nugeny wrote:
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.
trenchmonkey wrote:
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.
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."??
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.
sometimes one needs that extra stop to stop motion. i'd rather have an image that is slightly soft from shooting wide open than have one that suffers from softness due to subject movement.
i never hesitate to shoot either my 300mm or 500mm wide open even with the 1.7X converter.
nugeny wrote:
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.
i don't see the improvement Nugeny. you can get better IQ from this combo.
i think your issues are coming mostly from minor focus errors. at f8 with your d300, 300mm f4 and 1.7X converter shooting a bird at 20 feet only gives you about one inch of 'in focus'. from the looks of your images you've been shooting in mid day when winds are generally at their strongest. a little breeze will make that branch sway and make your AF scream to try and keep up with the micro movements, especially with the 1.7X converter attached.
your second image is quite out of focus. notice that the focus point is on the leaves in front of the bird. you can easily see the one inch of focus i've outlined above. it also looks like tonal contrast has been hiked up to enhance the look of sharpness?
Kitehog wrote:
You can shoot this combo wide open if you are careful and havethe right conditions.
These were shot wide open with the 300 f4 and a 1.7TC
Kitehog wrote:
You can shoot this combo wide open if you are careful and havethe right conditions.
These were shot wide open with the 300 f4 and a 1.7TC
Scott Grant wrote:
sometimes one needs that extra stop to stop motion. i'd rather have an image that is slightly soft from shooting wide open than have one that suffers from softness due to subject movement.
i never hesitate to shoot either my 300mm or 500mm wide open even with the 1.7X converter.
I just ordered the tc 2x and will try the extreme, wide open, no doubt.
With it I will get 900mm on the D300, not bad for the reach. If I have to close down to f9 or f10, it still will be ok, I bet,
you don't seem to inclined to listen to anyone's advice Nugeny. i'm not sure why. i have shot tens of thousands of birds with the same combo and had quite a bit to learn before i got good results. i and others are trying to share my learning experience with you but to no avail.
you're going to have twice the trouble with a 2X converter.
Scott Grant wrote:
you don't seem to inclined to listen to anyone's advice Nugeny. i'm not sure why. i have shot tens of thousands of birds with the same combo and had quite a bit to learn before i got good results. i and others are trying to share my learning experience with you but to no avail.
you're going to have twice the trouble with a 2X converter.
Scott, I appreciate all opinions and experiences. Some are conflicting depending on situations and experiences. You never shoot wide open but the other like Kite above, he doesn't hesitate to do so and as you can see, the results are excellent.
I am open to all views including my own ideas. I did have a x2 before, it will be a challenge, but I never shy away from trying until I discover myself my limit.
gman1339 wrote:
It should be noted that the 2x teleconverter is not even close to the quality of the 1.7x.
Of course, 1.4x and 1.7x will be used most. If 2x IQ is somehow acceptable, I will keep it for the situation where I would need the reach. It is alway worthwhile to try out. One never know until one knows.
nugeny wrote:
Scott, I appreciate all opinions and experiences. Some are conflicting depending on situations and experiences. You never shoot wide open but the other like Kite above, he doesn't hesitate to do so and as you can see, the results are excellent.
I am open to all views including my own ideas. I did have a x2 before, it will be a challenge, but I never shy away from trying until I discover myself my limit.
you don't seem to be reading replies to your thread very well.
have fun with your setup! i wish you only the best.
Great shot. Of course. Sweet spot of a lens is where one should zero in.No argument here.
Adam73 wrote:
In my experience shooting wide open its a hit an miss like Scott stated above if you have the right conditions. Its kind of like somone shooting wide open with a 50mm 1.4 its possible to get sharp shots with such a shallow depth of field but very difficult. When I shoot wide open I have less than a 50% keeper rate but step down a bit and I have way more keepers.
I took this shot with a canon 300mm F2.8 IS and a 2x TC Shot at F8. I liked the IQ of the shot but didn't like my Bokeh. I have a lot of experience with Teleconverters from the Tamron, to Canon to Nikon. Some would rather have a soft image but I have seen very soft images that to my standards are not acceptable. To me if I wanted the creamy bokeh I could do it in post processing but if you have an out of focus shot, there isn't much post processing can do for it. Its your choice, but for me stepping down is the safest bet. ...Show more →
Then I suggest your lens slightly front focuses. Look at the leaves left of sharper tail feather,
