[crewl1]

Found this little fella down on Marco Island. DA*300 on Q10 - stopped down to f5.6. I have not had a chance to look at my K-3 pictures, but I am very happy with some of the these Q10 ones. I did not think I needed the Q10+300, but the Burrowing Owls at the last nest were really skiddish, and I did not want to disturb them more than absolutely necessary. Also I had not been able to catch any of the owls sitting above ground. The Q10+300 really came in handy - without it I would have had to do heavily cropped K-3 pictures.

BTW, the Pentax Mini Reddot sight has been an absolute godsend - thanks to this thread! It makes it infinitely easier to target, and without it I would have missed many of the shots I got. I got a Sirui K-30 Ball head which is much better than the Manfrotto I used to have! but I can see why Mr. LunatiQ (Larry) is using a gimbal. Oh well - I will resist for a little while longer

These are beautiful shots of the owls Henrik, excellent work.

(Nothing like that to see around here, and its been so hot during the day I just haven't had the desire to go out and shoot. )

It really looks like you are getting the hang of the setup.

I think the title of lunatiQ should go to you now

[hnikesch]

Found this little fella down on Marco Island. DA*300 on Q10 - stopped down to f5.6. I have not had a chance to look at my K-3 pictures, but I am very happy with some of the these Q10 ones. I did not think I needed the Q10+300, but the Burrowing Owls at the last nest were really skiddish, and I did not want to disturb them more than absolutely necessary. Also I had not been able to catch any of the owls sitting above ground. The Q10+300 really came in handy - without it I would have had to do heavily cropped K-3 pictures.

BTW, the Pentax Mini Reddot sight has been an absolute godsend - thanks to this thread! It makes it infinitely easier to target, and without it I would have missed many of the shots I got. I got a Sirui K-30 Ball head which is much better than the Manfrotto I used to have! but I can see why Mr. LunatiQ (Larry) is using a gimbal. Oh well - I will resist for a little while longer

That combo does work very well, nice captures, I will have to keep an eye out for the little fellows when I make it to Marco next year, I usually down there for a day or two to visit a friend

[HenrikDK]

That combo does work very well, nice captures, I will have to keep an eye out for the little fellows when I make it to Marco next year, I usually down there for a day or two to visit a friend

It is actually embarrassingly easy getting good shots of these owls They are all over the vacant lots down in Marco. Don't tell anyone else - they will all think we are very accomplished wildlife photographers

---------- Post added 08-03-14 at 07:37 AM ----------

These are beautiful shots of the owls Henrik, excellent work.

(Nothing like that to see around here, and its been so hot during the day I just haven't had the desire to go out and shoot. )

It really looks like you are getting the hang of the setup.

I think the title of lunatiQ should go to you now

Thanks Larry, but I am just one of the disciples

[crewl1]

Some black necked stilts with the DA*300 on Q7.
This was the best of the group, I wasn't happy with the keeper ratio today probably because I only had a little bit of time and I rushed the process.

[baro-nite]

Some black necked stilts with the DA*300 on Q7.

The combination of horizontal ripple lines and the long vertical legs of the Stilts is really striking. Any keeper ratio above zero is good, when the keepers are this good!

[CWRailman]

Some black necked stilts with the DA*300 on Q7.
This was the best of the group, I wasn't happy with the keeper ratio today probably because I only had a little bit of time and I rushed the process.

What is you average keeper ratio? Especially when you are doing the street shots?

Denny

[crewl1]

Street shots ratio is pretty good since I only take a shot when I see something interesting, and using the native lenses on the Q's , depth of field is so huge that you never really miss focus.

The biggest hurdle with adapted long lens for me is that the focus has to be nailed dead on or else the image just does not cut it.
The issue I had today was that I thought I had the focus nailed but when I reviewed the pics they looked blurry.

I believe the problems I had today were caused by me being in a hurry, as well as the hot weather we have been having.

Since I was in a hurry and the birds were moving I did not enable 2 second delay so I suspect I was introducing vibration.

I took a couple of videos and in it I can see the birds coming in and out of focus through the heatwaves. This has happened to me before on a hot day at the beach shooting shorebirds so it shouldn't surprise me.

Cooler days and a slower pace always produces better results in my experience.

[The Expanding Man]

Thanks for all your advice a few pages back. I picked up the 55-300 kit zoom (the one with the plastic mount). I finally had the chance to try it out tonight on a Q7 body:

[IMG][url=https://flic.kr/p/oBmvDe]

[crewl1]

The combination of horizontal ripple lines and the long vertical legs of the Stilts is really striking. Any keeper ratio above zero is good, when the keepers are this good!

Thanks!

---------- Post added 08-06-14 at 06:55 AM ----------

Thanks for all your advice a few pages back. I picked up the 55-300 kit zoom (the one with the plastic mount). I finally had the chance to try it out tonight on a Q7 body:

That's a good combo, excellent moon shot!

[TonyTurley]

My brief experiment with K mount lenses on the Q is over. Until the Pentax adapter malfunctioned, I got some pretty good images, but I only got about 20 snaps before the adapter started closing down randomly, then after a few more snaps, the leaf shutter failed completely. I sent it back to the vendor for a refund. Since several other people have reported identical issues, it seems to me to be a QC issue. For those of you that haven't had any problems, I hope your success continues, but I'm not willing to risk another $240+ to see if I get a good one. My tripod foot finally arrived today, too. If anyone needs a brand new PTX 38100 for cheap, I just listed it in the marketplace.

[crewl1]

That's a bummer Tony, you gave it a good try.

[crewl1]

Here is an Allens (or Rufous) from today in the shade. DA*300 on Q7
I was testing some settings trying to figure out why I got those blurry shots yesterday, and this little guy showed up.

[TonyTurley]

That's a bummer Tony, you gave it a good try.

Thanks Larry. That's a good photo of the Rufous, by the way.

[woodywesty]

Here is an Allens (or Rufous) from today in the shade. DA*300 on Q7
I was testing some settings trying to figure out why I got those blurry shots yesterday, and this little guy showed up.

Very nice Larry, and in the shade!

Bob

[crewl1]

That's a good photo of the Rufous, by the way.

Very nice Larry, and in the shade!

Thank you