Fast advise, need long lens for assignment

[Dylan]

Heard in another forum that you need to pay a surcharge for lens 300mm and longer. And from their shots, the monkeys looks tame.

Where does the surcharge come in? Excess luggage or for purchasing a long lens?

 

[Blu-By-U]

For your shooting conditions, forget the 135-400. it's too dark and you need a tripod/monopod to use.

 

[Inflames]

After reading all this comments. Haiz... olympus still have this problem... lack of lens choice...

 

[DeSwitch]

Where does the surcharge come in? Excess luggage or for purchasing a long lens?

Surcharge when you enter the park where the monkeys are.

 

[Blu-By-U]

After reading all this comments. Haiz... olympus still have this problem... lack of lens choice...

not that olympus is short of lens, it's the short of $$$ to own one. There is the 90-250 F2.0 but then it cost $9,000. then there is the 300mm F2.8 @ $11,000. Please bear in mind that these are weather sealed lens.

Of course there are the cheaper Sigma 50-500 and the 135-400. So who says Olympus is short of lens??:dunno:

Please do not forget that Four Third cameras are X2 magnification so the lens mentioned are Double their focal lengths. So while the same sigma 50-500 may only be 85-850 on a APS-X (1.7??) it's 100-1000 on an Olympus. and we achieve that without adding any converter.

 

[Inflames]

haha thx for your advices. sorry if you find my comments offensive, just that i have been deciding for the past whole month whether to get into four thirds system or just follow the crowd going for a s5pro, you know... its really driving me mad. share more info with me if you are willing to.

 

[Blu-By-U]

If you are really confused at the moment, it's gonna be worst for choices in the near future. As for brands, it really depends on yourselves. If you want rich and vibrant colors, Olympus is the way to go. But if you are looking into resell market, then N and C are your choice. Lots of used lenses and lots of 3rd party stuff you can add on.

Cheers to your choice.

 

[Dylan]

Surcharge when you enter the park where the monkeys are.

That is covered by the host country.

 

[raycsk]

Too all that have replied.
Very much thanks for your inputs.

What my current rig is the
E-1
14-54mm
50mm
40-150mm

Shooting the monkeys is just 1 of many that the assignment will need me to do. This has to be done in a boat on a river so again, sealed or unsealed is also an issue.
Location wise, not too bad, not that far from civilisation ..

Very tight on the budget and surely not going to get paid to cover the cost of the lens. Even the Sigma is out of own pocket.

I would have loved to get both a tele lens plus the 8mm lens since I have to do wide shots too but the assignment is end of this month and can't afford getting both.

Can't go above the budget to get the EC1.4 either so that is how tight I am working with.

Further to add, this assignment needs me to bring my underwater rig too. Many things to do and nothing specific thus everything has to come along.

In any case, if the Sigma lens is not going to boost the 50mm more, within that price range I'll forgo the idea of getting the lens and just deal with what I have. That would save me SGD$300 odd and brings me closer to the 8mm fisheye.

Dylan,

Having given some thought to your situation, here are some constructive suggestions:

1. sell off the 50mm, 40-150mm to offset for a used 50-200mm. That should get you into the budget range of a used EC1.4.

2. Having tried the SP550 I say its a neat little camera with good telephoto and ISO properties but again with the casing is gonna be around SGD1200 I guess. Plus point is its portable (just get a wide angle attachment), versatile (no need to change lens)

I think the important thing is to consider Murphy's Law when on a boat... risk of wetting the gear.

 

[Blu-By-U]

You got a point there. Maybe Dylan should just get the SP550 + casing for the assignment. That camera got the reach plus the advantage of IS and a casing.

 

[Dylan]

Dylan,

Having given some thought to your situation, here are some constructive suggestions:

1. sell off the 50mm, 40-150mm to offset for a used 50-200mm. That should get you into the budget range of a used EC1.4.

2. Having tried the SP550 I say its a neat little camera with good telephoto and ISO properties but again with the casing is gonna be around SGD1200 I guess. Plus point is its portable (just get a wide angle attachment), versatile (no need to change lens)

I think the important thing is to consider Murphy's Law when on a boat... risk of wetting the gear.

Sell of my 50mm... NO WAY man! That is a damn good lens.. and I do have my E-500 housed already.
Afterall, 50-200mm is only 50mm more compared to the 40-150. Using the EC1.4 will bring it to manual control and I do not think I have the luxuary to be manual focusing then.

SP550 housing has been recalled as far as I know. Again, unless someone is sponsoring the camera plus housing, I am not going back to P&S.
DSLR is the way to go ...

 

[Dylan]

You got a point there. Maybe Dylan should just get the SP550 + casing for the assignment. That camera got the reach plus the advantage of IS and a casing.

For an assignment .. no way! For own use.. no point either. I'm firm on investing on lenses that I can use for my cameras and not starting over again.

To date, I have the following cameras:
2 * C-5050 with Ikelite housing, Fish-eye lens and macro lens for underwater use. Plus 2 Inon D2000W TTL Strobe.

1 E-1 and E-500 with 50mm, 14-54, 40-150 and EX25 with Ikelite housing for 50mm lens and 11-22mm lens.

Get another P&S and wait for their housing? Nah... thanks... seen too many defective underwater housings recently and Oly. Singapore does a poor job in honoring repairs and service in this area.

 

[shorty]

Hi Dylan,

Is your assignment accompanied by the local rangers or researchers? Because during the last 2 trips I went there when I was still a high school boy, We didn see these monkeys a lot. Probably due to the wrong timing or they were not at the territory our sampan path.

But it was dark and if you are going to be on the sampan, it won't be easy to shoot.

Wish you all the best and fruitful journey! :thumbsup:

Regards,
shorty

 

[drakon09]

Taking monkeys in their natural environment high up in trees AND under the canopy of a rainforest is an amazingly tough proposition. The sky's gonna blow... literally.

A powerful flash might help; the downside is that the flash will probably cause the troop to scatter. (Or worse, throw coconuts at you... :sweat

All those fantastic Nat Geo monkey shots close-up requires assimilation to the environment over a period of time and then climbing up the trees to where they are.

I do hope your assignment doesn't require a close up...

 

[Blu-By-U]

..... Using the EC1.4 will bring it to manual control.....

You get full control with a Zuiko EX14 on any 4/3 lens. You only loose 1 f stop. This 40-150 + EX14 is a better combination than the Sigma 55-200 + EX14. I tried that at the F1.

The better combination is the Zuiko 50-200 + EX14.