[goubejp]

Black winged stilt in love with FA*600
some shots today of Black-winged Stilt which are obviously in love. All the best for the babies !!
1

2 Sweet kisses

3 Walking together

4 So beautiful eyes

5 The male fight agains a goose which comes too close to the nest

[crewl1]

Beautiful set of stilts goubejp!

[dadipentak]

Black winged stilt in love

Ah, yes, look to the French to bring romance to long lens photography ;~)

[derekkite]

Black winged stilt in love with FA*600
some shots today of Black-winged Stilt which are obviously in love. All the best for the babies !!
1

2 Sweet kisses

3 Walking together

4 So beautiful eyes

5 The male fight agains a goose which comes too close to the nest

Very nice. Good timing, good location so they weren't worried about you, great light. Those shots are always satisfying to get.

[traderdrew]

There is a place around here where some photographers look for bobcats. They are living wild but are somewhat used to humans but they are still elusive. This photo had some sharp features such as fine details in the nose and the eyes. Before I posted it on flickr I selectively blurred some areas such as most of the reflection in the eyes to help discourage theft. Taken with the Sigma 500mm wide open at F/4.5 and the K-5 II.

[Kerrowdown]

photographers look for bobcats

Well he's a handsome fellow, great capture this one.

[stormtech]

There is a place around here where some photographers look for bobcats. They are living wild but are somewhat used to humans but they are still elusive. This photo had some sharp features such as fine details in the nose and the eyes. Before I posted it on flickr I selectively blurred some areas such as most of the reflection in the eyes to help discourage theft. Taken with the Sigma 500mm wide open at F/4.5 and the K-5 II.

That is a fantastic shot - nice you can find a place where they are sort of used to humans to be able to get that close. I've seen a few Bobcats in the wild, but it's one of those creatures that you see for a second and they disappear.

Question - you say you intentionally blurred the eyes some - I notice a different color of each eye - was that from your blur effects or were his eyes naturally those different colors.

Thanks for posting - such an elusive creature it's so nice to be able to sit here and view it for a while.

[dadipentak]

great capture this one.

'tis!

[Hock]

Excellent - thank you for the summary.


Hi Hock - what Nikon camera/lens are you using ?

Whilst I love the Blue-eared KF shots the resolved detail is not what I'd expect of a US$5-7,000 lens. The 1/200 and ISO 1,250 might be the reason for this or it may indeed be that you shot the KF at near MFD, do you have any thoughts on this ? I've included a shot below (re-post) of a Bellbird (20cms / 8") shot at ca. 5M with the (currently ca. US$2,200) Sigma 120-300 (300mm, 1/320, f4, ISO2,200, -0.67EV, no flash used) on a D800. That is at least the level of detail I would expect the 560mm to be resolving.

How did you find the resolving power of the 560mm at distance ? I'm thinking medium sized birds (e.g. Thrush, Waders, Dove-sized birds) at 20-30m.





I had not heard of this in the A99 - brilliant if it works seamlessly ! I wouldn't cross your fingers too tightly for firmware upgrades of that feature to older cameras though - Pentax, as with other manufacturers, want you to buy their latest and greatest ! The new Sigma 120-300/2.8 OS HSM due out later this year will also allow user adjustment of focus limit parameters in camera and allow for updates to the lens via firmware.

Hello Frogfish,

Nikon 300mm F/2.8 + 2x TC = 600mm F/5.6.
Also a Nikon 300mm F/4 + 1.4x TC = 420mm F/5.6 (this combination is very seldom on a tripod, mainly for handholding)
Camera - currently a D300s with no replacement in sight, only rumours of a D400.

I guess you did not notice that the Blue-eared KF is soaking wet ? They plunge into the stream for fish.
Hair, fur and feathers tend to clump together when wet, so you won't get to see as much fine detail.
The KF is in the shade under a clump of bamboo trees while your Bellbird appears to be in relatively good light.

