[HoutHans]

I spent the weekend with the DA 560 on the K3iii with mixed impressions.
Fumbling the the new dial settings, I often found myself shooting at unintended shutter speeds, f-stops and exposure compensation settings, but I was able to arrive at a realistic first impression for the lens/camera combination.
Having previously gone partially to the dark side with the D500 and blazingly fast focusing/light weight 500 PF combo, I was hoping the K3iii would eliminate some of the known 560 limitations.

A few quick observations:
The joystick on the K3iii only allows two clicks in either direction from center to focus with the 560. This is a bit limiting if you've got a bird filling the frame, as you have to focus on the eye and then recompose to avoid cutting off the tail. I ran into this a couple of times with woodpeckers.

The frames per second and buffer is very nice and the shutter is much quieter than the D500. The noise of the latter has scared off birds before. I was shooting with fill flash most of the weekend, so most of my shooting was single frame shooting.

As with the Nikon, I usually shoot AFC single point Select, but I tried the next expanded point as well and at times thought it might be better at picking up subjects.

Like the Nikon, pressing in on the joystick returns the focus point to the center. As you move the joystick the focus point shifts from black to red, making it easy to figure out where you're aiming.

The 560 still cannot focus without a long search, usually starting in the wrong direction. This is unchanged from the prior K3's. Despite the center spot focus being directly on the body of a bird, instead of snapping into focus it begins a slow search, often allowing the bird to leave the branch. Similarly, if I was wanting to pre focus on a branch in anticipation of the bird climbing higher and in to view, I often couldn't get the lens to appreciate the branch was even there. Testing with a clean isolated perch in sunshine, I discovered it takes about a three inch branch for my lens to accurately grab focus. Even with sharp contrast, it can fail to focus on a smaller branch.

I really like being able to hit the "OK" button in instant review and having it zoom to the focal point to be sure I'm on the eye. This is much better than the old spin the wheel days.

I really don't like that back button focus does not awaken the sleeping camera. The only buttons that will awaken the sleeping camera is a half press on the shutter button or hitting the review button. Like the prior K3 versions, I again missed shots because I hit the back button focus expecting the camera to respond only to find it was sleeping.

Bottom line for the 560 is that it remains a great lens for tripod shooting of mostly perched or sedentary subjects. With effort, you can absolutely get keepers of more difficult subjects and scenarios, but don't try it around children if you're prone to swearing.

Here are a few warblers from the weekend with this combo. Pardon the atypical camera settings, as I kept screwing up the dials while playing with the smart function. I'll provide further feedback as I get more familiar with the camera.

Orange-crowned warbler (notice f/14, I usually shoot wide open)


Wilson's warbler


Nashville warbler (again all thumbs on the controls, shooting at 1/6400 without realizing)

Thanks for the honest appraisals and the nice images.

[WPRESTO]

Golden Whistlers. KP + DA 55-300 PLM at 300mm. Male in the first two (gorgeous looks to match his vocals), the others are the female. Both are heard far more often than seen, although the girl has got to know us over a number of years.

That is definitely a bird worth seeing and sad that I can only take your word about the song. Locally the wood thrush has a song that M and I always enjoy more than justified considering how short it is. Like your golden whistlers, it is a bird heard far more often than seen, and when seen, it is attractive, but not colorful.

[Mbaez]

I spent the weekend with the DA 560 on the K3iii with mixed impressions.
Fumbling the the new dial settings, I often found myself shooting at unintended shutter speeds, f-stops and exposure compensation settings, but I was able to arrive at a realistic first impression for the lens/camera combination.
Having previously gone partially to the dark side with the D500 and blazingly fast focusing/light weight 500 PF combo, I was hoping the K3iii would eliminate some of the known 560 limitations.

A few quick observations:
The joystick on the K3iii only allows two clicks in either direction from center to focus with the 560. This is a bit limiting if you've got a bird filling the frame, as you have to focus on the eye and then recompose to avoid cutting off the tail. I ran into this a couple of times with woodpeckers.

