Lance B wrote:
First shot could be motion blur, you would need a higher shutter speed for that shot.
Second shot might have focused on the branches in front?
Last shot looks like it might be focused on the water behind slightly?
Check for back or front focus of the lens. It looks like it could be a little bit of back focus, focusing behind the subject.
these are just some examples, most if not all my shots are the same result(even with burst shots). i have fine tuned the lens and still running into this issue. i have also shot at a stationary object at 1/2500th and still the same outcome. meanwhile at these distances my 200-500 is nailing focus every single frame and is sharper than this lens. is it possible that i just have a terrible copy?
Matt427 wrote:
these are just some examples, most if not all my shots are the same result(even with burst shots). i have fine tuned the lens and still running into this issue. i have also shot at a stationary object at 1/2500th and still the same outcome. meanwhile at these distances my 200-500 is nailing focus every single frame and is sharper than this lens. is it possible that i just have a terrible copy?
If you've done the AF fine tune correctly and the 200-500 is still sharper, then I think you may have a defective copy of the 500 pf. Maybe try VR off and and on a tripod and see what that does just as a test.
Lance B wrote:
If you've done the AF fine tune correctly and the 200-500 is still sharper, then I think you may have a defective copy of the 500 pf. Maybe try VR off and and on a tripod and see what that does just as a test.
will try this on 3/30 since itll be the next nice day here. but even so if it becomes sharp then, its still useless for the intended purpose
My 500pf did something similar out of the box. Wouldn't achieve sharp focus on a tripod, many different subjects, two different bodies. I finally sent it to Nikon and it came back working perfectly. They didn't really say what they did, but they also didn't say "found no problem." So I say exchange it if possible, as Nikon currently isn't doing repairs.
flagg wrote:
My 500pf did something similar out of the box. Wouldn't achieve sharp focus on a tripod, many different subjects, two different bodies. I finally sent it to Nikon and it came back working perfectly. They didn't really say what they did, but they also didn't say "found no problem." So I say exchange it if possible, as Nikon currently isn't doing repairs.
i emailed the place i bought it from and waiting on a reply. i wonder what they did to your lens to make it work hmm..
Been shooting with the 500pf on most weekends over the past month now.... it is a big step up in overall quality (auto focus speed, sharpness, contrast/colour rendition) compared to the 200-500 f5.6. I had to overcome hand holding and eye coordination technique hard wired in my brain from using the 200-500. Not really missing the flexibility of the zoom as at now as i shoot mostly at 500mm but missing the closer focusing of the 2-5. Some pictures...
Western reef Heron [url=https://flic.kr/p/2iK92Lz]
Splendid starling ( ISO 3600)
[[url=https://flic.kr/p/2iHfjun]
Amazing capture...it's interesting to notice on last image, one digit on right foot is very short, it must've been an accident in past, but the bird got through it.
I'm 61, but I dream like a little boy, so "when I grow up as a wild life photographer, I would like to be like arbitrage from FM"...
Chris Dees wrote:
Wow, what a captures.
Can you tell something about the (AF) settings you used?
Thanks Chris
I used Blocked Shot Response at 2 and Subject Motion at Erratic
I'm not really sure what setting for Blocked Shot Response is best...one could argue that 5 is better to keep on the swallow but I favoured the reactive side of the scale to get on it faster.
I used Auto AF mode. I also had Group AF assigned to the button on the lens so sometimes I would use that as the swallow was further away to get it relatively in focus and then let Auto take over when it got close enough to be worthwhile firing the shutter.
VR set to Sport (as always, I never use the Normal setting).
Normally I'd try to get SS up to 1/4000 or faster but yesterday was cloudy and I don't like the ISO much higher than it was as I always have to crop and any higher of ISO you don't have much detail left after a healthy crop.
Would someone please point me to an explanation of how to set the Focus Function Buttons?
I do read in the instructions AF-L (Focus lock), Memory Recall (Memory Recall) and AF-ON (Lens AF start).
But then the instructions immediately go on to VR.
I have searched the internet and found nothing at all.
Looking for how to make settings with the buttons....... after selecting AF-L, Memory Recall or AF-ON.
Thank you
Robert
A bright red Cardinal just landed on a twig near a feeder. The background was completely open. There was no way this lens could find that bird. It constantly hunted the background. And that was even after pressing the AF-ON button to select AUTO AF mode. I guess there was not enough in the foreground to take the AF attention away from its hunting in the background.
