Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM

oldcanon wrote in post #12240546
Excellent work Arn, my type of photography - doesn't it work well!

Thanks! I have yet a lot to learn about this lens, but the lens appears to have a pretty high rate of keepers, so I guess the proof is in the pudding Looks like I have to finally except that this baby is a keeper! I'm taking my best shots with it at the moment.

As the moon was so full last night, I stuck on a Tamrom 1.4x plus the 70-300L and took the following handheld. This is still a 100% crop, but looks pretty good, nonetheless.

Also, I cannot use autofocus with the Tamrom 1.4x (C-AF1 MC4)...

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arn wrote in post #12240591
Thanks! I have yet a lot to learn about this lens, but the lens appears to have a pretty high rate of keepers, so I guess the proof is in the pudding Looks like I have to finally except that this baby is a keeper! I'm taking my best shots with it at the moment.

The more I use mine the better its getting!

Yes, Kim it is nice and clear. Good work.

Arn and other birders - how do you guys manage to get soooo close ?

bobobird wrote in post #12241990
Yes, Kim it is nice and clear. Good work.

Arn and other birders - how do you guys manage to get soooo close ?

Hi Arn, great shots..

Yes, Arn and other birders - how do you guys manage to get so close?
The birds I took (so far) almost always occupy about 10% of the shot only..

-Pete

fahrvergnugen wrote in post #12242148
The birds I took (so far) almost always occupy about 10% of the shot only..

-Pete

Same here.

Hi bobobird

I am hoping the Kenko dgx1.4 tc can help me 'get closer' since I am not able to physically get nearer.

-Pete

fahrvergnugen wrote in post #12242148
Yes, Arn and other birders - how do you guys manage to get so close?
The birds I took (so far) almost always occupy about 10% of the shot only..

Well, the answer is pretty simple - pick the location carefully and be patient. That really is it. I don't even know anything about birds, but I try to search for spots where I can get close to the birds. Then be prepared to stand or sit in place for some time...

Pete, the kenko certainly helps. But the closer we get, the closer we want to get.

There IS a way actually and I am sure lots of birders do that though they never mention it. Notice how a ton of shots are taken in backyards? Obviously the birds are being lured there with the feeders. I am pretty sure they even "tailor" the backyards to get the best views. That is the lazy but will get you "the" shots method!

Anyway, one guy did mention that he scouts around for a good location, lighting etc and looks for isolated branches - any place he can get nice clear shots. He then sprinkles some seed on the ground to bring the birds in and then hangs a feeder on some isolated branch. He probably brings along coffee, folding chair and other comforts. Easy! The slightly less lazy and get the shots method!

I took up outdoor photography for the exercise and might as well be productive at the same time. Much better in my opinion then being stuck in a gym. Multi-hour walks/hikes are normal. In my situations, reach is important but so is weight. I could have gone with any of the zoom options but settled on our lens + the TC as this gives us a reasonable reach and not the bulk of longer and heavier equipment.

Here in Hong Kong small birds predominate so rather then lusting for reach, will just concentrate on "things and their environment" type shots. Back home the lens should handle the bigger birds well.

too true, I worked out the other day that what I REALLY need is a 1500mm lens which is the same size, weight and price as the 70-300 LIS!

Hmm.. Has anyone tried stacking TC over TC / kenko over kenko?

Don't have 2 of those.

With just one the widest aperture becomes f8 @ 420, so even if it is possible the widest should take a corresponding hit.

I did try a 2x Kenko but not sure whether it was the newer DGX or the older version and only manual focus worked with that one. On the test pic the aperture was f8 but not sure how accurate that would be since the FL did not register.

some time without posting anything new... here's a small reptile, a Gekko Thecadactylus, we called tuqueque in spanish...

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One of the more common bird found in Singapore is the olive-backed sunbird.
It is small (about 10cm) and it darts around very quickly.

I would like to share a shot decent enough for 100% crop.

SOOC
t1i +70-300L
300mm Aperture-Priority EV+1 f/5.6 1/640 ISO 400 AI Servo AF.

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Pete - SOOC ? wow you have steady hands and aim for such a small bird.
That crop should sharpen up very well.