Went back to the nest of the Kingfishers.
It looks like they are breading now. There's always one in/on the nest.
Normally the change is in a split second, but this time I was lucky and the female stayed 1-2 seconds at the opening.
Lance B wrote:
This was posted on the Z9 thread also, but I thought it important for this thread as it is very much about how good the 500 PF + 1.4x TCIII is.
The 500 + 1.4x TCIII makes for a great combo and *very* useable on the Z9. I think that any softness issues with the 500 pf + 1.4x TCIII on DSLR's may be down to slow or inaccurate AF. No such problems on the Z9.
Many have been cropped, some quite considerably. Some at very high ISO's up to 11400. All shot wide open at f8. All used Animal Eye AF which worked perfectly.
bs kite wrote:
You have a good relationship with your birds Lance. They trust you. That little finch wins me over. Friendly little bird... curious?
Thanks to you, George DeCamp and a few others for demonstrating how well the 500PF/TC14III performs on the Z9.
Thank you very much, Robert! In this instance, these were birds from a zoo and thus were less inhibited but roam free in an aviary. The images were to show off the ability of the 500 + 1.4x TCII combo.
Lance B wrote:
This was posted on the Z9 thread also, but I thought it important for this thread as it is very much about how good the 500 PF + 1.4x TCIII is.
The 500 + 1.4x TCIII makes for a great combo and *very* useable on the Z9. I think that any softness issues with the 500 pf + 1.4x TCIII on DSLR's may be down to slow or inaccurate AF. No such problems on the Z9.
Many have been cropped, some quite considerably. Some at very high ISO's up to 11400. All shot wide open at f8. All used Animal Eye AF which worked perfectly.
In 2020 they laid two eggs and successful fledged one colt, last year their only egg rolled into the pond during a major storm. It looks like they're back for a 3rd nesting season. It's still cold in MN, and they haven't found a suitable place for the nest... I'm hoping to spend a bit of my spring and summer documenting the behaviors of this couple again.
Images shot through last year's cattails w/ the D500 + 500PF
I'm loving using the Nikon 500 PF with Fringer Pro adapter on my Fuji X-T3. AF is blazing fast and accurate with excellent tracking. Even when the Nikon 1.7x TC is used.
1) American Oystercatcher in flight
X-T3 NIKON AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens 500mm f/5.6 1/2000s 400 ISO
2) Angry swan charging Canada Goose that got close to it's nest
X-T3 NIKON AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR + 1.7X lens 850mm f/9.0 1/2000s 800 ISO
the blending and the whitish gradient give it artistic look
How do you know if they are the same birds or their cousins ?
Thank you for looking and your comments. This is a "style" that I have been working on throughout the last few years. I really love when you can create a soft (or dark) palette around a visible portion of an animal.
Since the birds are not banded, I cannot be sure that they are the same birds. However, long-lived species of birds that make lifetime pair bonds tend to return to the same location year after year. This pattern of re-nesting is very common with cranes and loons. The pattern can be broken if they are unsuccessful for multiple consecutive years.
morris wrote:
I'm loving using the Nikon 500 PF with Fringer Pro adapter on my Fuji X-T3. AF is blazing fast and accurate with excellent tracking. Even when the Nikon 1.7x TC is used.
trenchmonkey wrote:
1st shot with my "Nikon Refurb Sale" 500 f5.6 PF
Glad to finally contribute a visual to this thread...
Still a little jealous of not being able to taking advantage of the sale...being in Canada. A few more bucks were spent though and I've finally splashed on a used copy.....looking forward to joining you after a couple of years of having lens envy on this board
