{"id":8278,"date":"2011-12-27T14:48:20","date_gmt":"2011-12-27T18:48:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=8278"},"modified":"2012-01-25T19:17:18","modified_gmt":"2012-01-25T23:17:18","slug":"the-best-laid-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2011\/12\/27\/the-best-laid-plans\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Laid Plans…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

This is the new Canon 300mm f\/2.8L IS II Super-telephoto lens that I will be taking on my Falklands, South Georgia, Antarctica cruise. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

The Best Laid Plans…<\/h3>\n

Last week I had BAA Account\/Executive Director\/daughter (not necessarily in that order) Jennifer send a check to Canon for my new 400mm f\/2.8L IS lens. They were told that there was one on the way with my name on it. Several days later when the lens had not arrived I e-mailed and learned that the expected shipment had not materialized. So it was back to square one. Though time was very short I considered borrowing a 500mm f\/4L IS lens–the old version–from Canon Professional Services but I went back to my list and decided to try to get the new 300mm f\/2.8L IS lens…. It would prove to be very versatile and I am anxious to see how the Series II super-telephoto lenses work with the Series III teleconverters…. <\/p>\n

B&H did not have one in stock. That ruled out buying it from them. Since Canon Professional Services (CPS) did not have any 400 f\/2.8L IS II lenses to loan I assumed that they did not have a 300 f\/2.8L IS II either. So, when I was still at my Mom’s on Long Island, I went online to try to buy one. I found one in stock on Amazon (through a somewhat fishy third party), put it in my basket, entered my credit card info, and selected “expedited shipping.” Unexpectedly it said, “Delivery expected December 23-28, 2011…. So I cancelled my order. <\/p>\n

The next morning on the way home from Orlando International Airport my cell phone rang. It was Paul from CPS asking if someone would be home the next day to receive the gear that I had loaned for my Antarctica trip, a Canon EOS_-D Mark II and a 16-35mm IS L II zoom lens. I said “Yes,” and continued with my tale of long lens woe. “Hold on,” he said, “I’ll be right back.” In a moment he returned saying, “I have a 300mm f\/2.8L IS II lens here and will include it right now with the shipment that you will get tomorrow.”<\/p>\n

That was a very nice holiday present. I spent this morning micro-adjusting the lens with both of my bodies with both the 1.4X III and the 2X III TCs. The results were amazingly consistent with my micro-adjustments ranging only from -3 to +2. (I have come up with a fast, new, easy way to micro-adjust without having to tether your camera to a laptop<\/em><\/strong>. I will be sharing the “Non-Tethered Micro-Adjusting Tutorial” with you at some point.) See here<\/a> for Lens Align Mark II info and the original Micro-Adjusting Tutorial. <\/p>\n

After I finished micro-adjusting I took a few hand held images with the new 300 f\/2.8 II and the 2X III TC: tree trunks, some leaves, and a few tight details of of my home. Wow. Though I was working at relatively slow shutter speeds, averaging about 1\/320 sec., the images were screamingly sharp. I can wait to get down there. Though offering a bit less magnification at the long end most of the birds and wildlife we will be working with are exceeding tame so I should be fine for the most part. I will get to try out both Series III TCs with a Series II super-telephoto lens, and I will be saving 3.3 pounds to boot. Not to mention saving more than $12,000! I leave for the airport tomorrow–12\/28\/2011–after lunch. Till then….<\/p>\n

Earn Free Contest Entries and Support both the Bulletins and the Blog by making all your B & H purchases here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

More and more folks are earning multiple contest entries with their B & H purchases. See here<\/a> for details on that. Eleven great categories, 34 winning and honored images, and prize pools<\/a> valued in excess of $20,000. Click here<\/a> to visit the competition home page.<\/p>\n

Shopper’s Guide<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our Shopper’s Guide<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Canon 300mm f\/2.8L IS II<\/a>. The new 300 f\/2.8 is only a bit lighter than the previous version but it features 4-stop IS and promises to work superbly well with both Series III TCs. And as I learned this morning it is–as expected–super-sharp. B&H should be getting a few in stock fairly soon; place your order now and your card will not be charged until the item is shipped. You will be seeing lots of images made with this lens when I get back (unless I drop it in the ocean….) <\/p>\n

Canon 2X III teleconverter<\/a>. Noticeably sharper than the 2X II TC this new extender is designed to work best with the new Series II super-telephoto lenses.
\nCanon 1.4X III Teleconverter<\/a>. Designed to work best with the new Series II super-telephoto lenses. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ngg_shortcode_1_placeholder <\/p>\n

This is the new Canon 300mm f\/2.8L IS II Super-telephoto lens that I will be taking on my Falklands, South Georgia, Antarctica cruise. <\/p>\n

The Best Laid Plans… <\/p>\n

Last week I had BAA Account\/Executive Director\/daughter (not necessarily in that order) Jennifer send a check to Canon for my new 400mm f\/2.8L IS lens. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8278","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-90","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8278\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}