[cleaverx]

Some shots of Northern Harrier from this morning in nearby fields. It was good as it can be. Sun was just perfect. I would stay there longer since there was another Northern Harrier hunting and I want to get some in flight shots, but hunting season is on (pheasants) and there were tons of bird hunters coming my way, orange wests everywhere, gunshots going off , so I got out of there before I get shot.

I was shooting with K-3 and SMC A 400mm f/5.6, I had my K-1 with M*300mm f/4 with me and I did took some shots with it and it was just a little short to get reach I want it.

Northern Harrier ....K-3 & SMC A 400mm f/5.6, ISO-1600, 1/640, f/7.1

[Canada_Rockies]

Nope, these were "Canadian Geese". I asked for their passports as Normhead suggested and I saw stamp from Blaine,WA border crossing, but their's CMV (Continental Migrating Visa) were expired, so I made a plea deal with them if they make another flyby pass, but closer then I won't report them to the local bird hunting club (it worked) ...just joking here. But they did actually made another pass much closer when I made those shots.
Yes it is Canada Goose, thank you for the correction Canada_Rockies.

Chuckle

Just got SMC M*300mm /f4,more like collector lens from Japan and what a nice lens, very sharp even wide open. I did few shots with it with K-1 and IQ is amazing. It should be good walking around lens, little short for bird shooting but, if I can get close enough to the birds it should produce some nice images.

I recall many years ago I was in Jasper National Park and walked into the camera shop there. The proprietor noticed the brand on my camera and was ever so pleased to show me his latest acquisition: The M* 300 - I couldn't lean over to examine too closely, my drool would have spoiled the atmosphere ...

[mattb123]

This was the A* 300/4 on a K-1 not so long ago.

[cleaverx]

This was the 67 SMC 300/4 not so long ago.

Awesome shot. I can't wait to spend some time with mine M*300mm f/4.

[mikeSF]

Awesome work, mattb

This was the A* 300/4 on a K-1 not so long ago.

[noelpolar]

haha. Hey all.

It was commissioned by a couple in the Netherlands doing a home remodel. They made a 2-story wallpaper from it:

Very well done. A 2m by 2.5m wall paper photo is about $300 here to get made...... might have to give it a go.

[normhead]

Trying out a Tamron 300 F2.8, I think it will need a bit of adjustment, and a sturdy tripod, this one hand held.

K-3 and Tamron 300 F2.8

[SteveM]

This was the A* 300/4 on a K-1 not so long ago.

Amazing shot Matt

[Pentaxians]

Hi Luis, nice clean background you have however the lighting is a little harsh, there is hardly catch lights on the bird's eyes, you shot them during late morning or early afternoon? Did you sharpen the images during post process? A little over sharpen to me IMHO.

Hi Ken, thanks for the comments, I got it at the early afternoon between 2 to 4pm, yes it's little harsh on most of the shot that I have. I set my K-S1 f-stop between 8 to 9.5 in order to get a better picture. While doing post-processing I'm only play around with cropping, adjusting the curve/level/exposure, reducing noise if photo taken at high iso, if the output still soft I will try to applying the smart sharpen under Filter. If not I will never touch on the Filter/Sharpen setting. I never apply any sharpening on the above picture..

[kengoh]

Hi Ken, thanks for the comments, I got it at the early afternoon between 2 to 4pm, yes it's little harsh on most of the shot that I have. I set my K-S1 f-stop between 8 to 9.5 in order to get a better picture. While doing post-processing I'm only play around with cropping, adjusting the curve/level/exposure, reducing noise if photo taken at high iso, if the output still soft I will try to applying the smart sharpen under Filter. If not I will never touch on the Filter/Sharpen setting. I never apply any sharpening on the above picture..

I see, no wonder the lighting is bad, try to shoot before 10am in the morning and after 5pm in the evening for soft light.
Actually K-S1 is AA filter-less cam, should be pretty sharp to compensate the softness of lens and you've stop down to F8 or higher, the image shouldn't be that bad, perhaps you can post 1 without sharpening? If you apply sharpening, try to avoid halo effects around the bird and more obvious on the perch.
btw the CKF shot at GBTB and not in SBTB? Prefer the latter location if there is....

[tim60]

I see, no wonder the lighting is bad, try to shoot before 10am in the morning and after 5pm in the evening for soft light.
Actually K-S1 is AA filter-less cam, should be pretty sharp to compensate the softness of lens and you've stop down to F8 or higher, the image shouldn't be that bad, perhaps you can post 1 without sharpening? If you apply sharpening, try to avoid halo effects around the bird and more obvious on the perch.
btw the CKF shot at GBTB and not in SBTB? Prefer the latter location if there is....

Very convenient living near the equator to be able to give blanket time of day indications for lighting. But more importantly, is the point of your before 10 and after 5 suggestion that at those times it is more likely that the sun will be low enough and behind something, resulting in diffused light? If that is the case, is a similar effect achieved with using shaded locations at other times of the day and also under very heavy cloud?

