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New lens goes to Strybrying Arboretum, finds birds, flowers.

2008-02-2412 CommentsBirding, Nature, Photography

Last Tuesday I received my Canon EF 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO IS lens, which I purchased for our upcoming trip to South America. Naturally, it was raining, and chasing the cats around made me sad, we lost one of ours a week prior. Fortunately a break in the rain in the early evening allowed me to get out on Wednesday and check this lens out.  While driving through Golden Gate Park trying to think of where I should go, I found myself near the Strybring Arboretum and next to a parking space.  Decision made!

 

This lens is one of two in Canon’s “DO” (Diffractive Optics) lineup, the other being the considerably larger and more expensive EF 400mm f/4 DO IS.  The purpose of the DO technology is to produce high-quality lenses that are smaller & lighter than would otherwise be possible.  I’ve long been interested in the 70-300 DO lens because it is very compact and seems like it’d be a great travel lens.  The compromise is that these DO lenses are expensive, and are reported to be prone to flaring and occasionally odd-shaped out-of-focus highlight spots.   You can see an example of these spots in the second gull photo below, where the highlights on the water have a sort of donut-shaped appearance.

 

First impressions are that it is very compact indeed, but heavier than one would think judging from its size.  When zoomed out to 300mm it is fairly long, especially with the hood attached.  The zoom action is pretty stiff, but I imagine it may loosen up with a little time.  It fits easily into my Adorama Slinger travel bag, along with my Canon 30D body and EF-S 17-85 IS lens with room to spare for a flash if I so desired.  Having two lenses cover the range from 17mm to 300mm is very appealing, of course, although I’m giving up some reach, as I usually do wildlife with my Canon EF 300mm f/4L IS lens with a 1.4x teleconverter attached.   Canon’s 1.4x TC is not compatible with this 70-300 lens, and even if it were, I’d have to tape the pins or autofocus would be disabled.   I’ll leave further discussion about this lens for another post when I have had more time to use it, and better weather!

 
 
Can you identify which gull is which above?

At the wooden bridge in the arboretrum, along with the expected Mallards and American Coots I saw several Western Gulls, one Glaucous-winged Gull, and a small flock of Mew Gulls.

 

The skies were gray and dark, hardly ideal conditions for sussing out a new lens, and I wound up shooting mostly at ISO 800 and up.   The image stabilizer seems to work extremely well – it felt more effective than the one on my 300mm f/4L IS lens, and I was able to get reasonably sharp shots at as low as 1/100sec at 300mm, which is nice, since this lens doesn’t have a tripod collar, and for its intended application, I would prefer not to bring a tripod or monopod anyways.

Anna’s Hummingbird

I checked out the “giant sequoia” to see if the sometimes-reported Red-bellied Sapsucker was present, but this would-be lifer remains at-large to me.  Things weren’t very birdy at this point, with only our common year-round birds seen, other than the Mew Gulls.

Great Blue Heron silhouette

It was getting dark and I had to get to my ornithology class, so I started to make my way back.  Along the way the birding picked up a bit, with many calling American Robins, which nest in the arboretum, a Great Blue Heron bringing sticks for a nest at nearby Stow Lake.

 
California Towhee

A California Towhee, my first of the year, foraged by a bench, and allowed close photos, although in this light,  I had to shoot at ISO 1250, which still only got me a 1/250sec shutter with the lens wide-open at f/5.6.

 
Cedar Waxwings

I was also pleased to find a small group of Cedar Waxwings, another year bird, and these allowed me a much closer view than my previous looks at them.  They’re adorable little birds, and they didn’t mind my presence at all, which let me futz with camera settings until I got some decent pictures.  Photographing these birds against an even gray sky required a good deal of exposure compensation, as the camera didn’t want to blow out the sky, but that left the birds too dark.

 

The gate I’d entered was now locked, a sure sign it was time to leave, so I headed to the after-hours exit and went on my merry way.  This was a nice little outing, and I was happy to take advantage in a break between storms (which are still dumping rain and heavy winds on us as I type).

Location: Stow Lake/Arboretum, GGP
Observation date: 2/20/08
Number of species: 16

Mallard – Anas platyrhynchos 10
Great Blue Heron – Ardea herodias 1
American Coot – Fulica americana 15
Mew Gull – Larus canus 6
Western Gull – Larus occidentalis 5
Glaucous-winged Gull – Larus glaucescens 1
Rock Pigeon – Columba livia 7
Mourning Dove – Zenaida macroura 2
Anna’s Hummingbird – Calypte anna 4
Black Phoebe – Sayornis nigricans 3
+ Western Scrub-Jay – Aphelocoma californica 3
Common Raven – Corvus corax 10
Chestnut-backed Chickadee – Poecile rufescens 2
American Robin – Turdus migratorius 10
+ Cedar Waxwing – Bombycilla cedrorum 7
+ California Towhee – Pipilo crissalis 1

+ = year bird

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

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12 Comments
  1. Reply
    2008-02-24 at 10:18
    Tom @ Ohio Nature

    Adam,

    Interesting discussion about the DO lens. I really haven’t read that many good things about it, but those reviews could have been from pro photographers who compare everything to the 300 2.8. I’m interested in hearing more about your future experiences.

