Most photographers I know are gearheads. As my friend Bret put it, we "..worship at the alter of gear." We all understand and accept that there is no perfect camera bag, no perfect tripod and head combination, and no lens that is perfect for every situation. I suspect that, like me, all photographers tend to get twitchy if we go too long between buying some new gizmos. We've even been known to barter and swap equipment sometimes for no better reason than to satisfy our jones for gear.
But this is not to make excuses for gear envy or anything. This is merely goodbye to a lens that has served me well for a long time. I'm speaking of my faithful old Canon 100-400mmL IS lens. I was the original owner, having bought the lens not too awfully long after I left my job managing a photo equipment rental business. I no longer had unlimited access to several hundred thousand dollars worth of equipment so I had to start acquiring my own gear and the 100-400 was the first serious lens I bought.
We made some excellent images over the years, this lens and me. Elk in Colorado, Bears in Wyoming, Whales in Washington, more Whales in Alaska, Deer just about everywhere. The list goes on and on. But I've not been shooting a lot of wildlife lately if you exclude the trip to Yellowstone. And I haven't shot sports since my son was about 12. So maybe it was time to find a more useful piece of equipment.
The first feelings of disatisfaction started to creep in during my trip to Yellowstone in May. Don't get me wrong, the lens performed well as always. I got some wonderful images with it but I just wasn't happy. Call it frivilous, crazy, self centered. Call it what you will. But in Yellowstone I more often than not had the smallest lens around. I couldn't really put my finger on it but I began to feel a bit unhappy with the 100-400.
My thoughts turned to other lenses. How could I shake this feeling of wanting more? Then I had a vision while driving home from work. What about a 70-200? It would cover a focal length range that I didn't have. It's among the sharpest lenses Canon has ever made. And I could probably swing some kind of trade for my lens and some cash which I could use to buy more gear! Man, this is getting better and better! I mentioned the deal to my friend Richie V and he said I could borrow his 70-200 for a long weekend to Taos to see if I wanted to do the deal. It was a spectacular weekend and I got some wonderful images with Rich's lens. I decided to do the deal but it wasn't as easy as I thought. I composed a good ad for craigslist but couldn't bring myself to push the button. Pre sale seller's remorse I guess.
Finally, though, I was able to rationalize to myself why I should go ahead with the ad. What the heck, there probably isn't anyone out there who wants to make the trade I'm proposing so I posted an ad saying I'd sell my lens outright or trade for a 70-200 f2.8 straight across or for a 70-200 f4 and some cash. I wasn't concerned about IS since I shoot most everything on a tripod. So I posted the ad thinking I wouldn't hear anything about it.
Well, the best laid plans....I had 3 replies in less than an hour after posting, all wanting to swap. The first responder said if I didn't want to trade for his lens he would pay the cash. So we made arrangements to meet and agreed to a period of time where either of us could change his mind and swap back no questions asked. It was difficult but I went through with it and after a 3 day trip to Roswell I'm not sad. I'm now the new owner of a Canon 70-200mm f4 L IS lens and as a bonus I also have a new Canon 1.4x tele converter.
There are 2 images at the top of this blog. The one of the trees was shot Thursday morning near Roswell, NM with the 70-200mm and the Bighorn Ram portrait was shot in May with the 100-400. It's tough to tell from the image of the trees and because of the way this blog uploads images, but the shots I did with the new lens are razor sharp. I'm not disappointed in the least with the lens or the trade.
So Goodbye old friend. Enjoy your new home and make me proud.
Sounds like it was a fairly tough call for you, Bill. I have both lenses, but could no way part with the 100-400, by far my most used lens--for landscapes. The sharpness on mine seems to be very good. I hope the move works out well in the long term. I can't imagine going without a long lens in the fall (or spring), but hopefully the teleconverter will work good enough in those situations.
ReplyDeleteHey Darren. Yes, it was tough letting go but I'm really happy with the 70-200. The 100-400 wasn't getting a lot of use and last winter at Bosque del Apache and again in Yellowstone this spring it just wasn't enough. I'm saving my pennies and will probably start looking for a good used 500 f4 next spring. It's all good.
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