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Archive 2014 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600

  
 
Jeff Donald
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


I went to Gatorland last Saturday and the weather was perfect. We got in when the park opened at 7:30 AM and I spent the next 7 hours photographing the birds in the rookery. There were hundreds of Great Egrets, and dozens of Snowy Egrets, Tri-colored Herons, Wood Storks and a few White Ibis, Blue Herons, Green Herons and the odd assortment of Vultures, Grackles and Sea Gulls.

Gatorland in Orlando is one of the premiere birding spots in Florida. It rivals the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine for numbers and diversity. The park is open from 7:30 AM to sunset during breeding season on Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun. Here is their website if your interested in more information or traveling to Orlando.

These are all full frame of with a slight crop, except for the GBH flight shot, which is about 50%. These were all handheld, and VC (Vibration Compensation) ON. Exposure settings and focal length are noted below each image. I hope you enjoy.



1/640th sec. at f/8, ‒ 1 ⅓ EV, Aperture priority, 600 mm, ISO 400,



1/250th sec. at f/9, ‒ ⅓ EV, Aperture priority, 168 mm, 70.0-200.0 mm, ISO 400,



1/50th sec. at f/8, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, Aperture priority, 600 mm, ISO 400,



1/320th sec. at f/8, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, Aperture priority, 600 mm, ISO 400,



1/1000th sec. at f/9, ‒ 1 ⅓ EV, Aperture priority, 483 mm, ISO 400,



1/2000th sec. at f/8, ‒ 1 ⅓ EV, Aperture priority, 483 mm, ISO 400,



1/1000th sec. at f/8, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, Aperture priority, 500 mm, ISO 400,



1/1000th sec. at f/8, ‒ 1 ⅓ EV, Aperture priority, 450 mm, ISO 400,



1/1000th sec. at f/8, ‒ 1 ⅓ EV, Aperture priority, 483 mm, ISO 400,



1/640th sec. at f/8, ‒ 1 ⅓ EV, Aperture priority, 600 mm, ISO 400,




Apr 15, 2014 at 08:31 AM
Shield
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Been to gator land many times; love it. Great place for picture taking! Nice shots too; keep 'em coming!


Apr 15, 2014 at 08:33 AM
Shield
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Jeff did you take the train ride that goes around to the back of the crocodile pit? Man I want to go again!


Apr 15, 2014 at 08:44 AM
Cicopo
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Looking VERY nice on my laptop. I'll re check tonight on my good monitor.


Apr 15, 2014 at 09:05 AM
huons
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Wonderful colors. I may decide to trade my 100-400mm in and try a copy.


Apr 15, 2014 at 09:50 AM
Jeff Donald
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Shield wrote:
Jeff did you take the train ride that goes around to the back of the crocodile pit? Man I want to go again!


Not this trip, but I have taken the train ride in the past. It's not a real steam train but it is fun. If you get down this way again and you like trains, think about going to the Gulf Coast Railroad Museum in Parrish. It's a fun 14 mile RT ride on a real train. They usually use a diesel locomotive, while they rebuild the steam engine.



Apr 15, 2014 at 09:53 AM
Jeff Donald
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


huons wrote:
Wonderful colors. I may decide to trade my 100-400mm in and try a copy.


I sold my 100-400mm and I'm not disappointed in the least. I've had several copies and even when MFA to different bodies, they all seemed lacking when compared to 300mm f/4, 300mm f/2.8 (go figure or the 70-200mm f/2.8 II. I never felt the 100-400mm was a dust pump, I liked the push/pull design, but I never felt it was the sharpest knife in the drawer.

The 150-600mm, on the other hand, is sharper all the way around. It just isn't the best tool for BIF. My recommendation is if BIF is your major interest in photography, then the 150-600mm will not give you as many keepers as other lenses. But for versatility in subject matter (see my post at air show and Grand Prix) and static bird shots, you're not going to beat the Tamron unless you spend major $$$$.

I shot next to a guy with the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 (latest version he said) and using a 2X. My shots at 600mm were noticeably sharper and I had a larger percentage of keepers. He was interested in the Tamron because of the weight difference (and probably the cost difference). But if you need f/2.8, the Tamron just won't do.




