June 19, 2024 • 17 mins
If you know you know...these are highly revered and often photographers' go-to lenses. But how do they stack up for wildlife, landscape, travel, and general nature photography?
Well, I just returned from a Borneo Photo Expedition and found that I had this on my camera about 80% of the time. Yep, they're that good.
In this episode I go over all the reasons why these are exceptional lenses for nature photography, but also acknowledge some of their downsides.
If you'd like to help support the podcast, use these links below if you plan on renting or purchasing a lens! (by the way, you get 15% off at LensRentals.com by using the promo code WildPhotographer15).
My Complete Camera Kit:
Canon R5 Body
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8
Canon RF 24-105mm f/4
Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1
Canon RF 70-200 f/2.8
Canon EF Macro 100mm f/2.8
Canon RF 50mm f/1.8
Peak Design Carbon Fiber Tripod
- Check out Court’s photography and conservation work: CourtWhelan.com
- Follow Court Whelan (@courtwhelan) on YouTube for more photography tips
- Sign up for Court's conservation, travel and photography blog at www.courtwhelan.com
- View Court's recommended camera gear
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Court (00:00):
Welcome back everyone to another episode of Wild
Photographer.
I am delighted to bring you anepisode on gear and a piece of
gear that I am well spoileralert very passionate about.
I recently picked up a newversion of the 70-200 class of
lens for my Canon mirrorlesssystem and have fallen in love
(00:21):
all over again.
So this episode I actuallydesigned and really thought of
prior to getting this lens, justas a way to tell you all a
little bit about the pros andthe cons and the who's and the
why's and the what's about the7200 class of lens for
landscapes, wildlife, travel,people, how do I use it,
comparison to other similarlenses and why you might
(00:43):
consider getting one foryourself yourself and possibly
how.
So let me dive into it andstart off the episode with kind
of my whys for why I thinkthey're so great.
Well, the number one thing,honestly, is going to be the
quality.
It's just an incredibly sharpclass of lenses and this goes
I'm not just talking about theCanon lens, it's whether you get
(01:05):
this in the Sigma version,whether you get the Nikkor,
nikon, brand, sony, olympus,like you know, anything out
there.
This class of lenses is reallyreally tip top quality.
It rivals prime lenses in termsof the sharpness and the
correct color and the saturation, the contrast.
(01:26):
So, first and foremost, it'sjust insanely high quality.
Now you mix that with theversatility of a zoom range,
meaning you're not just fixed at200 millimeters or fixed at 100
millimeters.
This 70 to 200 range is superbfor all around photography.
Now, you might think it'sactually a pretty narrow range
(01:46):
and it is in comparison to a lotof modern day lenses like your
100 to 500s and your, your 18 to200s.
Yeah, it's, it's more narrow,but what you lack there you
really really pick up in termsof just tip top quality and
sharpness.
The other big thing is itforces me to see things
differently.
When I use this lens, I'm notgiven the versatility of a 500
(02:11):
millimeter.
I don't have the super wideangle of a 24 millimeter.
This is really kind of middleof the road, but once you start
getting used to it, you findthat 70 can be very wide and 200
can be very tight.
In fact, 200 millimeters ispretty darn good for wildlife
Now, if you're out therephotographing small birds or
really distant wildlife all day,every day.
(02:32):
Yeah, this shouldn't be the onlylens in your kit, but I have to
say I just got back from a deepdive into a Borneo photo
expedition, getting way outthere, seeing all sorts of
wildlife, big and small, and Iam looking back at my photos and
find I took 80% of my shotswith the 70 to 200.
I rarely took it off my camerabecause I loved it that much.
(02:53):
Another huge benefit is yeah,it's 2.8.
I cannot overstate how valuable2.8 is for not just low light,
but also just being fast andalso that beautiful background
and foreground blur 2.8,.
Once again, now that I'mreinvigorated by using this lens
and reintroduced to the worldof 2.8 telephotos, I'm hooked.
(03:16):
I'm addicted.
I love this look.
In fact, I don't think I tookit off of 2.8 for basically the
entire time.
I think I shot a couple shotsof a frog at F4, but I shot 2.8,
meaning that my photos weresharp enough at 2.8 to not have
to leave that setting and itgave me this incredible low
light sensitivity and speed withthat lens, so it was just
(03:39):
sublime.
