300mm f4 IF-ED with 1.4 tc
- Thread starter Peter7100
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Peter7100
Senior Member
Just the 300. Haven’t purchased a 1.4tc yet
My 300 has arrived and I was out putting it through its paces this morning. Really like the lens but I have a lot of learning on bird photography to get anywhere near the standard you guys and girls produce with your stunning images. Anyway here is a few from first attempts.
I downloaded your photos then added them into your quote in hopes the EXIF data will display.
With the first one, ISO 4000 is kind of high for that body and am assuming it was shot in somewhat low light. And for all bird photos, you really should aim to stop down further than f/4. With a telephoto lens, your depth of field will be shallower especially when you add a TC.
The shutter speed of 1/500" is barely okay if you are hand holding the lens. The DX crop factor gives that 300mm lens a 450mm field of view (1.5 crop factor). It's generally a little better to allow yourself a little faster shutter speed especially since that lens doesn't have VR.
You're off to a good start though!
Everyone has to start somewhere. Are you using BBF with AF-C? That is very helpful if and when the birds decide to take off (keeps AF tracking a moving subject). And when they do take off, you will want to increase your shutter speed to at least 1/1600" for birds in flight. Otherwise you will be dealing with motion blur. Once you get accustomed to shooting birds, you might want to cap your ISO so it doesn't go above a certain number. Mine is capped at either 4000 or 5000. When I reach that limit, my pics are underexposed. So no matter what, I deal with noise under those circumstances.Have fun!
Peter7100
Senior Member
I should have added it is a secondhand 300 from eBay and appears to be in excellent condition. Only 430 UK pounds which seems a bargain.
Peter7100
Senior Member
I downloaded your photos then added them into your quote in hopes the EXIF data will display.
With the first one, ISO 4000 is kind of high for that body and am assuming it was shot in somewhat low light. And for all bird photos, you really should aim to stop down further than f/4. With a telephoto lens, your depth of field will be shallower especially when you add a TC.
The shutter speed of 1/500" is barely okay if you are hand holding the lens. The DX crop factor gives that 300mm lens a 450mm field of view (1.5 crop factor). It's generally a little better to allow yourself a little faster shutter speed especially since that lens doesn't have VR.
You're off to a good start though!
Have fun!
I have never taken to BBF. I tried it years ago with my Canon bodies :hororr::hororr: and never took to it. The light today was fairly poor hence the high ISO. I will certainly try and stop the aperture down a bit, however if I increase the shutter speed as well, I am going to be back to high ISO levels again. Unfortunately Scotland is not often blessed with wonderful bright days
.Thanks for the tips.
Peter7100
Senior Member
Peter7100
Senior Member
No sorry I should have stated, it was auto focus set at AF-C.
I use the standard front button focus/shutter button.
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blackstar, BBF separates the AF from the shutter actuation so they are controlled independently. Plus it allows you to use your choice of AF-C or AF-S at any time without making any setting changes.
The way Peter7100 is choosing to use AF-C is with the shutter button. His way doesn't allow the ability to focus and recompose or the ability to use AF-S without making setting changes.
I'll be honest and say it took me a while to embrace BBF. All my bodies with the exception of the D500 allow me to seamlessly switch between BBF and using the shutter button because my U2 buttons are programmed for BBF, Manual Mode, AF-C, and Auto ISO. The D500 doesn't have a U2 button and requires making a change with the settings to switch by changing from one Menu Bank to another. I haven't tried it out myself since my D500 is simply dedicated to BBF.
Peter, I don't like BBF either. I want my thumb free for moving focus points, and I'm ALWAYS in AF-C, so it's actually preferable to me to focus with a half press of the shutter release. Just my 2 cents.
Congrats on the new lens and the great deal you got on it. Have fun, and I hope you can find a good deal on the TC, too. You might have inspired me to put my good old 300/TC combo on my D500 for my next outing.
Congrats on the new lens and the great deal you got on it. Have fun, and I hope you can find a good deal on the TC, too. You might have inspired me to put my good old 300/TC combo on my D500 for my next outing.
Cindy, Thanks for bringing up useful tips on BBF and U2. Unfortunately, though already using BBF for quite some time with my D3500, I can't enjoy U2 (no button) and re-compose (especially when taking sky shots). All I can hope: get an upgrade soon (body and lens)
I'm not sure I understand if you're saying you can't recompose - if you are using BBF already with AF-C, then you should be able to recompose. Just press the BBF to focus, remove your thumb from the back button, recompose, then press the shutter to take the image without touching the back button again. Doing it that way simulates AF-S instead of AF-C and is how to seamlessly switch from one to the other while in BBF.
blackstar
Senior Member
Cindy, The re-compose issue had been discussed somewhere before. It's a matter of D3500 can't operate the full function of BBF, e.g., it won't auto-focus when turning to an empty sky and shutter won't fire; turning to the foreground it will auto-focus, but then release BB and re-compose pointing to the upper sky, no fire. Don't know about D7xxx or other bodies.
Honestly none of the bodies should AF if trying to capture an empty sky. Not sure why the body won't fire. When in AF-C and BBF, bodies usually fire even when an image is completely out of focus. That's strange. And it's a shame for you.
blackstar
Senior Member
That was mentioned (by someone before) as certain bodies capable of running full function BBF. Guess d3500 is not one of them.
Peter7100
Senior Member
Had another attempt this morning with the new 300mm and took Cindy's (Hark) advice and tried stopping down to F9. The light was really poor, so I was at ISO 4000 and used a tripod this time as shutter speed had to be 1/250. Oh for some lovely Florida sunshine and light, however I will keep trying :upset:
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Had another attempt this morning with the new 300mm and took Cindy's (Hark) advice and tried stopping down to F9. The light was really poor, so I was at ISO 4000 and used a tripod this time as shutter speed had to be 1/250. Oh for some lovely Florida sunshine and light, however I will keep trying :upset:
This looks nice! You have more of your subject in focus while branches in the background are blurred. As for the ISO, there are many times I'm at ISO 4000 in the middle of the afternoon. It all depends on the amount of light falling on your subject. Nicely done though!