Nikkor AF 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 VR ED D lens

[mikew_RIP]

Bit delicate this but may as well say it as i see it and try to be of help,if your hand holding which allows you to react to wildlife better you need a fair bit of shoulder and arm strength,i have lost a lot of mine through not working and shoulder problems,as i understand it your not fit for work and unless you spend time in the gym your arms and shoulders may need help to get steady sharp pictures at first.

You can allways backtrack on the settings i suggest when you get more comfortable with it.

 

[Vincent]

Bill while your learning the lens set the highest iso your happy with,maybe 4-500 on the D300,take Scotts suggestion for the sharpest aperture then go with what ever shutter speed you get,vr on and take pictures

More general on telephoto for wildlife I tend to agree with the above, it is better generally to work on ISO 400 with 1/3000 s then to go down to ISO 100.
It off course depends on the effect you want, but subject movement together with camera movement generally asks for very fast shutter speeds if you want sharp pictures.
Not always possible.

I was surprised to find this in Luxembourg: Luxbazar - Le n° 1 de la petite annonce
On offer since a month on a general sales site (not photo specialists, otherwise it would be gone).

However I have no use for it with my existing kit. @Bill16 concentrate on mastering that beast, it has a lot of potential, you are supposed to miss a lot to learn!

 

[Bill16]

I'm not too lacking in shoulder and arm strength, but neither am I as fit as I would have been if not disabled. But your right, it does make sense to compensate as needed until if or when I'm more able to do with less compensation. Thanks my friend!

Bit delicate this but may as well say it as i see it and try to be of help,if your hand holding which allows you to react to wildlife better you need a fair bit of shoulder and arm strength,i have lost a lot of mine through not working and shoulder problems,as i understand it your not fit for work and unless you spend time in the gym your arms and shoulders may need help to get steady sharp pictures at first.

You can allways backtrack on the settings i suggest when you get more comfortable with it.

 

[Bill16]

Thanks my friend! It sure does help to know these things!

More general on telephoto for wildlife I tend to agree with the above, it is better generally to work on ISO 400 with 1/3000 s then to go down to ISO 100.
It off course depends on the effect you want, but subject movement together with camera movement generally asks for very fast shutter speeds if you want sharp pictures.
Not always possible.

I was surprised to find this in Luxembourg: Luxbazar - Le n° 1 de la petite annonce
On offer since a month on a general sales site (not photo specialists, otherwise it would be gone).

However I have no use for it with my existing kit. @Bill16 concentrate on mastering that beast, it has a lot of potential, you are supposed to miss a lot to learn!

 

[SkvLTD]

Good old, elbow lock into your stomach/rest on hip if you can sit down somewhere? Also, if it has a tripod mount, what about some kinda support strap of the right length to help you with a least half the weight involved?

 

[Bill16]

Thanks buddy!
It has a detachable tripod mount, but it seems like it would be more in the way than a help shooting hand held, which was likely why they made it so you could easily take it off.

Good old, elbow lock into your stomach/rest on hip if you can sit down somewhere? Also, if it has a tripod mount, what about some kinda support strap of the right length to help you with a least half the weight involved?

 

[mikew_RIP]

Again Bill we are all different but i find the tripod collar on my sigma sits nicely in my hand for shooting,plus as there is too much weight to hang it by the camera strap (which i have around my neck for safety) i often carry it holding the tripod mount.

 

[Horoscope Fish]

If the tripod collar is in your way for hand-held shooting, try swinging it around and mount it at 90°.

....

 

[Bill16]

I don't have another strap to add to the tripod mount. I also don't have the money right now to buy one, even if I knew what to buy.

So you think the single strap mount on the D300 is too weak to take the extra weight of the lens?

 

[mikew_RIP]

I don't have another strap to add to the tripod mount. I also don't have the money right now to buy one, even if I knew what to buy.

So you think the single strap mount on the D300 is too weak to take the extra weight of the lens?

Its not the strap mount its a case of putting too much strain on the camera lens mount with a big lens

 

[Bill16]

Just ducky! Maybe I'll have to wait to carry it around much. Looks like taking with me for a carry around lens may have to be put on hold for a while.

Thanks buddy, for letting me know.

 

[Bill16]

OK! I just found my other bos tail strap I used on my old D90, and strapped it through a hole in my kirk tripod plate that's made for this lens'es tripod mount! So it should work fine with my black rapid shoulder strap, supporting the lens so that there should be no undue stress on the lens/camera connection!

Maybe not the most stylish setup, but not bad even in looks with the bos tails being pretty small. Lol
The advantage to this strap is it won't be in the way when putting it on the tripod even!

Thanks my friends! You guys are always a treasure and a pleasure to know and have as my friends! ! !

