Just received my 300MM and just wanted to report that the Sigma A00122 lens cap works as a temporary cover till better alternatives like the custom Zemlin become available. The lens cap is just held on by the clamping force of pinching springs but it's plenty to hold it on with normal use.
ps09 wrote:
I’ve shot the lens for about 20 hours this past week. Pretty much all BIF. I don’t consider it playing with the lens in the field. Am I going to sell the 600GM? No. But I am pleasantly surprised at its af performance and IQ with both tcs and, once again, it will get the nod when conditions are right and 600 is sufficient. It’s so well balanced that I will gladly trade any loss in IQ I would have gotten with the 600gm to have the ease of shooting from the kayak or while hiking. I think of the many shots I missed while trying to control a 6# 20” lens from the kayak. Maybe the iq will take a slight hit with the 300, but I will be in much better control hand held.
I’m out as far as this thread goes. Haters are always gonna hate and it’s frustrating to hear people mouth off that haven’t even used it. Try the not take yourselves so seriously and enjoy this great hobby. We are all shooting with the best gear we’ve ever had!...Show more →
I'm happy to hear you are getting good results. Weather forecast is holding out for Saturday so if the mailman does his job and gets the lens to my friend tomorrow then I should be good to go with my testing.
For sure I'd love to use this lens in the kayak over my 600GM or 400GM which I currently use. I used to use Canon 300II with 2xTCIII from the kayak and the Sony lens is much smaller and lighter.
If it can just buck the AF inconsistencies I always get with the TCs on the 600GM and 400GM then I'm selling the 400GM and buying this. If not I'll pick up a Z8/600PF for about the same $$.
arbitrage wrote:
I'm happy to hear you are getting good results. Weather forecast is holding out for Saturday so if the mailman does his job and gets the lens to my friend tomorrow then I should be good to go with my testing.
For sure I'd love to use this lens in the kayak over my 600GM or 400GM which I currently use. I used to use Canon 300II with 2xTCIII from the kayak and the Sony lens is much smaller and lighter.
If it can just buck the AF inconsistencies I always get with the TCs on the 600GM and 400GM then I'm selling the 400GM and buying this. If not I'll pick up a Z8/600PF for about the same $$.
...Show more →
This is brilliant... I am impressed that you can shoot this handheld from a kayak. More than arms, this type of shooting requires abdominal core strength when sitting in a kayak. I've shot a lot of relatively heavy lenses from a kayak... 200-400, 800PF, etc... and the mix of arm and core fatigue often caused me to miss the "money shot."
Based on what I'm seeing, the 300GM (much like the 400 f4.5/500PF/600PF Nikkors) are the perfect non-zoom lenses for that type of shooting.
While I'm not going to adopt Sony... too much invested in Nikon at this point... I am forever curious about high quality optics and look forward to seeing what you can do with this lens. With that said, while it is a compromise optic, I am surprised that you don't use the 200-600G for your kayak shooting. Now that I have the 400 f2.8S/TC, 100-400S, and 180-600, my 180-600 is my "boat" lens. It served me well with loons last summer and performed beyond expectation recently during my shoot with sea eagles in Japan.
OwlsEyes wrote:
This is brilliant... I am impressed that you can shoot this handheld from a kayak. More than arms, this type of shooting requires abdominal core strength when sitting in a kayak. I've shot a lot of relatively heavy lenses from a kayak... 200-400, 800PF, etc... and the mix of arm and core fatigue often caused me to miss the "money shot."
Based on what I'm seeing, the 300GM (much like the 400 f4.5/500PF/600PF Nikkors) are the perfect non-zoom lenses for that type of shooting.
While I'm not going to adopt Sony... too much invested in Nikon at this point... I am forever curious about high quality optics and look forward to seeing what you can do with this lens. With that said, while it is a compromise optic, I am surprised that you don't use the 200-600G for your kayak shooting. Now that I have the 400 f2.8S/TC, 100-400S, and 180-600, my 180-600 is my "boat" lens. It served me well with loons last summer and performed beyond expectation recently during my shoot with sea eagles in Japan.
I did use the 200-600 from the kayak but I eventually sold my 200-600 as I just wasn't using it much (kayak or not). I just really enjoyed the faster and more accurate AF (IMO, YMMV) of the big primes and got used to the stunning IQ. So I started using them in the kayak and haven't looked back.
Arbitrage don’t sell it, if you don’t really need the money obviously .
The 200-600 even if is slower, less sharp, with worst bokeh (especially in the 2 shorter focal lengths) and heavier…is a zoom, and produces clear, high-quality images, in some cases it can be very useful; not always you can put or change tc…
_MacTwin_ wrote:
Arbitrage don’t sell it, if you don’t really need the money obviously .
