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Need advice on 300 f2.8 AIS ED-IF MF
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<blockquote data-quote="STM" data-source="post: 619218" data-attributes="member: 12827"><p>I have used this lens for almost 30 years. It is a superb lens from the word go. It works beautifully for wildlife and birding, assuming they are not that far away and the depth of field is shallow enough and contrast very high so that focusing is very easy. It is very sharp wide open, but the very shallow depth of field is so shallow that any error in focusing will be very noticeable. f/4 and f/5.6 are superb as is f/8. After that diffraction takes over a little. 300mm is really too short for any kind of astrophotography. I usually use a TC-14B with it if I need a little more optical horsepower but the TC-300 works very well as well. With just the lens alone, CA is essentially non-existent thanks to 2 ED elements. There are two versions of this lens, one with the built in lens shade, which is pretty short but works ok and the later one with a built in UV filter (instead of the 122mm screw in filter size of the earlier one) and a removable (and reversible) much longer lens shade. Optically the two are identical. </p><p></p><p>I never thought of using it for "macro" applications but two PK-13 extension tubes might work. It won't be macro, it will just be closeup. </p><p></p><p>Although it is no lightweight, it is built like a tank and is still very hand-holdable. I can easily hand hold it down to 1/125 sec. </p><p></p><p>A few images I have taken with mine</p><p></p><p><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/Red%20Shouldered%20Hawk3.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/Red%20Shouldered%20Hawk3.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/FL%20osprey_1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/FL%20osprey_1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/White%20Crane%202.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/White%20Crane%202.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/STM_0969_1.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/STM_0969_1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p>And this in the 1980's with the F2/MD-2 and High Speed Ektachrome, man I miss that stuff! Pam Shriver at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Ameila Island. </p><p></p><p><a href="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/PamShriverBampL800.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/PamShriverBampL800.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="STM, post: 619218, member: 12827"] I have used this lens for almost 30 years. It is a superb lens from the word go. It works beautifully for wildlife and birding, assuming they are not that far away and the depth of field is shallow enough and contrast very high so that focusing is very easy. It is very sharp wide open, but the very shallow depth of field is so shallow that any error in focusing will be very noticeable. f/4 and f/5.6 are superb as is f/8. After that diffraction takes over a little. 300mm is really too short for any kind of astrophotography. I usually use a TC-14B with it if I need a little more optical horsepower but the TC-300 works very well as well. With just the lens alone, CA is essentially non-existent thanks to 2 ED elements. There are two versions of this lens, one with the built in lens shade, which is pretty short but works ok and the later one with a built in UV filter (instead of the 122mm screw in filter size of the earlier one) and a removable (and reversible) much longer lens shade. Optically the two are identical. I never thought of using it for "macro" applications but two PK-13 extension tubes might work. It won't be macro, it will just be closeup. Although it is no lightweight, it is built like a tank and is still very hand-holdable. I can easily hand hold it down to 1/125 sec. A few images I have taken with mine [URL="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/Red%20Shouldered%20Hawk3.jpg.html"][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/Red%20Shouldered%20Hawk3.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/FL%20osprey_1.jpg.html"][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/FL%20osprey_1.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/White%20Crane%202.jpg.html"][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/White%20Crane%202.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [URL="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/STM_0969_1.jpg.html"][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/STM_0969_1.jpg[/IMG][/URL] And this in the 1980's with the F2/MD-2 and High Speed Ektachrome, man I miss that stuff! Pam Shriver at the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Ameila Island. [URL="http://smg.photobucket.com/user/stm58/media/PamShriverBampL800.jpg.html"][IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v138/stm58/PamShriverBampL800.jpg[/IMG][/URL] [/QUOTE]
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Need advice on 300 f2.8 AIS ED-IF MF
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