The frames per second and buffer is very nice and the shutter is much quieter than the D500. The noise of the latter has scared off birds before. I was shooting with fill flash most of the weekend, so most of my shooting was single frame shooting.

As with the Nikon, I usually shoot AFC single point Select, but I tried the next expanded point as well and at times thought it might be better at picking up subjects.

Like the Nikon, pressing in on the joystick returns the focus point to the center. As you move the joystick the focus point shifts from black to red, making it easy to figure out where you're aiming.

The 560 still cannot focus without a long search, usually starting in the wrong direction. This is unchanged from the prior K3's. Despite the center spot focus being directly on the body of a bird, instead of snapping into focus it begins a slow search, often allowing the bird to leave the branch. Similarly, if I was wanting to pre focus on a branch in anticipation of the bird climbing higher and in to view, I often couldn't get the lens to appreciate the branch was even there. Testing with a clean isolated perch in sunshine, I discovered it takes about a three inch branch for my lens to accurately grab focus. Even with sharp contrast, it can fail to focus on a smaller branch.

I really like being able to hit the "OK" button in instant review and having it zoom to the focal point to be sure I'm on the eye. This is much better than the old spin the wheel days.

I really don't like that back button focus does not awaken the sleeping camera. The only buttons that will awaken the sleeping camera is a half press on the shutter button or hitting the review button. Like the prior K3 versions, I again missed shots because I hit the back button focus expecting the camera to respond only to find it was sleeping.

Bottom line for the 560 is that it remains a great lens for tripod shooting of mostly perched or sedentary subjects. With effort, you can absolutely get keepers of more difficult subjects and scenarios, but don't try it around children if you're prone to swearing.

Here are a few warblers from the weekend with this combo. Pardon the atypical camera settings, as I kept screwing up the dials while playing with the smart function. I'll provide further feedback as I get more familiar with the camera.

Orange-crowned warbler (notice f/14, I usually shoot wide open)


Wilson's warbler


Nashville warbler (again all thumbs on the controls, shooting at 1/6400 without realizing)

Excellent captures. The first 2 shots look very sharp even with the slow shutter speeds they were taken.
Thanks for your comments regarding the K3iii, I think my KP behaves like that: waking up only with the shutter button.
Have you used the 150-450? Does that lens have faster AF than the 560?

[Clydesdalecoop]

Looking forward to participating here. I'm looking for a 300 prime, I'm currently working a Sigma 100-400mm from the old film days. Worked great for horses outdoors, but was a tad shy on the open end for indoor arenas. Of course now I don't need to worry about grainy film, it might work...dunno.

[riseform]

Have you used the 150-450? Does that lens have faster AF than the 560?

I put the 150-450 on briefly, but I had forgotten the tripod foot so I couldn't easily walk around with it and didn't give it a fair chance. On a bean bag in my truck that was shaking with violent wind, I had the same experience as the 560 where it would not fix on my subject despite the center focus point being held on a mountain bluebird with a complex hillside background. Given those tough conditions, I'm reserving judgement until I give it a better chance.

I remember having fits with the 150-450 tying to pick up a diademed semipalmated plover in the grass in Chile with the K3ii and teleconverter. I took off the teleconverter and still couldn't get the camera to focus accurately on that seemingly obvious bird in the grass. I had to trust my eyes and manually focus on the bird.

My sense has always been that the autofocus is faster with the 150-450 than the 560. The joystick does cover the entire focal range which is nice.

Here's a 560 K3iii of a female Purple finch shot on a classic perch
With the 560 and spot focus, if I held back button focus and very slowly crept over the branch from top to bottom it would lock on the branch. If I was out of focus and put the spot directly on the branch and hit the back button, it wouldn't recognize it. If I put the spot focus on the lichen, it would pick it up every time. This is where I determined it needs about a three inch spread to detect an item (that's as scientific as I get). I should probably try this again with AFS vs AFC to see if there is a difference in detection ability.

[Des]

Another great series from Des. I love the cute pose on no. 6.

Many thanks Rod. She is a sweetie, that one.

