Author Topic: Lens aperture.  (Read 2184 times)

Offline MattB

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Lens aperture.
« on: January 10, 2022, 12:43:09 AM »
For ship photography, I'm looking at a lens with at least a 300mm focal length but unsure what size aperture I need or would be a minimal requirement.

Also, what sort of lenses are others using? I've seen a couple which may be compatible with the camera but there are a lot of different manufacturers. One that keeps coming to the fore is Sigma.


Offline Owen Foley

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Re: Lens aperture.
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2022, 06:53:00 AM »
Sigma are one of the better off-brand lenses and are generally a good product.
If you are looking at a 300mm lens, I think the only one they make is a 300mm f2.8.
That would be a good lens, but heavy and expensive.
For general photography, you wouldn't need to spend that much or carry that weight.

They also have a 70-300mm F4-5.6 zoom lens which would be a lot easier to carry and afford.
The only area it might suffer in would be low light photography, but at f5.6  or smaller apertures, it should be fine for ship photography.

For a bit more reach, their longer zooms are quite good and very popular.
I have a 150-500mm and it gives good results.
« Last Edit: January 10, 2022, 06:57:13 AM by Owen Foley »

Offline pieter melissen

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Re: Lens aperture.
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2022, 07:25:37 AM »
Just checked the Sigma program, and apparently the 150-500 is no longer available but the 150-600 F5-6.3 is there and retails at 1175 Euro. I am wondering whether you need such a long lens. Last year I did some shooting with the Canon 500 F4, which is a fantastic lens (and costs the world) but I found that it only worked on smaller ships and hardly on the ones coming in an out of Rotterdam. I think 300 mm is good enough, the haze will reduce the effectiveness of longer lenses. What camera body will you use?   

Offline Owen Foley

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Re: Lens aperture.
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2022, 10:05:32 AM »
The raw image is like an uncooked cake.
It needs to be "cooked"" before it's any good.
Without post-processing, it will look worse than a jpg straight from the camera.

Offline pieter melissen

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Re: Lens aperture.
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2022, 10:53:57 AM »
The raw image is like an uncooked cake.
It needs to be "cooked"" before it's any good.
Without post-processing, it will look worse than a jpg straight from the camera.
but with proper processing it will look much better.

Offline Owen Foley

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Re: Lens aperture.
« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2022, 01:22:37 PM »
but with proper processing it will look much better.
If the photographer has a good understanding of post processing raw images.

Offline pieter melissen

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Re: Lens aperture.
« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2022, 04:03:48 PM »
[
If the photographer has a good understanding of post processing raw images.


Wow, I never thought of that.....

Offline Homer

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Re: Lens aperture.
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2022, 08:49:06 AM »
Hi,

since I'm a Canon "Fan boy" I can recommend them 100% . I started with an AE-1 in 1977 followed by an A-1. The digital area started with an Rebel XTI ,

Offline pieter melissen

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Re: Lens aperture.
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2022, 04:04:12 PM »
Thanks Henning, beautifully explained. But why are lenses so expensive ? Ive just seen a 600mm for

 

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