p.2 #1 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Vinnie_VdB wrote:
@suteetat@ Lovely test shots once again. I will be in BKK last week November. Where do you find those cute owls? :-) Is that the same place where you had that kingfisher? I plan on bringing my 100-400 or even de 180-600 if it arrives in due time.
Thx.
The spotted owls are in a park behind my apartment right in the middle of the city within walking distance from BTS skytrain.
There are 2 spots in the park that I often find them. One I tend to see more in the morning but not as reliable. There is a group of 5 that I usually see at least a couple if not all 5 generally around 5pm. It is at Benjakitti park. Ideally you will need 600mm or longer. 100-400 with TC1.4 would be ok as well. Let me know if you want to see them, I can show you the location where they hang out.
There are some kingfishers around as well as this is a migratory season for kingfishers but they are quite skittish. The one
I took pictures of is from another place about 1-1.5 hours drive from the city center (may be 2 hours traffic depending ).
p.2 #3 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
suteetat wrote:
The spotted owls are in a park behind my apartment right in the middle of the city within walking distance from BTS skytrain.
There are 2 spots in the park that I often find them. One I tend to see more in the morning but not as reliable. There is a group of 5 that I usually see at least a couple if not all 5 generally around 5pm. It is at Benjakitti park. Ideally you will need 600mm or longer. 100-400 with TC1.4 would be ok as well. Let me know if you want to see them, I can show you the location where they hang out.
There are some kingfishers around as well as this is a migratory season for kingfishers but they are quite skittish. The one
I took pictures of is from another place about 1-1.5 hours drive from the city center (may be 2 hours traffic depending ).
p.2 #4 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Vinnie_VdB wrote:
Super. I usually stay in hotels between Phrom Phong & Asok. Thank you for the offer, will; send you a PM with my travel details.
Excellent. You already are very close. Asok BTS station is the closest station to the main entrance to the park pretty much. My apartment is near the next station, Nana, which is very close to the small walking entrance to the park.
p.2 #5 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Mine arrived today and the box appears to have taken quite a hit in shipping. Lens appears fine and seems to operate well, but I'll be contacting Nikon anyway and see what they say. Normally I don't complain about packaging but I'd appreciate a bit more on a $5000 lens.
p.2 #6 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
BPsmith511 wrote:
Mine arrived today and the box appears to have taken quite a hit in shipping. Lens appears fine and seems to operate well, but I'll be contacting Nikon anyway and see what they say. Normally I don't complain about packaging but I'd appreciate a bit more on a $5000 lens.
Wow! Is it in a padded case inside that box, or is it the more typical plastic moulded crating My 800 came in its padded case with foam supports, that’s nestled in the colored box, then the colored box is inside a heavy duty corrugated cardboard box. So all together three full layers plus of pretty decent protection.
p.2 #7 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
gear-nut wrote:
Wow! Is it in a padded case inside that box, or is it the more typical plastic moulded crating My 800 came in its padded case with foam supports, that’s nestled in the colored box, then the colored box is inside a heavy duty corrugated cardboard box. So all together three full layers plus of pretty decent protection.
Inside the box the lens is held with a mix of dense foam and cardboard, and the actual black lens box is in a standard Nikon cardboard box with a few air pouches
p.2 #8 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
BPsmith511 wrote:
Mine arrived today and the box appears to have taken quite a hit in shipping. Lens appears fine and seems to operate well, but I'll be contacting Nikon anyway and see what they say. Normally I don't complain about packaging but I'd appreciate a bit more on a $5000 lens.
I empathize with your feelings because the same thing happened to me... identical. After the incident I began videoing expensive things as I unbox them.
When my 80-400 AFS was shipped back from Nikon in Melville NY the corner of the box was crushed in. Upon unboxing I discovered that the reversed lens hood was racked sideways. A video would have proven the racked hood. Of course I called them and they blamed it on UPS, and that did make sense. On the next delivery day I calmly confronted the UPS man and he assumed no UPS responsibility and diverted it to Nikon. Of course, he may not have been the person who delivered it that day. So there I was, stuck with the situation as it was. They don't care. So I did some googling and found a vid showing UPS guys tossing packages when transferring them from truck to truck. Could not find that vid for this post.
Anyway, the lens seemed undamaged. But months later the entire front of the lens separated when I pull too hard when having trouble removing the lens cap.
I don't think there is anything we can do about these things , unless we see the UPS guy throwing the package. But we can continue to document, call and complain.
