Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR Lens !!

mandokid1 wrote in post #18989598
Been awhile and catching up!
Still love this combo,although haven't been out with it much lately.A red-breasted merganser,and a rare visitor to our neck of the woods.A Northern Hawk owl.went x2,first time lugging the 5dmk4,600mm prime,and had to shake my head at my own stupidity.Got great shots,but not any better than this one taken with the Nikon combo.He had just caught a field mouse!

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Welcome back, Denis! The owl shot is superb, well captured at just the right moment!

Thanks Phil!
Agree.We should all have Sherpas!

These were my two best shots this week, during lunch walks.

Both via Z50 & 500PF.

MatthewK wrote in post #18989618
Welcome back, Denis! The owl shot is superb, well captured at just the right moment!

Thanks Matthew!

mandokid1 wrote in post #18989598
Been awhile and catching up!
Still love this combo,although haven't been out with it much lately.A red-breasted merganser,and a rare visitor to our neck of the woods.A Northern Hawk owl.went x2,first time lugging the 5dmk4,600mm prime,and had to shake my head at my own stupidity.Got great shots,but not any better than this one taken with the Nikon combo.He had just caught a field mouse!

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forum: Nikon Lenses

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forum: Nikon Lenses

the owl-a dream shot!

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #18991662
the owl-a dream shot!

Thank you Robert!

This has been, by far, the worst season of birding that I have ever experienced. Averaging 1 photo every two weeks. I think I'm going to hang it up until April, at the earliest. Ugh.

MatthewK wrote in post #18993619
This has been, by far, the worst season of birding that I have ever experienced. Averaging 1 photo every two weeks. I think I'm going to hang it up until April, at the earliest. Ugh.

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I feel ya, Brutha!

Same down here. :-/

I see folks in Canada still shooting hummers & such - in the snow! How can that be?

This one has super sharp feather detail, even with the TC. VERY nice!

EyeSpyEagle wrote in post #18993643
I feel ya, Brutha!

Same down here. :-/

I see folks in Canada still shooting hummers & such - in the snow! How can that be?

This one has super sharp feather detail, even with the TC. VERY nice!

Thanks for the support, man. It’s not that I don’t see any birds, it just seems as though they’re gone as soon as I look in their direction. Today was a high activity day, lot of commotion caused by a Red Shouldered Hawk.

I’ve concluded that to get consistently good bird shots, you either need a backyard studio with feeders, or you live in Florida. Going out hunting everyday hoping to get lucky with random birds, we just can’t produce the same level of work that someone who has birds coming to them can. Sometimes I relish the challenge to prove I can get good shots, but most other times (like now) it’s depressing, especially seeing other people’s effortless studio shots.

MatthewK wrote in post #18993619
This has been, by far, the worst season of birding that I have ever experienced. Averaging 1 photo every two weeks. I think I'm going to hang it up until April, at the earliest. Ugh.

Nice light and details!

Since it's a holiday, I went to the lake this morning despite the fact that is was 34 degrees when I arrived @ 7:15. That's COLD for a TX. boy. Lol!

I was sitting on the dock, waiting on the the sun to warm things a bit & for the pelicans & such to wake up & move about some. While I sat there, I noticed a female RWBB checking me out as if she wanted to sit on the dock too. Finally, she determined I was little to no risk so she joined me.

Still playing with the Z50.

"You just wish....."

EyeSpyEagle wrote in post #18995309
Since it's a holiday, I went to the lake this morning despite the fact that is was 34 degrees when I arrived @ 7:15. That's COLD for a TX. boy. Lol!

I was sitting on the dock, waiting on the the sun to warm things a bit & for the pelicans & such to wake up & move about some. While I sat there, I noticed a female RWBB checking me out as if she wanted to sit on the dock too. Finally, she determined I was little to no risk so she joined me.

Still playing with the Z50.

Female RWBBs are really pretty birds. Your shots here bring out the interesting plumage, Phil., very nice!

EyeSpyEagle wrote in post #18995309
Since it's a holiday, I went to the lake this morning despite the fact that is was 34 degrees when I arrived @ 7:15. That's COLD for a TX. boy. Lol!

I was sitting on the dock, waiting on the the sun to warm things a bit & for the pelicans & such to wake up & move about some. While I sat there, I noticed a female RWBB checking me out as if she wanted to sit on the dock too. Finally, she determined I was little to no risk so she joined me.

Still playing with the Z50.

34 degrees! That would be balmy here right now! -23 here yesterday!
Wonderful details,and I prefer the females of a lot of species!

Hi guys,

I have an offer from my camera store on a Nikkor 500PF at a small discount, but nonetheless reason to get it a bit sooner than I planned.
I currently use a Canon 7DII with 400DOII+1.4TC, and in good light that combo gives me good results. However, I come from a Sony sensored Pentax K3II background that I shot with the DA560 f5.6 for years.
In short, I have not been able to get to grips with the lower dynamic range and especially very limited post processing room from the Canon 7DII, and in the flat winter light it is not rewarding for me to go out and shoot due to the limited tonality and lack of color depth from the 7DII in lower light, and that does not mean shooting at iso 3200 or such, but even at iso 400-800, output is flat and lifeless when the light is not there.

So I have been musing ever since winter light set in, and in the end I see the only option with Nikon APS-C for my needs. I want to add either a D500 or a Z50 to the 500PF, and since I will be keeping the Canon set-up, which is very responsive and has great AF for my needs, very consistent and spot-on (I know I am an odd one out here), I am leaning towards a Z50 for the performance with the 1.4TC, and perhaps even the 1.7TC.
I have tried to trade in the Canon set though, but it's throwing away money, and I prefer to keep it for good light shooting. It gets me to 560mm f5.6 on a higher density crop sensor and in good light performs excellent.

So am I crippling the 500PF on the Z50 when you omit fast BIF shooting? With the 1.4TC it gives me 700mm f8 on a very good sensor, and should enable satisfying results even in flatter light. With the 7DII+400DOII+1.4TC, I can easily shoot at 1/250s due to the superb IS of the 400DOII. Does the 500PF have the VR that it takes to shoot handheld at 1/250s?

Any input welcome, I look forward to the 500PF, and especially going "back home" to a Sony APS-C sensor, and a better one than I had in the K3II!
p.s. for anyone thinking "why not get a better Canon body"?: I want to shoot crop with birding, and have waited for a 7DIII for a year now, but it is nowhere to be seen. I owned the 90D shortly, but felt that it was a step back from the 7DII in anything other than IQ, and even there I had doubts about the super high resolution and the resulting noise. I feel Nikon has it so much better thought out.