The Zoo, But Mostly a Cheetah (Canon 70-200mm f/4L)

J

jeffyjones

Well-known member
Long-time HVX200 user and Canon SLR enthusiast. Finally took the plunge with the AF100. I also bought the Redrock Micro LiveLens MFT. First attempt at using them last weekend, entirely with my Canon 70-200mm f/4L. Reasonably happy with the results, and excited about what I can likely get in more controlled environments.

Blog post:
http://jeffputz.com/blog/an-af100-field-test

 
It's actually a pretty large enclosure, believe it or not (this is the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo). I really liked that first shot as well, because he was sunning himself and that fur on his chest really popped.
 
Looks great! The subtitle should be "A Sunny, Overcranked At The Zoo"! :grin:

The eyes on the gorilla are very, very compelling- you wonder what's going on up there.

And the cheetah is well, gorgeous. Pretty cool when it lunges at the fence.

How do you like the Redrock? Are you OK with its changes (half stop? third stop?) in aperture? Access to the +/- button? etc.
Were you at f4 most/all the time?
 
Yeah, gorillas scare the hell out of me, because there's clearly a lot going on in their head. The cheetah is really a beautiful animal too.

I like the LiveLens adapter. It sure is expensive, but as I mentioned in the blog post, I don't see a lot of difference from an operational standpoint between that and using the native dial on "real" MFT lenses. The only annoying thing is that the power cable is way longer than it needs to be. I use the included hook-and-loop stuff to mount it on the front of the hand grip to the right, and wedge the extra cable in there. It's not too hideous.

I was at f/4 most of the time, except with the cheetah. That was the point in the day where I became more aware of exposure, and started to be a little more careful with it. I probably floated between f/4 and f/5.6, if I had to guess. I experimented more with the ND filters then too, which I think are two stops apart, so that makes sense. When you're at 200mm with that lens, you definitely don't need to be wide open to get a pleasant DOF. That's what I dig about using these lenses... even though there is field crop compared to use on a 5D, I feel like I know what look that each lens can capture.

The only negative I can really pin on using the Canons is that some of them make the camera really heavy if you go handheld. The 24-105mm f/4L, the kit lens that comes with the 5D's, is a super fantastic piece of glass, but it makes the AF100 very front heavy. I have the Lumix 14-42 and the 20, and I suspect I'll likely stick to those for handheld work.
 
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