Out for a leisurely five-mile circuit by the strait and back through an open field with the 100-400mm and 1.4X, this afternoon was the first time I’ve shot with lens or or combo on full frame, even though I’ve been shooting with them off and on since early 2015.
Image quality was what I have come to know from this glass: spectacular—on static subject matter. The EOS R with RF-EF adapter misfocused on most anything that was moving and hunted before locking focus on many shots.
Except BIF. On the back stretch of the stroll were some egrets, which the EOS RP and 800mm f11 had ably and accurately captured in flight last year. Today, the EOS R’s shutter fired on three frames, missing both focus and metering. Another half-dozen times it balked—refused to focus—even though I ballparked it manually on the shot before I gave up in a fit of foul language.
Opportunities for BIF in the areas in which I shoot are not very frequent, which makes me want all the more to be able to take advantage of them. Today’s experience reminds me of something I wrote a couple of weeks back about buying a piece of gear, then buying another to compensate for a shortcoming, and so on until I get tired of the whole lot of it. But what else to do? Here are my options as I see them:
- Put up with the current setup until the RF 100-500mm becomes available, then ditch the EF stuff at a huge loss. Not really an option, as I know after today’s walk that I’d have fits if I had to walk for any length of time with the RF lens extended to accommodate the teleconverter.
- EOS M50 Mk II, which supposedly has the AF features of the R5/R6. It has the same superb crop sensor of some of the older APS-C DSLRs, with updated processing. But would those AF features work with the EF-M adapter? And how easy would it be to change settings on this “budget” camera? And it would be a third system, all in the same brand!
- A crop sensor DSLR, like the 90D, which, at the end of the product line, may or may not come properly calibrated. A properly-calibrated one might make a good option, as relative reach would be already good with the lens alone, and as much as I’d ever need with the 1.4X. But I’d feel like I’m back in 2015 with an OVF and the bigger form factor.
- Forget about BIF and moving critters and limp along with what I have until a decent RF tele prime is introduced—and available. I already have a very idle RF teleconverter to use with it.
Maybe there are other options I haven’t thought of. One thing is likely, though: I’ll be up very late tonight, reading, reading . . .
Kingfisher (hybrid?)
Long-Tailed Shrike