Went down to the local refuge with my new V1 / FT-1 / 300 f4 combo. I am posting these to show what this setup can do at an effective focal length of 810mm. Overall, I am extremely pleased with the results on this setup. The V1 is an outstanding camera given that the sensor is so small. I used this up to ISO 800 today with excellent results. Even 1600 is doable in pinch. Note: These shots were taken from my car on a beanbag. Cheers!
That's an interesting combo, almost like a poor man's 500/4 on DX. And to think that if Nikon comes out with a stabilized body, this would become an 800/4 VR for the price of a 300/4.
in good old days photographers were catching shots with camo clothes and carefully planing their steps and wild animals characteristics. Waiting for some action, something unique and something to add value to their collection.
Now they park on the side of the road and P&S it. Nothing against hobbies, but no wonder nature photographers cannot sell a single print
sorry, was not meant to be personal. Photos are okish but honestly nothing what bridge camera with sick zoom cannot achieve.
You know it depends on what you are after and where you are at. There are some places where there are TONS of birds. If I'm right, the ops pics are from ridgefield, a favorite place of mine to visit as well. It's a wildlife refuge full of tons and tons and tons of birds. It's not a modern creation, it's been a crazy wetlands for a longggg time. Lewis and Clark passed through it and could not sleep because there were so many birds (too loud!). Obviously the nutria pictured are an invasive species though.
No need to camo up and sneak around for great pics of herons / and bitterns (hey the bitterns freeze and you can literally walk almost close enough to touch them if desired). The smaller birds can be a bit more skittish, just depends. The Kingfishers, yeah, you'll never get close to them without a blind! Ridgefield has a few different areas. One is an auto tour you can drive around--your car makes a surprisingly good blind, I'm not sure why, maybe they are just used to it. Other areas you can hike around. I usually do both the auto tour and a few miles of hiking when I visit. There are blinds you can use or you can set up your own. You can kayak or canoe around...etc.
Kittyk wrote:
in good old days photographers were catching shots with camo clothes and carefully planing their steps and wild animals characteristics. Waiting for some action, something unique and something to add value to their collection.
Now they park on the side of the road and P&S it. Nothing against hobbies, but no wonder nature photographers cannot sell a single print
sorry, was not meant to be personal. Photos are okish but honestly nothing what bridge camera with sick zoom cannot achieve.
So you prefer photographers to invade natural habitat of animals, disturb them by creeping close them and other stuff? Not a very smart rant.
Kittyk: My post was simply to show how this combo performs, as I am sure a lot of people are considering this option. The local refuge provided me a great opportunity to do so and my car was the perfect blind to enjoy nature. Do I intend to catch shots with camo clothes and carefully plan my steps and study wild animals characteristics......sure! When I have more time. I enjoy that too. I guess we won't be seeing you snap pictures from you car anytime in the future
Obviously these pictures are doctored. The internet told me that the RX100 is a better camera and that the Nikon specs are inferior and will make all my shots look like they were taken with a trashcan camera!
altern3 wrote:
So you prefer photographers to invade natural habitat of animals, disturb them by creeping close them and other stuff? Not a very smart rant.
Great images. Ridgefield main loop is setup for cars only you should not get out of your car, with just a couple of short walking trails at a few other locations. Its a great place. Hmmm didn't Ansel shoot mostly from the top of his van?
Nice series, Ridgefield is a place I visit a couple of time a year - well worth the effort. What have you filled your Bean Bag with?
Except for the 1st...those crops look soft & noisy from where I'm sittin' Karl
As long as you're happy with that kind of IQ...that's all that really matters, eh?!
Rags: If I am understanding your question correctly, the AF choice was AF-S, which is the only option available with the FT-1 converter. I had to focus and recompose or manual focus to move subjects around in the frame.
Trenchmonkey: Of course it is going to look worse compared to the gear you have (or had) It shouldn't compare to the high end stuff in IQ, but it is MUCH lighter in weight and on the wallet. For 1/10th (or more) the price of the upcoming 800 5.6VR, this isn't too bad. I do find that the best IQ is in the 100-400 range. Beyond that, the sharpness does suffer. However, I have the trusty D700 for low light, closer range shots. Cheers!
My last D7K was $800 and we both probably paid the same for our 300 f4's. Don't see goin' small, sorry.
....and how exactly, is that lighter on the wallet
Rags: I would agree with you about the review time. Waking up from sleep mode is also frustrating, as I missed a few shots due to that. In addition, AF-C would have been a nice feature with the FT-1. I am sure these additions will be present in the V2 someday I would love to get my hands on a 70-200 2.8 II with this combo! Unfortunately, I will have to settle for the 70-300 VR (although it isn't too bad for the price). How does it do without the 2x?
Thanks for the compliment! I look forward to getting out with this combo soon!
1- Press the shutter quickly after taking a shot to cancel image review. After a while it becomes second nature.
2- Set the wake up time to 10min so the camera never sleeps and also put a piece of tape over the EVF sensor to keep the EVF on and turn LCD off.
3- Enable AE lock otherwise metering works with the EVF adjustment time which can be very slow. With AE lock, the metering works independently of EVF display so the image might look over or under exposed in the EVF but the image is properly exposed since the meter works independently of the EVF.
