p.10 #2 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
marc2307 wrote:
Top notch as usual mate and welcome to the club! .....What's kept you
For me there's no better walk around birding & BIF lens.
Thank you very much, Marc. Much appreciated!
As you know, I have the 400 f2.8E FL VR, 500 pf, Z180-600, and Z800 pf and just couldn't justify having a 600 pf as well! I have decided to sell the 400 f2.8E FL VR simply because I just don't use enough it to warrant having it - and probably sell the 500 pf as well. I can still handhold the 400 f2.8 reasonably easily enough, but it is not as easy as the long Z lenses and I just don't like lugging it around. These long Z lenses are so much easier on the back when transporting them in the backpack as well as I can pack other lenses as well. The results from the 400 f2.8 are exemplary but it is more for larger birds and animals which we just don't have here like say Africa. I was finding that I always had TC's on it for the birds I shoot negating the real advantage of the reason for having it. My Z800, and now Z600, gets used all the time.
p.10 #3 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Lance B wrote:
Thank you very much, Marc. Much appreciated!
As you know, I have the 400 f2.8E FL VR, 500 pf, Z180-600, and Z800 pf and just couldn't justify having a 600 pf as well! I have decided to sell the 400 f2.8E FL VR simply because I just don't use enough it to warrant having it - and probably sell the 500 pf as well. I can still handhold the 400 f2.8 reasonably easily enough, but it is not as easy as the long Z lenses and I just don't like lugging it around. These long Z lenses are so much easier on the back when transporting them in the backpack as well as I can pack other lenses as well. The results from the 400 f2.8 are exemplary but it is more for larger birds and animals which we just don't have here like say Africa. I was finding that I always had TC's on it for the birds I shoot negating the real advantage of the reason for having it. My Z800, and now Z600, gets used all the time. ...Show more →
Totally understand,
although the selling the 400FL & 500PF would get you a good way to a new and lighter, better balanced Z400TC.
p.10 #5 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
marc2307 wrote:
Totally understand,
although the selling the 400FL & 500PF would get you a good way to a new and lighter, better balanced Z400TC.
I wish! The new 400 is about AU$24,000! I would only get about AU$10,000 total for the old 400 f2.8E and 500 PF. I just can't justify that sort of money any more. My 400 f2.8E only cost about AU$12,000 when I purchased it in 2015.
p.10 #6 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Lance B wrote:
Thank you very much, Marc. Much appreciated!
As you know, I have the 400 f2.8E FL VR, 500 pf, Z180-600, and Z800 pf and just couldn't justify having a 600 pf as well! I have decided to sell the 400 f2.8E FL VR simply because I just don't use enough it to warrant having it - and probably sell the 500 pf as well. I can still handhold the 400 f2.8 reasonably easily enough, but it is not as easy as the long Z lenses and I just don't like lugging it around. These long Z lenses are so much easier on the back when transporting them in the backpack as well as I can pack other lenses as well. The results from the 400 f2.8 are exemplary but it is more for larger birds and animals which we just don't have here like say Africa. I was finding that I always had TC's on it for the birds I shoot negating the real advantage of the reason for having it. My Z800, and now Z600, gets used all the time. ...Show more →
It's a shame you had to move on from the 400mm f2.8 FL Lance.....but thank you for sharing your images and thoughts on the lens that helped lead me to picking one up - it's a favourite of mine Enjoy your new lens!
p.10 #7 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
urbanwild wrote:
It's a shame you had to move on from the 400mm f2.8 FL Lance.....but thank you for sharing your images and thoughts on the lens that helped lead me to picking one up - it's a favourite of mine Enjoy your new lens!
Thank you, Rich. "Had to move on" is probably a little strong as I didn't really have to, I just made the decision to move on as I just wasn't using it enough to justify keeping it. I am really glad you are loving yours and I still say it is a stunning lens, but the new Z lenses are 99% as good for a lot less weight and money.
p.10 #8 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Here is the 600 PF with the Z1.4x TC. I thought I would try it out on my new little friend, a Scarlet Robin that I used my 800 PF on last week. This little guy, just a bit larger than my thumb, would not let me get closer than about 6.5mts and even at 800mm and now 840mm I had to crop substantially to get these.
