[normhead]

Nov. 11, Algonquin Park, Spruce Boardwalk near the parking lot.

K-3 and DA 55-300 PLM

[rod_grant]

Wish I had this composed so he's flying into the photo instead of out of it but happened so quickly.

sometimes you have to be content with what you get. I know the feeling well.
But then, compositionally, yours is OK in my view - it is quite clear that the bird was launching him/her self off the rock. I approve.

[timb64]

[normhead]

Yesterday's hike, K-3, DA 55-300 PLM, DA 10-17 fisheye, and DA 18-135.

[Pål Jensen]

I think mine is decentered. Seems to be less sharp at the left side at wider settings.
Need to do some tests...

One from today. At 120mm F:9

[rod_grant]

more good stuff here.
great series Norm, love the atmospheric path Tim.

[rod_grant]

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, KP, 55-300PLM @300mm
(severely cropped - 1813 x 2726)

Attached Images

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[Des]

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, KP, 55-300PLM @300mm
(severely cropped - 1813 x 2726)

Nice capture Rod. White birds aren't the easiest to focus on.

Seed-raiding Swamp Wallaby mother, with a joey in her pouch. KP + 55-300 PLM.

[Des]

Varied Sword-grass Brown Butterfly (Tisiphone abeona). Cape Liptrap CP, Victoria. KP + DA 55-300 PLM at 300mm.

(X-posted from the 300+ thread)

[ivanking]

M42@300mm,f/6.3

[ehrwien]

M42@300mm,f/6.3

I'm assuming this was not a single shot, tracked with the O-GPS1 only? Was this achieved with an external star tracker? Or multiple shots combined?

[aure45]

I'm also really interested to know how @ivanking took this shoot. At 300 mm, my K-3 II astrotracer didn't manage to track stars for even 10 seconds.

The 55-300 PLM is my third lens, after the 18-135 and the SMC 35 Limited macro. With the PLM, I tend to shoot bird, which was something I didn't do before. I'm still learning this lens, and I would like to share some photos in this thread for the first time .

In the first picture, a blackbird is looking for food in a bush, which we see was successful . I also was lucky enough to get a usable picture of the bird taking off !

The three next pictures show a blackbird having a bath !

On the last one, a crow. Contrary to the other birds, I could approach quite close to this one (3 metres).

All pictures are cropped to change the frame. They are also resized for the forum post.


By the way, there are some really nice pictures of birds in this thread, they might inspire me for future shots.

[Des]

The 55-300 PLM is my third lens, after the 18-135 and the SMC 35 Limited macro. With the PLM, I tend to shoot bird, which was something I didn't do before.

A belated welcome to PF Aurélien and welcome to this thread. You have a really good set of lenses.

By the way, there are some really nice pictures of birds in this thread, they might inspire me for future shots.

They inspire me too. It's great to see bird images from around the world. I'd suggest you look at these threads as well:
300mm plus Lens Club: discuss your long lenses - PentaxForums.com
The Yard Birds Thread - PentaxForums.com

I'm still learning this lens, and I would like to share some photos in this thread for the first time.

Thanks for sharing. I particularly like the sequence of the blackbird - tells a story.

I'd suggest that you might need to aim for faster shutter speeds for your bird images than 1/180th second. I found that the results improved when aiming for 1/500th or 1/640th as a starting point, and more like 1/1250th or faster for a bird in flight. With the PLM you still get satisfactory resolution wide open (f6.3 at 300mm). If you bring the zoom back to about 260mm the maximum aperture changes to f5.6 - that extra 1/3 stop can be very useful. Of course high shutter speeds are only possible if the light is adequate - with the K-3ii you generally want to keep the ISO to 3200 or less. So you often need to compromise. It's worth trying different combinations of shutter speed, aperture and ISO to see what works best for you in different conditions.

Sometimes you can get decent results with slow shutter speeds. This Laughing Kookaburra taken was at 1/100th second and even that required 6400 ISO.


In these conditions where the light is limited you need to capture the moment when the bird is perfectly still (many birds will perch very still for a short time), but accept that you will need to discard a lot of attempts. (Firing a burst of shots can help - one may be better than the others.) If shooting handheld, you also need to have good technique. I would recommend this article: Making the Most of Long Exposure Handhelds - Introduction - In-Depth Articles

Have fun practising!

[rod_grant]

Nice series aure45

[bladerunner6]

Wish I had this composed so he's flying into the photo instead of out of it but happened so quickly.

Nice shot no matter what.