Diffractive optics worth the price?

I own an old Canon EF 100-300 f/4.5-5.6 USM lens, which is badly damaged from fungal growth. I want to buy a new telepohoto lens for my Canon EOS bodies, and, until a few days ago, I was pretty sure that what I really wanted was the Canon EF 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 DO IS USM lens. I definitely need the image stabilisation feature, since most of my telephoto shots involve birdlife in not always ideal light conditions. This lens is built with diffractive optics, which offer “more compact size than other zoom lenses with equivalent focal lengths and aperture”. In fact, the lens is extremely compact when set at its minimum focal length. The average price for this little creature here in Sydney is about A$ 1,950. Of course I would like one of the L series telephoto lenses, but they are usually too large and heavy, and, most importantly, I cannot afford them.

Last week I read about the newer EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM, which is very similar to the DO lens in all respects except for the diffractive optics. This one presents the elongated shape more typical of a 300 mm lens. The second difference is that it retails at about A$ 995, that is, half the price.

So, what do you think? Is it worth spending twice the money just to get diffractive optics and a small size? Do diffractive optics have any other advantages?

I also considered buying a prime 300 mm lens just for the sake of gaining a few aperture stops, but all of them are L series, the cheapest one being an f/4 at about A$ 2,500.

Please leave your comments.

What a luxury

I’m just back from a lunch party with the Spanish mob. Yes, I know, I said “lunch” and it’s 9:35 pm, but, well… I also said “Spanish”. I need to explain.

The Spanish mob is a group of friends here in Sydney. Most of us are Spanish. We also call ourselves la familia (the family). Every so often, one of us hosts a lunch party, so, following a Spanish reinterpretation of the Aussie way, we run to his/her place with some plates and a few bottles. That may be in Brookvale, Auburn, Mascot or Lavender Bay, but is always similar. Lots of food, some wine, great deep intellectual conversation and a few incursions into highly trivial chat to renew our feeling of belonging to the Western world. Lunch is the Spanish way, long, paced and with bread and drinks. Although we usually begin at 1:30 or 2 pm, it often extends well into the evening. Once we even jumped straight into dinner, some of us without leaving the table at all.

It was during one of these lunch things with the Spanish mob when Johnti mentioned my blog. Johnti is an Aussie guy married to a Spanish lady, and since I frequently write about Australia I was particularly interested in his views. Although his views may not be representative, since he doesn’t like barbecues but likes sitting with a bunch of Spaniards trying to make sense out of their chinwag.

In any case, what a luxury these lunch parties. Being able to spend countless hours with these people is just unreal.

Microsoft Digital Image 2006

I have just installed Microsoft Digital Image 2006 Suite Edition and overall I like it. I love the library app and the way it manages labels, although the Label Paint tool could be improved. For example, by making it a dockable palette.

Something that I don’t like is that there is no Search function. Amazing! I would like to do searches on captions or descriptions, but no Search or Find function exists. Please, Microsoft, fix this ASAP.

Something I do like is the ability of cataloguing photos on removable media (such as a CD or DVD) without copying the files to the hard disk. It seems that Digital Image saves the label of the media so it can request it later if you try to display a photo at full size. It would be nicer, though, if you could assign a “friendly title” to each disc rather than having to use the label.

Teachers accused of anti-USA bias

The Sydney Morning Herald of 22 August explains how Peter Costello has stated that many school teachers in Australia are spreading anti-USA messages and ideas amongst their students. The news goes on to analyse the potential implications of this, but, having read this far, I couldn’t help but think “well, of course”. What is the problem with spreading anti-USA messages? The USA has many negative traits, and criticising them publicly is a healthy and righteous activity, much like criticising any other aspect of our world that we don’t like. Or does Mr Costello mean that we cannot criticise what we don’t like?

The issue gets even better. Mr Costello went on to declare that anti-USA messages could mutate into anti-Westernism and, in turn, into terrorist attacks against Australia. Wow. What a hyperbole or, as we say in Spain, what a mental jerk-off.

Costello also said that teachers are carrying left-wing ideological baggage from the 1970s. Of course! Fortunately, some teachers carry left-wing baggage from the 1970s. What would we do without them? How would we combat the overwhelmingly reactionary and conservative brain-wash to which kids are nowadays subjected? The NSW Teachers Federation stated that Costello’s words are nonsense. Bunch of lefties.

The Corporation

I’ve just finished watching the documentary “The Corporation”, directed by Mark Achbar. In case you are not familiar with it, this is a documentary film, over 2 hours and 20 minutes long, that describes how corporations are taking over the world and putting their agendas above public interests. Sounds leftie? It is.

I knew about the film and I wanted to watch it, so when I found it at the video shop I didn’t hesitate and grabbed it. The blurb on the back of the box says something about a timely, critical enquiry about corporations’ inner workings, curious history, controversial impacts and possible futures. I was a bit disappointed to see that the whole film is completely focused on corporations in the USA. There is no reference whatsoever (let alone reports or studies) regarding corporations from other places in the world. I tend to think that, if corporations are indeed taking over the world and putting their agendas above public interests, USA corporations must be top of the list, given the hyper-liberal, right-wing environment of that country. However, I was expecting Mark Achbar to be a bit more worldly and not so parochial in his treatment of the theme.

Anyway, a couple of pearls from the movie. Some years ago, citizens of California asked the government to revoke the charter of Standard Oil of California because of their repeated offenses against public interests. It didn’t work. During a debate on TV between one of the community leaders asking the revocation and a representative of Standard Oil of California, the latter points out that this company has been part of California’s economy and life for more than a century and that it offers citizens a great amount of jobs. The community leader replies saying that many people in California were very angry with Standard Oil because of what they had done. The executive rebuked with a sneer: “yeah, but the angry people were from the left side of the spectrum, who produce nothing but hot air”. Clever, eh?