Another thing in this laundrylist of reasons why I think
they're so great is it's prettylight for a telephoto.
So we're thinking telephoto at2.8.
If you Google that with like 300, 400, 500 millimeters, I mean
they're bazookas.
They're huge, huge lenses Likethe 400 2.8 is like the size of
(03:59):
a suitcase.
I mean it's a really, reallybig lens.
So yeah, 200 millimeters is nota super telephoto, it's a
moderate medium telephoto length.
But to have something in asmall package at f 2.8, it's
relatively light and compact andyou know, because of that high
quality you can crop into yourshot.
So it's incredibly versatilefor traveling and travel
(04:20):
photography, wildlife,landscapes, etc.
Etc, etc.
So they're about as big as youcan go with a telephoto at 2.8
before you get into reallyinsane size, weight and price.
Again, your 7200s 2.8s.
They're in around $2,000 to$3,000 US right now, which I get
it.
That's not cheap.
(04:40):
However, you'll notice as soonas you get into the 300s you're
close to 10,000, like four,three to four times the price.
400 is even more, the 600 F4 iseven more.
So it's, you know, just a lotof reasonableness.
I don't know if that's a word,but let's just use it.
It's a very reasonable lens,size, weight, price for the
(05:04):
insane quality and having somedecent telephoto at 2.8.
Okay, let's dive into why I likeit for landscapes.
Well, first and foremost, itreally does very well with what
we call zoom compression.
It's this idea that when youzoom in, when you use telephoto,
everything in your sensor,everything in your frame, your
(05:25):
entire scene is magnified.
So if you have this ability tohave a person or some sort of
landscape element relativelydistant you know, let's just say
, for using an example, 40 to ahundred yards away and you zoom
in on that person, you zoom inon that flower, you zoom in on
that tree, whatever it might bethe background tends to magnify
(05:49):
at the same rate as the subject.
Don't worry about picturingthis in your mind, just digest
this.
Key part of that equation isthat the background becomes
bigger.
So what this allows you to dois, if you have a background
that's a really beautifulsweeping color of blue or green
or a lovely red, texturedbackground, you can put your
(06:11):
subject in front of it.
You can use that telephoto andit does this zoom compression so
that background actually getsbigger.
You can look up some reallygreat examples online these days
, where people will do videos orjust side by side photos of
what the background looks likeat 24 millimeters, 50, 70, 100,
135, 200, which we're talkingabout here 300 and 400.
(06:35):
And it's really amazing as thesubject subject stays the same
size, because you go further andfurther back for using that
telephoto length, the backgroundjust gets bigger and bigger and
bigger.
So this is all to say thatusing 200 millimeters at F 2.8
gives you this really incredibleportraiture look, whether it's
wildlife, people, even landscapeelements.
(06:57):
It gives us really really greatlook where the background, the
colors, the textures, the sizeof the background is is bigger,
it's more of the frame, and soyou can really create some artsy
look with it, and I love, love,love it.
Again.
You know, one of the firstthings I said about why I
generally think this lens is sogreat is it forces you to see
things differently.
It's so seemingly obvious whenyou get in front of a big
(07:21):
landscape, like, okay, great,I'm going to have my, my all
purpose landscape lens.
And what is your all purposelandscape lens?
Probably an 18 to 55, probablya 24 to 70, 24, 105.
That's obvious and that's kindof what we reach for first.
However, when you're quoteunquote stuck with the 70 to 200
, when you're forced yourself touse the 70 to 200, you start
taking landscapes in a differentway.
(07:42):
And I have to say, getting backfrom this Borneo photo
expedition, I'm loving mylandscape shots, I'm loving the
edge to edge composition oftrees and forests and pathways
and really forcing myself to seedifferently.
Again, I'm forcing myself onlyin the colloquial way.
I'm forcing myself because thequality is so insanely good of
this lens that I want to use itas often as possible.
(08:05):
So even in front of sceneswhere I might be tempted to put
on a different lens, I use thisone because the quality is tip
top notch and it's getting medifferent photos, different
looks, things that other peoplearen't seeing and aren't taking
photos of.
