conjuntion with everyone's sugestions. It's a very subjective question.
Cheers
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dmon
May 9, 2003, 7:55 AM
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Hey, I'm so relaxed I make lizards look edgy. Its jokes man. Do you think I seriously say "so there"?
I still think that wideness is the best thing for climbing shots though. If only I could afford a good wide angle. :(
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straightedgeteen
May 19, 2003, 12:02 AM
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In reply to: How big a zoom is needed for taking pictures of climbers? I have a Fuji Finepix 2600 Zoom that has a 3x optical zoom which is ok for distances of about 1 rope length 50m. I'm thinking about getting a newer camera soon and am stuck between getting something with a bigger zoom (8x or 6x) or something that is more compact. Any advice? danielB
100000 mm zoom lol jk
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