Testing the 40D - Repost

[Bob Kaufman]

Pbase was down so I had to use Flickr

A couple of test shots from the 40D:

White-crowned Sparrow
Eaton Canyon, 2/22/08
40D, 100-400@400, 1/400, f7.1, ISO-400, handheld RAW



Red-shouldered Hawk
Eaton Canyon, 3/22/08
40D, 100-400@400, 1/400, f7.1, ISO-200, handheld RAW


Frankly, I'm not too happy with these - I expected more detail . Those who are 40D owners, what camera menu settings do you use?

[Neon Rosell II]

Mar 24, 2008 1:21:01 GMT Bob Kaufman said:

A couple of test shots from the 40D:

White-crowned Sparrow
Eaton Canyon, 2/22/08
40D, 100-400@400, 1/400, f7.1, ISO-400, handheld RAW



Red-shouldered Hawk
Eaton Canyon, 3/22/08
40D, 100-400@400, 1/400, f7.1, ISO-200, handheld RAW


Frankly, I'm not too happy with these - I expected more detail . Those who are 40D owners, what camera menu settings do you use?

These are terrific captures already Bob!! I use wide open all the time on my 300mm f4 IS + 1.4x TC. If I'm using a bare 300mm I use an opening of 5.6 or 8 which is I think is the sweet spot of the lens, but a bare 300 would mean I need to be somewhere nearer than 10m to get good details.

I guess IQ is more the result of the distance of your subject and the lens you use. ;D meaning a 500mm f4 would give you your much sought after details... at the same distance

[Romy Ocon]

These look very good to me as posted, Bob.... how do 100% crops look?

[bindi]

Hi Bob, Well done on capturing these 2 lovely birds!

You've done very good work, I think...good exposure, nice focus, and you've picked beautful light and subjects.

I honestly think it would be hard to get better results with that lens/cam combo, Bob, because the zoom kind of needs to be stopped down like you have done (hence more background clutter).

Also, the zoom just doesn't resolve images with quite the same detail as a prime. You might try getting closer to the subject and backing up the zoom a tad (to 360'ish) for sharper results. But I know that is not very practical advice.

Bob, I have been trawling through my 300mm F/4 L prime versus 100-400mm L test pics over easter, and I do find your photos to have the same `100-400mm' quality to them that my own test pics possess.On close inspection, I wasn't happy with them either, because I am addicted to `prime-like' detail:)

But after comparing my photos from each lens, I can easily see now that I did get the most from the zoom lens, but its `sweet spots' are different to the prime. For example, like Neon said, f/5-f/5.6 are great settings for the prime, but very poor for the zoom. And I can viciously crop pictures shot with the prime and still get great detail, but not so with the zoom.

Anyway, great work Bob:)

[Bobby Kintanar]

Tukayo, I normally use "Faithful" Picture Style with sharpening at 5. You will notice that the "matrix metering"on the 40D is easily fooled by bright, contrasty scenes, so use "partial metering" instead. Also, in a normally lighted scenario, the 40D will tend to overexpose by 1/3 to 1/2 stop, making the photo brighter than the original scene - which is okay most of the time. In backlit situations compensate by at least 1.5 Stops to get better exposures on your subject. This is my experience with the 40D, and I hope it helps. :-)

[Bob Kaufman]

Mar 25, 2008 9:06:06 GMT Bobby Kintanar said:

Tukayo, I normally use "Faithful" Picture Style with sharpening at 5. You will notice that the "matrix metering"on the 40D is easily fooled by bright, contrasty scenes, so use "partial metering" instead. Also, in a normally lighted scenario, the 40D will tend to overexpose by 1/3 to 1/2 stop, making the photo brighter than the original scene - which is okay most of the time. In backlit situations compensate by at least 1.5 Stops to get better exposures on your subject. This is my experience with the 40D, and I hope it helps. :-)

Thank you so much, Tukayo, for the helpful hints. Everything you said about exposure happens with my 40D also.

Again, thank you!

[Bobby Kintanar]

And another thing - when using a 1.4x TC (taped for Autofocus) shoot Minus 1/3 stop from ZERO and keep that as your mid point exposure. A 2X TC will require Minus 2/3 Stop as Midpoint. You're welcome Tukayo. :-)