I am sorry you are going through this because of someone's negligence. The only encouragement I can think of is that that 600 is lightweight (less mass) and one piece (not a zoom). Hopefully you'll be ok.
p.2 #12 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Well I e-mailed Nikon and got a nebulous RMA issued to me with no further communication, so looks like I'm sending it back? No idea if another is shipping out or if I have to re-order, waiting for a follow up e-mail.
p.2 #14 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
This looks like a really nice optic. It’s a bit too rich for my blood as I don’t shoot wildlife as a primary, so I’ll be sticking with my 400/4.5 with a 1.4x when I need near 600mm. But still, this looks like such a nice lens. My local shop has them in stock, which surprised me.
p.2 #15 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
The takeaway from Steve's video review for me is how well it takes the 1.4x, how good it is across the whole frame and how well it controls CA. Looks like a strong option.
p.2 #16 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Jman13 wrote:
This looks like a really nice optic. It’s a bit too rich for my blood as I don’t shoot wildlife as a primary, so I’ll be sticking with my 400/4.5 with a 1.4x when I need near 600mm. But still, this looks like such a nice lens. My local shop has them in stock, which surprised me.
I’ve noticed the same, in stock lots of places, I just don't think a 600 f/6.3 differentiates itself enough from other options, yes its better as a prime vs 400 4.5 + 1.4 but is it $1300 better (factoring in cost of TC) new vs new or $2000 better for used 400+1.4 vs new 600? With how aggressive Nikon had been pricing their lenses this one seems out of place. My guess is within 6 months we’ll see some hefty rebates. When used prices get down to $3500 range then it will be a lot more appealing but until then the 400 4.5 and TC will continue to be an excellent combo and even then I may opt to forego the 600 PF for the 800 PF anyway.
Clearly this is just my opinion and I know there will be many happy 600 PF owners, but even watching Steve Perry’s comparison video, 600 PF renders better and offers slightly faster AF but I didn't see enough difference to justify the cost at this time.
p.2 #17 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
CanadaMark wrote:
H
Personally I don't see a big different with 4.1, at least for birds which is mostly what I shoot these days. It might be a little stickier or the keeper rate might be a couple percent higher but I'm not getting any shots I wouldn't have easily got pre-4.1. I've shot about 10k frames since updating and I'm still struggling to find situations where the camera behaves differently than before. Others have reported more noticeable improvements though so obviously it's made a difference at least in some scenarios.
Just to give a counter view, nearly all my animal wild life photography is birds and birds in flight, and I have found 4.10 software build on the Z9 with bird recognition really really impressive - in custom area AF… tighter eye focus, and better tracking of fast moving subjects in low light… tracking with the 800 1.4 TC is now more possible when there is enough light which admittedly can be challenging at f/9 so I do need to drop the exposure speed down. I find with wild fowl an ISO level above 2500 starts to loose feather detail too much. The downside it is now usually harder to decide what gets discarded and what is kept 😀
I also have a Z8 but don’t use it for bird photography on the whole.. I tend to prefer the feel of the Z9 in the hand for bird in flight tracking with the 800 pf, and being able to quickly and easily flip to portrait orientation with optimum af control customisation.
As far as 600 pf.. like many have also stated, because I already have the 400 /4.5 and TC I will probably pass.. as it wouldn’t get much use with me… but it looks a great lens… although not quite long enough for much wild bird photography in my opinion (excluding pictures of birds at feeders), but I suspect great for larger wildlife animals and the like.. possibly good for jet air shows… for older and vintage aircraft air shows where you are closer to the flight line I find 400 mm spot on.
p.2 #18 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
If you already have 400/4.5, 600PF is somewhat of a tough sell.
If you don't have either then it comes down to whether you need 400-560 more or 600-840 more.
For birds, in the past, I used 600/4e FL about 50% of the time with TCx1.4 so for my use 600PF
is definitely more useful and that's what I would prefer as long as cost is not prohibitive.
However, this the 7th supertele range lenses ( 400mm or longer, not including F mount option) from Nikon, I would imagine the momentum has
slowed down as most people would already have one or two or three other supertele already.
If it is the first light supertele to come out instead of 800PF or 400/4.5, the story would be quite
different, I think.
p.2 #19 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
arbitrage wrote:
Thank you for the link. Very informative. It seems like a great lens, ‘a baby 600 tc”. If I were to get one long tele, as I have 100-400, 600mm PF seems like a no brainer except for the price commitment. Good thing I don’t have any need currently, so I am in no rush, and can ponder for a year or so, and the price may be a bit more palatable.
p.2 #20 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
My replacement from B&H arrived; i know some critique their packaging but not only was the box bigger but it had tons more air packets and the actual lens box was also bubble wrapped. Much better job than Nikon themselves. @henryp kudos to your shipping department.
).
My 800 came in its padded case with foam supports, that’s nestled in the colored box, then the colored box is inside a heavy duty corrugated cardboard box. So all together three full layers plus of pretty decent protection. 
