Ok, I drank the water......

Yeah, if you hadn't noticed, lately, there's something in the water. Mark got a gorgeous glass, Steve added a beautiful barrel, and Tina.... Tina got Huey! LOL
These bird expert shooters, pairing their amazing skills with these glasses, the forum suddenly has an influx of stunning bird photos . I, like every bird shooter, want to capture better photos too. So, i have decided to have a sip of the water, and got myself a small upgrade.....
It's something just slightly bigger than my Bigma. I got.....i got myself a SIGMONSTER (Sigma 300-800mm f5.6)! As mentioned in this thread, I already have a name for her. I call her Inca.

So, this weekend i took Inca out to let her see some REAL ducks. lol Here are the results. All uncropped. I hope you like what Inca brings you.

1/500s, f6.3, ISO400, 800mm (Too much glass, cutting the tail off accidentally. Sorry :lol

wow.
300-800 thats crazy.

I really like Pied Billed looking at the camera.
Cute little bird.
I think the first is a goldeneye right? it looks very nice too.
do you find you really NEED a tripod at that length?

WOO HOO Fee....gigantic congrats on the new toy. Looks like it's a keeper, these are all fantastic shots.

Thanks Jeremy. It's indeed crazy! I still can't believe myself.
The first two are Ring-necked Duck. Yep, she's HEAVY. I can't do without tripod.

Shar824 wrote in post #13972482
WOO HOO Fee....gigantic congrats on the new toy. Looks like it's a keeper, these are all fantastic shots.

thanks Sharon, glad you like them.

BOOM......

Never even heard of your new beast...

I say keep her..


Terry

Jeeze! I'm throwing all my pied grebe pics out. Looks great and beyond great!

Fee oh Fee oh Fee! A Sigmonster named Inca.
You da man! I really like the IQ you're getting right off the bat w/Inca. I'll be honest that I was very tempted to pick up a used one of those off the B&H websight, but was a little scared by reviews that said you had to ask the Earth to stop rotating to get great images @ 800mm. But look at what you brought us! Those are very impressive...the PB Grebe is spectacular; and you caught the Ring-necked cutting a wake away from you in fine fashion.
OK, now I have to pick on ya though.....what's this "too much glass" stuff in the first image, you're shooting a zoom - I know, 800mm can be habit-forming I'm sure -
Big congrats on the ocular "telephone poll".

Holy moses! I didn't think anyone ever, really, bought that sucker! Congrats on the new toy...looking good right off the bat. Now work on getting your shutter speeds up

Those Grebe shots are terrific

Congrats on the new glass Fee... first of all, I am too old to even lift that thing so I will struggle along with my 400... secondly, I love the grebe shots, I think they are arguably the "cutest" birds on the water... brilliant captures.

Dave

Way to go, Fee. Like everyone else, I'm impressed by your shots, especially the grebe. They always frustrate me with my measly 500 mm.

Congrats on the new gear Fee and great first shots with Inca! I'm with Stan on those Grebes. They're always frustrating for me but you did excellent with the captures.

Happy new lens Fee , I love the quality of those shots, particularly the last 3. 800mm!?! That's insane! Your gonna have some biceps when you've carried that around for a while

Congrats from me, too, on the new glass.
And you've captured some wonderful shots.

That lens is one I'm pondering on "aiming for" in the future, so I'll be following your exploits, your highs-and-lows, and thoughts on Inca!

Regards,
Simon

Inca is impressive!!!! Have fun with her. I am looking forward on seeing many more photos from her.