Canon 300mm – steve hickey

I bought a Metabones Smart Adapter (T) for my GX8 a while back to see how my Canon lenses might work. I had used a Nikon version before, but that wasn’t a smart version so I had only manual focus with the Nikon lenses. I hadn’t really had much time to use or test the Canon adapter up until now so thought that I would try a 300mm and see how it worked.

I photographed some birds in my garden and below is a shot of a blackbird. I found focussing to be very quick – pretty much as I would expect on a Canon body. I used the single point focus on the GX8 as to me that always seems more accurate.

The shot below was handheld – with one hand resting on a support for balance. So the camera was moving around a bit. Shutter speed 1/640 and F5. Considering birds move about very quickly the AF kept up with the bird really well. There were a few out of focus shots but that was more down to me. Also on this camera the lens is equivalent to a 600mm. The bird was about 5 metres away, so very shallow depth of field.

This is from about the first couple of dozen shots ever shot with the lens/adapter combination so I’m still getting used to it. But from the first few images with this lens I would have no problem using it with the GX8. I get a 600mm equivalent without the weight and cost! I like using the GX8 when I’m just out and about shooting stock images as it’s preferable to carrying the extra weight of Canon bodies. A GX8, couple of M4/3 lenses and perhaps a Canon 300mm makes a pretty lightweight kit which will cover almost anything.

GX8 with Metabones M4/3 to Canon EF Smart T Adapter 1/640 sec at F5, ISO 800

Processed from RAW in Capture One Pro

Image at approximately 100%

Churchill boat — **The ceremonial guard at the front of the Havengore.**

Back in the city today and I managed to get down to the river to get a few shots of the start of the ceremonial event for the anniversary of Winston Churchill’s funeral. I remember watching the funeral on TV when I was young and that kind of thing always sticks in the memory so it was interesting to see a recreation of the event.

The boat which originally carried his coffin, 50 years ago today, retraced the route along the Thames – so I thought that I would go and get a few shots for stock. I know the area really well and had a place in mind to shoot from but as I couldn’t get down there until 45 minutes before the event I thought maybe I might have a struggle with crowds – but only a few tourists were around. Even when the boat passed the crowd was very light and also not many photographers were near my position – always a good thing! Weather was good, bit of hazy sun and not too cold. The boat moved pretty quickly, much quicker than I expected, and from my position it was all over in a few minutes. I had quite a few shots in the bag so as the boat moved on I packed up and headed for the station.

The fact that there weren’t big crowds did kind of make me wonder about the relevance of the anniversary for the average person on the street. There’s been a lot of media focus on the anniversary, a lot of stuff on TV, and for those closely involved it’s obviously an emotional event, but as for the general public – many don’t seem to take much notice. I found that there’s a few commemorative things going on including an exhibition at the Science Museum which runs until 2016.

There’s also a General Election coming up in a few months – but whatever any of us might think of Churchill, it would be a shame if the anniversary of the death of a major world statesman were to be hijacked for political reasons. That wouldn’t happen would it?

The photograph above taken with a Canon 1D3 with 300mm f4 and 1.4x converter.

Tag: Canon 300mm

Panasonic GX8 with Metabones Smart Adapter and Canon 300mm

WInston Churchill, Havengore ceremonial