p.39 #1 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
A suggestion for all you photographers that photograph birds. Why don’t you download one of the identification apps then you just might put the correct name or spelling to the images you post.
p.39 #2 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
MikeInPa wrote:
A suggestion for all you photographers that photograph birds. Why don’t you download one of the identification apps then you just might put the correct name or spelling to the images you post.
Seek is a good one.
I corrected my error... it was a red-shouldered hawk. I have always struggled with hawk ID's especially since juvenile Cooper's hawks look look like red-shouldered hawks to me... Furthermore, having recently moved from MN to CA, I am in accelerated "re-learning" mode
p.39 #11 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
This thread disappeared into oblivion... decided to post some work from a few days ago to bring it back to life
BTW... I absolutely love this lens, possibly the best and most versatile optic I have ever owned
bruce
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/7.11/1000s6400 ISO+0.3 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/7.11/2500s3600 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/7.11/2500s4000 ISO-0.3 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/5.61/2000s3200 ISO+0.3 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/5.61/2000s3200 ISO+0.3 EV
p.39 #12 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
The shot with the hummingbird in the same frame as the baby GHO is awesome! I have never seen those two species in a single frame before. Excellent work Bruce!
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This morning was my first time kayaking for the season. I'm glad to be back at it!
I think all of these were with TC engaged AND massive crops. It was the first time I wished I had a 600TC instead. I forgot how shy the loons are with the new babies. By the end of the summer it'll be possible to shoot them with a 70-200 or 135 f1.8.
Next weekend when I go, I will use the 800PF instead and see how the results compare.
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/2000s1000 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/4000s3600 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens400mmf/8.01/2000s1100 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/2000s1100 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/2000s1000 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/2000s720 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens400mmf/8.01/2000s1000 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/2000s500 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/4000s1600 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/4000s1400 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/4000s1800 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S lens560mmf/8.01/4000s2800 ISO0.0 EV
p.39 #13 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
nmerc_photos wrote:
The shot with the hummingbird in the same frame as the baby GHO is awesome! I have never seen those two species in a single frame before. Excellent work Bruce!
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This morning was my first time kayaking for the season. I'm glad to be back at it!
I think all of these were with TC engaged AND massive crops. It was the first time I wished I had a 600TC instead. I forgot how shy the loons are with the new babies. By the end of the summer it'll be possible to shoot them with a 70-200 or 135 f1.8.
Next weekend when I go, I will use the 800PF instead and see how the results compare....Show more →
This is an amazing series... love the fish exchanges, piggy-backs, and tender interactions.
RE the owlet and hummingbird... pretty cool to watch. The hummer was circling the owl, and the owls was super curious.
RE the 400 f2.8.. I've been stacking 1.4x converters when I need more reach. After a year of use, I'm convinced that this is as sharp, yet more flexible, than the 800PF.
I look forward to seeing more of your loons.
bruce
p.39 #14 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
OwlsEyes wrote:
This is an amazing series... love the fish exchanges, piggy-backs, and tender interactions.
RE the owlet and hummingbird... pretty cool to watch. The hummer was circling the owl, and the owls was super curious.
RE the 400 f2.8.. I've been stacking 1.4x converters when I need more reach. After a year of use, I'm convinced that this is as sharp, yet more flexible, than the 800PF.
I look forward to seeing more of your loons.
bruce
in my backyard testing, I found the same thing re: the 400 + 1.4x + 1.4x. but that's with subjects 30' or closer. these loons were often 150' away minimum.
I did consider the stacked TC method, but I left it at home this was a last minute - unplanned trip when a friend cancelled our existing plans.
perhaps this weekend I will bring the 400TC, TC's, and 800PF and try to do more testing
one question I have for everyone - how stopped down "can you go" with the 400TC? I was trying to added as much DOF as possible, to get 3 or 4 loons in focus at a time, plus fish. in many of the images you can see 2, maybe 3 in focus - but that's it.
can/should I be stopping down to f11 or further? I thought I read something about diffraction becoming an issue
as a chronic "wide open shooter", this is new territory for me!
p.39 #15 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
nmerc_photos wrote:
in my backyard testing, I found the same thing re: the 400 + 1.4x + 1.4x. but that's with subjects 30' or closer. these loons were often 150' away minimum.
