Superzoom kitchen safari

[Peeb74 2]

Going out to shoot raptors this weekend and just got in the rental nikon 200-500 plus 1.4x teleconverter- needed to test the rig. I'm concerned that I'll be out just about sunrise, and the forecast is overcast so the lighting might be poor and the ISO might need to be pretty high.

As an experiment tonight, I tried shooting the lens on a monopod at 1/20 second at ISO 2000 to see what would happen. all but one of these are at an effective 700mm focal length, so I think that these images are really testament to modern VR tech. Grain is pretty obvious in several of these, but an image with grain beats no image, eh? 1-3 were all process about the same, but I tried to kill a little ISO noise in DXO-pro in the last one (which also happens to be the least sharp one IMO).

Posting obviously to show the technical merit of the gear, as the subjects are painfully random and mundane. The image quality here won't land on the cover of National Geographic, but 700mm at 1/20 without a full tripod? Pretty crazy.

1. fascinating clock

2. Compelling ketchup

3. Majestic cereal

4. Saucey sauce:

 

[snowbear118 49]

Nice and steady. Being an experimenter, myself, I'd like to see the equivalent shots hand held (with VR on).

I like the backgrounds in the last two.

 

[Derrel]

Superb Nikon VR tech?

√

 

[Peeb74 2]

Nice and steady. Being an experimenter, myself, I'd like to see the equivalent shots hand held (with VR on).

I like the backgrounds in the last two.

Challenge accepted!

Hand held at 1/20 second, SOOC:

and processed to get that last little 'shake' out:

N0- I am not a zen master- tech is just getting that good! (Plus there no breeze blowing me around in the kitchen...)

 

[zombiesniper116 15]

Looks like you're holding pretty steady.
Modern VR is quite amazing. I have hand held my 500mm down to 1/100 once or twice but regularly go down to 1/320 in order to keep the ISO down to usable levels.
I would think that the Nikon VR would perform pretty well, giving you somewhere between 3-5 stops of stabilization.

 

[Peeb74 2]

Looks like you're holding pretty steady.
Modern VR is quite amazing. I have hand held my 500mm down to 1/100 once or twice but regularly go down to 1/320 in order to keep the ISO down to usable levels.
I would think that the Nikon VR would perform pretty well, giving you somewhere between 3-5 stops of stabilization.

Being on level dead-still ground really helps. The chance of repeating this out outdoors in a 10-15 mph wind is nil. Also, the cereal box did a pretty credible job of sitting still for me, which may not be the case with the hawks and eagles I'll be looking for this weekend, so... there's that! LOL

EDIT- forgot to mention too on the hand held- had the camera on motor-drive and got 2 out of 13 shots that were semi-usable, so... there's that too!

 

[snowbear118 49]

Nice results, indeed.

 

[zombiesniper116 15]

One thing that may aide you with raptors in flight is giving up the monopod. I know it may sound counter intuitive but if the bird is in flight, having more freedom to pan without having the vertical restriction of the monopod is actually easier. If you try and pan with a BIF while the monopod is attached you may find yourself picking up the len/monopod combination at which point the monopod just becomes added weight.

 

[Peeb74 2]

One thing that may aide you with raptors in flight is giving up the monopod. I know it may sound counter intuitive but if the bird is in flight, having more freedom to pan without having the vertical restriction of the monopod is actually easier. If you try and pan with a BIF while the monopod is attached you may find yourself picking up the len/monopod combination at which point the monopod just becomes added weight.

I'll give it a go!
Do you think the 1.4x is going to detract enough from my focusing speed/ability that I should consider keeping it in my pocket for just-in-case and start at the native 200-500?

 

[zombiesniper116 15]

I would test it when you first get out. Find a small tree/pole and see if you can hand hold a clean shot. If so you should be good.

 

[Peeb74 2]

I would test it when you first get out. Find a small tree/pole and see if you can hand hold a clean shot. If so you should be good.

If I find some birds over the weekend, I'll post any usable results. Thanks!

 

[astroNikon]

Good shots for testing one's technique.
I'd shot around the kitchen before too.

But the aggressiveness of the jelly, attacking the peanut butter just created one big sticky mess.

 

[Peeb74 2]

Test shot in poor early AM lighting hand held this morning :
neighbors chimney at ISO 2000; 1/60 sec.; f/11 (good gravy! why not f/8??).

 

[Peeb74 2]

The results are in! Very satisfied with my field test:

Nikon 200-500 real world test