[biz-engineer]

Trying out a Tamron 300 F2.8, I think it will need a bit of adjustment, and a sturdy tripod, this one hand held.

Looks razor sharp , with smooth progressive bokeh. Manually focused?

[noelpolar]

Trying out a Tamron 300 F2.8, I think it will need a bit of adjustment, and a sturdy tripod, this one hand held.

K-3 and Tamron 300 F2.8

Nice shot Norm..... but you do realise that you've posted a one eye in focus portrait.... next thing ya know you'll be shooting a K-1!

[normhead]

Looks razor sharp , with smooth progressive bokeh. Manually focused?

It has amazingly fast AF if you're used to SDM... so, no, I took advantage of the AF.

Nice shot Norm..... but you do realise that you've posted a one eye in focus portrait.... next thing ya know you'll be shooting a K-1!

I don't really have a kit lens for the K-1. I could use the 35-80 for a while, but those types of old film lenses have really flimsy construction. I held a K-1 owned by a forum member yesterday... if it was in store I doubt I could have resisted it. I almost couldn't resist trying to run off with his. With this darn new hip, I'm really slow, I wouldn't have got far. I think I'm holding out for the 28-105 included for a package discount. But it all depends on keeping myself busy so I don't just break down and order it online.

But I sold my K-20D, K-01 and K-5 in anticipation of it's arrival. I've put myself in a situation where I have no back-up, so the writing is on the wall.

derekkite's post the other day, pretty much sealed the deal... I mean 5000 ISO.... that's pretty tough to argue with.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/122-lens-clubs/55946-300mm-plus-lens-club...ml#post3779202

I basically picked up the 300 so I'd have the same functionality with the K-1 I'd have with the K-3 in terms of reach. 300 2.8 instead of 200 2.8 with the option to stack the TCs pushing the 300 to 420mm ƒ4, 510mm ƒ4.5, or 714 ƒ6.3. Basically the 150-600 shooters can kiss my _______ with their "I have to have that extra 100mm".. now who's got the extra 100mm?

Dealing with the extra 5 pounds of lens? Well that's the full frame curse.

[derekkite]

It has amazingly fast AF if you're used to SDM... so, no, I took advantage of the AF.



I don't really have a kit lens for the K-1. I could use the 35-80 for a while, but those types of old film lenses have really flimsy construction. I held a K-1 owned by a forum member yesterday... if it was in store I doubt I could have resisted it. I almost couldn't resist trying to run off with his. With this darn new hip, I'm really slow, I wouldn't have got far. I think I'm holding out for the 28-105 included for a package discount. But it all depends on keeping myself busy so I don't just break down and order it online.

But I sold my K-20D, K-01 and K-5 in anticipation of it's arrival. I've put myself in a situation where I have no back-up, so the writing is on the wall.

derekkite's post the other day, pretty much sealed the deal... I mean 5000 ISO.... that's pretty tough to argue with.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/122-lens-clubs/55946-300mm-plus-lens-club...ml#post3779202

I basically picked up the 300 so I'd have the same functionality with the K-1 I'd have with the K-3 in terms of reach. 300 2.8 instead of 200 2.8 with the option to stack the TCs pushing the 300 to 420mm ƒ4, 510mm ƒ4.5, or 714 ƒ6.3. Basically the 150-600 shooters can kiss my _______ with their "I have to have that extra 100mm".. now who's got the extra 100mm?

Dealing with the extra 5 pounds of lens? Well that's the full frame curse.

Yesterday morning. I'm going to go out in a few minutes to see if I can get another one. I couldn't get these shots with the K3 last year. Same lens.

I got three pretty good shots of the same as the bird tried to swallow the fish. It was unsuccessful.



---------- Post added 09-25-16 at 07:00 AM ----------

On the K1. I haven't used it extensively, but first impressions.

Low light it is another world. On the K3 iso 800 in low light long and cropped is about the max,and the quality is dodgy. The K1 is amazing. The shutter speed increase makes it possible to get shots that I couldn't get.

I have to rework my noise reduction strategies in software.

Focus is good. I haven't done enough bird in flight stuff, it isn't magical but slightly better. For non movement stuff it is far better using the Sigma 500mm. The DA300 is ok. I haven't quite nailed down the configuration yet.

Crop and full mode is really handy. Most of my stuff that I want a fast continuous shooting speed is something far away, switching to crop gives me about the same as the K3 CAF.

Don't pick it up, you won't want to put it down. It is like a well fitting glove, a joy to handle and use.

I was hitting the limits many times on the K3, the K1 opens opportunities and learning for me.

I haven't quite got the feel for metering on the K1. We all know how tough that is for what we do. It isn't prescient but I can see if done right it is pretty good. I blew the reds on a close Pileated the other day by mis metering.

The dials are very easy to move inadvertently. The lock and user modes are essential. I haven't set them up yet.

Get close to wildlife. That is the way to get best shots. Note Norms 200mm shots, they are a delight to look at. He is close with a sharp lens.

---------- Post added 09-25-16 at 07:05 AM ----------

This one has no noise reduction applied. f6.3, 1/1000 iso 1000 500mm.