I did consider the stacked TC method, but I left it at home this was a last minute - unplanned trip when a friend cancelled our existing plans.
perhaps this weekend I will bring the 400TC, TC's, and 800PF and try to do more testing
one question I have for everyone - how stopped down "can you go" with the 400TC? I was trying to added as much DOF as possible, to get 3 or 4 loons in focus at a time, plus fish. in many of the images you can see 2, maybe 3 in focus - but that's it.
can/should I be stopping down to f11 or further? I thought I read something about diffraction becoming an issue
as a chronic "wide open shooter", this is new territory for me! ...Show more →
I stop down to f/11 when I need depth of field... I'll shoot at f/16 with my wide-angles, but not with wildlife. I'm not a techie, but I'm pretty sure that diffraction probably influences image quality at f/11 when using a 47mp fx sensor, but if you need depth of field to support your composition, then diffraction is the compromise one must accept to avoid having a desired part of your image totally out of focus.
p.39 #16 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
decided to test out the Bruce method and just go with the 400TC + external 1.4x.
I had the 2x in my pocket but didn't use it. maybe tomorrow.
today I had the most out of focus/unsharp images I've ever had. today was much warmer and the sun was direct in comparison to last weekend. I very rarely shoot in direct sunlight, so that could be a contributing factor. not sure if it was a lot of heat haze over the water or the combo of TC stacking, but it was really difficult to get consistent results
I played with aperture from f5.6 to f25 as well as shutter from 1/1000 to 1/4000. gladly I got a couple sweet keepers, but I hope to figure out what was going on today and prevent it in the future
f13 seemed to be the sweet spot based on the images I liked, but I could probably drop down to f9 - f11.
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/13.01/1250s3200 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/13.01/1000s2000 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/13.01/2500s2200 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/9.01/2000s1800 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/13.01/1000s1800 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/13.01/1000s3200 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/13.01/1000s2800 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/13.01/1000s1800 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/13.01/1000s2000 ISO0.0 EV
p.39 #17 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
First 4 images are shot with stack of internal and external 1.4TCs at 784mm. 5th Image is shot at 800mm with just the external 2X TC and the last pic of the owl is shot at 1120mm with Internal TC and external 2X TC stack.
p.39 #18 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
I am continuing to watch these owls develop and change through time. After countless visits, I finally had the pleasure of photographing all of the owls on the same branch without foliage in front or compressed against their bodies.
These photos were shot by stacking the 1.4 converters at f/8 to get enough depth of field to keep all faces in focus
regards,
bruce
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/8.01/1000s6400 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/8.01/1000s6400 ISO-0.3 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/8.01/1000s6400 ISO0.0 EV
NIKON Z 9NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8 TC VR S Z TC-1.4x lens784mmf/8.01/1000s6400 ISO0.0 EV
p.39 #19 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
OwlsEyes wrote:
I am continuing to watch these owls develop and change through time. After countless visits, I finally had the pleasure of photographing all of the owls on the same branch without foliage in front or compressed against their bodies.
These photos were shot by stacking the 1.4 converters at f/8 to get enough depth of field to keep all faces in focus
regards,
bruce
Fantastic Bruce. I think they are getting used to you!
p.39 #20 · Official Nikon 400/2.8S image thread + some discussions
I think the one on the left is giving you stink-eye
OwlsEyes wrote:
I am continuing to watch these owls develop and change through time. After countless visits, I finally had the pleasure of photographing all of the owls on the same branch without foliage in front or compressed against their bodies.
These photos were shot by stacking the 1.4 converters at f/8 to get enough depth of field to keep all faces in focus
this was a last minute - unplanned trip when a friend cancelled our existing plans.
