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| Moderated by: chrisbet, | ||
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Graham Whistler
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Happy N Year to all! JK asked me to run this last year when I got the new lens for my bird photography. Knee joint packed up in Autumn meaning I could not walk into bird reserve with heavy kit! Into hospital this Friday to have new right knee joint replaced so hope to start serious use of lens in a few weeks time! Results so far with our garden birds are very good. Auto focus with the D810 is very fast but single point focus works best if you have time to line up the camera. VR JK does work and is needed in this poor winter light. I have hand held at 1/250 sec and got good sharp results. My x1.4 extender works well with this lens and sharpness is still good, and with 700mm it is a help with small birds like this wagtail. This shot was underexposed by 2 stops as light fell giving me no chance to alter exposure and so needed to fix in processing the NEF but even at only 800 ISO noise became a problem! There is no doubt with this type of photography you have got to hone all skills to get it right and correct exposure is vital even with these modern DSLRs. Attachment: Wagtail2520 NSR.jpg (Downloaded 89 times) |
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jk
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Hope that the part replacement is done under NPS rather than NHS!!  Good luck with the operation and your rehabilitation. Take care. |
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Graham Whistler
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No thank goodness and the first class knee only medic did a very good job on my other knee two yrs ago so am hoping for the best. Back to the new lens there is no doubt that you get what you pay for and it is first class but rather heavy! Even wide open as per above pix it is very sharp. I understand the new lighter version is very good but several reviewers say is it worth the extra £2000 as results will not be any better? |
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jk
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I have decided that while the new Nikon 200-500 f5.6 AFS VR is very nice and half the weight of my Nikon 400mm f2.8 AFS that I will probably stick with what I have at present. The reason is the maximum aperture of the two lenses. |
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Graham Whistler
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I must also admit that my 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 as well reported here is a super little lens and produces pin sharp results. At present I am using it far more than my new 500mm. The weight of the 500mm means you must take a tripod with you as well and it is not so easy to use for flying birds. This Chaffinch is with the 80-400mm no complaints on the quality of that! Attachment: Chaffinch2071s.jpg (Downloaded 79 times) |
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Graham Whistler
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This is with the 500mm and D810 today, getting ready to use it with the D500! Attachment: Pigeon2664.jpg (Downloaded 70 times) |
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Graham Whistler
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As promised am now starting to get some pix with my new lens and D810. This is also with the x1.4 Nikon Mk 3 converter and JK VR is on and does work well with this set up. The Wood Pigeon was in a tree at bottom of our garden at 70 feet, image is 50% of full frame. Pix is hand held 1/640 sec f9 ISO 640. Attachment: WoodPigeon2697S.jpg (Downloaded 60 times) |
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Eric
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Although the 80-400 chaffinch image is very nice, there is no doubting, to my mind, the superior quality of that 500mm lens. There is just that extra quality in both those pigeon images. Excellent! |
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jk
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I agree with Eric. The prime telephoto delivers a little more in the way of sharpness and contrast and this is what holds me back from getting the Nikon 200-500 and getting rid of my Nikon 400mm f2.8 AFS. For me as I am happy to use a monopod then I think that VR is an expensive extra that I can do without. Others may find it is useful in their photography. For me the 70-200 AFS VR is all I need as any longer than 200mm then I definitely move to a monopod or rest the lens or tripod it. |
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Graham Whistler
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I wish you could see the A3+ print it's very life like and pin sharp! The x1.4 Tele Extender seems to make little or no change to overall quality but just the loss of I stop not serious when you have an F4 lens and plenty of ISO to play with. There is no doubt that nearly £6000 is a lot of money but these big Nikon lenses hold value if you look after them. |
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Iain
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Just to help/hinder here is a shot @500mm f5.6 off the 200-500mm Attachment: DSC_1054-Edit-2.jpg (Downloaded 53 times) |
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Iain
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hat hasn't come out as sharp as it is on my mac. |
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Robert
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What hat? The forum software isn't kind on our images Iain...  Have you tried posting your images through Flicker? I think they fare better posted through a host rather than via the forum software, plus you can mix text and several images, as you wish. |
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Iain
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Dam that photoshop its removed the hat. |
