Well, I tried out the new rig yesterday. Gray day and the big birds were all hiding, and the little ones were too close to focus. So, I slapped a 1.4x and 2x TC To test them with the Nikon 500mm AFS. After reading that the 11mm extension tube could damage the lens....I thought...how about putting a TC on first, then the extension tube. Which is what I did. When the auto focus didn't work - I just assumed the combo was too much for the auto focus to deal with, but I had left the lens on manual, and didn't notice until done shooting. So, all these are uncroppped, manually focused, using a 36mm extension tube (brought close focus to about 8-10 feet), and using either a 1.4x or 2x TC.
Oh, and I was shooting through a double paned sliding glass door too...
Thanks Michael. I'm trying today to shoot some more...the light is a bit better, and I cleaned the slider's glass + moved the feeders away so I don't have to use the extension tubes. I wish the sun would come out.
Brian, For two years I couldn't fill the frame. When I got the 300mm afs it close focused to 5 feet. So, I moved the feeders to about 6 feet away. This lens (500mm afs) close focuses to about 15 feet...so I moved the feeders away. BTW...the last two are cropped roughly at 100% - I just wanted to show the detail I am getting out of this new to me (used from ebay) lens I got recently. I'm thinking I can get even better results by opening the slider, having direct sunlight, using mirror lockup, and adding spikes to my tripod's feet to make up for the squishy carpet-unlayment that my tripod rests on.
And do those last two shots count as macro?