Canon EF 500 sweet spot

[GrahamS]

Hi ALL
Ive recently bought new Canon EF 500 f4 & .4X converter for wild life,I went down the road of purchasing Canon longer and longer lenses,
Has anyone got any tips on this lens good or bad any would be great.
regards Graham

[postcardcv]

It's a superb lens, it just makes you want to go out and use it... the lens is sharp wide open (even with the 1.4x tc), though of course the DOF is very shallow so you normally need to stop down a bit to increase this. I find that for bird I often need to shot at around f8-f11 to get the DOF right.

It is a big lens and even with IS it does benefit from good support, buying a decent tripod would be a wise investment and would help you get the most out of the lens. Spend time getting used to the lens, I found that it took me a couple of months to really get the hang of it. I'm getting much better results now than I was six months ago whenI first got it.

[GrahamS]

Yes like you I try getting out more and more to get the best out of this lens,
I will use f8 & f11 more for DOF thanks.

I just came back from the wilds of Scotland the weather was crap but wild life still came out, the deer came down from the hill tops as the weather was bad so was treated to lots of pics,
also sea eagles common buzards and golden eagles all paired up,
What a great hobby, thanks for your reply.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by GrahamS

I will use f8 & f11 more for DOF thanks.

I would be really interested to know your ISO settings.. More so with that 4X TC..

[sassan]

Originally Posted by Rudra Sen

I would be really interested to know your ISO settings.. More so with that 4X TC..

Was it 1.4x TC or 4?

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by sassan

Was it 1.4x TC or 4?

I've no idea about 4X TC....That's why I wanted know.

[yelvertoft]

I think you'll find it's a typo and Graham missed off the "1" before the .4, there is a decimal point before the 4 in Graham's original post.

[Rudra Sen]

Originally Posted by yelvertoft

there is a decimal point before the 4 in Graham's original post.

Ooops, you're right Duncan. How did I miss it?

[Cashie]

I stop down at least one stop when using it with The 1.4X Tc & it produces excellent clarity, Just try to keep it rock steady & you will be amazed!

[Joe]

The clarity of 1.4x (and 1.5x) are way better than 2x in my view.
There's no substitute for a nice bright aperture lens....a 500mm f/4 is certainly a cracker of an optic.
The shorter 300mm f/2.8 is more manageable, bolting on the 1.4x where neccessary. Ideal from my own point of view unless I did more cricket (or wildlife like you)...where I'd be looking at something longer.
I remember in the press a good few years ago there was some coverage on long/ bright lens designs.....optic designers were at that time exploring the liquid filled prototypes. One of the key advantages of this were massive savings in weight. i guess this idea was either ditched or put on the 'back burner' (??). Whilst i guess there's limitations on the physical properties of crystal/optical glass, using other media would blow traditional lens designs out of the water! Imagine a 500mm f/4 you could handhold as easily a 400mm f/5.6!!!

Anyone seen anything in the press about these designs?....last time I saw anything was in the mid' 1990's