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Today I received the Canon* EF 500mm f/4.0L IS…

nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Yep!
Delivered from B&H :
Canon* EF 500mm f/4.0L IS
Giottos* MM 8990 4-Section Carbon Fiber Monopod

Of course the delivery arrived late in the afternoon, but I still had some times for some shots thru the office window!

B E A U T I F U L L Lens

Incredibly sharp, but happy that I bought also the monopod… for the weight, though I find it much more hand holdable than the 600
Just wonder what kind of not-so-expensive head I can use with it (I have to make some money first!)
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Congrats Nicolas! You will need to get your son to schlepp this for you!! Do you intend yo use it from the helicopter? I guess it's much heavier than the 70-200 2.8L. Got to use that with a very fast shutter speed!

Asher
 
nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Asher Kelman said:
Congrats Nicolas! You will need to get your son to schlepp this for you!! Do you intend yo use it from the helicopter? I guess it's much heavier than the 70-200 2.8L. Got to use that with a very fast shutter speed!

Asher
Click to expand...

Hi Asher
my son has enough to do with his video gear!

Of course I will use the 500 from helicopter!

Of course shutter speed is needed, but I'd like to know from the wildlife shooters that use such long lens, what "by default" settings they use in regards to shutter speed and ƒ stop.

For the very few shots I tried yesterday the difference of DOF between ƒ4 and ƒ! isn't really noticable.
What is noticable is that at ƒ4 your shutter speed is faster and the pic is sharper…

So, come on guys, gimme some tricks for the use of that lens!

I'll find them anyway, but it will save me some time, avoiding a lot of tries/tests and see…

Thanks in advance
 
nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Thanks Nill, that the kind of info I needed, and coming from you… a must have!
I'll give it an eyeshot…
 
S

Scott B. Hughes

New member
Asher Kelman said:
Got to use that with a very fast shutter speed! Asher
Click to expand...

Maybe, maybe not always. This photo was made with a 500/4, handheld at 1/30 f18.

IS is a wunderful thing. -Scott

mmm3_001.jpg
 
N

Nill Toulme

New member
Nicolas mind you I have no experience with that head, I just know of it as a "budget" solution. The "correct" solution for that lens on a tripod is the Wimberley Head II. On a monopod I prefer no head at all, just QR bracket and clamp (or replacement foot), unless you're shooting at acute up or down angles, e.g., birds in flight.

Use IS Mode 1 unless you are doing intentional panning shots like Scott's above.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net
 
nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Thanks Nill
Usually when I shoot boats, I look down, not up, otherwise, I'm really wet! (and the lens too!)

I, like you, wonder if I really need a head…
 
nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Thanks Kris for the link to Canon's Virtual Plant, I knew i t already, really interesting.

The funny thing is that I fly tonight (leave Bordeaux at 8:00PM) to...... Dubaï!
I'll stay there until Sunday, visiting some clients and prospects at the boat show...

I'll PM you my cell phone (I hope it works there), we may have a drink somewhere around and toast OPF!
 
R

Ray West

New member
Hi Nil,

I reckon Nicolas could almost do with a special rig made, something like a shoulder mount, maybe with open frame separate sights, get it balanced on his shoulder, like the larger video cams were used (not the very large cams).

Best wishes,

Ray
 
nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Nill Toulme said:
Nicolas are you strapped into the helicopter? I would think you'd want to decouple the lens/camera from the copter's vibration by hand holding if at all possible.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net
Click to expand...

Bonjour Nill
If you mean by "strapped" that I have security belt, yes !

Until now I always used my arms as "silent blocks" to prevent the vibrations to be transmitted to the camera, but with the 500, that's gonna be sport!
I'll try some testing and let know what will come up with these.

BTW
I always have protected my front lenses with UV filters (that I have to change at least every year, otherwise they bring blurr). Now with the 500 it is impossible to have a UV filter on front, how you huys clean the front lens?

Thanks
 
W

Will_Perlis

New member
The last I heard, the front elements on the big Canon teles are plain optical glass for protection. You might check with Canon on the cost of that element and find out if it's at all possible to replace it yourself.
 
B

Bart_van_der_Wolf

pro member
Nicolas Claris said:
BTW
I always have protected my front lenses with UV filters (that I have to change at least every year, otherwise they bring blurr).
Click to expand...

Hi Nicolas,

Just wondering about the need to replace filters, do you have any idea why they change so rapidly? Could it be some kind of mold, or oxidation/deposit due to salt water (spay or atmosphere)? Knowing the reason might help to avoid the cause.

Anyway, I'd asume your lens could benefit from a cleaning routine after each job in hostile atmosphere, if that's the source. Pec*Pad with Eclipse, or a pre-'wipe' with distilled water or VisibleDust's 'Lens Clean™', should allow to spare the front lens coating of the 500mm, yet remove a film deposit and dry the lens to avoid mold if kept in a relatively dry enclosure when not in use.

The thing worrying me most might be salt crystals that could scratch the coating unless dissolved before wiping (I'm not suggesting you lick the front element clean before wiping, but my pair of spectacles fare well under such treatment when sailing
tongue.gif
). Maybe you'll need to resort to something like Opticlean which avoids all wiping action.

Bart
 
N

Nill Toulme

New member
Nicolas I have had the best luck cleaning lenses and filters with Zeiss lens fluid and Kim-wipes.

Will is right about the front element, but I too would be curious to know what Canon charges to replace one.

