Wildlife Photographer of the Year - lens observation

[CaptainNH]

There is often a great deal of discussion about whether is it best to upgrade cameras or buy new glass to improve images.

I was finally able to get along to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the Australian Museum a couple of days ago. As well as being in awe of the amazing photographs, I started to notice some commonalities. Glass.

The winners and highly commended images were taken with a wide range of bodies from Canon 1000Ds to Nikon D3s, but the vast majority of images used pro-glass.

Next time you're wondering what to do with your hard earned money - invest in glass!!


That said, here's an example of an amazing image which used cheapo glass by way of a reversed 50mm f1.8, a teleconverter and a couple of extension tubes! [this is definitely on my growing list of things to experiment with]

[Canon EOS-5D + Canon EF 50mm f1.8 lens reversed + 2 sets of extension tubes + Canon EF 1.4x teleconverter; 1/200 sec at f9; ISO 200; Gitzo 143 tripod + Manfrotto 469 Ball Head; Canon 420EX flash; beanbag.]


I was pleased to see that there's still place for my "antique" 10D.......

[Canon EOS 10D + 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 lens; 1/1000sec at f9.5; ISO 200.]


My personal favourite......

[Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III + Canon EF 16-35mm f2.8L II USM lens; 1/100 sec at f13; ISO 200; Seacam housing; dual Ikelite SS-125 strobes.]


and the overall winner

[Hasselblad 503CW with a 6x6 Fujichrome backing + Planar 80mm lens; 1/30 sec at f11; ISO 50; purpose-made Ficap infrared camera trap.]