[calculator01]

Although this thread is full of very, VERY talented photographers and photos, it lacks shallow DOF cat faces: (DA*300)

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[dadipentak]

Not sure why photos seem to lose all the detail on this forum?

You're kidding right? I was blown away by the clarity in the shots you & Derek just posted--and spent an hour or so exploring new pp routines hoping to keep up.

---------- Post added 07-27-14 at 08:28 AM ----------

This one took a lot of pp, digging detail out of shadows. I might have gotten a quality photo if I'd used the Beamer but it's at least interesting, I think.

[OJGoreng]

This one was with the 014F tc.

Just a tad closer and you'll be able to read the leg band! I'm sure some researcher will be very happy with those data.

Now perhaps you folks can help me out a bit. Oyster catchers, I find, are a bit tricky, being black and white. So I have to have a compromise exposure. Now can you give me any good tips for bringing out the detail in the black feathers, head and eye. The books point to the adjustment brush (LR3.6) but I'm struggling to get a natural looking result (faststone has a quite effective shadows slider...). RAW file here (10mb .dng) if you want to play.

I get a " no file" screen when I click on that link. At any rate, usually it's a matter of pulling up the bottom end when adjusting tone curves, though results tend to be ... eh... not that great. Or at least not when I do it.

[marcusBMG]

I get a " no file" screen when I click on that link. At any rate, usually it's a matter of pulling up the bottom end when adjusting tone curves, though results tend to be ... eh... not that great. Or at least not when I do it.

Corrected - thanks for your comments, I'll play some more with the tone curve

[dadipentak]

Hi, i just acquired an AFA 1.7x Teleconverter, i already have the Fa*300 f4.5 and a Sigma 150-500 but i really find the Sigma lacking in both AF speed and sharpness, so i am considering selling it and getting a Tamron 60b 300mm f2.8 to use it with the AFA 1.7. I have been checking the forum and it seems that the 60b has issues with PF and needs to get stopped down a lot, effectively cancelling the effect of having a f2.8 lens. My main use is handhold birding. I would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks

I think handholding a 510mm/f5.6 rig is likely to be an exercise in frustration. A monopod would violate deeply-held principles? ;~)

[Mirton]

Hi, i just acquired an AFA 1.7x Teleconverter, i already have the Fa*300 f4.5 and a Sigma 150-500 but i really find the Sigma lacking in both AF speed and sharpness, so i am considering selling it and getting a Tamron 60b 300mm f2.8 to use it with the AFA 1.7. I have been checking the forum and it seems that the 60b has issues with PF and needs to get stopped down a lot, effectively cancelling the effect of having a f2.8 lens. My main use is handhold birding. I would appreciate any thoughts. Thanks

There was a time when i wanted to purchase a Tamron 60b (never owned one to this day), I missed an opportunity for a Tamron SP 400mm f4 adaptall which is harder to find, I read a lot about its characteristics and other people's experience with it. The 60b is the older version and has worse CA control then the 360b. The only reason you want to buy the 60b is to couple it with the cheap Tamron's 140b 1.4 TC but since your have the Pentax AFA 1.7X there's is no point. You already own the FA* 300mm f4.5 AF i don't think the Tamron 60/360b will provide you with better results, I suggest you don't buy either and save your money for DA + the new 1.4x tc from Pentax (after selling both you fa* 300 and AFA 1.7x). Personally I have been buying more FF lenses for Pentax recently in anticipation for a new FF camera body so I wouldn't get rid of the FA* just yet. Right now I am now shooting with a Sigma EX Dg 300mm f2.8 which works well with the Sigma converters but this might be a bit out of your budget. The consensus seems to be that for the >$1000 range on the used lens market, the DA* 300 is the best telephoto available on Pentax land. Tamron has a new 150-600mm f5-6.3 but there's no news whether they'll make a Pentax version yet.

[dadipentak]

Sigma EX Dg 300mm f1.4

wha?!

I agree that the DA* 300/4 is a better option (and in my expereince, it works quite well with the AFA 1.7 in good light.)

[mgbirder]

I think handholding a 510mm/f5.6 rig is likely to be an exercise in frustration. A monopod would violate deeply-held principles? ;~)

I almost always use the Sigma 150-500 at 450 - 500mm at f6.3 - f8.0, only handheld. I did try using a monopod but for my kind of shooting (long walks, occasional sightings of birds, not in hides) i always felt setting up the camera on the monopod takes way to much time and i ended up just dropping the monopod to shoot handheld I do use the Cotton Carrier System to distribute the weight of the lens while walking.

---------- Post added 07-27-2014 at 11:58 AM ----------

The only reason you want to buy the 60b is to couple it with the cheap Tamron's 140b 1.4 TC but since your have the Pentax AFA 1.7X there's is no point. You already own the FA* 300mm f4.5 AF i don't think the Tamron 60/360b will provide you with better results, I suggest you don't buy either and save your money for DA + the new 1.4x tc from Pentax (after selling both you fa* 300 and AFA 1.7x).

Thanks, i think i will keep saving and getting a A* 300mm f2,8 or a sigma AF 300mm f2.8 (not in the near future though)
Did you say a 300mm f1.4 ?

[littledrawe]

Sigma EX Dg 300mm f1.4

Damn!! I want to see the front element on that thing!!!

[derekkite]

This morning. DA300 with TC.

[littledrawe]

so i am considering selling it and getting a Tamron 60b 300mm f2.8 to use it with the AFA 1.7

My first real telephoto lens was the Adaptall 2 300mm/2.8 and I quickly got the 1.7X AFA after getting the lens because I wanted more reach. If I knew my butt from a hole in the ground (photographically speaking) I think I could have really made that combo produce. I used it almost exclusively handheld because I didn't know the joy of using a Gimbal head and couldn't justify the $500 purchase at that point. I was using an entry-level DSLR and only shot jpegs....idiot. I had no PP software until someone told me about GIMP. Nobody told me I wouldn't really be satisfied with any telephoto lens purchase until I was spending thousands of dollars.
The AFA needs the light that the 60b can gather with the f2.8 max aperture and with it I got reliable BIF autofocus results. I tried the AFA with other lenses after around the f4 max aperture range and was never satisfied with its performance with those lenses. I also didn't ever try to shoot anything really small to check for feather detail with the 60B+AFA but I think it would have done well. Here are some photos I took that summer but knowing what I know now I think they could have been much better.

[boriscleto]

I almost always use the Sigma 150-500 at 450 - 500mm at f6.3 - f8.0, only handheld. I did try using a monopod but for my kind of shooting (long walks, occasional sightings of birds, not in hides) i always felt setting up the camera on the monopod takes way to much time and i ended up just dropping the monopod to shoot handheld I do use the Cotton Carrier System to distribute the weight of the lens while walking.

---------- Post added 07-27-2014 at 11:58 AM ----------


Thanks, i think i will keep saving and getting a A* 300mm f2,8 or a sigma AF 300mm f2.8 (not in the near future though)
Did you say a 300mm f1.4 ?

The 150-500 doesn't really come into it's own until f/8. It's better at f/10.

I walk with the camera on my shoulder and the lens attached to the monopod. Sometimes I'm shooting from the monopod, sometimes it's hand held. It depends on how high the birds are.

[boriscleto]

There seems to be a lack of grasshoppers here. So here is one: (DA*300)

Do grasshoppers being eaten count?

[derekkite]

A young flycatcher.

[dane.dawg]

I need an ID on this fella from this morning.

Red Eyed Vireo?