Also for the kind of stuff you do you might want to invest in the drop-in polarizer for that lens. I think it runs about US$100-125.

Nill
~~
www.toulme.net
 
B

Bart_van_der_Wolf

pro member
Will_Perlis said:
The last I heard, the front elements on the big Canon teles are plain optical glass for protection. You might check with Canon on the cost of that element and find out if it's at all possible to replace it yourself.
Click to expand...

The diagram from the Canon camera-museum seems to suggest something like that, much to my surprise. The rear element also looks suspiciously plan-parallel.

Bart
 
W

Will_Perlis

New member
"I have read that the front element of 'white' EF telephoto lenses is just protective glass that is relatively inexpensive to replace if damaged. Does this mean that a protective filter is not needed?"

"This is true for EF super-telephotos like the 300mm f/2.8L, 400mm f/2.8L, 500mm f/4L and 600mm f/4L, but not so for the smaller white lenses like the 300mm f/4L and the 400mm f/5.6L. With those lenses, the front element is very much a part of the optical system and you need to supply your own protective filter if you want one."

From Canon Europe CPS http://www.cps.canon-europe.com/kb/detail.jsp?faqId=1024

I think I also read it in the Canon Lens Work book. In any event, it might be worth checking into.
 
nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
As a quick reply to everyone:
The UV filters get blurred as, when we are at sea, salted water sprays is very abrasive when I do "dry/clean" the front element.
I have no time to rinse and dry + clean, sometimes I can only shoot 2 or 3 piccs and have to dry... that's the reason why, after a year the front element comes to be "soft/blured".

I've already read that, on the 500, the front element can be changed easily...

After each shoot, I clean all my lenses and camera body with fresh water (unsa&lted!) and dry , but I guess the front element is different, I'll give a try to eclipse fluid, that I do have already for cleaning sensor...

Have all a great day and thanks for the good advices...
 
W

Will_Perlis

New member
To beat this horse just a little more, I wouldn't be surprised if the normal components of seawater and the various industrial chemicals found in it near shore react with lens coatings over time. That might affect images even if abrasion wasn't a factor. I'll suggest you send some old filters to the factory (rather than throwing them away) to see if their people could analyze what has happened to them.
 
B

Bart_van_der_Wolf

pro member
Nicolas Claris said:
The UV filters get blurred as, when we are at sea, salted water sprays is very abrasive when I do "dry/clean" the front element.
I have no time to rinse and dry + clean, sometimes I can only shoot 2 or 3 piccs and have to dry... that's the reason why, after a year the front element comes to be "soft/blured".
Click to expand...

Just a crazy thought ...
On my car windows I use a coating (applied as liquid) that repells water, which results in the rain droplets to be blown off by wind. It would possibly hurt the AR-coating of the front lens element, and I wouldn't let it creep under the lens retaining ring at the front, but why couldn't there be something similar and compatible with a photographic lens' coating?

Maybe Canon could see something useful in such a consumable ...?

Bart
 
Asher Kelman

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I would imagine that this is the one place I'd want to use a whole supply of UV filters which I'd swap out and drop in water regularly. I hope you won't use that lens without a filter just to be a purist!!

Asher
 
B

Bart_van_der_Wolf

pro member
Asher Kelman said:
I would imagine that this is the one place I'd want to use a whole supply of UV filters which I'd swap out and drop in water regularly. I hope you won't use that lens without a filter just to be a purist!!
Click to expand...

I'm not even sure whether the lens has filter threads, it does however use drop-in filters. In general, filters have a very strong/negative effect on the optical performance of longer lenses. Canon seems to have chosen flat front and rear glass for protection, and included those in the optical design. Seems like a reasonable trade off, although the salt water abrasive issue adds some unique constraints.

Bart
 
nicolas claris

nicolas claris

OPF Co-founder/Administrator
Bart
As far as I know and have read, you're fully right there.
I've tested the best UV filters I could buy on the 70-200 2.8 IS and even new, they have bad effect on the optical quality, even bringing/adding flares for someones…
But i chose to use one to protect the front element…

As for the the 500 there is absolutely no way to put a filter in front.

I know that in the movie industry, they use compressed air on the front element to blow water droplets.
Not an easy solution for me! and I still have to deal with the salt issue.

I'd like our Canon man, next time he's coming around in OPF, gives us his opinion, particularly on the Canon's supposed protected front lens... Thanks in advance!
 
C

Chuck Westfall(Canon USA)

pro member
Hi, Folks:

For the following current lenses:

EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM
EF400mm f/2.8L IS USM
EF400mm f/4 DO IS USM
EF500mm f/4L IS USM
EF600mm f/4L IS USM


The front element is a protective glass filter. It's very close to being an optical flat, but in reality it is a weak meniscus lens, intentionally curved to eliminate ghosting when used with digital SLR cameras. The front elements of these lenses are also multi-coated so as to maintain the color balance of the lens as well as to improve transmissivity. There is more documentation on the front elements of our IS super-telephoto lenses in "EF Lens Work III," which is available for purchase through many Canon EF Lens dealers, as well as directly through Canon USA. The current retail price for "EF Lens Work III" in the USA is $24.

As for other Canon EF lenses, here's the rule of thumb: If the lens has a front filter thread, it doesn't have a built-in protective glass filter. This would include lenses like the EF400mm f/5.6L USM, EF 300mm f/4L IS USM, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, etc.

Best Regards,

Chuck Westfall
Director/Media & Customer Relationship
Camera Marketing Group/Canon U.S.A., Inc.
 
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