After a couple of months without a long lens I received my 600VR.
Last weekend I went out to a Nature Reserve not too far away (Oostvaardersplassen) and had a great time.
All are with the D300, the last one is with a 1.7x TC. The TC makes the image a little soft (or is it me ).
IWhen I looked at the images I saw I need to practice more with the D300, I had several unpredicted soft images.
after having the 600 vr for several months I'm not exactly excited w/ the 600 + 1.4 tc w/ the d300 either (w/o the tc its awesome!). the d3 w/ 600+1.4 tc is exceptional though(at f6.3 at least)..perhaps the af is a little more precise w/ the d3 (??)
Vr seems to work well w/ panning shots w/ a tripod/monopod; seems to work well for low shutter speeds on mono/tripod (~320 sec and lowwer) for non moving objects also, Evan w/ VR i wouldn't try to hand hold the 600 at lowwer shutter speeds (and i'm a guy who doesn't mind handing a 400 on a short mono)...
bobbytan wrote:
Am I missing something here? They don't look sharp at all on my screen - especially the 2nd and 3rd image.
First very sharp, second sharp, third not sharp.
It's user error It will take some time to get used to this combo.
I used a monopod, probably a tripod will do better.
With Canon I used a series-1 with a 500mm and this combo was easier to work with.
Todd Adamson wrote:
Maybe a dumb question, but why the VR on such a huge lens? Don't we usually turn off VR when shooting from a tripod?
The new superteles have a special "tripod position".
It sure helps, you can see VR working thru the viewfinder.
The Canon superteles detect automatically if you using a tripod or not.
Shooting big glass with a TC is tough. It's not unusual for me to use the mirror lockup with a cable release if the animal is stationary (one thing I LOVE about Nikon over Canon - I can switch to mirror lockup and back in a second). I also try to use a cable release whenever possible even without the mirror up - just one less thing to cause vibrations.
You might also consider a Wimberly mount for your lens - it lowers the center of gravity and makes it more stable. Plus it has a built-in arca-swiss style plate! Seems to help a little. The foot on Nikon's big glass looks like a monopod it's up so high.
Steve Perry wrote:
You might also consider a Wimberly mount for your lens - it lowers the center of gravity and makes it more stable. Plus it has a built-in arca-swiss style plate! Seems to help a little. The foot on Nikon's big glass looks like a monopod it's up so high.
Steve
I have the Wimberley head, the next time I'll take it with me.
I use the RRS replacement foot which makes it more usable.
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