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Nikon 500mm AF-S f4G ED VRReport on progress with my new lens!  Rate Topic 
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Posted by Graham Whistler: Mon Jan 4th, 2016 06:23 1st Post
Happy N Year to all! JK asked me to run this last year when I got the new lens for my bird photography. Knee joint packed up in Autumn meaning I could not walk into bird reserve with heavy kit! Into hospital this Friday to have new right knee joint replaced so hope to start serious use of lens in a few weeks time!

Results so far with our garden birds are very good. Auto focus with the D810 is very fast but single point focus works best if you have time to line up the camera. VR JK does work and is needed in this poor winter light. I have hand held at 1/250 sec and got good sharp results. My x1.4 extender works well with this lens and sharpness is still good, and with 700mm it is a help with small birds like this wagtail.

This shot was underexposed by 2 stops as light fell giving me no chance to alter exposure and so needed to fix in processing the NEF but even at only 800 ISO noise became a problem! There is no doubt with this type of photography you have got to hone all skills to get it right and correct exposure is vital even with these modern DSLRs.

Attachment: Wagtail2520 NSR.jpg (Downloaded 89 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by jk: Mon Jan 4th, 2016 10:07 2nd Post
Hope that the part replacement is done under NPS rather than NHS!! :lol:

Good luck with the operation and your rehabilitation.
Take care.



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Posted by Graham Whistler: Mon Jan 4th, 2016 11:00 3rd Post
No thank goodness and the first class knee only medic did a very good job on my other knee two yrs ago so am hoping for the best.
Back to the new lens there is no doubt that you get what you pay for and it is first class but rather heavy! Even wide open as per above pix it is very sharp. I understand the new lighter version is very good but several reviewers say is it worth the extra £2000 as results will not be any better?



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Graham Whistler


Posted by jk: Mon Jan 4th, 2016 15:34 4th Post
I have decided that while the new Nikon 200-500 f5.6 AFS VR is very nice and half the weight of my Nikon 400mm f2.8 AFS that I will probably stick with what I have at present.
The reason is the maximum aperture of the two lenses.



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Posted by Graham Whistler: Tue Jan 5th, 2016 05:02 5th Post
I must also admit that my 80-400mm f4.5-5.6 as well reported here is a super little lens and produces pin sharp results. At present I am using it far more than my new 500mm. The weight of the 500mm means you must take a tripod with you as well and it is not so easy to use for flying birds.
This Chaffinch is with the 80-400mm no complaints on the quality of that!

Attachment: Chaffinch2071s.jpg (Downloaded 79 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by Graham Whistler: Sun Mar 13th, 2016 14:23 6th Post
This is with the 500mm and D810 today, getting ready to use it with the D500!

Attachment: Pigeon2664.jpg (Downloaded 70 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by Graham Whistler: Thu Mar 24th, 2016 11:52 7th Post
As promised am now starting to get some pix with my new lens and D810. This is also with the x1.4 Nikon Mk 3 converter and JK VR is on and does work well with this set up. The Wood Pigeon was in a tree at bottom of our garden at 70 feet, image is 50% of full frame. Pix is hand held 1/640 sec f9 ISO 640.

Attachment: WoodPigeon2697S.jpg (Downloaded 60 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by Eric: Thu Mar 24th, 2016 18:37 8th Post
Although the 80-400 chaffinch image is very nice, there is no doubting, to my mind, the superior quality of that 500mm lens. There is just that extra quality in both those pigeon images. Excellent!



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Eric


Posted by jk: Thu Mar 24th, 2016 19:11 9th Post
I agree with Eric. The prime telephoto delivers a little more in the way of sharpness and contrast and this is what holds me back from getting the Nikon 200-500 and getting rid of my Nikon 400mm f2.8 AFS.
For me as I am happy to use a monopod then I think that VR is an expensive extra that I can do without. Others may find it is useful in their photography.
For me the 70-200 AFS VR is all I need as any longer than 200mm then I definitely move to a monopod or rest the lens or tripod it.



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Posted by Graham Whistler: Thu Mar 24th, 2016 19:25 10th Post
I wish you could see the A3+ print it's very life like and pin sharp! The x1.4 Tele Extender seems to make little or no change to overall quality but just the loss of I stop not serious when you have an F4 lens and plenty of ISO to play with. There is no doubt that nearly £6000 is a lot of money but these big Nikon lenses hold value if you look after them.



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Graham Whistler


Posted by Iain: Fri Mar 25th, 2016 15:33 11th Post
Just to help/hinder here is a shot @500mm f5.6 off the 200-500mm

Attachment: DSC_1054-Edit-2.jpg (Downloaded 53 times)



Posted by Iain: Fri Mar 25th, 2016 15:34 12th Post
hat hasn't come out as sharp as it is on my mac.



Posted by Robert: Fri Mar 25th, 2016 17:16 13th Post
What hat?

:lol:

The forum software isn't kind on our images Iain... o.O

Have you tried posting your images through Flicker? I think they fare better posted through a host rather than via the forum software, plus you can mix text and several images, as you wish.



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Robert.



