I found this Northern Hawk Owl on my drive back from Haines AK to Whitehorse. Same area I found one two weeks ago on the same drive. This time was much worse light....
I've got so say I'm less than thrilled with this body. Fast, nice ergos but the IQ is just meh.
I'm leaning in your direction at the moment. AF, FPS, and buffer are incredible but I'm often let down by the IQ. Having trouble pinpointing it and am even considering switching my telephoto lens despite the outstanding IQ when used on my D800.
I went through some more of the 200+ shots last night and I'm wondering if there's something going on with the lens. I don't know but when I was shooting the 200-500 on my D810(regrettably sold this combo) it was as sharp as could be with nice smooth OOF transitions/rendering. Most of my shots on the D500 and new 200-500 seem slightly blurred(shot all after noon 1250s/s and up) with whacky OOF backgrounds. The separation just seems squirrely and off. When I crop they get mucky fast and almost look stenciled. De-centering perhaps?
I won't rule out technique either. I haven't shot for a year I could just be rusty. I'm going to give the D500 some more time. I'll do some controlled testing on a tripod. Rule out the lens theory at least.
A faulty lens is always a possibility. Only one of mine was taken with the 200-500, but I gather there is greater copy variation than with the primes. I only shoot after sunrise or before sunset and have no experience with midday light conditions.
Tyr-Sog wrote:
Christian, no doubt wonderful photos.
I went through some more of the 200+ shots last night and I'm wondering if there's something going on with the lens. I don't know but when I was shooting the 200-500 on my D810(regrettably sold this combo) it was as sharp as could be with nice smooth OOF transitions/rendering. Most of my shots on the D500 and new 200-500 seem slightly blurred(shot all after noon 1250s/s and up) with whacky OOF backgrounds. The separation just seems squirrely and off. When I crop they get mucky fast and almost look stenciled. De-centering perhaps?
I won't rule out technique either. I haven't shot for a year I could just be rusty. I'm going to give the D500 some more time. I'll do some controlled testing on a tripod. Rule out the lens theory at least....Show more →
arbitrage wrote:
I found this Northern Hawk Owl on my drive back from Haines AK to Whitehorse. Same area I found one two weeks ago on the same drive. This time was much worse light....
Was there any noise reduction done on this?
ICee wrote:
Was there any noise reduction done on this?
Yes...boatloads... It was a big crop and noise was pretty bad. I selected the bird and kept the NR off of it but blasted the background with 100% strength and 0 detail in LR.
Followed this critter several shots. Do notice the D500 locked focus as it passed behind the tree, amazing! Especially considering I used a TC17 with 500 f4 lens..