 

[Marcel]

I can't get a monopod for months likely, but I'll put it on the list with my other needs. Thank buddy.

Bill, if you can't get a monopod, you can use any help to just take some weight off your body while shooting. A walking stick could do the job and it would make your shots so much sharper. But hey, you're the one on the other side of the lens so you're the boss.

 

[stmv]

Cool can you give me a good starting place for the minimum shutter speed you'd recommend for this lens? Apparently my shutter speed setting was too slow, since getting sharp focus didn't really happen for me in my test shots! Lol

ok, that is a loaded question because so much depends on your technique of shooting, and also camera and noise. My D800 has fairly low noise, so,, on this
lens, I tend to set my ISO to 800,, and with fstop of 5.3-8,, the speeds typically is at 1/1000 of a second, which is fine for this lens,

but,, still need to support the lens well, I put on a kirk collar,, which offers a perfect hand grip when not on a tripod,

so,, I tend to brace my elbow to my chest, gripping the Kirk cloar, with my left hand, and then grip the camera/shutter with the right,, and really am
careful not to tilt when pressing the shutter, since any tilting motion will cause a slight blur, with the higher pixel cameras, you have to maintain
really really good form,, but with practice,, the pictures come out razor sharp.

here are a couple hand held shots

first one is at 1/1000 of a second

and second one is 1/600th of a second


both hand held, and manual mode, shots with this lens.

and here is a recent shot, cropped to 1/4 of the image (because so far away even at 400mm), hand held at 1/320th which
is about as slow as I want to hand hold this lens.



not bad for a cropped shot,

 

[Bill16]

@mikew Well I'm now a totally convinced convert on this tripod mount strap to support the lens! It just saved my new lens today! I accidentally must have bumped or pushed the lens release button as I was getting out of the car unlocking my lens from the camera, and when I was getting ready to turn the camera on the lens came off and fell to end up dangling from the strap I just added! I was in a near panic as I quickly snatched the lens and mounted it back on my camera!

So I'm very very convinced and I'm also going to be extremely careful to make sure I don't bump that release button again! This lens seems to be inclined to come off really fast and easy when it's not lock on, with no turning needed, since it did it itself!

 

[Bill16]

I sure would love to have a good monopod, and I fully intend to get one. I'm just at the end of my financial tether after buying the lens and kirk tripod plate, so I have no choice but to wait unfortunately.
But I'll keep the walking stick idea in mind until I can somehow get a monopod! Thanks bud, I appreciate the great tip!

Bill, if you can't get a monopod, you can use any help to just take some weight off your body while shooting. A walking stick could do the job and it would make your shots so much sharper. But hey, you're the one on the other side of the lens so you're the boss.

 

[Bill16]

Thanks my friend for the great tips! And those shots look awesome! Some day I'll get there!

ok, that is a loaded question because so much depends on your technique of shooting, and also camera and noise. My D800 has fairly low noise, so,, on this
lens, I tend to set my ISO to 800,, and with fstop of 5.3-8,, the speeds typically is at 1/1000 of a second, which is fine for this lens,

but,, still need to support the lens well, I put on a kirk collar,, which offers a perfect hand grip when not on a tripod,

so,, I tend to brace my elbow to my chest, gripping the Kirk cloar, with my left hand, and then grip the camera/shutter with the right,, and really am
careful not to tilt when pressing the shutter, since any tilting motion will cause a slight blur, with the higher pixel cameras, you have to maintain
really really good form,, but with practice,, the pictures come out razor sharp.

here are a couple hand held shots

first one is at 1/1000 of a second View attachment 105947

and second one is 1/600th of a second
View attachment 105948

both hand held, and manual mode, shots with this lens.

and here is a recent shot, cropped to 1/4 of the image (because so far away even at 400mm), hand held at 1/320th which
is about as slow as I want to hand hold this lens.

View attachment 105952

not bad for a cropped shot,

 

[Bill16]

I think once I get the settings dialed in to fit me, that this lens will be my favorite non-macro lens! It's already starting to feel right when I carry and use it! I do believe this is the lens I dreamed of having for wildlife and carry around!
I took some shots earlier today, but either the iso was too high for the shutter speed or there was more haze today than I realized. I may try to post process one or two of them to see if they can be cleaned up a bit.

 

[Elliot87]

I've just had a look at how much this lens costs, as an option way down the line. If I've got things right it's £1,899 on Amazon.co.uk new, but MPB Photographic have them used in "Exc++" condition for £599. That seems like a massive saving to me, more than I've seen on a lot of other lenses. Is it normal for a lens of this type to depreciate that much? Or are they just offering a great deal on MPB?

Looking forward to seeing the results you get Bill!

 

[Elliot87]

Think I might be able to answer my own question, looks like I was looking at the older version on MPB and the newer one on Amazon.