p.4 #1 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
George DeCamp wrote:
I think Steve Perry's first look video on the lens is a more accurate representation of the lens. His images using it are so much more professional looking as is his presentation and discussion! Just my opinion though.....
All of Perry’s videos no doubt place the potential and the positive attributes of the lens at a more elite level. The overall quality of Perry’s 800 PF images and videos easily surpass Polin’s, I agree with that entirely.
p.4 #2 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
OK, I got mine this afternoon and ran out to the back yard for a few photos. Not the best conditions, light was very harsh but it has to work in that too!!
Here are some I took. The hummer was in really bad light! All hand held, Z9, and around 1/2000. Oh, lens is awesome and very easy to hand hold, very surprised in fact how nice to hand hold!
Sorry I have to run so this will be a quick post and run!
p.4 #3 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
George DeCamp wrote:
OK, I got mine this afternoon and ran out to the back yard for a few photos. Not the best conditions, light was very harsh but it has to work in that too!!
Here are some I took. The hummer was in really bad light! All hand held, Z9, and around 1/2000. Oh, lens is awesome and very easy to hand hold, very surprised in fact how nice to hand hold!
Sorry I have to run so this will be a quick post and run!
Thanks for these, George. They look really good to me.
p.4 #5 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
Don't get me wrong, 800PF is an excellent lens and for the price, it is really a bargain. It is light enough that I can handhold it for a long time. It is a sharp lens and bokeh while a little troublesome in some situation, is actually very good under the right circumstance.
Here are some shots from yesterday shoot. Background sometimes is a bit distracting. I was shooting between 7am to 9.30am and finally our summer has arrived with maximum tempt of 37C but felt like 40+ C. Of course in the evening, we had thunderstorm and it was pleasant and relatively cool this AM.
Some cropping with Z7 ii
The rest of the shots were with Z9. All shot wide open. Some shots were cropped but not anymore than DX cropped. Shutterspeed was around 1/1600-1/2000s, iso 400-1000 mostly.
p.4 #6 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
And for comparison, 800PF vs 400/2.8S+ TCx2 Both side by side, one shot with Z7ii the other with Z9. No cropping.
I matched color temperature, iso and shutterspped were not identical but very close. Both on tripod
Top is 800PF, bottom 400/2.8S+TCx2 @ f5.6
I did not shoot at f6.3 on 400/2.8S as I find f5.6 yielded sharper image than f6.3 for 400/2.8S+TC.
I did not add sharpening. or denoise to any of these 4 pictures as ISO was around 160-400 only.
The bottom pictures had strong sunlight in the background so I had to lift shadow quite a bit.
As far as AF is concerned, I still feel that 400/2.8S + TCx2 acquire focus faster and less likely the miss a shot.
However, these bee eaters can be very fast and sometimes it is just easier to follow them while handholding and
that's where 800PF shine. I can do it well enough with 400/2.8S but 800PF make it easier to follow these pesky birds.
p.4 #9 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
suteetat wrote:
And for comparison, 800PF vs 400/2.8S+ TCx2 Both side by side, one shot with Z7ii the other with Z9. No cropping.
I matched color temperature, iso and shutterspped were not identical but very close. Both on tripod
I did not shoot at f6.3 on 400/2.8S as I find f5.6 yielded sharper image than f6.3 for 400/2.8S+TC.
I did not add sharpening. or denoise to any of these 4 pictures as ISO was around 160-400 only.
The bottom pictures had strong sunlight in the background so I had to lift shadow quite a bit.
As far as AF is concerned, I still feel that 400/2.8S + TCx2 acquire focus faster and less likely the miss a shot.
However, these bee eaters can be very fast and sometimes it is just easier to follow them while handholding and
that's where 800PF shine. I can do it well enough with 400/2.8S but 800PF make it easier to follow these pesky birds.
p.4 #11 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
philwaring wrote:
He said in his post "I did not shoot at f6.3 on 400/2.8S as I find f5.6 yielded sharper image than f6.3 for 400/2.8S+TC."
Didn't see that, so how can you compare bokeh if they were not shot at the same aperture. 1/3 of a stop will make a difference. Anyway I think both lense are good. 800mmpf seems to be a no Brainer for someone who needs the reach. The 400mm should af faster with the electromagnetic motors . Nikon are hitting homerun after homerun with their new telephoto lense!
p.4 #12 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
The bokeh is a characteristic of the lens. The exemption of the background, don’t know if this is the right English word, depends on the settings. That means you are not totally right or wrong. But the captures definitely show that you can become nice backgrounds out of the Z 400 + TC because of a better bokeh and 1/3 of a stop advantage.
p.4 #15 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
Got a couple shots in this morning. Light was okay. Not too bad but not the greatest. Hoping tomorrow morning will be improved.
I'm really satisfied with this lens. To be able to walk about for 2 hours with a 800mm without feeling any pain in the body is incredible. I haven't been out shooting birds for over 2 years. Hoping to get more comfortable with this combo.
I really don't care what the naysayers say about the bokeh, it's perfectly fine to me. Some of the shots, I purposely placed the busy background in the frame. A busy background is a busy background, no lens will magically make it disappear from your image.
Still a lot of brown around here and it is getting more green. Two more weeks will be better.
p.4 #17 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
this is me wrote:
Got a couple shots in this morning. Light was okay. Not too bad but not the greatest. Hoping tomorrow morning will be improved.
I'm really satisfied with this lens. To be able to walk about for 2 hours with a 800mm without feeling any pain in the body is incredible. I haven't been out shooting birds for over 2 years. Hoping to get more comfortable with this combo.
I really don't care what the naysayers say about the bokeh, it's perfectly fine to me. Some of the shots, I purposely placed the busy background in the frame. A busy background is a busy background, no lens will magically make it disappear from your image.
Still a lot of brown around here and it is getting more green. Two more weeks will be better. ...Show more →
p.4 #19 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
this is me wrote:
Got a couple shots in this morning. Light was okay. Not too bad but not the greatest. Hoping tomorrow morning will be improved.
I'm really satisfied with this lens. To be able to walk about for 2 hours with a 800mm without feeling any pain in the body is incredible. I haven't been out shooting birds for over 2 years. Hoping to get more comfortable with this combo.
I really don't care what the naysayers say about the bokeh, it's perfectly fine to me. Some of the shots, I purposely placed the busy background in the frame. A busy background is a busy background, no lens will magically make it disappear from your image.
Still a lot of brown around here and it is getting more green. Two more weeks will be better.
Very nice images.
I agree that in general bokeh is perfectly fine. I think it is only in specific situation like
leaves or sticks close to the subject with strong sunlight that sometimes double edge lines occur that
is distracting. Good to see like in your pictures that when all the sticks are further back,
they looked perfectly fine.
400/2.8S with TCx2 is almost 2.5x more expensive and around 30% heavier so
any deficiency on 800PF has to be considered in that context.
While AF is a bit slower than 400/2.8S, it is lighter and easier to handhold
for a long time. What's not to like about 800PF
p.4 #20 · Official 800PF image and discussion thread
Archerscreek wrote:
Nice pics everyone. Subjects seem to glow with this lens. And I can see folds in that wood duck’s neck. Amazing.
It might seems like it’s glowing because the lens is new and shiny. Give it a couple years and it will suddenly lose its luster when something newer and shiny comes out) There’s a lot of great yester-year gear that suddenly lost their shine.
