Kristian, haven't tried the TC14B (or is it the TC14A for <300mm?) but you would definitely lose less quality with a 1.4X vs. a 2X teleconverter, apart from losing light for focusing with the 2X. It may indeed be the TC14BA for you since now I remember I have used the TC14B with the 500 F4P, and that combo works pretty well.
The advantage of the 200 f4 is indeed its light weight, and really excellent quality. That was one of my first teles in the manual focus Nikon world. Remember that adding 2X TC will convert it to 400mm and then you have to think about stability at that focal length.
Buddy, always enjoy your arachnid portraits. Quite a hobby!
Luka, amazing scene from foggy NYC!
Phong, really liking your shots, but which lens are you using?
Jeff, outstanding pics from Death Valley, and thanks for letting us know the name given by the Native Americans to the region.
Chris, it may have been tough but its a fun challenge to have in getting motion pics with these lenses. Somewhere Laura has a thread for shooting moving objects with manual focus Nikkors. I love your last two shots i particular.
Jay, wow, fantastic image of the Milky Way beyond the water.
I had an itch-pain in my left eye the day I left Vegas to meet Curtis.
And I've had a stye from that lower eyelid, which migrated to the right lower, then the right upper and now the left upper. This last one seems extremely virulent, my eye's puffed up like a golfball so I'm laid up at home, alone and without any depth perception.
>>
In the Valley of Fire, the skies weren't quite worth getting scared and lost for, but the lines were so so pretty. There was something alien in being all alone out there with the wind whispering as it tunneled through those foxholes in and out. You could barely hear faint snatches of a word here and there if you listen out quietly; often chance passing by the back of the head at an oblique angle and whipping away leaving you mildly disoriented and whispering back, 'who's there?'
saph wrote:
Kristian, haven't tried the TC14B (or is it the TC14A for <300mm?) but you would definitely lose less quality with a 1.4X vs. a 2X teleconverter, apart from losing light for focusing with the 2X. It may indeed be the TC14BA for you since now I remember I have used the TC14B with the 500 F4P, and that combo works pretty well.
The advantage of the 200 f4 is indeed its light weight, and really excellent quality. That was one of my first teles in the manual focus Nikon world. Remember that adding 2X TC will convert it to 400mm and then you have to think about stability at that focal length....Show more →
Alright Samy, perhaps I need to get both the 200/4 ais and the TC14B, I really wanna shoot some more telephoto.
Thanks for the input.
saph wrote:
........
Chris, it may have been tough but its a fun challenge to have in getting motion pics with these lenses. Somewhere Laura has a thread for shooting moving objects with manual focus Nikkors. I love your last two shots i particular.
........
Not for me; hit rate of a few percent in stead of 80% or more.
The one that where in focus are only because I focussed on something else (focus trap).
This one is cropped to about 50%. I did get a bit scared when I zoomed in and saw all those parasites. I did some homework on what it is. Turns out to be a very common mite that lives on the bumble bee queen early in the spring. The make very little harm to the bee itself and it also takes care of the queens nest and keeping it clean from debris and eating it´s feaces. This time of the year the mites are following their bee out and drop them selfs off on a flower to be able to jump upon another bee. Nature is pretty cool! Bumblebee with parasites by Kristian Hagelin, on Flickr
Day 3 was an other hiking day. This time we were better prepared and we marked the spot were we parked the car on my iPhone.
We started high and walked down to the house you can see on the first image, from there we walked further into the canyon and finally got back up with a cable car. About 12km this time and not too strenuous.
saph wrote:
Buddy, always enjoy your arachnid portraits. Quite a hobby!
That is nice to hear Samy, because I finally managed a snapshot of this lady. It is not a good photograph in any sense other then that it has most of the spider on it, and is in focus. But this actually is the first time I have seen the Monocentropus balfouri ever since I placed her in the terrarium.
