Shooting the long lens

How bout some tips on getting the most out of that big long pro lens you just mortgaged the house for. How to improve the image quality.

Hey Paul,

Do you have any specific questions, and perhaps a specific lens? Without knowing more, here are some basic ones that I can think of:

1. Attempt to shoot at 1/focal length for clear shots
2. Get a tripod with appropriate head
3. Use proper depth of field. ie just because you can shoot at 600mm f2.8 does not mean that you should in a particular scene.

James

Everything that James said is important.
And the most important, Tripods:
Get a better tripod than you think you need. Don't settle for one that meets your minimal needs. They're not cheap, but you can spend a lot more working your way up to one that is really solid enough!

600mm @ f2.8?
eYoewzers! That lens must have cost you a pretty penny.

Do a Google search for "proper long lens technique." There are some nice articles out there that can explain it better than I can here.

On the old trick of matching the minimum shutter speed to the focal length of the lens (400mm = 1/400, 500mm = 1/500, etc.), keep in mind that if you're using a camera with a crop sensor you should probably consider the "equivalent focal length," (400mm lens on a 1/6 crop body = 640mm = 1/640 shutter speed).

If you're shooting an OEM long lens (Canon, Nikon, etc.) you're probably going to be ok wide open if the conditions call for it. However, if you're shooting something like Tamron, Sigma, etc. you'll usually get sharper images if you stop down one or two stops. Stopping down is also true of using a tele-zoom, OEM or otherwise.

As previously mentioned, use a tripod.

Good luck.

"On the old trick of matching the minimum shutter speed to the focal length of the lens (400mm = 1/400, 500mm = 1/500, etc.), keep in mind that if you're using a camera with a crop sensor you should probably consider the "equivalent focal length," (400mm lens on a 1/6 crop body = 640mm = 1/640 shutter speed)."

Hey Bob,

I have heard that said before, but I never understood why having a smaller sensor would make the camera more prone to camera shake. Do you have any thoughts on that?

James

As others have said. A big sturdy tripod with a quality head are a big help. Then it possible use a remote to fire the shutter. You also want to look at ways to dampen motion. One way is to hang a weight from the center of the tripod. Lots of shooters will just hang their camera bag. You can also try laying your non-shooting hand on top of the lens to dampen motion. If your body has a live-view type feature you may be able to use that to fine-tune focus, especially if you are using a shallow depth of field or in my case a manual focus 800/5.6.