Preparing for Storm Chasing Class - Lens Recommendation?

[TimeshareVon]

Hi there! I am looking forward to participating in a meteorology class in about a month that includes 10 days in the field storm chasing. The goal is to capture great weather systems including lightning, cloud formations and tornadoes.

I shoot with an E500 & E520, and have a limited number of lens currently in my bag. The fastest I have is a 14-54 f/2.5-3.6 and the longest I have is a beastly slow 70-300 f/4.6-5.6. I'm feeling the need to have a better, faster lens for what I believe will be photography at a distance and possibly/probably in low light conditions. I will travel with both bodies but anticipating doing most of my shooting with the E520 due to the IS feature.

I am experienced in shooting the aurora borealis and using manual, long exposure settings on a tripod so that isn't too worrisome for me. What I'm in need of is some advice as to what lens I should be using for the type of experiences I'm anticipating. I won't be purchasing, but rather, renting from an online vendor. Any advice is welcomed!

Thanks much,
Yvonne

[Daniel Bradley]

Hi Yvonne,
The 14-54 is an excellent lens that gives you wide angle, light telephoto, and set to 25mm, a tool for making panoramas, like this one taken in, well, shall we say moderately horrible conditions.


Click image for full size.

I don't see you would gain that much by getting other lenses, though you might consider a 50-200 rather than the 70-300. It is also an excellent lens, and with an EC-14 (1.4x teleconverter) for the occasions where you would need more reach you would be pretty well covered.
You are at a slight disadvantage with the E-500 and E-510 though, as they do not like having the ISO up any higher than say 400. That does not mean you can't get pictures. Here are a bunch from 2009 taken with an E-510 and the 14-54.
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1Q...kMM98tMNFjvkwt
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1Q...Xm9wBm-LidNJ8q
Good luck! Sounds like fun!

[TimeshareVon]

Thank you for your input and thoughts . . . and reassurances Dan. (I tried to open the two links, but got a 404 error message.)

I have liked the 14-54 for aurora & other night photography . . . for some reason, I thought I might need more distance . . . but from what I'm learning, many are successful with the range of equipment I have. The 50-200 f/2.8-3.5 is what I was considering as a rental. It's a pretty reasonable fee, so I may do that too!

I haven't worked with converters in the past . . . if I do get the 50-200, how essential do you think it would be and would I *have to have* the converter? Are they difficult to use . . . and please confirm . . . it would add just one f-stop?

Yvonne

[Michael Meissner]

Hopefully you can find places to rent classic 4/3rds gear like the 50-200mm. My sense is places that used to rent out classic 4/3rds lenses (like lensrentals.com) have switched to micro 4/3rds only.

In terms of storm chasing, the thought comes to mind that eventually the storm comes to you. It might be better if you had an E-3 or E-5 that is weather sealed (and the weather sealed 50-200mm), but obviously that would come at a cost. So, you need to make do with what you have or what you can afford.

[Daniel Bradley]

Hi Yvonne,
Oops, try these...
https://goo.gl/photos/Gyqmpp9aEosxwoUF6
https://goo.gl/photos/GpeSacX5XwUQm9bG8
A converter is very easy to use, just put it in between the lens and the camera, and yes, you do loose one stop of light. The EC-14 combines very well with the 50-200, and is optically still sharper than the 70-300 at 300mm.