In the same way, it's helpingme differentiate my photography,
which is a really, really keything in today's day and age For
wildlife.
(08:26):
200 millimeters is actually apretty decent bit of telephoto
power.
You may know if you have like a24 to 100, or if you have a
much more versatile lens like a100 to 500,.
The 100 to 300 range is a lotof telephoto, a lot of zoom.
When you start going from threeto 400 and 400 to 500 and 500
to 600 and so on, thatadditional hundred millimeters
(08:49):
of focal length doesn't reallydo as much as those initial
hundred millimeters.
So in other words, what I'mgetting at is 200 millimeters
ain't no slouch.
200 millimeters is actuallypretty good for wildlife and
it's especially good when you'retaking photos of big wildlife,
something that I really reallyenjoy.
So we're talking about bears,orangutans, other apes like
(09:10):
gorillas, safari wildlife, evenbig birds or smaller monkeys,
things that are, you know, Idon't know, I'd say, like human
sized or child sized, like IE,not little brown birds.
200 millimeters is actuallypretty darn good, especially if
you're on super high qualitywildlife photo expeditions where
you're getting reasonably closeto this wildlife.
Sure, you want 400?
(09:37):
, absolutely 500?
.
Yeah, there's never enough zoom, there's never enough telephoto
power out there.
We always want more.
But what I'm saying is for thispackage of high quality F2.8
and zoom versatility from 70 to200, 200 is actually pretty darn
good for telephoto power forwildlife and again, it's such
high quality that you can cropyour shot Like I'm doing a
hundred percent crops and reallyhappy with the outcome.
(09:58):
Now, if I'm trying to printthis off 24 by 36 or you know
other big format kind of thingsI might have to uh, you know
scratch my head and pull back alittle bit.
But when I'm doing thumbnailson websites or photos for
brochures and catalogs andmagazines and and that sort of
stuff, I'm cropping it 100% andit's looking great.
This is really really good.
(10:20):
The other part for wildlife isF2.8 is just magic.
So remember there's a couplebenefits to F2.8.
One is that you get thatamazing bokeh.
The quality of that backgroundor foreground blur, ie
whatever's not in focus gets anice blur.
So F2.8 is awesome for wildlifeportraits and in places that
are dim or dark or where you'redoing a lot of morning or
(10:40):
evening photography, like Borneo, like Africa, like Alaska, gosh
, like pretty much any wildlifein the world.
Having that 2.8 allows you toshoot at lower ISO or shoot
faster than you otherwise could,versus like a F 5.6 or, you
know, god forbid, a 7.1.
I say God forbid jokingly,because my a hundred to 500 is F
(11:00):
7.1, but guess how often I usethat on this Borneo trip, not
that often because I wasaddicted to 2.8.
It was phenomenal.
So, yeah, fast photography, lowlight photography, really
really good.
The thing is is like I may notget every shot.
There were some orangutans inthis recent trip.
They were kind of far away, um,there were some birds in flight
(11:21):
that, yeah, if I would have hadlike 400, 500 millimeters, it
would have been a better photo,um, but the flip side is that
those shots where the 70-200 didwork out well and I, you know,
would want that as my tip topchoice lens on and I had it on
those photos are going down inhistory as some of my best ever
of Borneo, and that's againreplicatable across the board
(11:42):
with Alaska and other places.
So let's move on from wildlifeto travel and people photography
, something that I personallylove a lot.
One of the great things is,with the 7200, you don't have to
get in people's faces to taketheir photos.
I love my 50 millimeter.
A lot of people love their 35millimeters.
However, in travel, especiallywhen you're with groups or
(12:05):
individuals or you're doingstreet photography and you don't
really want people to knowyou're taking their photos, so
you can make it candid, so youcan be a little bit covert about
it.
Having that 7200 millimeterrange is great to not have to
get in people's faces, peoplethat don't know you or don't
know you very well.
These just might feeluncomfortable.
Like what are you doing withthis photo?
(12:25):
Why are you in my face?
How close are you?
Are you taking photos of thepores on my nose or my nose hair
, like what's going on here,whereas you know 200 millimeters
, standing 10, 20, 30 feet back,you can get really really great
travel photography of people.
So again, candid shots, nothaving to get in people's face.