Posted by Iain: Fri Mar 25th, 2016 17:23 14th Post
Dam that photoshop its removed the hat. :lol:



Posted by Graham Whistler: Fri Mar 25th, 2016 19:10 15th Post
Good weather so took the 500mm to Titchfield Haven lots of Black Headed Gulls getting ready for the breading season. This is again with the x1.4 extender giving me 700mm with the D810. This image is about 50% of the full frame.

Iain like the 200-500mm pix good detail perhaps need bit more contrast? There have been mixed reports of this lens but looks like you have a good example.

Attachment: Black Headed Gulls 2737S.jpg (Downloaded 51 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by Robert: Sat Mar 26th, 2016 04:49 16th Post
I like the composition and separation in this one Graham, the obvious activity in the group is nice. If the cropping is 50% then we are seeing about 1400mm effective focal length.

With tests conducted in the past on this forum, with D2x and D200, cropping was as good as a a decent X2 teleconverter. With these modern ultra high resolution sensors, lens permitting, they should be good for much more than 50% (X2) cropping. From what I read, I understand the edge fall off is noticeable on the 500 so heavy *central* cropping may even improve matters.



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Robert.



Posted by Robert: Sat Mar 26th, 2016 04:50 17th Post
Iain wrote:
Dam that photoshop its removed the hat. :lol:
Adobe the villain again! :lol:



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Robert.



Posted by Eric: Sat Mar 26th, 2016 16:39 18th Post
Graham Whistler wrote:
Good weather so took the 500mm to Titchfield Haven lots of Black Headed Gulls getting ready for the breading season. This is again with the x1.4 extender giving me 700mm with the D810. This image is about 50% of the full frame.

Iain like the 200-500mm pix good detail perhaps need bit more contrast? There have been mixed reports of this lens but looks like you have a good example.

Outstanding quality.



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Eric


Posted by Graham Whistler: Sun Mar 27th, 2016 05:03 19th Post
Happy Easter All!

My Easter present arrived on the fence with a loud drumming noise but The Greater Spotted Woodpecker is Black Bird size and it was 40 feet away. With the 500mm lens plus x1.4 top pix is all you get! With the D810 quality you can still blow up a bit as bottom pix shows. Lens wide open as light poor.

Attachment: GS Woodpecker whole pix.jpg (Downloaded 43 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by Graham Whistler: Fri Jul 22nd, 2016 13:33 20th Post
Have been out today in Titchfield Haven Reserve with the 500mm AF-S f4 Lens and my Nikon D500. The two work very well together and focus is lighting fast and very sharp. Pix at 1000 ISO and 1/1250 sec.

Attachment: Godwits1261.jpg (Downloaded 27 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by Graham Whistler: Fri Jul 22nd, 2016 13:35 21st Post
Another from this afternoons shoot.

Attachment: Godwits1182.jpg (Downloaded 35 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by Graham Whistler: Fri Jul 22nd, 2016 13:36 22nd Post
More of the same!

Attachment: Godwits1198.jpg (Downloaded 34 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by malcolmsowdon: Mon Jul 25th, 2016 10:25 23rd Post
Just looked at pics, great!!!

Looking forward to our day photographing raptors on Thursday.



Posted by malcolmsowdon: Mon Jul 25th, 2016 10:25 24th Post
Just looked at pics, great!!!

Looking forward to our day photographing raptors on Thursday.



Posted by jk: Mon Jul 25th, 2016 14:29 25th Post
Where are you going for the raptor shoot Graham and Malcolm?



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Posted by Graham Whistler: Mon Jul 25th, 2016 15:33 26th Post
A small private reserve on the River Itchen just North of Southampton. Malcolm hopes to be using his new Nikon 80-400mm AF-S lens on his D500 if it arrives in time. We will keep you informed and hope to post some good pix here!



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Graham Whistler


Posted by Graham Whistler: Fri Aug 26th, 2016 14:19 27th Post
Another Black Tailed Godwit pix from Titchfield Haven with D500 and 500mm F4 Lens.(Taken 22.7.16)

Attachment: GodwitsA3+.jpg (Downloaded 16 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by jk: Fri Aug 26th, 2016 16:03 28th Post
Graham, have you noticed that the D500 'grain' rendering is different to that of the D800/810?

Or is it me?.
The D800/810 has 'grain' that is more random (irregular shaped) while the D500 has a more regular ball shaped grain!
It is more noticeable in mid-tone/highlight detail areas.



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Posted by Graham Whistler: Fri Aug 26th, 2016 18:29 29th Post
Here is a blow up of small section, I would say the D500 "grain" in not regular? The main picture is also cropped from the D500 to about 60% of the full DX frame.

I have just checked the data and this picture was: 1000ISO 1/1250 sec at F18 the exposure was about 1/2 a stop under so was corrected in the RAW file.

Attachment: Section.jpg (Downloaded 15 times)



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Graham Whistler


Posted by jk: Sat Aug 27th, 2016 06:56 30th Post
Yes it is definitely different to the earlier Nikon cameras.
Not sure if I like it or not. It is just different I guess I will get used to it.



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Posted by Eric: Sat Aug 27th, 2016 11:27 31st Post
Looks like they changed the dithering method.



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Eric

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