New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

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Archive 2009 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

nugeny
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p.1 #1 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

I posted these images on general gear talk, was told it was a wrong forum.

Well, for the Nikonians, here are my first captures of this new lens I was talking about few days ago and most seem to like it. Please C&C

All these pics were taken wit 300/4 AFS+1.7 tc at f6.7 All are cropped, some a lot.

#1 handheld

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#2tripod

#3 extreme crop of 2

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Nov 27, 2009 at 01:30 AM

nugeny
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p.1 #2 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

#4 handheld

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#5 handheld

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#6 tripod

#7 handheld

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Nov 27, 2009 at 01:31 AM

nugeny
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p.1 #3 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

#8 handheld

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#9tripod

#10 handheld

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Nov 27, 2009 at 01:31 AM

baumgarten0712
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p.1 #4 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

Nice shots! What camera and shutter speeds were you using? I just picked up this combination and love it! On my D700 it is tack sharp!

Nov 27, 2009 at 02:06 PM

nugeny
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p.1 #5 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

baumgarten0712 wrote:
Nice shots! What camera and shutter speeds were you using? I just picked up this combination and love it! On my D700 it is tack sharp!

For these shots I used D300 because of the smallness of the birds. ISO 800. speeds? 1000---2500. All at wide open f6.7. Years ago I was using 300/2.8 shooting Provia slides, ISO 100 and I thought it was fast!! the 300/4 AFS is sure much smaller, lighter and AF is excellent even with 1.7x tc. On tripod it will be a perfect combo. I don't mind because my hands are not that steady anyway.

Nov 27, 2009 at 02:47 PM

trenchmonkey
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p.1 #6 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

Interesting...Exif shows a D3 being used on the noisier images (1st and last). Something's terribly wrong.

Also, stopping down to f8 will give you much better IQ than shooting this combo wide open.

Nov 27, 2009 at 03:08 PM

nugeny
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p.1 #7 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

trenchmonkey wrote:
Interesting...Exif shows a D3 being used on the noisier images (1st and last). Something's terribly wrong.

Also, stopping down to f8 will give you much better IQ than shooting this combo wide open.

You are right. noisier with D3? may be because I had to crop more?

NOrmally I will probably stop down to f8, but this is the first tests, so i just want to push to the limit just to see. I will now do some more shots and at f8.

Nov 27, 2009 at 03:34 PM

lou f
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p.1 #8 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

the tripod shots look great, have been thinking about this combo.

Nov 27, 2009 at 06:17 PM

jphendren
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p.1 #9 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

According to Nikon, this combo (300mm f/4 + 1.7) will not autofocus. Apparently they are wrong? What is minimum aperture that AF will function? On Canon's pro bodies they will AF with the center point until f/8. How about a Nikon F6 (CAM 2000) for example?

Jared

Nov 27, 2009 at 06:57 PM

Avi B
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p.1 #10 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

No, they are covering their asses. They know that it won't focus in ALL situations, so they claim it cannot work in ANY situation. Less chance of someone actually trying it and expecting it to work. It's really just expectation management. In good enough light, this combo AFs just fine with the CAM 2000 module.

Here are a couple of shots shot using the D2Xs:

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Exif information
Model: NIKON D2Xs
Date: 2009:03:16 00:13:16
Original date: 2009:03:13 16:57:32
Exposure time: 10/6400 sec
Focal length: 500mm
Focal number: f/8.0
ISO speed: 400 ISO
Exposure compensation: -0.3

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Exif information
Model: NIKON D2Xs
Date: 2009:03:16 00:28:59
Original date: 2009:03:13 17:40:05
Exposure time: 10/10000 sec
Focal length: 500mm
Focal number: f/6.7
ISO speed: 400 ISO
Exposure compensation: -0.7

Nov 27, 2009 at 07:09 PM

nugeny
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p.1 #11 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

jphendren wrote:
According to Nikon, this combo (300mm f/4 + 1.7) will not autofocus. Apparently they are wrong? What is minimum aperture that AF will function? On Canon's pro bodies they will AF with the center point until f/8. How about a Nikon F6 (CAM 2000) for example?

Jared

D3 and D300 have no AF issue with this combo. I haven't tried yet for BIF but I remember shooting 1DII+300/4+1.4c tc, if any difference, this Nikon Combo will do better. Of course one can compare 1DII with D3.

Nov 27, 2009 at 10:24 PM

Scott Grant
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p.1 #12 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

not sure what is up with your images but EXIF says D3 on a few, not D300 and many of your imags are not wide open as you suggest. some read f9, some f10.

also, you can achieve sharper results with this combo than you are getting, especially at f9 or f10 where the combo is sharp. watch your focusing.