You can take shots withoutpeople realizing you're taking
(12:46):
photos of them, and that justmakes the whole scenario of
travel photography more legit,more copacetic.
And then again, 200 millimetersat F 2.8, I've said this like 11
times now, but you can get afantastic bokeh, really really
soft background blur.
I've done some lens tests ofwhat like a 50 millimeter 1.2 or
(13:06):
an 85 millimeter 1.2 looks likecompared to a 200 millimeter
2.8.
And because the depth of fieldactually gets shallower and
shallower as you add on more andmore telephoto, a 200 2.8 is
really in contention with like a85 1.2 or certainly an 85 1.8
or F2.
So, in other words, you can usethis as a portrait lens.
(13:28):
You can take portrait photos ofpeople, whether you're doing
some freelance gigs in the sideand photographing people for
yearbooks, or or you know,senior portraits or wedding
photography.
It's versatile for that too.
And then, like I said, uh, withthat zoom compression for
landscapes, you could also usethat for travel and people very,
very well.
I love finding really cool palmtrees or really cool textured
(13:50):
plants or even rock walls inbasically isolating the colors
and textures.
So I don't get the sky, so Idon't get the ground.
I just want that swath ofpurple or I want that swath of
green with a beautiful broadleaves, and I want that behind
my subject.
With the 200 millimeter you canbring that closer to you just
as you would the person.
So you stand back a little bitfurther, zoom in, fill the frame
(14:13):
with the person and thatbeautiful background.
So how do I use it?
Gosh, this is the quickestsection F2.8 and go.
I don't think I took it off ofF2.8 this entire Borneo trip.
Like I said, I think a fewshots of a horned frog at F4,
that was really nice, but F2.8is really really nice.
(14:34):
And again, this new generationof mirrorless lenses gosh, so,
so sharp, so honestly, thebrilliance of this lens is F 2.8
.
I just set it on F 2.8 and I gonow with a lot of 7,200, there
are alternate versions at the Ffour level.
They are lighter, they'resmaller and they're less
expensive.
Should you get it?
(14:55):
You know this is a reallysubjective personal choice.
It has to do with your budget,it has to do with your style of
photography.
I happen to love really shallowdepth of field photography and
I'll advocate that you shouldalso love it too.
It's a great professional look.
But honestly, the 7200 class oflens is still so good that,
because of size or weight orspace or budget, if you need to
(15:16):
go for the F4, I know pros thatjust for whatever reason, don't
need the F4.
They're not shooting in lowlight or they're using a flash
or they just don't really likethat ultra shallow depth of
field.
Let's say they got burned on atone time.
They shot too many photos atF2.8, put on the computer
afterwards and realized itwasn't deep enough of a depth of
field and now they only shootat four.
(15:37):
Yeah, the 7200 F4 is a great,great option.
However, I will say that the F2.8 is a going to be higher
quality.
Well, you know, the actualoptics are probably very similar
, but F 2.8 is going to beprobably a little bit better
quality for your range ofphotography, having that ability
to shoot in lower light andfaster shutter speeds, and it's
(15:58):
probably also going to retainits value a little bit more.
So if you do need to sell it ina few years, you'll probably
retain value better versus theF4 version.
So how do you get one?
Well, of course, you can go outand buy one.
But a big thanks, as always, toa sponsor of our podcast here,
which is lensrentalscom.
And if you want to try out thislens, again, I'm a huge advocate
(16:19):
.
The reason I partner with lensrentals is because I'm just a
very, very big proponent oftrying before you buy.
I think it's a huge thing,especially with bigger
investments.
So, yeah, go on lensrentalscom,use the promo code wild
photographer 15, try out a 7200on your camera for the weekend,
for a week, rent it for yournext trip and I I really gosh I
shouldn't say promise, but Ireally don't think you're gonna
(16:41):
be disappointed.
I think if you haven't triedthis class of lens and you like
everything that I'm talkingabout today, you're going to put
on your camera, you're going togo out there, you're going to
take photographs and you'regoing to be wowed, just like I
have been.
I'm so glad I got back into theworld of 7200 millimeter
photography.
This thing is staying on mycamera.
I might even buy a second bodyjust so I don't have to take
(17:03):
this off my primary body.
It's that good.