I must say that the results are quite amazing considering the use of the TC on a slowish lens and larger crops. AF was no issue either.
These are cropped from the full 8255 pixel width to about 4100 pixel width and then resized to 2850 pixels for web view.
Z8 + Z 600 pf + Z 1.4x TC, 1/320s f/9.0 at 840.0mm iso320
p.10 #9 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Lance B wrote:
Here is the 600 PF with the Z1.4x TC. I thought I would try it out on my new little friend, a Scarlet Robin that I used my 800 PF on last week. This little guy, just a bit larger than my thumb, would not let me get closer than about 6.5mts and even at 800mm and now 840mm I had to crop substantially to get these.
I must say that the results are quite amazing considering the use of the TC on a slowish less and larger crops. AF was no issue either.
These are cropped from the full 8255 pixel width to about 4100 pixel width and then resized to 2850 pixels for web view.
Z8 + Z 600 pf + Z 1.4x TC, 1/320s f/9.0 at 840.0mm iso320
Nicely done Lance... images look fantastic and I can't believe how sharp they are with a 1.4x TC. Question, did you have to do any increased sharping and or denoising in post?
p.10 #10 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
Haven't posted in a very long while. My 600PF was stuck at Nikon Service for more than a month back in April, and then for another month for all of June; this due to fine grained sand from Ft. DeSoto getting stuck under the focus ring, the first repair not getting all of it out, and then it had to wait for parts. I was very careful to never let the lens touch the sand itself, and had ben successful up until I let the lens hang by the strap at my side and it brushed some residual from my shirt. Ugh... my State Farm policy covered the repair costs, so at least that went my way, but yeah, PSA: weather sealed != sand proof.
Anyway, it's been a busy summer and I haven't been out too much, but here are some shots from my last couple of outings:
p.10 #12 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
robert_in_ca wrote:
Nicely done Lance... images look fantastic and I can't believe how sharp they are with a 1.4x TC. Question, did you have to do any increased sharping and or denoising in post?
Thank you very much, Robert. Much appreciated!
I put them through Topaz Denoise with a little denoise and a small amount of sharpening, but not much. Even though they were relatively low ISO, I underexposed them by at least a stop due to the white highlight on their head which can blow out a little if you're not careful. Suffice to say that the 600 pf + 1.4x combo is very sharp. However, I would only add the TC when I need the reach *and* crop like I have here. If I didn't need to have reach *and* crop, I would just crop the 600mm bare up to about the 800mm mark. However, if I had the TC on, I wouldn't remove it if the bird came closer as it is more important to get the shot. I just don't think there is enough difference without the TC to remove it. In other words, I am extremely impressed with the 600 pf + TC.
p.10 #14 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
MatthewK wrote:
Haven't posted in a very long while. My 600PF was stuck at Nikon Service for more than a month back in April, and then for another month for all of June; this due to fine grained sand from Ft. DeSoto getting stuck under the focus ring, the first repair not getting all of it out, and then it had to wait for parts. I was very careful to never let the lens touch the sand itself, and had ben successful up until I let the lens hang by the strap at my side and it brushed some residual from my shirt. Ugh... my State Farm policy covered the repair costs, so at least that went my way, but yeah, PSA: weather sealed != sand proof.
Anyway, it's been a busy summer and I haven't been out too much, but here are some shots from my last couple of outings:
p.10 #19 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
robert_in_ca wrote:
Testing out the 600mm PF this morning.
Nice to see some non-birds, Robert Not sure if it's the muted colors or the even lighting, but I'm really digging how the first shot came out. It has a quality to it I can't put my finger on.
p.10 #20 · Official 600PF image and discussion thread
MatthewK wrote:
Nice to see some non-birds, Robert Not sure if it's the muted colors or the even lighting, but I'm really digging how the first shot came out. It has a quality to it I can't put my finger on.
Thank you Matthew. The lighting was pretty flat that morning and I did bring down the saturation just a tad. I am still getting use to the lens as I've been shooting with my 600TC for nearly a year, but I wanted something more manageable to take the beach.
I just can't justify that sort of money any more. My 400 f2.8E only cost about AU$12,000 when I purchased it in 2015.
Enjoy your new lens!
