Well... what can I say? 600GM is everything people have said and more. It's a stunning chunk of glass that performs on another level.
I rented the lens for five days and wanted to cry when I mailed it back to LensRentals.com, btw, if you ever need to rent a lens, give LensRentals a try. Topnotch service!
The lens is very well balanced, and I shot a lot of the time hand-held. It feels lighter than my 200-600 even though it's 2lbs heavier. Autofocus --- BLAZING FAST. It locks on like nothing I've used before... amazing. I messed up plenty of shots, but I brought home images I would never have captured if I wasn't shooting the A1+600GM. One thing to keep in mind... the early morning temps are 28-32 and swing up to 55-60 in the late afternoon/evening. I lost a lot of shots due to heat distortion.
Another thing to keep in mind in the early morning... just freeze. I kept the windows down while rolling around the loops, this kept the camera/lens cold (ambient temperature) so I didn't have to worry about a huge temp swing from heating the inside of the truck and jumping out into 30 degree weather.
I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to make the trip, we recently relocated and are in the middle of a full home renovation. There's a lot going on. Bosque has turned into an annual trip, and I struggled with making the decision to go. It was a quick trip, I rolled into the refuge around 3pm and hit the loops Friday afternoon and then made my way back to Arizona Sunday morning.
The flight deck area at the time I'm posting this was nearly empty, the pond to the south is empty as well. I believe they are going to fill it this month. The past couple of trips, the observation area when you first enter the refuge driving from Socorro south, it has been empty. They park worked on the levees and it has water in it. This is an excellent place to catch sunrise shots of the birds. You get great light and the big tree to the south of the pond is bright yellow with fall colors right now.
The far north loop inside the park has been opened in the past, it is closed. I was a little sad about this as I've come across harrier hawks and turkeys on the north end of the refuge.
The migration is really just starting, and the birds are not in thousands upon thousands. There is more than enough to keep you busy, plenty of opportunities to capture shots. The trees are in full fall colors adding to the scenes. I gave this time of year a try to see if I could avoid the crowds... it worked. There were maybe 20-25 cars throughout the entire day... very low volume.
If you haven't been to Bosque... put it on the list of places to see. I'm still working on tons of images... here are some I've worked on.
Enough babble …it was a great trip… loved shooting the 600GM! I will own this lens…at some point… soon.
Hope you like the shots and let me know if you have any questions about Bosque…I think this was my 5th trip? I might go back in January.
Anyways… photo time… with many more to process.
Thanks for making it this far.
Hatch
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Sony A1+600GM by hatch1921, on Flickr02
Sony A1+600GM by hatch1921, on Flickr03
Sony A1+600GM by hatch1921, on Flickr04
Sony A1+600GM by hatch1921, on Flickr05
Sony A1+600GM by hatch1921, on Flickr06
Sony A1+600GM by hatch1921, on Flickr07
Sony A1+600GM by hatch1921, on Flickr08
Sony A1+600GM by hatch1921, on Flickr