So my thoughts on the 7200class of lenses they're amazing.
Go try it out.
I think you're going to love it.
Folks, thank you so much forjoining today.
If you want to know how you cansupport the podcast, the best
thing you can do is leave areview, leave a comment, say
some nice words.
It helps more than you willever know, but really, just
(17:27):
thanks for listening, thanks forsharing the word.
If you want to send a link tothis podcast to someone that you
think might enjoy it, please doso, and you can leave us up to
a five-star review on Spotify,itunes and wherever you get your
podcasts.
Thanks so much and lookingforward to next time.
Welcome back everyone to another episode of Wild
Photographer.
I am delighted to bring you anepisode on gear and a piece of
gear that I am well spoileralert very passionate about.
I recently picked up a newversion of the 70-200 class of
lens for my Canon mirrorlesssystem and have fallen in love
(00:21):
all over again.
So this episode I actuallydesigned and really thought of
prior to getting this lens, justas a way to tell you all a
little bit about the pros andthe cons and the who's and the
why's and the what's about the7200 class of lens for
landscapes, wildlife, travel,people, how do I use it,
comparison to other similarlenses and why you might
(00:43):
consider getting one foryourself yourself and possibly
how.
So let me dive into it andstart off the episode with kind
of my whys for why I thinkthey're so great.
Well, the number one thing,honestly, is going to be the
quality.
It's just an incredibly sharpclass of lenses and this goes
I'm not just talking about theCanon lens, it's whether you get
(01:05):
this in the Sigma version,whether you get the Nikkor,
nikon, brand, sony, olympus,like you know, anything out
there.
This class of lenses is reallyreally tip top quality.
It rivals prime lenses in termsof the sharpness and the
correct color and the saturation, the contrast.
(01:26):
So, first and foremost, it'sjust insanely high quality.
Now you mix that with theversatility of a zoom range,
meaning you're not just fixed at200 millimeters or fixed at 100
millimeters.
This 70 to 200 range is superbfor all around photography.
Now, you might think it'sactually a pretty narrow range
(01:46):
and it is in comparison to a lotof modern day lenses like your
100 to 500s and your, your 18 to200s.
Yeah, it's, it's more narrow,but what you lack there you
really really pick up in termsof just tip top quality and
sharpness.
The other big thing is itforces me to see things
differently.
When I use this lens, I'm notgiven the versatility of a 500
(02:11):
millimeter.
I don't have the super wideangle of a 24 millimeter.
This is really kind of middleof the road, but once you start
getting used to it, you findthat 70 can be very wide and 200
can be very tight.
In fact, 200 millimeters ispretty darn good for wildlife
Now, if you're out therephotographing small birds or
really distant wildlife all day,every day.
(02:32):
Yeah, this shouldn't be the onlylens in your kit, but I have to
say I just got back from a deepdive into a Borneo photo
expedition, getting way outthere, seeing all sorts of
wildlife, big and small, and Iam looking back at my photos and
find I took 80% of my shotswith the 70 to 200.
I rarely took it off my camerabecause I loved it that much.
(02:53):
Another huge benefit is yeah,it's 2.8.
I cannot overstate how valuable2.8 is for not just low light,
but also just being fast andalso that beautiful background
and foreground blur 2.8,.
Once again, now that I'mreinvigorated by using this lens
and reintroduced to the worldof 2.8 telephotos, I'm hooked.
(03:16):
I'm addicted.
I love this look.
In fact, I don't think I tookit off of 2.8 for basically the
entire time.
I think I shot a couple shotsof a frog at F4, but I shot 2.8,
meaning that my photos weresharp enough at 2.8 to not have
to leave that setting and itgave me this incredible low
light sensitivity and speed withthat lens, so it was just
(03:39):
sublime.
Another thing in this laundrylist of reasons why I think
they're so great is it's prettylight for a telephoto.
So we're thinking telephoto at2.8.
If you Google that with like 300, 400, 500 millimeters, I mean
they're bazookas.
They're huge, huge lenses Likethe 400 2.8 is like the size of
(03:59):
a suitcase.
I mean it's a really, reallybig lens.
So yeah, 200 millimeters is nota super telephoto, it's a
moderate medium telephoto length.
