eastern yellow robin

[avkomp]

eastern yellow robin in pretty typical robin pose. this one was flitting backwards and forwards between a few trees and stayed long enough for a shot or two

d4 200-500 f5.6 @500mm 1/1000 f5.6 iso 3200 (only because I forgot to reset that after some dusk stuff the night before.) hand held and full frame

[eaglem]

Very sharp and very nice.

[Isac]

I am green with envy on the IQ of these shots Stephen.

[avkomp]

thanks folks. ISAC, the IQ is always higher if you dont have to crop the images. the 3 birds I posted were all full frame. seriously helps if you can get close etc.
the lens is a relative cheapy compared to the fast primes.
I posted a review on it when it came out a while back. is 200-500 f5.6 along the whole zoom range. At the time it was touted as a new design which had amazing sharpness
in perspective, the 600f4 is say 10k to buy these days and this is around 1800 bucks for aussie stock and cheaper for grey.
the body is plastic and I was initially put off buy this until I dropped it and nothing happened. a metal lens would have been dented for sure.
cos it it is plastic, is light so very easy to carry around as a walk around lens.
the vr is a generation after my 600f4 so feels more stable.

sharpness wise the 600f4 is sharper but not by much. resolulution is better but again not by much.

flight work on the 600f4 kills the 200-500, especially in lower light, but I guess that is where the big bucks go.
fast and precise but the 200-500 is usable for flight in good light but you expect that you may miss more shots.

the 2.2m minimum focus distance is a bonus too. you can sort of use it as a macro........
you can get full frame on small birds where you may need a tc on the 600 because of the 4.7 minimum focus distance.

good lens for someone starting out in nature photography really

[Isac]

Thanks Stephen, much appreciated. My lens for birding is the Siggy 150-500 on my 7D so lot less quality than your gear. I get a few keepers though for what I need. We pensioners would love to go upmarket with our gear but a bit out of reach for a lot of us. I do love your work, so that's good enough for now.
Cheers.

[avkomp]

that lens isnt expensive. compared the fast primes. not sure of siggy prices but the 200-500 probably in same league cost wise? I have no kids and dont drink or smoke so that helps me quite a bit