Yes, she and her cubs sat for me for about an hour. Many different poses she offered, while I asked her to relocate because of the light she declined but still made the day.
I purchase a 500mm f4 (non VR) from a fellow FMer and took it out for the first time recently. It will definitely take some experience to get good with this lens, but it was certainly fun to go out and shoot with it. Here is one image from my first use of the lens. A 1.4x converter was used on this image too.
Nikon D800E, 500mm f/4 + Nikon tc 14e ii, 1/2000 sec @ f/9 ISO 1000
Shooting a mammal - any mammal - is always exciting in our little South Philly wildlife refuge, presently overrun by hordes of early spring birders. I spotted this little guy from afar and knew he'd probably cross a small opening in the reeds where I'd be able to get reasonably low. I got there just before he did!
I know that there are many stunning eagle shots all over this forum but I live in a small town just south of Buffalo NY so eagle sightings for us are very rare. And they will in no way tolerate human activity. I've known of a pair that arrive in early spring and hang out at a pond/lake about 5 miles from my house. As it happens friends of mine just built a house at the lake and they've allowed me to set up a blind behind their house. So I was back at the blind at 6:30 this morning and they arrived about 8:30. I would have loved to have been closer ( i was probably 75-90 yards away) but I really don't want to intrude on them cuz we're hoping they remain comfortable there. They landed in the tree and then just sat there for over an hour and I managed to get just 2 frames off at lift off. So, like I said, not much compared to the others on this forum but I'll take it !
This was only the 3rd time out with my 500 AF-I and I'm beginning to see that it's not all about sharpness with these lenses. I'm not a real technical guy so not up on all the terminology but if I had to use a word to describe the difference in this lens compared to my 300 AF-I with converters I would have to say "rendering". There's just something different that I'm beginning to notice. Heading to Florida for 2 weeks of birding on friday. Can't wait !!