But to have something in asmall package at f 2.8, it's
relatively light and compact andyou know, because of that high
quality you can crop into yourshot.
So it's incredibly versatilefor traveling and travel
(04:20):
photography, wildlife,landscapes, etc.
Etc, etc.
So they're about as big as youcan go with a telephoto at 2.8
before you get into reallyinsane size, weight and price.
Again, your 7200s 2.8s.
They're in around $2,000 to$3,000 US right now, which I get
it.
That's not cheap.
(04:40):
However, you'll notice as soonas you get into the 300s you're
close to 10,000, like four,three to four times the price.
400 is even more, the 600 F4 iseven more.
So it's, you know, just a lotof reasonableness.
I don't know if that's a word,but let's just use it.
It's a very reasonable lens,size, weight, price for the
(05:04):
insane quality and having somedecent telephoto at 2.8.
Okay, let's dive into why I likeit for landscapes.
Well, first and foremost, itreally does very well with what
we call zoom compression.
It's this idea that when youzoom in, when you use telephoto,
everything in your sensor,everything in your frame, your
(05:25):
entire scene is magnified.
So if you have this ability tohave a person or some sort of
landscape element relativelydistant you know, let's just say
, for using an example, 40 to ahundred yards away and you zoom
in on that person, you zoom inon that flower, you zoom in on
that tree, whatever it might bethe background tends to magnify
(05:49):
at the same rate as the subject.
Don't worry about picturingthis in your mind, just digest
this.
Key part of that equation isthat the background becomes
bigger.
So what this allows you to dois, if you have a background
that's a really beautifulsweeping color of blue or green
or a lovely red, texturedbackground, you can put your
(06:11):
subject in front of it.
You can use that telephoto andit does this zoom compression so
that background actually getsbigger.
You can look up some reallygreat examples online these days
, where people will do videos orjust side by side photos of
what the background looks likeat 24 millimeters, 50, 70, 100,
135, 200, which we're talkingabout here 300 and 400.
(06:35):
And it's really amazing as thesubject subject stays the same
size, because you go further andfurther back for using that
telephoto length, the backgroundjust gets bigger and bigger and
bigger.
So this is all to say thatusing 200 millimeters at F 2.8
gives you this really incredibleportraiture look, whether it's
wildlife, people, even landscapeelements.
(06:57):
It gives us really really greatlook where the background, the
colors, the textures, the sizeof the background is is bigger,
it's more of the frame, and soyou can really create some artsy
look with it, and I love, love,love it.
Again.
You know, one of the firstthings I said about why I
generally think this lens is sogreat is it forces you to see
things differently.
It's so seemingly obvious whenyou get in front of a big
(07:21):
landscape, like, okay, great,I'm going to have my, my all
purpose landscape lens.
And what is your all purposelandscape lens?
Probably an 18 to 55, probablya 24 to 70, 24, 105.
That's obvious and that's kindof what we reach for first.
However, when you're quoteunquote stuck with the 70 to 200
, when you're forced yourself touse the 70 to 200, you start
taking landscapes in a differentway.
(07:42):
And I have to say, getting backfrom this Borneo photo
expedition, I'm loving mylandscape shots, I'm loving the
edge to edge composition oftrees and forests and pathways
and really forcing myself to seedifferently.
Again, I'm forcing myself onlyin the colloquial way.
I'm forcing myself because thequality is so insanely good of
this lens that I want to use itas often as possible.
(08:05):
So even in front of sceneswhere I might be tempted to put
on a different lens, I use thisone because the quality is tip
top notch and it's getting medifferent photos, different
looks, things that other peoplearen't seeing and aren't taking
photos of.
In the same way, it's helpingme differentiate my photography,
which is a really, really keything in today's day and age For
wildlife.
(08:26):
200 millimeters is actually apretty decent bit of telephoto
power.
You may know if you have like a24 to 100, or if you have a
much more versatile lens like a100 to 500,.
The 100 to 300 range is a lotof telephoto, a lot of zoom.
When you start going from threeto 400 and 400 to 500 and 500
to 600 and so on, thatadditional hundred millimeters
(08:49):
of focal length doesn't reallydo as much as those initial
hundred millimeters.
So in other words, what I'mgetting at is 200 millimeters
ain't no slouch.