Nov 28, 2009 at 03:01 PM

nugeny
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p.1 #13 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

Scott Grant wrote:
not sure what is up with your images but EXIF says D3 on a few, not D300 and many of your imags are not wide open as you suggest. some read f9, some f10.

also, you can achieve sharper results with this combo than you are getting, especially at f9 or f10 where the combo is sharp. watch your focusing.

You are right, I was not quite meticulous &sequential about my "testing". However, if you look at the "best", #6 it was taken with D300, wide open f6.7 and tripod, you can sure trust this combo. I could live with it considering the size and weight of other alternatives (300/2.8 and 500/4.)

Nov 28, 2009 at 03:56 PM

trenchmonkey
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p.1 #14 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

Re: #6....the critical focus is to the left of the bird, not on the eye. Stopping down to f8 will help with the
smearing of feather detail one sees when shooting this combo wide open.

Nov 28, 2009 at 04:17 PM

nugeny
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p.1 #15 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

trenchmonkey wrote:
Re: #6....the critical focus is to the left of the bird, not on the eye. Stopping down to f8 will help with the
smearing of feather detail one sees when shooting this combo wide open.

Did you spot the critical focus visually or from PS? often I wonder where did I focus. Is there a way in PS to find this focus point?

Nov 28, 2009 at 04:41 PM

trenchmonkey
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p.1 #16 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

Only the 'monkey eye, Dr. Robert

1/1250th should have stopped any movement of the lil guy. I don't PS
so hopefully someone else can chime in...as I'm sure there is a way to see the "red square" after the fact.

Nov 28, 2009 at 04:58 PM

NightOwl Cat
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p.1 #17 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

You could use ViewNX to read the focus point, as well as Capture NX if you have that.

Nov 28, 2009 at 07:49 PM

Scott Grant
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p.1 #18 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

were the trees swaying at the time of the shoot?

Nov 28, 2009 at 07:51 PM

nugeny
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p.1 #19 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

trenchmonkey wrote:
Only the 'monkey eye, Dr. Robert

1/1250th should have stopped any movement of the lil guy. I don't PS
so hopefully someone else can chime in...as I'm sure there is a way to see the "red square" after the fact.

A ha, Capture NX shows that the focus point was at the right shoulder of the bird. Right next to the eye. May be I should refer you to one of the eye specialists ??

Nov 29, 2009 at 03:45 AM

trenchmonkey
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p.1 #20 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

A ha

Then I suggest your lens slightly front focuses. Look at the leaves left of sharper tail feather,
much sharper than your "focus point" right next to the eye. The head/beak is softer....can't you see that

PS. Was just trying to help, if you're happy with the sharpness of these shots...that's all that matters.

Nov 29, 2009 at 11:24 AM

Scott Grant
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p.1 #21 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

nugeny wrote:
trenchmonkey wrote:
Only the 'monkey eye, Dr. Robert

1/1250th should have stopped any movement of the lil guy. I don't PS
so hopefully someone else can chime in...as I'm sure there is a way to see the "red square" after the fact.

A ha, Capture NX shows that the focus point was at the right shoulder of the bird. Right next to the eye. May be I should refer you to one of the eye specialists ??

little red focus squares mean nothing when the trees might have been swaying back and forth in the wind a few inches and your DOF is ultra shallow at 750mm effective focal length.

Nov 29, 2009 at 01:28 PM

trenchmonkey
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p.1 #22 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

Thanks, Scott! Wind certainly could explain it. I think my eyes are just fine.

Nov 29, 2009 at 01:49 PM

nugeny
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p.1 #23 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

trenchmonkey wrote:
A ha

PS. Was just trying to help, if you're happy with the sharpness of these shots...that's all that matters.

I was just kidding. A more serious explanation may be: I may have focused on the bird right shoulder, but the feather on the left do look sharper as your observation --and mine-- pointed out. I guess it was because of the texture of this area that was more contrasty than the shoulder, that is more "furry==blurry."??

Nov 29, 2009 at 03:39 PM

Adam73
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p.1 #24 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

I never shoot wide open with any lens when using a TC. I use the 300mm F2.8 VR and still always shoot at F8 with the 1.7tc.

Nov 30, 2009 at 05:33 PM

nugeny
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p.1 #25 · New 300/4+1.7tc afs in action

Adam73 wrote:
I never shoot wide open with any lens when using a TC. I use the 300mm F2.8 VR and still always shoot at F8 with the 1.7tc.

Of course, wide open was just for testing. Here are real world actions when the lens was not wide open, one can see the marked improvement in IQ.

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Dec 01, 2009 at 12:55 PM


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