Bird Watching: A Weekend With Waterfowl, 1 by linthicum

linthicum wrote:
Thanks, all ....

Dave, all of these photos were taken with my older Sigma 50-500mm lens. For the money, I find this lens hard to beat. I still have not bought a tripod and head for my new Nikon 500mm prime lens. Admittedly, I am a litttle intimidated and overwhelmed by the size of this lens and am still doing a lot of "interviewing" of other 500mm owners as to what tripod(s) I should consider. Right now, I am leaning toward a Gitzo G-1325 tripod with a Wimberley II head.

I will most likely only use this lens where the subject is far enough away that it will remain stationary while I set up the tripod. I do have a Nikon 1.7x teleconverter which puts me out at 850mm but I'll be interested in the quality once I start using a tripod. I think most photographers will use the nikon 1.4x teleconverter which will still give 700mm but improved quality over the 1.7x. It isn't the camera/lens combination that I am going to carry too far or too often in the field. I do plan to add the 1.4x teleconverter to my equipment.

Yesterday, I took this photo of a Bald Eagle with the1.7x teleconverter attached, at 850mm. I rested the camera on the top of my car but the wind was blowing quite briskly. I would expect better quality. So, if I don't see significant improvement once I start using a tripod, I will be disappointed. There was a gentleman next to me with a 600mm lens and a 1.7x teleconverter which give him 1020mm and he told me that he was satisfied with the results from that combination. Time will tell !!!

Sorry, I probably told you much more than you wanted to hear ......