200 millimeters is actuallypretty good for wildlife and
it's especially good when you'retaking photos of big wildlife,
something that I really reallyenjoy.
So we're talking about bears,orangutans, other apes like
(09:10):
gorillas, safari wildlife, evenbig birds or smaller monkeys,
things that are, you know, Idon't know, I'd say, like human
sized or child sized, like IE,not little brown birds.
200 millimeters is actuallypretty darn good, especially if
you're on super high qualitywildlife photo expeditions where
you're getting reasonably closeto this wildlife.
Sure, you want 400?
(09:37):
, absolutely 500?
.
Yeah, there's never enough zoom, there's never enough telephoto
power out there.
We always want more.
But what I'm saying is for thispackage of high quality F2.8
and zoom versatility from 70 to200, 200 is actually pretty darn
good for telephoto power forwildlife and again, it's such
high quality that you can cropyour shot Like I'm doing a
hundred percent crops and reallyhappy with the outcome.
(09:58):
Now, if I'm trying to printthis off 24 by 36 or you know
other big format kind of thingsI might have to uh, you know
scratch my head and pull back alittle bit.
But when I'm doing thumbnailson websites or photos for
brochures and catalogs andmagazines and and that sort of
stuff, I'm cropping it 100% andit's looking great.
This is really really good.
(10:20):
The other part for wildlife isF2.8 is just magic.
So remember there's a couplebenefits to F2.8.
One is that you get thatamazing bokeh.
The quality of that backgroundor foreground blur, ie
whatever's not in focus gets anice blur.
So F2.8 is awesome for wildlifeportraits and in places that
are dim or dark or where you'redoing a lot of morning or
(10:40):
evening photography, like Borneo, like Africa, like Alaska, gosh
, like pretty much any wildlifein the world.
Having that 2.8 allows you toshoot at lower ISO or shoot
faster than you otherwise could,versus like a F 5.6 or, you
know, god forbid, a 7.1.
I say God forbid jokingly,because my a hundred to 500 is F
(11:00):
7.1, but guess how often I usethat on this Borneo trip, not
that often because I wasaddicted to 2.8.
It was phenomenal.
So, yeah, fast photography, lowlight photography, really
really good.
The thing is is like I may notget every shot.
There were some orangutans inthis recent trip.
They were kind of far away, um,there were some birds in flight
(11:21):
that, yeah, if I would have hadlike 400, 500 millimeters, it
would have been a better photo,um, but the flip side is that
those shots where the 70-200 didwork out well and I, you know,
would want that as my tip topchoice lens on and I had it on
those photos are going down inhistory as some of my best ever
of Borneo, and that's againreplicatable across the board
(11:42):
with Alaska and other places.
So let's move on from wildlifeto travel and people photography
, something that I personallylove a lot.
One of the great things is,with the 7200, you don't have to
get in people's faces to taketheir photos.
I love my 50 millimeter.
A lot of people love their 35millimeters.
However, in travel, especiallywhen you're with groups or
(12:05):
individuals or you're doingstreet photography and you don't
really want people to knowyou're taking their photos, so
you can make it candid, so youcan be a little bit covert about
it.
Having that 7200 millimeterrange is great to not have to
get in people's faces, peoplethat don't know you or don't
know you very well.
These just might feeluncomfortable.
Like what are you doing withthis photo?
(12:25):
Why are you in my face?
How close are you?
Are you taking photos of thepores on my nose or my nose hair
, like what's going on here,whereas you know 200 millimeters
, standing 10, 20, 30 feet back,you can get really really great
travel photography of people.
So again, candid shots, nothaving to get in people's face.
You can take shots withoutpeople realizing you're taking
(12:46):
photos of them, and that justmakes the whole scenario of
travel photography more legit,more copacetic.
And then again, 200 millimetersat F 2.8, I've said this like 11
times now, but you can get afantastic bokeh, really really
soft background blur.
I've done some lens tests ofwhat like a 50 millimeter 1.2 or
(13:06):
an 85 millimeter 1.2 looks likecompared to a 200 millimeter
2.8.
And because the depth of fieldactually gets shallower and
shallower as you add on more andmore telephoto, a 200 2.8 is
really in contention with like a85 1.2 or certainly an 85 1.8
or F2.
