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If you were to take a picture of 200 Swans in the field, 300-500 meters away from the camera and wanted a good close up, what lens would you attach to Cannon EOS 600D.

mattdm
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Dana Harrison
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  • A close up of what, exactly? How far away would you need to be if you had a 50mm (equivalent) lens? – Mick Nov 30 '17 at 17:59
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    You need a Canon 1200mm f/5.6 - like this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EF_1200mm_lens Really though - your two terms are not mutually exclusive. Telephoto Zooms exist. No one can comment on your specific case without knowing specific details... – OnBreak. Nov 30 '17 at 18:16
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    Possible duplicate of How to get a clear image of a distant subject? – Caleb Nov 30 '17 at 19:15
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    How far are the swans furthest to the right from the swans furthest to the left? The focal length of the lens you need is based on the angle of view you would need to get all of the swans in the shot. – Michael C Dec 01 '17 at 23:23
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    A close up of what? A close up of 200 swans, or a close-up of one swans eyeball? The difference between 300 meters and 500 m is 200 m that's 600 feet approximately and that makes a huge difference depending on the lens you are using. I did not read the first question but this question is not great. Explain a little bit better what you are trying to achieve. Zoom lenses can be thought of as a lens that includes the focal lengths of many different telephoto lens's. We cannot tell you what focal length will give you the correct close up you desire. – Alaska Man Dec 01 '17 at 23:32
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    Just for the sake of enlightenment, maybe - a 1200mm lens on a Canon camera with a 1.6 crop factor, focused at 984 feet (as an approximation to 300m), will have a horizontal field of view on the order of 18 feet, or about 5.5 m. If you're wanting a close up of a single swan, you'll need to do even better than a 1200mm lens... – twalberg Dec 02 '17 at 00:40
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    Please don't post a new question about the same question. Simply edit your existing question. I have merged them and attempted to clean things up a bit. – AJ Henderson Dec 02 '17 at 06:43

3 Answers3

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It does not matter which. All you need it to get something with a long focal-length. In other words, you will get the same framing from a 500mm prime lens than you would at 500mm on a 50-500m lens.

It is common though for zooms to have much dimmer apertures than a prime lens, so if you go the zoom route, you are much more likely to need a tripod. For instance you can get an F/4 aperture with the Canon EF 600mm F/4L but you only get F/6.3 at the telephoto end of the Sigma C 150-600mm F/5-6.3 DG OS HSM. Although Sigma does have a Sigma 200-500mm F2.8 APO EX DG for Canon which reaches 500mm while staying at F/2.8.

The exact focal-length needed to frame a subject depends on its distance and size which you have not specified. What really matters is the angle it occupies in the frame. A 600mm lens covers an angle of 4° while a 500mm covers 5°. Since you are using a Canon APS-C camera you must divide this by the crop-factor which is 1.6. If you only need 400mm, there are more options.

Itai
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If you are taking a photo of swans from 300-500 meters away and want to see any detail of the individual swans you need to get the lens with the longest focal length that you can afford that meets your expectations for optical image quality.

The specific answer to exactly which lens that will be is as varied as the number of people who might ask your question.

We can't select a lens for you.

Only you know how much you are willing to spend. Only you know what level of optical image quality you expect. Only you know what time of day and how much light will be available when you plan to photograph the swans.

There's a lot involved with getting photographs of wildlife such as swans from a long distance. The selection of a lens is an important concern, but far from the only concern for guaranteeing success. Fieldcraft, methods of supporting the camera/lens, shooting techniques, performance of the camera's AF system (or the photographers MF ability), etc. all play a vital role in capturing such shots.

Michael C
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I'm going to assume that you are asking the question for yourself.

Some of you did not understand my previous question,( zoom or telephoto ??) It is obvious I am not a photographer. So I will make my question very simple.

As a self-declared non-photographer, I would actually encourage you to make your question as complex as you can. Throw the book at us if you have to - seriously, the more detail you can provide in a question, the better the answers will be.

If you were to take a picture of 200 Swans in the field, 300-500 meters away from the camera and wanted a good close up, what lens would you attach to Cannon EOS 600D.

I'm also going to assume that you have at least one lens already. You need to use that lens. If you have multiple lenses, use the one with the longest reach. (If you have an 18-55 & a 55-250, use the latter).

After you have photographed your swans, if you are unhappy about the shots, then I would ask you to post the image along with your critique. If you have sample shots that you're trying to emulate, post those too.

That will give enough information for others to advise you on technique and gear choice, if you'd like.

OnBreak.
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