Taken with the 135mm f2,8 Nikkor-Q.C (because that was what I had at hand). The picture was taken after dark, after the lights went out, so focusing with the 135mm lens on top of a PK-12 and PK-13 stacked (for a total extension of 41,5mm) became a bit of hit and miss. I needed 5 attempts to get the focal plane where I wanted it, and after that, the spider was nowhere to be seen again.
Monocentropus balfouri is an unusual family member of the Old world Tarantulas. It originates from Yemen, which in itself of course is not unusual. What is unusual though, is that these spiders display some social traits not seen in other old world spiders. They form colonies that share a burrow or build a communal web, AND (which is maybe even more significant) are known to hunt in packs.
Photos below are taken with the 300mm f2,8 Ai-S ED-IF Nikkor
Kristian, for hiking purposes I also like the 80-200 f4 Ai-S. It is versatile enough to give it a 2nd consideration. I can't express enough how big a deal the 1,2m MFD is for versatility. This is your one-lens solution for medium to long tele as well as close up lens. The 200mm f4 is indeed smaller, but the 200mm f4 Ai-S might be lighter and smaller, but with an MFD of 2 meters, it is a tele lens only.
At a price of $100 on the used market, I would really recommend to pick one up and see how you like it. I had no problem selling mine (actually had more of a problem finding a like new replacement)
Ouch Buddy, wouldn't want to be chased around by a pack of social tarantulas In all seriousness though a fascinating hobby, and very cool to get a glimpse of the characteristics of this particular species through your writeup above. Not a bad portrait at all using stacked extension tubes.
Jay amazing frameworthy scene.
Chris, cool scenery from the cable car. I would agree on your estimates for keepers.
the solitaire wrote:
That is nice to hear Samy, because I finally managed a snapshot of this lady. It is not a good photograph in any sense other then that it has most of the spider on it, and is in focus. But this actually is the first time I have seen the Monocentropus balfouri ever since I placed her in the terrarium.
Taken with the 135mm f2,8 Nikkor-Q.C (because that was what I had at hand). The picture was taken after dark, after the lights went out, so focusing with the 135mm lens on top of a PK-12 and PK-13 stacked (for a total extension of 41,5mm) became a bit of hit and miss. I needed 5 attempts to get the focal plane where I wanted it, and after that, the spider was nowhere to be seen again.
Monocentropus balfouri is an unusual family member of the Old world Tarantulas. It originates from Yemen, which in itself of course is not unusual. What is unusual though, is that these spiders display some social traits not seen in other old world spiders. They form colonies that share a burrow or build a communal web, AND (which is maybe even more significant) are known to hunt in packs.
Photos below are taken with the 300mm f2,8 Ai-S ED-IF Nikkor
Kristian, for hiking purposes I also like the 80-200 f4 Ai-S. It is versatile enough to give it a 2nd consideration. I can't express enough how big a deal the 1,2m MFD is for versatility. This is your one-lens solution for medium to long tele as well as close up lens. The 200mm f4 is indeed smaller, but the 200mm f4 Ai-S might be lighter and smaller, but with an MFD of 2 meters, it is a tele lens only.
At a price of $100 on the used market, I would really recommend to pick one up and see how you like it. I had no problem selling mine (actually had more of a problem finding a like new replacement) ...Show more →
Alright Buddy. You have almost convinced me now I guess this one will be very versatile regarding the low MFD as well. Perhaps it would work good with an extension ring to be able to get even closer. In that case I can leave my 55/3.5 ais at home for the hike. On the wide side I could bring my 20/1.8 Af and 35/2.0 ais and I´ll be good to go. A big part of going on a longer hike is optimizing the amount of kilos in the backpack....
I guess this one will be very versatile regarding the low MFD as well. Perhaps it would work good with an extension ring to be able to get even closer. In that case I can leave my 55/3.5 ais at home for the hike. On the wide side I could bring my 20/1.8 Af and 35/2.0 ais and I´ll be good to go. A big part of going on a longer hike is optimizing the amount of kilos in the backpack....