Nikon NY Repair Center

[BackdoorArts]

So question for anyone - and there is no wrong answer here - the background and the hawk are pretty much the same color and brightness. I darkened the background as well as lightened it yet didn't like either. Both of these are 'as is' so to speak since none of the changes to the background were pleasing. Curious what others think they'd prefer ... a darker or lighter background Or would it be best just to leave it as is?

You want the bird to pop and it's hard to pop against a lighter background when you have white plumage. I'd go dark for sure. It also looks like you removed some contrast from the background though you say it's "as is". When I isolated the background and darkened it alone I found that I needed to add contrast to keep it from looking overprocessed. I spent 2 minutes on it and it needs tweeking, but this give you an idea of what I mean. Hope you don't mind.

 

[hark]

As someone who has asked for ice water in hell, um, good luck with that. Had two D500's and two 300mm f4's, both of which worked great on their own and with the 1.4x, but were non-starters with the 1.7x.

After seeing Steve Perry's piece on FTZ's today where he mentions how good the Z9 is with them (same or better focus speed as a D850) and that they're even better with a TC, I'm wondering if the improved focus systems on the Z's would turn that sow's ear into a purse of some type? I'd take it down to Allen's and ask if you can slap it on a Z6ii to see what's what. If you want more keepers a move to mirrorless is going to be the answer. It's just how long it takes you to get there. Granted, the Z6ii with the FTZ is slower focusing, but there's always the 100-400mm Z lens...

You want the bird to pop and it's hard to pop against a lighter background when you have white plumage. I'd go dark for sure. It also looks like you removed some contrast from the background though you say it's "as is". When I isolated the background and darkened it alone I found that I needed to add contrast to keep it from looking overprocessed. I spent 2 minutes on it and it needs tweeking, but this give you an idea of what I mean. Hope you don't mind.

View attachment 369767

Jake, I definitely don't mind the edit. In fact, it looks a lot better than mine. Thanks.

The thing with the 1.7x TC is it worked beautifully initially - sharp and in focus. Now when I use it, it seems to adversely affect the bodies (specifically the AF) on which it is mounted. The Canon reset that Peter mentioned in the past (turn off body, remove cards, remove battery, turn on and hold the shutter button for at least 15 seconds, turn off, reinsert battery then the cards, and turn on) seems to reset whatever focusing issue is caused by using the 1.7x TC. I think I purchased an extended warranty thru B&H when I bought the refurbished TC so will probably send it in for repair.

And for the record, I'm not looking to switch to mirrorless right now, but if I did, at this point I wouldn't consider Nikon. Too many problems with their repair service. :beguiled:

 

[hark]

I swear I have a love/hate relationship with this Nikon 300mm f/4 PF lens. Sometimes it can be stellar while many times it just hasn't worked properly. Based on images I sent to Nikon repair, they said the lens was fine.

Then for some reason it would barely focus - it would start to focus then simply stop working until it quit autofocusing altogether. So I finally put it away. Today I pulled it out to retrieve its front filter and decided to try it again. For whatever reason, it now focuses. So I'll have to perform the Fine Tuning for the Lens Calibration to give it a fair chance.

I wasn't expecting to take anything with it. ISO is 14,400 so definitely not the best. But hey ... at least the AF works ... for now anyway.

 

[hark]

Since I didn't have time to recalibrate the Autofocus before leaving today, I simply set the Auto Fine Tune value to zero. Here is an image from today. It was overcast. At times the lens locked focus, but other times it couldn't achieve focus at all. And I switched between single point focus as well as dynamic 25. It was as if the lens just wasn't attempting to focus rather than struggling to focus. :sorrow:

This seagull was coming in for a landing. It looks like it's just floating. :beguiled:

 

[Clovishound]

Speed brakes Check

Flaps Check

Gear Check

Clear to land.

 

[hark]

Speed brakes Check

Flaps Check

Gear Check

Clear to land.

I think the seagull is performing better than my lens. At least when my lens works properly, quite often the results can be impressive. It's just that it used to perform flawlessly. Now I never know what to expect from it.

 

[hark]

A couple more from today.