So, in other words, you can usethis as a portrait lens.
(13:28):
You can take portrait photos ofpeople, whether you're doing
some freelance gigs in the sideand photographing people for
yearbooks, or or you know,senior portraits or wedding
photography.
It's versatile for that too.
And then, like I said, uh, withthat zoom compression for
landscapes, you could also usethat for travel and people very,
very well.
I love finding really cool palmtrees or really cool textured
(13:50):
plants or even rock walls inbasically isolating the colors
and textures.
So I don't get the sky, so Idon't get the ground.
I just want that swath ofpurple or I want that swath of
green with a beautiful broadleaves, and I want that behind
my subject.
With the 200 millimeter you canbring that closer to you just
as you would the person.
So you stand back a little bitfurther, zoom in, fill the frame
(14:13):
with the person and thatbeautiful background.
So how do I use it?
Gosh, this is the quickestsection F2.8 and go.
I don't think I took it off ofF2.8 this entire Borneo trip.
Like I said, I think a fewshots of a horned frog at F4,
that was really nice, but F2.8is really really nice.
(14:34):
And again, this new generationof mirrorless lenses gosh, so,
so sharp, so honestly, thebrilliance of this lens is F 2.8
.
I just set it on F 2.8 and I gonow with a lot of 7,200, there
are alternate versions at the Ffour level.
They are lighter, they'resmaller and they're less
expensive.
Should you get it?
(14:55):
You know this is a reallysubjective personal choice.
It has to do with your budget,it has to do with your style of
photography.
I happen to love really shallowdepth of field photography and
I'll advocate that you shouldalso love it too.
It's a great professional look.
But honestly, the 7200 class oflens is still so good that,
because of size or weight orspace or budget, if you need to
(15:16):
go for the F4, I know pros thatjust for whatever reason, don't
need the F4.
They're not shooting in lowlight or they're using a flash
or they just don't really likethat ultra shallow depth of
field.
Let's say they got burned on atone time.
They shot too many photos atF2.8, put on the computer
afterwards and realized itwasn't deep enough of a depth of
field and now they only shootat four.
(15:37):
Yeah, the 7200 F4 is a great,great option.
However, I will say that the F2.8 is a going to be higher
quality.
Well, you know, the actualoptics are probably very similar
, but F 2.8 is going to beprobably a little bit better
quality for your range ofphotography, having that ability
to shoot in lower light andfaster shutter speeds, and it's
(15:58):
probably also going to retainits value a little bit more.
So if you do need to sell it ina few years, you'll probably
retain value better versus theF4 version.
So how do you get one?
Well, of course, you can go outand buy one.
But a big thanks, as always, toa sponsor of our podcast here,
which is lensrentalscom.
And if you want to try out thislens, again, I'm a huge advocate
(16:19):
.
The reason I partner with lensrentals is because I'm just a
very, very big proponent oftrying before you buy.
I think it's a huge thing,especially with bigger
investments.
So, yeah, go on lensrentalscom,use the promo code wild
photographer 15, try out a 7200on your camera for the weekend,
for a week, rent it for yournext trip and I I really gosh I
shouldn't say promise, but Ireally don't think you're gonna
(16:41):
be disappointed.
I think if you haven't triedthis class of lens and you like
everything that I'm talkingabout today, you're going to put
on your camera, you're going togo out there, you're going to
take photographs and you'regoing to be wowed, just like I
have been.
I'm so glad I got back into theworld of 7200 millimeter
photography.
This thing is staying on mycamera.
I might even buy a second bodyjust so I don't have to take
(17:03):
this off my primary body.
It's that good.
So my thoughts on the 7200class of lenses they're amazing.
Go try it out.
I think you're going to love it.
Folks, thank you so much forjoining today.
If you want to know how you cansupport the podcast, the best
thing you can do is leave areview, leave a comment, say
some nice words.
It helps more than you willever know, but really, just
(17:27):
thanks for listening, thanks forsharing the word.
If you want to send a link tothis podcast to someone that you
think might enjoy it, please doso, and you can leave us up to
a five-star review on Spotify,itunes and wherever you get your
podcasts.
Thanks so much and lookingforward to next time.
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