Apr 15, 2014 at 10:05 AM
dfresh
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Wow, handheld 1/50 shutter speed at 600mm (with VC)? I wish I had your steady hands!


Apr 15, 2014 at 10:06 AM
sbeme
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


they look great
great place to visit; I was there for two days last March on a workshop
impressive shots in general, but handheld?
What body did you use?
Scott



Apr 15, 2014 at 10:18 AM
Jeff Donald
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


sbeme wrote:
they look great
great place to visit; I was there for two days last March on a workshop
impressive shots in general, but handheld?
What body did you use?
Scott


I use a 1Ds MkII. I sometimes brace myself against the railing etc. The 1/50 sec is probably a typo, I'm going to look it up when I get home.



Apr 15, 2014 at 10:33 AM
sbeme
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


impressive!
thanks for the detail



Apr 15, 2014 at 10:41 AM
OntheRez
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Jeff,

You have clearly demonstrated that this lens is capable of excellent images and, I believe, also enunciated its limitations. For sure anything large with good contrast (cars and planes) can be shot with this lens no matter what the speed. These pix (and Imagemaster's pheasants) show that it is wonderful with stationary animals. The flying GBH shot is very nice. Small birds moving quickly with poor contrast? Not so good and frankly not the tool of choice. Of course the tool of choice is ~ $13,000, in other words 10x the cost of the Tamron. The odds that I'll ever own a 600mmL prime approach zero, so this lens is very appealing. I appreciate you sharing your work with us. Like others I'm very impressed that these were hand held. Would you share with us what body you were using and if you have a special technique.

Thanks

Robert

BTW would be nice if someone could try the lens say on baseball or similar sport. I'm think it might work well.



Apr 15, 2014 at 10:50 AM
gocolts
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Great shots. I took my 150-600 and 6D to Brookfield Zoo on Friday (still need to upload the pics) and found that 600mm in a light lens that zooms actually made me have to pay more attention when it came to holding it steady. I have very steady hands, but even so, 600mm doesn't give a whole lot of margin for error...and some of the indoor areas (gorillas) were pretty dark. ISO was cranked up to 12,800 to keep the shutter speeds over 1/125. So your keepers at those shutter speeds are impressive.

Interesting about the Sigma 120-300 OS too, as I used to have one of those. And while I couldn't do a direct comparison, I have no plans to go back to it now that I have the Tamron.



Apr 15, 2014 at 12:09 PM
Shield
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Does anyone know how this compares to the Sigma 50-500?


Apr 15, 2014 at 12:46 PM
gwaww
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


I went to Gatorland just days after I got my Tamron in late January. Great place for wading/shorebirds of all kinds. It was even better after I found out that veterans get in free and anyone else with them gets 20% off! Went there more than once with my grandsons!


Apr 15, 2014 at 12:52 PM
mark fadely
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


These are great shots Jeff! This is your best post with the 150-600 by far. Your other shots of moving action pale by comparison to these. This lens looks like it is a great value for static shooting. It's almost like Tamron needs to put a disclaimer on the box that says, "Not for action shooting". My hunch is that the AF motor and electronics are just not up to snuff to allow for quick focus acquisition as most every flight shot I've seen of birds is really soft at any aperture. This lens looks very sharp on static subjects at f8 and 600mm so I'm impressed with it from that aspect.

Nice job processing these. The closeups of the Egret are a little prickly from over sharpening however.



Apr 15, 2014 at 01:12 PM
surfnron
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Nicely done Jeff. I need to get down there ~ Ron


Apr 15, 2014 at 01:43 PM
Coltrane
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Well done Jeff! These are certainly some of the better shots I've seen from the Tamron.


Apr 15, 2014 at 02:16 PM
Sjjindra
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Nice shots Jeff. But did you get any gator-in-flight photos in AI Servo with that lens?

I loaned my copy to my youngest son to do some videos and just got it back. After looking at your photos, I'm energized to get out on my kayak with it this weekend if the weather cooperates.

Steve



Apr 15, 2014 at 04:36 PM
godfreyz
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · A Day at Gatorland with Tamron 150~600


Great shots. The Tammy is impressive.


Apr 15, 2014 at 07:43 PM
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