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Graham Whistler
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Good weather so took the 500mm to Titchfield Haven lots of Black Headed Gulls getting ready for the breading season. This is again with the x1.4 extender giving me 700mm with the D810. This image is about 50% of the full frame. Iain like the 200-500mm pix good detail perhaps need bit more contrast? There have been mixed reports of this lens but looks like you have a good example. Attachment: Black Headed Gulls 2737S.jpg (Downloaded 51 times) |
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Robert
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I like the composition and separation in this one Graham, the obvious activity in the group is nice. If the cropping is 50% then we are seeing about 1400mm effective focal length. With tests conducted in the past on this forum, with D2x and D200, cropping was as good as a a decent X2 teleconverter. With these modern ultra high resolution sensors, lens permitting, they should be good for much more than 50% (X2) cropping. From what I read, I understand the edge fall off is noticeable on the 500 so heavy *central* cropping may even improve matters. |
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Robert
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Iain wrote:Dam that photoshop its removed the hat. Adobe the villain again! |
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Eric
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Graham Whistler wrote:Good weather so took the 500mm to Titchfield Haven lots of Black Headed Gulls getting ready for the breading season. This is again with the x1.4 extender giving me 700mm with the D810. This image is about 50% of the full frame. Outstanding quality. |
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Graham Whistler
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Happy Easter All! My Easter present arrived on the fence with a loud drumming noise but The Greater Spotted Woodpecker is Black Bird size and it was 40 feet away. With the 500mm lens plus x1.4 top pix is all you get! With the D810 quality you can still blow up a bit as bottom pix shows. Lens wide open as light poor. Attachment: GS Woodpecker whole pix.jpg (Downloaded 43 times) |
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Graham Whistler
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Have been out today in Titchfield Haven Reserve with the 500mm AF-S f4 Lens and my Nikon D500. The two work very well together and focus is lighting fast and very sharp. Pix at 1000 ISO and 1/1250 sec. Attachment: Godwits1261.jpg (Downloaded 27 times) |
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Graham Whistler
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Another from this afternoons shoot. Attachment: Godwits1182.jpg (Downloaded 35 times) |
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Graham Whistler
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More of the same! Attachment: Godwits1198.jpg (Downloaded 34 times) |
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malcolmsowdon
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Just looked at pics, great!!! Looking forward to our day photographing raptors on Thursday. |
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malcolmsowdon
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Just looked at pics, great!!! Looking forward to our day photographing raptors on Thursday. |
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jk
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Where are you going for the raptor shoot Graham and Malcolm? |
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Graham Whistler
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A small private reserve on the River Itchen just North of Southampton. Malcolm hopes to be using his new Nikon 80-400mm AF-S lens on his D500 if it arrives in time. We will keep you informed and hope to post some good pix here! |
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Graham Whistler
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Another Black Tailed Godwit pix from Titchfield Haven with D500 and 500mm F4 Lens.(Taken 22.7.16) Attachment: GodwitsA3+.jpg (Downloaded 16 times) |
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jk
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Graham, have you noticed that the D500 'grain' rendering is different to that of the D800/810? Or is it me?. The D800/810 has 'grain' that is more random (irregular shaped) while the D500 has a more regular ball shaped grain! It is more noticeable in mid-tone/highlight detail areas. |
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Graham Whistler
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Here is a blow up of small section, I would say the D500 "grain" in not regular? The main picture is also cropped from the D500 to about 60% of the full DX frame. I have just checked the data and this picture was: 1000ISO 1/1250 sec at F18 the exposure was about 1/2 a stop under so was corrected in the RAW file. Attachment: Section.jpg (Downloaded 15 times) |
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jk
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Yes it is definitely different to the earlier Nikon cameras. Not sure if I like it or not. It is just different I guess I will get used to it. |
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Eric
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Looks like they changed the dithering method. |
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| A small amount of member data is captured and held in an attempt to reduce spammers and to manage users. This site also uses cookies to ensure ease of use. In order to comply with new DPR regulations you are required to agree/disagree with this process. If you do not agree then please email the Admins using info@nikondsl.uk Thank you. |