Hi Everyone
I am getting closer to getting the Canon 7D and the 300mm prime lens with the extender so I thought today I would take a trip to Calumet in Edinburgh and get a quotation.
I was able to hold the 7D which was brill but they had no lenses on display for me to try. The quotation was £40 dearer than WEX for the same order but I have been offered an extended warranty on the camera body and 300mm lens although on my quotation sheet they have only mentioned the lens so will have to double check. I am preferring Calumet and the assistant did say that if I was not happy with the lens I would receive a full refund ie no postage hassle if returned within 14 days!
My first question is are these extended warranties worth it or should I save the £40 at WEX and get a free bag too!
My next question - has anyone gone through Gatwick or Heathrow and seen the 7D in the duty free?I know the big white lenses are not there!
I saw a monopod and head that I liked. Has anyone bought them or could anyone recommend something better. I liked the tripod as it has extending feet which if you are standing still for an hour it could help the weight a bit. I have used the amazon sight just to show you all what I saw.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Manfrotto-Midi-Ball-Head-RC2/dp/B002PWHOYG/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1371058733&sr=8-11&keywords=manfrotto+heads
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Manfrotto-682B-Self-Standing-Monopod/dp/B000186QGI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371058792&sr=8-1&keywords=monopod+manfrotto+682b
Thanks for all your help again.
Yo Lolly. When you get used to using a viewfinder, you will find it much easier than the screen. Lets simplify most of the info re mono, tripods, shutter release etc. Mono is great on the move, lighter to carry, and a useful support for the big lenses. You don't need to use a cable release. A tripod is the ultimate support, best for static subjects, cable release is best, but not vital, keep speed over focal length of lens, and you can use your finger o k. Handheld is best for fast moving subjects, as you can track movement easier. Keep the shutter speed over focal length, and all should be well. Before you all shout, yes stabilisers will allow reduced shutter speeds, but don't rely on it. You also need to switch the stabiliser off, if using continuous drive, or on a tripod. Hope this helps somewhat, and I am not teaching granny to suck eggs. Lol.
Take care all, Stich.
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Just to expand on Stich's reply - what happens when you mount a stabilised lens on a tripod is that the stabiliser gets confused. Because it's expecting to correct slight movement - and doesn't get any - it will start to "correct" anyway! That makes the image in the viewfinder start to move around. Many lenses now have tripod sensing stabilisers and won't do this, but if in doubt, as Stich suggests, turn it off when on a solid support. It's worth reading the specific manual with the lens though - some stabilisers will help reduce the tiny movement you can get with mirror slap, in which case, leaving it turned on when sat on a tripod will still be useful.
You may also see different stabilising modes on a lens. One is for normal stabilisation, one is for panning shots. When panning (eg tracking a bird flying left to right) that left to right movement is intentional, you don't want the lens to try and correct it! The panning mode will only try to correct up and down movement (normal mode will try to correct up, down, left & right movement).
Picking up the comment on continuous drive: using the stabiliser can have a number of other impacts. It can sometimes slow down focus acquisition (ie the time taken to lock onto your subject), it may slow down the maximum frames-per-second speed and it will use the battery up a bit quicker. All are pretty logical in that the lens is having to do a bit more between shots (eg focus, stabilise, shoot, check focus, stabilise, shoot). The fastest FPS will come from One-shot focussing and no stabiliser as it will simply have to focus, shoot, shoot, shoot. In practice, the impacts of these are often miniscule and you may never notice any problem :-)
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Oh, I still have the 7D as well :-)
The 7D has the advantage of speed (higher frame rate) and the crop sensor means more reach from any lens, but the 5D3 is better in low light and has an even better AF system. They complement each other quite well. Which gets used depends on what I'm shooting and from where - if you can fill the frame on the 5, it will be a better image than the 7, but most of the time with birds you have to crop, so any advantage the bigger sensor gives is lost by having to crop far more to get the image you're after. The 5 got used more on holiday simply because it was new (and we all like playing with new toys!) but I was shooting a family fun day at the weekend with both bodies (100-400 on the 7D for shooting sports action at a safe distance, 24-105 on the 5 for the closer pics).