Here are a couple of images from a birding outing yesterday. I was testing long glass and tried my V1 with the 300 f/4. This is handheld from inside my car. The distance was around 40-45 yards.

Uncropped with normal post processing


100% crop with normal processing



I also tried some with the 600 f/4 as well as the 600 f/4 + 2x teleconverter. This combination was soft on pretty much every image, so I need more work. The big problem was shutter speed since you are looking at f/8 wide open and the V1 struggles with noise at ISO 400-800. I was on a gimbal head with normal technique.

Eric Bowles
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Attachment #1, (jpg file)
Attachment #2, (jpg file)

Interesting! I was going to be trying the V1 this weekend for some fun. Heading back to Hiwassee and bringing my long lenses. Going to also see how the V1 fares. 400mm with 2.0 TC and the V1 would prove pretty comedic in a way. But I'm really busting to see how the cranes will look if they are too far away. Weather is supposed to be good, too.

Have you been by this winter yet?

No but I'm planning to be there between now and January 1.

Let me know what you see with shutter speeds. I still am trying to figure out how to make the 2.0 teleconverter work acceptably.

Eric Bowles
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The V1/V2 is the new TC 2.7


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I suspect you will need shutter speeds about 1/2000+ with the 600/4 and at least 1/4000 with the tele for sharp pictures.

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The problem is the only way to get 1/2000 sec at f/10 is to point the lens at the sun. With the 600 f/4 and the TC20E III I was getting shutter speeds of 1/1000 sec in full sun at f/8 and ISO 800. I find that I seem to be losing about a half stop with the FT-1 - and that's nearly 3 stops with the 2.0 teleconverter. I have not done testing to confirm that yet.

Now using the teleconverter is certainly extreme, but even with a bare lens there is a bit of a struggle to have enough light. This image was handheld at f/5.6, ISO 200, and 1/640 sec using a 300mm f/4 lens. I had another test image that got to 1/1250 sec at f/5.6 and ISO 200.

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>This image was handheld at f/5.6, ISO 200, and 1/640 sec using a 300mm f/4 lens.

That's the other thing people should take into account. Even lenses that are so sharp they can be shot wide-open on a DX or FX body (such as the AF-S 300 f/4) are a little soft on the 1 series body. I found that stopping the 300/4 down a stop to f/5.6 made a noticeable difference in the image. The same was true of my AF-S 400 f/2.8: stopping down to f/4 was helpful. Add a teleconverter to the mix and it's even more of an issue.

If you want to keep the ISO to 400 or below (and I do), it's best to start with an f/2.8 lens because you are likely to need that extra stop by the time you get done stopping down for sharpness while trying to keep the shutter speed up.

When I was shooting gulls the other day, I shot the 400/2.8 at f/4, 1/1600 and ISO 100. When I added a TC-17EII, I was at f/6.3, 1/1600 and ISO 400. To me, that's about the limit of what I would do. And this was in direct sunlight. In lesser light I would forgo the TC entirely.

No such thing as a free lunch, is there?

-- Jon
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Eric,

Here is a V1 shot I took with my 28-300VR at 230mm (621mm on V1)on a monopod. I think I am getting better slowly with these long mm shots with the V1. Also, this is a fairly deep crop from the V1 10MP image.
So far I am pleased. Never could get these turkey vultures like this before with my 300mm lenses on the D800.

Dan

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Nice one Dan. Noted is the super blue sky indicating good light and I'm sure after my recent tests that should the sun ever make an appearance again in the UK, then perhaps I will share some images again too

Richard

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