The 200-600 even if is slower, less sharp, with worst bokeh (especially in the 2 shorter focal lengths) and heavier…is a zoom, and produces clear, high-quality images, in some cases it can be very useful; not always you can put or change tc…
Curious to know your findings about this lens and (or) Z8+600PF. As someone uses both Z8 and A1 (temporary), I leave A1 at home most of the time because of the reach of 800PF, VR and bird AF. I'm still not convinced that Z8 combo is equal to A1 for BIF. Need to try more. It's great for normal BIF. Not sure about swallow kind of subjects. I haven't seen swallows for years. So I cannot to test it and probably for my skill level I don't have to worry about it
Love Nikon setup for everything else. Thinking of selling A1 before A1 II is announced to save some money.
arbitrage wrote:
I'm happy to hear you are getting good results. Weather forecast is holding out for Saturday so if the mailman does his job and gets the lens to my friend tomorrow then I should be good to go with my testing.
For sure I'd love to use this lens in the kayak over my 600GM or 400GM which I currently use. I used to use Canon 300II with 2xTCIII from the kayak and the Sony lens is much smaller and lighter.
If it can just buck the AF inconsistencies I always get with the TCs on the 600GM and 400GM then I'm selling the 400GM and buying this. If not I'll pick up a Z8/600PF for about the same $$.
_MacTwin_ wrote:
Arbitrage don’t sell it, if you don’t really need the money obviously .
The 200-600 even if is slower, less sharp, with worst bokeh (especially in the 2 shorter focal lengths) and heavier…is a zoom, and produces clear, high-quality images, in some cases it can be very useful; not always you can put or change tc…
I sold it almost a year ago or actually used it as part of a deal to acquire Z9 and 400/4.5 (for the 2nd time...which I sold 2 weeks later ).
I have the 100-400GM which I prefer as my zoom lens for its other qualities like semi-macro and smaller size. But of course having 600/6.3 without using a TC was nice and the zoom throw was awesome on the 2-6. So far I haven't found myself missing the 2-6.
Jemini wrote:
Curious to know your findings about this lens and (or) Z8+600PF. As someone uses both Z8 and A1 (temporary), I leave A1 at home most of the time because of the reach of 800PF, VR and bird AF. I'm still not convinced that Z8 combo is equal to A1 for BIF. Need to try more. It's great for normal BIF. Not sure about swallow kind of subjects. I haven't seen swallows for years. So I cannot to test it and probably for my skill level I don't have to worry about it
Love Nikon setup for everything else. Thinking of selling A1 before A1 II is announced to save some money.
Well the good news is my friend received the lens this morning so I think I can pry it from his hands for a short while tomorrow. I won't have a tonne of time with it but will be able to try it on ducks IF and maybe swallows IF (although I couldn't find the swallows today so they may have moved on).
Jemini wrote:
Curious to know your findings about this lens and (or) Z8+600PF. As someone uses both Z8 and A1 (temporary), I leave A1 at home most of the time because of the reach of 800PF, VR and bird AF. I'm still not convinced that Z8 combo is equal to A1 for BIF. Need to try more. It's great for normal BIF. Not sure about swallow kind of subjects. I haven't seen swallows for years. So I cannot to test it and probably for my skill level I don't have to worry about it
Love Nikon setup for everything else. Thinking of selling A1 before A1 II is announced to save some money.
My friend has Z8 and 400/4.5 so I may be able to borrow that for a short session and try it. Another guy I know has the 600PF but I'm not close friends with him so not sure if he'd let me try it or not.
According to Alex phan, A1 is still superior regarding AF acquisition and lock on, especially so with cluttered backgrounds. This is in comparison to both Z9 and Z8 with latest firmware. Now if Sony could just give us a 600 and 800pf!
Jemini wrote:
Curious to know your findings about this lens and (or) Z8+600PF. As someone uses both Z8 and A1 (temporary), I leave A1 at home most of the time because of the reach of 800PF, VR and bird AF. I'm still not convinced that Z8 combo is equal to A1 for BIF. Need to try more. It's great for normal BIF. Not sure about swallow kind of subjects. I haven't seen swallows for years. So I cannot to test it and probably for my skill level I don't have to worry about it
Love Nikon setup for everything else. Thinking of selling A1 before A1 II is announced to save some money.
arbitrage wrote:
My friend has Z8 and 400/4.5 so I may be able to borrow that for a short session and try it. Another guy I know has the 600PF but I'm not close friends with him so not sure if he'd let me try it or not.
Look forward to you tests with the 300 and hopefully the z8/400f4.5 combo. I'm thinking about picking up the 300 (probably with ybe 1.4TC) in part for a trip this summer (private game reserve off of Kruger NP where 400mm is the best focal len). For basically the same price I could get a Z8 and 400.
Maxxus46 wrote:
According to Alex phan, A1 is still superior regarding AF acquisition and lock on, especially so with cluttered backgrounds. This is in comparison to both Z9 and Z8 with latest firmware. Now if Sony could just give us a 600 and 800pf!
