Manhandling my new lens
On being a photographer
I have never met a photographer who is completely satisfied with his or her photographic equipment. I suppose there must be some people who are content with what they have – perhaps because they have no budgetary restraints – but the rest of us? What about the rest of us? Are we consigned to live this life thinking “if only I had a 600mm” or “how about that macro”?
Ok, before this sounds too whiny, let me say for the record – I am actually very happy with my kit – but it would be nice if. . .
This Real Safari Newsletter is getting out of hand, so let’s get some context. For the last dozen years or so, I have relied on a Sony Alpha 200 and then a few years later, a Canon 600D – both of them with kit lenses and usually described as ‘entry level’ DSLRs. I changed from Sony to Canon not because I was unhappy with the quality of the Sony but because it is hard to find lenses and after-sales in South Africa.
Canon probably has the best after-sales support in this country.
They are both tough pieces of equipment that I’ve used to take many tens of thousands of photos each. I bought the Sony to take news photos for Grocott’s Mail, a community newspaper in the town that used be known as Grahamstown (now it’s called Makhanda).
I bought the Canon to continue taking photos for the newspaper and for fun. I have always loved going to game reserves as often as possible and have most often used the 75-300mm kit lens to photograph wildlife.
When I started selling photographs to Shutterstock, I was often informed that some of my pictures are not sharp enough. Yes, they’re good, but if you look at them at full size, they are a little fuzzy around the edges: Rejected. It was clear that I needed to upgrade my lenses, but prices are outrageously expensive – especially if your income is measured in Rands – South African currency.
Newspapers, family fun and social media do not usually require razor-sharp images. My Canon kit lens takes photographs that are sharp enough for most purposes, but if you want to sell pictures to a commercial agency, you have to have to up your game a lot.
About a month ago, I took the plunge and splashed out the funds for a second hand Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM. I bought it online from Orms Direct - a reputable photographic business based in Cape Town, and then held my breath.
They don’t make that model any more so I couldn’t compare it with the cost of a new lens, but it was roughly half the price of a similar new one. Would the delivery system work OK? What if they damaged it on the long and winding 900km road from Cape Town to Makhanda?
What if the lens had been damaged by its previous owner? What if it is a lemon? I had never even bought a lens-cap online before.
Post purchase anxiety is doubled when the purchase is online and even more so when you have laid out a wheelbarrow full of money.
I need not have feared. The delivery was as smooth as they get and the lens was packed in a box with loads of tender care and little plastic bags of air. The lens itself is immaculate. It looks brand new and works like a charm.
What I hadn’t anticipated was its sheer bulk and unwieldiness. The lens is much heavier than my Canon camera so it is not possible to simply hold on to the camera anymore. That worked fine with the plastic kit lenses but with such a heavy piece of equipment it is necessary to work out a different way of taking pictures.
I had my first opportunity to test the lens on a game drive at Kwandwe Private Game Lodge about 30kms from Makhanda. I sat next to the driver in the open-air Toyota Land Cruiser so I had the breeze in my hair and a good solid sill on the door to balance my lens.
This was sort of good, because I could rest my lens on the sill when we were stationary, but not while driving because the lens would have bounced too much. There was also the problem of the sill being quite low. If I wanted to take a picture with the lens on the sill, I had to crouch down.
It was evident that in order to take photographs with my new set up I would have to hold the lens with my left hand while my right held the camera and clicked the shutter.
I took some fabulous photographs on the day, but it was clear that if I wanted to take a series of photos, I would not be able to hold the rig steady for any length of time. It was too heavy.
My next outing was a day in the Addo Elephant Park when I took a monopod that a friend of mine had loaned me.
The monopod worked well as I could put it down on the floor of my car while the top held the weight of the lens. It was reasonably flexible as it could move from left to right just by leaning to one side. It could also change height by extending or retracting the single leg. It was perfectly functional provided we came across an animal that did not move around too suddenly.
The problem was if we unexpectedly encountered something that moved from one side of the road to the other. It is just about impossible to quickly move the camera with a heavy lens and a monopod attached from one side of the car to the other. There is a real chance of bumping the lens into various parts of the interior or ripping the roof material with the monopod.
I am sure that with time and practice I will get better, this is after all, a learning experience.
I still keep the old Sony on the seat next to me just in case I need to do something in a hurry. It now feels so light and easy to manage.
The added ergonomic challenge of managing the big lens is only one aspect of being a photographer. The second aspect is far more exciting. I need to learn about the optimal settings for the new lens – how to assess the lighting, speed and distances involved in taking a picture. What can I expect the new lens to do? This too will take time, but it is so gratifying to take much sharper photos even under difficult circumstances.
This is the joy of wildlife photography – learning about how to do it better. Yes, there are thousands of expert photographers out there who are far better than I can ever hope to be – but I am not competing against them. I rejoice in their expertise and applaud their talent.
I am competing against me – always aspiring to do a better job than I have done in the past. That is why wildlife photography is such a challenge and such a wonderful hobby.
I hope you enjoy the photos that I use to illustrate the Real Safari Newsletter – and if you have tips that you would like to share with other readers, please send them along with examples of your photography.
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Thanks Steven! Love the pics, especially of the one tusked elephant, who had recently had some fun in the mud.