EOS 70D With 24-105mm Lens

One role the 70D will fill is paired with the EF 24-105mm f/4L lens as a companion to the full frame 5D Mark III paired with the EF 17-40mm f/4L lens. The 24-105mm lens has an equivalent field of view of 38.4-168mm on the crop sensor 70D. A 10X zoom range with the two bodies and high quality lenses will be great for outdoor events and travel.

On my walk through Cohoes and Waterford this morning I carried the 70D and 24-105mm lens. The first two photos were made from the same spot and show the minimum and maximum focal lengths.

24mm (38.4mm eq.)

105mm (168mm eq.)

This Morning on Peebles Island

Although the Canon EOS 50D I've been using lately for telephoto shots is capable of producing some good results, when a local photographer advertised a lightly used EOS 70D for sale at a good price, it was a deal I couldn't refuse. I've previously owned a 70D and have mentioned some of its strong points. For my purposes, and in comparison to the 50D, its advantages are 20MP versus 15MP, 7 frames per second versus 6, a "silent" shooting mode, 5 or even 7 bracketed files versus only 3, viewfinder grid pattern and camera level, it shoots video and it uses the same batteries as my 5D Mark III.

My only other planned gear upgrade over the course of the summer is a better telephoto zoom lens. I'm currently thinking the EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM. When that is taken care of I can sell either the 50D and the 55-250mm lens or the EOS M with its 18-55mm lens, adapter and the 55-250mm zoom. At that point, my big ThinkTank Photo backpack will be at the Goldilocks place. Not too empty and not too full.

Here are some shots from Peebles Island this morning. All with the EOS 70D and EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens.

Testing the 50D as a backup with the EF 17-40mm f/4L

One reason I switched from the EOS M3 to the EOS 50D was to have a better backup to my 5D Mark III for general purposes should the 5DIII have an issue in the middle of something. On a crop sensor body like the 50D my 17-40mm lens serves as a general purpose lens with a full frame equivalent focal length range of 27-64mm.

I've used 50D bodies with different copies of the 17-40mm lens at various times over the years but haven't used this body with this lens at all. This morning I did my usual walk over to Waterford to try out the combination.

These are all three file HDR composites, the exposures bracketed 1 1/2 EV over and under. The first two photos show the focal length extremes of this lens on a crop sensor body.

Old Champlain Canal Trail with the 50D

I headed up the old Champlain Canal trail north of Waterford this morning with the EOS 50D and EF-S 55-250mm lens. I was hoping for some bird shots. The nice thing about the 50D is I can hand hold and bracket three files which I couldn't do with the EOS M due to it's bracketing speed.

So, without much in the way of bird action I came away with some scenics. It's nice to see the trees starting to green up.

Peebles Island with the EOS 50D

This morning, I walked around Peebles Island with my Canon EOS 50D and EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM lens. There were the usual views and the usual bald eagles and deer.

There was also a skunk on the fire road. It's pretty impossible to photograph a back lit skunk and get anything but a silhouette. Like this:

Here is the chronological stroll out to the eagles' nest viewing site and back along the fire road. The M3 was a 24MP sensor the same size as the 50D which is only 15MP. So I can't crop nearly as closely now as I could before. This is evident with the Eagle photos which are 100% crops at 1200x800.  You can see there are two eaglets this year.