    I have one great lens so far to use with my XTI, the EFS 60 mm macro, and I love it. I’m renting the 400 5.6 for my upcoming trip to Sanibel Island to serve as my telephoto. I’d also like to rent the 300 f4.0 for the upcoming migration season. Enjoy your trip, beautiful images you have posted today, always interesting to see your photos from Cali.

    Tom

  2. Reply
    2008-02-24 at 16:13
    mon@rch

    Gulls are never a strong point for me! Although, all your other photos are just spectacular as always and love hearing about your DO Lens! Keep up the great work and amazing photography!

  3. Reply
    2008-02-24 at 17:35
    montucky

    An interesting post and great photos, as always. I will be interested in seeing more about the new lens.

  4. Reply
    2008-02-24 at 21:15
    Adam R. Paul

    Tom 1: Yeah I was very hesitatant to buy this lens due to the very mixed reviews online, but for me, real world results matter most. Also, much of the flaws I’ve read about can be corrected in PS, and I spend some time with every photo in LR/CS, so that’s not a problem for me. I can see how folks who want a perfect photo out of the camera might be disappointed with this lens, and of course time will tell what I think of it too!

    Tom 2: Gulls are hard to be sure! My ornithology class is studying gulls right now, which is intimidating! Rather than ost my notes for these classes, I think I may instead start a “species notes” section on my birding website.

    Montucky: Thanks – we’ll have to see how it does. So far so good!

  5. Reply
    2008-02-24 at 23:38
    aullori

    I thought your shots were beautiful and taking a good shot of a cedar waxwing is something (for me extremely difficult) you did a beautiful job of it. My next purchase is the 1.4x teleconverter – when manna from heaven falls. (Actually :o) I’ve got a birthday coming up.) The blue heron silhouette is really wonderful I love how you composed that shot. (I also have to admire the Towhee.) I thought the shots were great.

  6. Reply
    2008-02-25 at 08:16
    Mary Carlson

    Great shots, as usual, Adam. Congrats on the new lens. It looks, so far, like you will have no problem with it. And now that the rain has stopped for a while, you can probably get out and try more photos in better light, although I am hearing forecasts of “cloudy” weather and no rain for the next few days.

  7. Reply
    2008-02-25 at 12:05
    Adam R. Paul

    Lori: Thanks! I was happy the waxwings allowed me to approach close – they’ve always been way up high in the treetops when I’ve seen them before. A TC is nice for sure, if the camera can still AF anyways – MF on moving subjects isn’t a subject I care to tackle just yet 🙂

    Mary: Thank you – I don’t expect this lens will be as nice as my 300mm f/4L, but so far it seems like it’ll fit the travel kit just fine. I’m hoping to get out after work today and do some watching on the peninsula.

  8. Reply
    2008-02-25 at 13:51
    aullori

    I hear you Adam; I’m not a big fan on MF myself. (Only in really frustrating circumstances when AF seems to want to get everything but what I want) Hey, btw I tagged you on a meme only because I’d love to hear what your response is – it seems like the ultimate challenge for the intellectual. http://aullori.wordpress.com/2008/02/25/six-word-memoir/

  9. Reply
    2008-02-26 at 10:31
    Bernie Kasper

    Adam don’t let the “experts” fool you, I have used my old Tamaron 70-200 5.6 to get some of my best shots, I do have bigger glass (2.8) but lenses like the one you have can do an outstanding job when used under the right conditions 🙂

    The images look great as usual, the Annas is really nice.

  10. Reply
    2008-02-26 at 15:34
    ankush

    nice shot, i like the composition here

  11. Reply
    2008-02-26 at 15:35
    ankush

    o wow i just saw all the rest of images in the post, i really love the b&w one. very nice!

  12. Reply
    2008-02-26 at 15:41
    Adam R. Paul

    Lori: Yeah, the only time I consistently use MF is shooting my fiancee’s jewelry, or other tripod-mounted macro applications, where AF isn’t very useful anyways. I’ll give the meme some thought – that’s a good one!

    Bernie: Indeed – I am very well happy to make the compromises necessary to get a shot where I wouldn’t otherwise be able. There’s just no way I’m carrying a LowePro (“Steal Me”) backpack w/my 300 f/4 on an international trip. Although I think many of the complaints about the 70-300 DO IS stem from the fact that it is quite a pricey lens compared to Canon’s consumer-grade 70-300 IS, but if you want a compact long-range telezoom for Canon, there really isn’t any other choice!

    Ankush: Thanks!

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