You also need to be cautious in comparing feather detail on different species of birds, their feather design and construction is different and so are wing shapes, and are meant to cater for different habits and flight patterns. Climatic conditions and the environment in which they live also affect the design, construction and composition of various types of feathers.

Birds that glide a lot (eg. vultures), birds that depend on agility to hunt in tight spaces (eg. goshawks) and birds that depend on silent flight (eg. owls) all have different feather designs, just to name a few.

As such, I have always advised against comparing the feather detail that can be seen in photographs of different species of birds.
Much less, when they are taken with different brands of cameras, with different sensor resolutions and different focal length lenses. Throw in other variations/differences like the quality and angle of light, ISO used, shutter speeds, apertures, RAWs, jpegs, software etc. etc. ... and what we end up with is a veritable nightmare.

And I personally, will give up trying to gleen any useful information from such comparisons.
I would just sit back and enjoy, looking at those beautiful images created by other photographers.

And Frogfish, you have a beautiful picture of a Bellbird there. I have not seen this bird, but love the blue, purple and violet colours on the plumage.

The resolving power of the 560mm at distance -

Haven't done much shooting at 20-30m yet. The Whiskered Tern I posted is at that range. I have a single shot of a Grey Heron shot at more than 30m, but that is a large bird. I have shots of Pink-necked Pigeons and Peaceful Doves, but those are shot at less than 20m. Haven't posted these yet. I have a couple of BIFs of raptors both at around 20-30m but these are lage birds.

As for thrushes - have not shot any with the 560mm yet.
As for waders - have not shot any with the 560mm yet. But instead I am thinking of trying out the Pentax Q + QK Adapter + DA* 300mm combo with these.

[Hock]

Hi Hock,

Thank you for the real 560/5.6 images and review. To me the lens itself is too long, MFD is too long, the sweet spot at f/8 hits diffraction limit of even 16MP K-5/K-30 sensor, it's hard to transport, and, of course, it is APS-C only dedicated lens. I rate it for myself as Good to Very Good lens due to all these limitations.
Last year I was waiting for the 560/5.6 for some time, but finally went for the Sigma 500/4.5. I'm glad I did it right. I'll stick with my brilliant Sigma 500/4.5 with no hard feelings. Thanks to you.
However, it is nice to know that Pentax finally released a decent long telephoto lens. The price? Who cares?

Hello Greyser,

For a while I too was concerned about the MFD, then I realised that when I shoot the Blue-eared KF with my Nikon it is at the same distance (although MFD is shorter still). I did not go closer because the bird is already quite big in the frame and I want to leave some space for when they catch a fish.

For even closer encounters there is always my DA* 300 by my side.

No hard feelings, why should there be any.
Many years ago, in the film camera days, my first tele lens was the Sigma 500mm F/4.5 (manual focus) and I enjoyed
using it for 7/8 years before selling it.

Hock

[Hock]

Hello All,

I would like to thank everyone who looked, commented and complimented on my posts.

In case I failed to reply to any questions, it is unintentional and I apologise.

I still have to get more familiar with the lens, and there is still so much I haven't tried.

I haven't taken a single shot with my K10D eg., and only a handful of shots with my K20D.

I haven't tried my Tamron 1.4x and 2x yet, and also my Pentax Q on it.

And then there is still so much to do with the QK Adapter that I wanted to try out.

I will be very inactive for a long time.

Best regards to all,

Hock

[dane.dawg]

Andrew, superb Bobcat portrait..

[littledrawe]

Ah, yes, look to the French to bring romance to long lens photography ;~)

That got an audible laugh from me!

[dragon132312]

Black winged stilt in love with FA*600 some shots today of Black-winged Stilt which are obviously in love. All the best for the babies !

Nice set There it definitely spring romance

[dragon132312]

There is a place around here where some photographers look for bobcats. They are living wild but are somewhat used to humans but they are still elusive.

love the colors Andrew great shot