This was my finding too when I had the Z9 with the latest FW and the Nikon 600 TC for a few weeks in December last year. The A1 seemed to pick out the bald eagles with busy background quite a bit quicker. I sold the Nikon setup because I wasn't a fan of the Z9's size and weight, I kept my 600 GM. Since I shoot the 600 GM hand held and with a 1.4X TC on 95% of the time, I figured I may as well get the Z8 and the Nikon 800 PF to save some weight and $$$. I will have the Nikon Z8 and 800 PF in about a week. If I find the Z8+800 PF suits me better, I will sell the 600 GM.
With regard to the 300 GM, I may get one to use with the 2X TC (most of the time). I enjoy shooting hummingbirds at very close distance from my study, I have been using the Sony 200-600 for that for a few years due to its better MFD. Sounds like the 300 GM+2X TC will give me slightly sharper images with better bokeh, at a slight shorter MFD. I hope the 300 GM+2XTC will give me bigger hummingbirds than the 200-600 at 600mm. It's pretty well documented that at MDF the 200-600 is more like 550mm something. The new Sigma 500 or the Nikon 600 PF won't do it for me because of their MFD.
arbitrage wrote:
My friend has Z8 and 400/4.5 so I may be able to borrow that for a short session and try it. Another guy I know has the 600PF but I'm not close friends with him so not sure if he'd let me try it or not.
According to Steve Perry 400/4.5 and 600/6.3 have same AF speed. 400 has the aperture advantage. You will be able to play with 300 tomorrow. Right? If you have access to a Sony 1.4x, 420/4 and 400/4.5 should be pretty comparable in IQ, speed and reach ... Honestly I'll be surprised if you find Nikon combo is equal or better. Let's see.. Catch some ducks tomorrow
A compact 500/4 lens with weight around 200-600 would be great for BIF. I could use an additional stop of light. As someone shot with 500/4 for years I'm sure the reach works well. 400-420 is little short for birds. It's great for animals in US.
Douglas L wrote:
Judging by the interest in 300 GM +2x TC, Sony may as well make a compact 600 mm f5.6 too
I've been waiting for the 500 f4 for ages, optics that no longer seem to interest the major corporate, perhaps because of the weight now achieved by the 600.
Seeing sigma's example, it would be wonderful to see a compact and lightweight 800f6.3 like the Nikon....ma with refractive lenses.
But it would still be nice if sony also approached fresnel perhaps by offering just an 800f6.3 but with serious (linear) af motors, all the switches a professional must have, 11-blade diaphragm etc....remaining on the price of 7500-8000.
Sony might try to show its muscles in diffractive ....something not easy given the Canon and Nikon level, but it is wont to surprise so...
On the 600f6.3....bah, the 300gm is already a very light 600f5.6....
Douglas L wrote:
This was my finding too when I had the Z9 with the latest FW and the Nikon 600 TC for a few weeks in December last year. The A1 seemed to pick out the bald eagles with busy background quite a bit quicker. I sold the Nikon setup because I wasn't a fan of the Z9's size and weight, I kept my 600 GM. Since I shoot the 600 GM hand held and with a 1.4X TC on 95% of the time, I figured I may as well get the Z8 and the Nikon 800 PF to save some weight and $$$. I will have the Nikon Z8 and 800 PF in about a week. If I find the Z8+800 PF suits me better, I will sell the 600 GM.
With regard to the 300 GM, I may get one to use with the 2X TC (most of the time). I enjoy shooting hummingbirds at very close distance from my study, I have been using the Sony 200-600 for that for a few years due to its better MFD. Sounds like the 300 GM+2X TC will give me slightly sharper images with better bokeh, at a slight shorter MFD. I hope the 300 GM+2XTC will give me bigger hummingbirds than the 200-600 at 600mm. It's pretty well documented that at MDF the 200-600 is more like 550mm something. The new Sigma 500 or the Nikon 600 PF won't do it for me because of their MFD.
I use the 400/2.8 with or without a 1.4x when I need shorter MFD than the 600 offers. It's a bit longer than the 200-600 but AF and bokeh are a lot better and it's sharper, IMO.
Besides the weight bonus... how would you judge the OSS in the new GM300 versus GM400, G200600, GM100400?
Tried today some photos with the front-heavy G200600... the image stabilization works not really well. Trying the new GM300 at dealer's point i got the impression its stabi is sure better. As I am not Arnold Schwarzenegger... lower weight (first) and very god image stabilization counts for me to achieve sharp photos.
Jemini wrote:
A compact 500/4 lens with weight around 200-600 would be great for BIF. I could use an additional stop of light. As someone shot with 500/4 for years I'm sure the reach works well. 400-420 is little short for birds. It's great for animals in US.
For most of the birds I shoot, 600 is still too short, that's why I have the 1.4x tc on the 600 GM 98% of the time. I shoot hand held 98% of the time as well. I ordered a Nikon 800 PF to try out since I need 800mm most of the time anyway. If it works out I will sell the 600 GM.
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