Beautiful bird!
Decided to get this lens for my Z9, and luckily it should arrive soon.
Faster aperture and non-extending design are big plusses over 100-400S IMO.
Luftwalk wrote:
How much of a crop is that @lukemeup@?
This one was in DX mode, further cropped. Ended up with 9-10mpix image. The way it was perched and shifting - I knew it would take off soon so didn't give me much time. It was a very fleeting moment.
I tested the 400 f4.5 + 2x TC on a couple of birds out my front window. So, I am shooting Z9 + 800mm f9 in lowish light due to rain and overcast conditions and thus relatively highish ISO. I used as low a shutter speed as I could to try to keep ISO's as low as I dared to go with a subject that may possible move and at this long focal length, any movement of subject is *noticeable*.
The 2x TC does take the edge off sharpness but it is still very useable. These birds are at about 6-8 mts from the camera so, no cropping required. 800mm for these photos is too close as I could not get the whole bird in the frame with a little room around it for "breathig space" and "correct" composition. Ideally, I would say that for a standard sized bird like these and a pigeon, you would need to be about 10-12 mts away to get a correct frame filling photo with a little room around it. For a larger chicken sized bird maybe 15-20mts away. I have not had the opportunity to shoot at longer distances yet.
In this situation, I would shoot the lens bare and crop if required (see last photo). However, if I was at say 10-20mts away, I would use the 1.4x TC and crop if required. If I were at say 20-30mts away I would possibly use the 2x TC and crop if required or possible. Using a TC is never cut and dry as it depends on distance and ISO used etc and thus you need to weigh up the situation as to whether use a lens bare, with a 1.4x TC, or 2x TC, try to get closer or walk away from the shot.
Most of the seasoned long lens users here will already be well aware of all this but, for those that are considering this set up, 800mm is quite long and excellent long lens craft is required. 800mm and f9 wide open is no point and shoot option as it requires a steady hand, low shutter speeds to keep ISO down and a target that stays still. Any movement of camera, lens or more importantly, subject matter, is magnified even if you have VR and IBIS available. Due to the low shutter speeds involved here, I took many photos to get some decently sharp shots mostly due to subject movement.
No noise reduction is applied, but my usual post processing via Capture One Pro, adding a little saturation, and where required, maybe highlight/shadow, WB and levels. Open in Photoshop reduce for web size and sharpen a little.
2 questions Lance. I assume these are handheld? Those are wild birds in your area? If so that’s stunning. Great summary of the way to think through what to do with a lens. Thanks!
FrankA373 wrote:
2 questions Lance. I assume these are handheld? Those are wild birds in your area? If so that’s stunning. Great summary of the way to think through what to do with a lens. Thanks!
Thank you for posting the 2x images, Lance! I’m tossing around swapping my 500PF for the 400/4.5, and as I sometimes find need for the 1.4x on my 500PF, I’d have to sometimes shoot the 400 with the 2x.
It certainly doesn’t look like it suffers much for the 2x. I get your point about “800/9” being a tough focal length to shoot. I had such good luck with the Z9 at f/8 in our dark winters last year that I’m tempted to give it a go.
CKrueger wrote:
Thank you for posting the 2x images, Lance! I’m tossing around swapping my 500PF for the 400/4.5, and as I sometimes find need for the 1.4x on my 500PF, I’d have to sometimes shoot the 400 with the 2x.
It certainly doesn’t look like it suffers much for the 2x. I get your point about “800/9” being a tough focal length to shoot. I had such good luck with the Z9 at f/8 in our dark winters last year that I’m tempted to give it a go.
Thanks again for taking the time!
The 400 f4.5 is excellent and there is little between it and the 500 f5.6 PF, bare. The advantages of the 400 f4.5 are of course f4.5 and adding the 1.4x TC gives you an excellent 560 f6.3 - a very versatile copmbo. However, going longer, I would be more inclined to shoot the 500 PF + 1.4x TCIII than the 400 f4.5 + 2x TC.
It's assembled there - I doubt all the parts are 'made' there.