That is definitely a bird worth seeing and sad that I can only take your word about the song. Locally the wood thrush has a song that M and I always enjoy more than justified considering how short it is. Like your golden whistlers, it is a bird heard far more often than seen, and when seen, it is attractive, but not colorful.

Nice recording of GW song here: Australian Golden Whistler - Song & Calls | Wildlife Sounds by Wild Ambience

You would think that either a striking song or bright plumage would be enough to keep a mate and a territory and that having both would be an evolutionary disadvantage as it would make them more vulnerable to predators. The yellow plumage can look like dappled sunlight, so maybe that is the explanation with the GW.

We are trying to weigh up Pilliga and Mt Kaputar further up the Newell. Anyone with experience in these two places? Done a lot of web surfing, found good detailed material on the Pilliga, but only very general info on birding at Mt Kaputar.

Seen these Peter?
BirdLife Northern NSW | BirdLife Australia
Bird Watching in the Pilliga - Visit Narrabri

I spent the weekend with the DA 560 on the K3iii with mixed impressions.

Thanks for sharing your observations and impressions. Following them with interest.

[Pentikonian]

Male Western Tanagers through heavy foliage in the tree this afternoon. K-3III +DA*300, slight crop and resized for web.

[Mbaez]

A deer I met yesterday.
KP + Sigma 18-300

[bertwert]

Went for a several km stroll though a local marsh today - not a lot of activity, as I was out in the heat of the afternoon.

Spotted a sandhill crane fairly close by:


And there were a lot of butterflies fluttering around too:



Both shots with K-50 and A 400/5.6

[K2 to K50]

Seen these Peter?
BirdLife Northern NSW | BirdLife Australia
Bird Watching in the Pilliga - Visit Narrabri

Yes, thanks Des - got those, and their internal links - again, there are detailed sites/downloadable brochures on the Pilliga sites, and the Narrabri and Yarrie Lakes sites, but only general references to make Mt Kaputar sound exciting, but nothing in detail.

The only joy has been a search of "Mt Kapatur" as the "hot-spot" in e-bird, or a broader "Narrabri" search in ebird, which produces a number of Mt Kaputar posts (more, in fact, than the "Mt Kaputar" search - grrrrr!!). Nonetheless, quite an impressive list, with a number of different types of honeyeaters, wrens and spinebills. Also the lure of catching a wedge-tailed eagle in flight!!!


Great shots of the Golden Whistler, Des. I have only caught it from a distance once, with the 55-300 PLM, a couple of years ago.

[luftfluss]

Went for a several km stroll though a local marsh today - not a lot of activity, as I was out in the heat of the afternoon.

Spotted a sandhill crane fairly close by:


And there were a lot of butterflies fluttering around too:



Both shots with K-50 and A 400/5.6

Very nice work! You are becoming quite good with the A400.

[Pentaxians]

Common Moorhen (Male) feeding in the evening. My 2021 lifer, has been looking for it for quite sometimes.

[rod_grant]

Went for a several km stroll though a local marsh today

Nice Bert.
The crane has a lovely red had!

[Lowell Goudge]

TO AUSSIE BIRD PHOTOGRAPHERS - ADVICE REQUEST

This would seem the most likely thread to find the advice I am looking for.

My friend and I are planning a birding photo trip from Melbourne to Brisbane in September (Covid willing!!! He lives in Melbourne, I live in Ipswich QLD).

We are looking at Chiltern, Rutherford, Fivebough Wetlands, Cocoparra National Park, Warrumbungles so far. We are trying to weigh up Pilliga and Mt Kaputar further up the Newell. Anyone with experience in these two places? Done a lot of web surfing, found good detailed material on the Pilliga, but only very general info on birding at Mt Kaputar.

Comments? Info? Suggestions?

As others say try eBird

https://ebird.org/hotspot/L2535909

[bertwert]

Very nice work! You are becoming quite good with the A400.

Thank you! It's certainly a lens (and focal length) needing a lot of practice.

Nice Bert.
The crane has a lovely red had!

It certainly does - maybe it's slight colourblindness, but I was impressed with how well the bird blended into the reeds - I only spotted it while fairly close by already.