shibutg wrote:
What Arca foot plate you guys use with the GM 600/4?
Mine is a Wimberley and it is a foot replacement, not only a plate. It is a low-profile design. While you still can grab and carry the lens that way but if you wear a glove, there is not enough clearance to do so. I handhold the lens using a shoulder stock quite a bit. And I like the low-profile because it makes it easier for me to operate the lens/camera combo without the feel of being top heavy.
I was out a local birding sanctuary exactly a week ago and during the 90 minutes I was out there, the Western grebes did they rushing rituals 4X. I had a different lens last week . Today, I was at the exact same location for 2 hours and the grebes didn't even bother doing it, not even a single time. They were simply not in the mood, I guess.... Oh, well that's the down side of bird photography, I guess. Here is a Western grebe that just caught a fish...
I saw this mostly white pelican early the morning and the reflected fall colors makes it interesting in the early morning light. That was when I was waiting for the grebes to do their ritual rushing, which they never did the whole morning ...
I was out this morning at the same birding location to catch some grebes rushing actions and while waiting. this belted kingfisher showed up. It hovered for a second, and it seemingly took a dive but changed its mind halfway and it flew away. Here are two of the 6 images captured in a fraction of a second...
Here is one from the rushing ritual of Western grebes. They were far away but fortunately based on anticipation, I used this camera and I had the TC on, as well. The effective focal length of the image is roughly 1,200mm or APS-C from full frame although captured at FF.
I am wondering if anyone has directly compared the 600mm f4 vs the 200-600mm at 600mm.? I used to shoot with a Canon 600mm and later the Nikon 500mm f4 so I have had some experience with the larger lens. I took the 200-600mm out with the Sony A7RIV yesterday. I was impressed with the AF and the percent keepers but not very impressed with the overall image quality. The detail and. micro contrast was not quite up to my expectations. I have the Nikon 200-500mm and I am quite impressed by that lens with the Nikon D850. I have been keeping my Nikon system when shooting birds etc. Was hoping the 200-600 would be satisfactory so I could sell off my Nikon gear.... Not sure if I should invest in the Sony 600mm.
mark1958 wrote:
I am wondering if anyone has directly compared the 600mm f4 vs the 200-600mm at 600mm.? I used to shoot with a Canon 600mm and later the Nikon 500mm f4 so I have had some experience with the larger lens. I took the 200-600mm out with the Sony A7RIV yesterday. I was impressed with the AF and the percent keepers but not very impressed with the overall image quality. The detail and. micro contrast was not quite up to my expectations. I have the Nikon 200-500mm and I am quite impressed by that lens with the Nikon D850. I have been keeping my Nikon system when shooting birds etc. Was hoping the 200-600 would be satisfactory so I could sell off my Nikon gear.... Not sure if I should invest in the Sony 600mm. ...Show more →
I would be interested in hearing on this too, as I have the 200-600 (with a9) since selling off my D850 and 500 f/4E etc.
I haven't had a LOT of shooting opportunities yet (hello sun, where are you?), but so far it seems to be stellar in good light situations, but not so much in low light situations - and I'm not talking about the obvious shutter speed due to the slower lens, nor focusing, just the overall image quality with anything less than generous light seems less than stellar.
mark1958 wrote:
I am wondering if anyone has directly compared the 600mm f4 vs the 200-600mm at 600mm.? I used to shoot with a Canon 600mm and later the Nikon 500mm f4 so I have had some experience with the larger lens. I took the 200-600mm out with the Sony A7RIV yesterday. I was impressed with the AF and the percent keepers but not very impressed with the overall image quality. The detail and. micro contrast was not quite up to my expectations. I have the Nikon 200-500mm and I am quite impressed by that lens with the Nikon D850. I have been keeping my Nikon system when shooting birds etc. Was hoping the 200-600 would be satisfactory so I could sell off my Nikon gear.... Not sure if I should invest in the Sony 600mm. ...Show more →
Mark, I am sure you know that there is thread dedicated to the G 200-600mm, right? Just in case you don’t know, here is the link: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1608204. I do have both and I have been impressed with the IQ of that zoom lens. However, I didn’t do any side-by-side comparison. From casual comparison though, the IQ of both is not that far apart but more the DOF for cleaner bokeh and better isolation in favor of the prime. To me, that zoom lens is the best value money can buy for approximately $2K for wildlife. It is ironic that I didn’t like the IQ I got from the Nikon 200-500mm; I ended up selling that lens in about a month after that trial period over a year ago. More recently, I tried the 500mm f/5.6 PF on the D850 (before Sony announced the G 200-600mm and GM 600mm) but I couldn’t get used to DSLR anymore, I guess. I am 100% sold on mirrorless and I am sticking to that.
I appreciate your comments. I guess I may try it again and perhaps take out the Nikon at the same time.
AGeoJO wrote:
Mark, I am sure you know that there is thread dedicated to the G 200-600mm, right? Just in case you don’t know, here is the link: https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1608204. I do have both and I have been impressed with the IQ of that zoom lens. However, I didn’t do any side-by-side comparison. From casual comparison though, the IQ of both is not that far apart but more the DOF for cleaner bokeh and better isolation in favor of the prime. To me, that zoom lens is the best value money can buy for approximately $2K for wildlife. It is ironic that I didn’t like the IQ I got from the Nikon 200-500mm; I ended up selling that lens in about a month after that trial period over a year ago. More recently, I tried the 500mm f/5.6 PF on the D850 (before Sony announced the G 200-600mm and GM 600mm) but I couldn’t get used to DSLR anymore, I guess. I am 100% sold on mirrorless and I am sticking to that. ...Show more →
. Today, I was at the exact same location for 2 hours and the grebes didn't even bother doing it, not even a single time. They were simply not in the mood, I guess.... Oh, well that's the down side of bird photography, I guess. Here is a Western grebe that just caught a fish... 
