one shot from today, a partly cloudy day.
1st the complete frame,
2nd a 50% crop and still very sharp, (and reduced size for website)
Juan

I would recheck your MA. In the shot of the squirrel the plane of focus appears to be the front face of the cinder block. I would expect that you tried to focus on the eye. On the condors, the focus appears to be on the branch well forward of the birds. IMO your are front focusing. Otherwise, the lens looks great.

300 f/4 + TC 1.4x

here is a shot of a crow, a bird that I find very difficult to shot,
full image and a portrait (crop) and 3rd full image also
Juan

another one that I like,
cannot avoid the wires

An all time favorite lens, sharp wide open and beyond

4
5

Karl

Karl, all nice but that last one is fantastic!!! I used to own the 300/f4, your shots make me miss it!

HansB wrote:
Karl, all nice but that last one is fantastic!!! I used to own the 300/f4, your shots make me miss it!


A kind thank you! Don't feel bad as I am without the lens now and these shots remind me to get another one as soon as I can
Karl

Nice shooting Karl! Beautiful work!

wow you guys are killing me. i'm very tempted to add this lens to my collection just for the closeup/macro and sports photography application.

- hung

It works OK at airshows also... Taken with 5D-ii

I know not exactly nature, but these are called Thunderbirds

really nice shots, a few minutes ago I heard the loud typical helicopter sound,
I quickly rushed outside and got about four shots,
Here is a crop of one, not nature either.
and a close up of a mushroom from yesterday (not a crop)

Juan 65
I have had my 300 for about 10 years and I am now shooting it as you are with the 7D. I am not fimiliar with the micro +12 that you are referring to can you tell me where I can find out more about that? I have never been real happy with mine and maybe that will help.
Thanks

read pages 211 and 212 of your 7D intructions manual,
and post this question on Canon's mount SLR's gear forum;
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/board/2

or
http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/872847

Juan

Okay so I'm editing this post to switch to a more forum-appropriate image:

Thank you for the info, that's deeper than I ever would have gone. They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but you just schooled me.
Hopefully that helps, I rarley use this lens because I have never been happy with the results and I could certainly use the extra distance to narrow down the mountains I climb to chase critters in Alaska. I have been going to my 70-200 F4 with a 1.4 TC. I will let you know how it works.
Thanks again
Phil

Who says the 300/4 + 1.4x II is too slow for AF? Yes, it can be used for fast action--and not even on a 1D-series body. You just have to know how to work with it.

5D2 + EF 300/4L IS + 1.4x II @ 1/1600s @ f/8 @ ISO 640.

Up until this year, Juan, I used the 300f4 for everything. Very useful lens, lightweight, IS, f4, sharp, can't beat that! I used a teleconverter for years. And two canon tubes. I don't think it matters which brand tubes you use. The off brand teleconverters for instance the Tamron focus faster than the Canon. I have both.
Some of my pics mainly most of these in this slideshow....and many more albums dated before June 2009. www.ocwildlife.com
slideshow:
http://www.ocwildlife.com/Photography/NY-and-NJ-trip/6074301_6SwoS

You might consider faster shutter speeds. Handholding this lens on your cropper is like shootin' 480mm,
good long lens technique imperative for crisp shots. Those crow shots are all soft.