john bishop images | photography | vancouver, bc

50-500mm telephoto zoom

  Leo's Cameras, Lost Lagoon, Sigma, Stanley Park, telephoto, zoom

I was tempted to title this post “I need more money!” after one of Sarah Richardson’s comments from her “Sarah’s House” HGTV series when she realizes that, in order to get the look she wants in her home, she needs more money.

Two things happened recently that have me bemoaning that same litany.

1. Renting that great 50-135mm telephoto zoom gave me some super shots, ones that I am quite happy about, and
2. I recently had a chance to reconnect with Paul Dixon, a friend I volunteer with on Emergency Preparedness for People with Disabilities.

Paul has some great pictures on his Zenfolio site and they inspired me. As I note in this earlier post, this type of close-up, nature photography is something I want to persue. I have had a few conversations with photographers around Lost Lagoon with large telephoto-zoom lenses and all of them advise me to get at least a 400mm lens.

So after a quick trip back to Leo’s Cameras, I headed back down to Lost Lagoon, this time with an amazing, beautiful Sigma APO 50-500mm ƒ4-6.3 EX DG HSM telephoto zoom, all for the massive sum of $35.00 for the weekend! I can’t stress enough what a treat it is to be able to rent this type of top end equipment. This is not a cheap lens to purchase (about $1100), and for awhile, it will be out of my reach financially. But being able to rent means I can experiment with the creative side of these lenses without spending a huge fortune. It also allows me to be more confident about the type of lens that I will, someday, purchase.

The Sigma lens is not as fast as the Pentax (ƒ4.0 vs ƒ2.8), so some of the limits on the amount of light needed resurface with this lens. You sacrifice 2 stops in aperture (depth-of-field), exposure (freezing motion) or ISO (low light levels and noise), all of which tend to reduce or limit creative possibilities.

After spending a glorious three hours wandering around Lost Lagoon, simply allowing myself to see the nature that was all around me, I was more than satisfied with the new horizons this lens opened up for me.

And it seemed that the more I allowed nature to reveal herself to me, the more I saw. Geese bathing in the noon time sun (sometimes seen as a photographers bane) sparkled with splashing water, the bright, crystal clear light allowing me to freeze their wings in mid-flap. An orange-red eyed towhee hopped out from under a bush, looking for feed right in front of me, camera at the ready. A snoozing turtle blissfully unaware of the approaching, submerged “ambush”. Intent on sharing the warm rock, the invader yawning widely as it settled in. Here’s some of that afternoons results.

The lens has to go back Monday, but I know I’ll rent it again … probably soon!

;-j