Canon 70-200mm f4 non IS
Hi there, looking at purchasing one of these to shoot surfing, i realise its probably a little short but gotta start somewhere! Plus the local break is a point break so its not too hard to get closer to the subject. Using this one a 1.6x crop body also.
Has anyone had experience with shooting surf with this lens? I was contemplating a 1.4x extender to go with it later down the track.
Budget constraints have restricted me to around this price but if anyone else has used other tele’s around the same price would be interested in checking them out!
Cheers
Max
I think you’ll need the 1.4 extender. I shot surf for a couple days with a 70-200 2.8 with 1.4 extender and had a hard time. but I’m not a surf photog so I don’t know much
Ah k was that with a crop body also?
Had any experience with the extenders? do they decrease image quality alot?
it was with a nikon body so a 1.5 crop. I was starting with a 2.8 lens so the 1.4 brings it up to f4. I’m not thinking straight right now so I’m not sure what it would do for an F4 lens. I think you lose a stop but I’m not sure.
If the conditions are good then the quality is ok.
but the bottom line for a surf photog is either to drop the massive coin on a huge lens 400mm plus, or deal with the 70-200 with extender. The next question is f2.8 vs f4
I might have some more stuff to pm you
Yep its one stop i think so f4 goes to f5.6.
I used a 80-200mm 2.8 on a point break and it worked alright but i found myself shooting at around f5.6 anyway as 2.8 seemed a little narrow.
I have made the decision and gone with the 70-200mm f4, couldnt justify an additional $600 for 1 stop at this stage for what im using it for. I reckon ill pick up at extender for it later on. I dont have anything longer than 50mm in my kit at the moment so it will be a good addition anyway!
Thanks for the input!
Oi Max,
Ive got a 75-300 Variable I might be getting rid of. I use it for a little bit of surf but have yet to perfect it. Im looking at upgrading to the 70-200 F2.8 IS USM II so wont need this lens for to much longer.
Let me know if you want to meet up and you can try it out. These are a couple shots from the last Bondi surf comp. I just grabbed 3 at different focal lengths, no real editing or anything done except a little color balance. These are all on a crop sensor and hand held. If I remember correctly I had a really cheap polarizing filter on at the time… I stopped using the filter as it brings down the sharpness.
Focal Length 300mm, F 5.6, ISO 100
Focal length 90mm, F 4.5, ISO 100
Focal Length 300mm, F5.6, ISO 100 Cropped a bit in post (crooked horizon)
Images aren’t working for me, Darb.
Images aren’t working for me, Darb.
Should work now, having troubles with my flickr acount.
Great shots!
G’day Max,
I’ve only tried shooting surf once with my 70-200 f/4L (non IS) once, and found it seriously lacking in focal length. Of course that would depend on the break though.
I will say that even if it isn’t the best lens for shooting surf, you certainly won’t regret buying this one. If you don’t need that extra stop of light, you’ll appreciate the lighter f/4 version, it’s really nice to carry around, and the IQ is amazing. Many people say it out performs the f/2.8 when it comes to IQ.
This is my one and only shot I could find of surf. It was shot at Bells. It’s obviously cropped, but pretty sure it was only cropped horizontally, so you can still see how it was at 200mm.
I picked up a fixed 1:8 600mm mirrored marco lens from a pawn shop 100 years ago 
It was for my old film Nikon SLR. $50
It fits my D70 (very old DSLR-6mp) but using analog on digital increases the zoom by 2.3 I think.
I shoot surfing with it but have to focus by eye and being fixed fstop has a very narrow field.
These 2 shots were taken from at least 500m away, I was at the other end of the beach. The second photo has a little cropping as you can see- same wave, part of sequence. ISO200 1/1250
This shot is taken from off the rocks, I’m guessing about 50-100meters away. Same settings. (may have been the same day)
It’s a real hit and miss lens but somehow I get more hits than misses.
Here is a miss.
Here is a seagull
I’m not a fan of using 300mm for surfing, it just doesn’t seem to get in there.
All photos loaded as close to masters as I could. ie; the master file from Aperture.
And I know how under exposed they are-
Hey Darb, cheers for the offer, ended up ordering the 70-200mm f4 mid week, got it friday! Its very sharp from f4 onwards, i think that you will be very happy with the 2.8 IS, i would imagine it will be extremely sharp even wide open. The contrast and colours that the images come out with are also much better than my other L lens that is a 17-40mm f4.
Spaz you must be quick with the manual focus to be capturing birds even! 500mm looks more appropriate for surfing, pity a new L lens around that length are around 7k!
I’ll post some shots up when i get some!
Cool mate,
Happy to hear you got some new kit. Look forward to seeing some of your work.