A Warm Morning

It's been cold but temperatures rose overnight and were sitting in the mid 40s this morning. I walked around Peebles Island, again with the 100-400mm lens. A downside of the temperature fluctuations was a system of frozen trails with a layer of mud on top. 

Someone told me this morning that the state removed the deer population from the island over the summer. I don't know if this is true but except for a lone buck a few weeks ago I haven't seen any.

Here are some of the shots.

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 200mm, f/6.7, 1/350 sec., ISO 400

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 100mm, f/8, 1/125 sec., ISO 800

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 214mm, f/11, 1/1000 sec., ISO 800

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 400mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec., ISO 400
Cropped

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 100mm, f/11, 1/250 sec., ISO 800

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 100mm, f/8, 1/750 sec., ISO 400

December Weather

It's been raining for a couple of days but it was cold over night so the ground was mostly frozen and streams were running high. I probably should have used my wider lens but I decided to spend some more time with the 100-400mm lens at Geyser Creek in Saratoga Spa State Park this morning. Predictably, 100mm saw the most use.

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 100mm, f/5.6, 1/750 sec., ISO 400

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 100mm, f/8, 1/1500 sec., ISO 400

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 100mm, f/8, 1/1500 sec., ISO 400

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 100mm, f/8, 1/500 sec., ISO 400

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 100mm, f/11, 1/350 sec., ISO 400

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 214mm, f/8, 1/1000 sec., ISO 400

Last Gear Change of 2024

I've been missing options longer than 85mm for landscape purposes, especially sunrises. Looking back at older sunrises, a lot of the more interesting shots were made at around 200mm. Both the inexpensive RF 24-240mm lens and the more expensive RF 70-200mm L lens filled that role. In the EF lens days I often used one of the 70-300mm options.

I've been very happy with the new RF 28-70mm f/2.8 lens and wanted to figure out a way to affordably add length beyond the 85mm lens without drastic changes. I decided that I would give the RF 100-400mm f/5.6-8 IS USM lens another try. I also sold the 24mm f/1.8 lens that had been sitting around unused.

I also had room in the new bag which arrived earlier in the week. Every place in the bag must have something in it and everything must have a place in the bag. My lineup now is the two EOS R8 bodies, the two zoom lenses and the 35mm and 85mm prime lenses along with some flashes. 

[UPDATE 12/13/24: Canon Rumors had a post yesterday regarding a lens which I would prefer to the 100-400mm. 

"We've recently been told by one source than an 'RF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS STM is in the pipeline', with a design influenced by the RF 28-70mm f/2.8 IS STM... A second source claims that it'll be shorter on the long end, 'something like a 70-150mm f/2.8 IS STM'... we're pretty confident that there is some truth in the conflicting information."

If it comes to fruition, I will definitely have to give it a try.]

Here are some shots of the new lens and the new bag along with some shots from a walk around Peebles Island yesterday after the lens arrived. With the change of lenses and inclusion of some accessories the bag now weighs 17.5 lbs.

RF 100-400mm at 400mm w/lens hood

RF 100-400mm at 100mm

Tamrac Ultra Pro 13 Filled

Tamrac Ultra Pro 13 Without R8s and Zooms

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 165mm, f/8, 1/2000 sec., ISO 400

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 183mm, f/11, 1/350 sec., ISO 400

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 183mm, f/8, 1/500 sec., ISO 400

EOS R8, RF 100-400mm at 400mm, f/11, 1/125 sec., ISO 400