Borrowing a line from George Goebel, Sometimes I feel like the Nikon Cafe is a tuxedo, and I'm a pair of brown shoes :?. My long reach kit consists of the d70, Nikon 80-200AFD, and Kenko Pro 1.4x teleconverter. It seems like everybody else has a d2h, 300 f/4, and Nikon TC14e... at a minimum. It's giving me a horrible case of simultaneous lens and body lust. How about a poll... "what's your long reach kit?" The results will either cure me, or send me to the Nikon Hospital.
70-200VR with a TCEII. I don't mind the softness. But I am getting twinges about that 400mm over in the for sale forum. Rich :lol:
I know what you mean, Rich. That 300/4 on the sales forum is driving me crazy :? . It was very cruel of Patrick to set up that forum; it's just a breeding ground for Lens Lust Disease.
An old Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 with manual focusing and 'preset type' aperture ring (2 of 'em, one for shooting, the other for setting.) But it does have 19 blades and is quite sharp at f/11, supersharp at f/16, and it goes all the way to f/45. But manual exposure on a d100!?!?!!! Not to mention manual focusing, with nearly a 360 degree throw. I can forget about following anything that's moving, and it ain't that fast, so it sits here and I photograph closer stuff. I'm feelin' like a pair of tennis shoes with a hole, to borrow Frank's Goebel similie.
If you're a pair of brown shoes, then I must be flip flops cuz the longest I have is my 80-200 NO TC.
70-200 and what should be a TC-17. I ordered and paid for the TC Jan 12, but the shippment got lost in the mail. I have to wait until this coming Monday to fill out insurance paperwork with B&H so they will reship my order. That is if they have anything left after the fire.
If it makes anyone feel better our long kit is a D-100 with a 28-200G and a D-70 with a 70-300ED. I was kind of embarrassed at the Merritt Island shoot. I have a 500 full manual f8 Mirror which is really soft. Also a 1200 spotting scope that I can attach the D-100 to but it is really hard to see to focus in viewfinder at F11. Bob
D2H with 500mm f/4 AF-S II and TC17EII - gets me out to 850mm before taking the 1.5x factor into account.
D2H soon to be D2X with a Sigma 800 5.6 and a 80-400 VR. I have not had luck with the TC14EII From the Sigma today {}
D2H with 300mm f2.8 EDIF lens plus TC1.4e and this does not seem long enough when shooting birds. I guess that is why I don't shoot all that many birds.
Actually Gordon, this is my favorite set-up for shooting flying birds. Just long enough, but not so long that it cuts their wings off.... :lol: Frank
Well, now....here is my current set-up. Camera 1, Mr. Primary: D2H Sigma 500mm f4.5 HSM Nikon TC-14E 1.4 - nominal 700mm f6.alittlebit, AF's very fast, my "prime" set up. With the Nikon TC-20E, 2.0 - nominal 1000mm, f9, AF sucks, but for stationary objects works well Stack both TC's for 1400mm, f-waytoomuch, forget AF, danged if it doesn't work well, I got a "lucky" pair Camera 2, when 500 is "too much" D70 Sigma 120-300 f2.8 HSM Sigma 1.4x TC for 240-600 f4 Just got this but am liking it, will take it out for a real "test drive" tomorrow morning, but the darned clouds are back, which sucks....
You can never have too much hair, money, or focal length Frank, I think you need a 300 f4 The magnification of a 200 just isn't enough to fill the frame for most birdies... unless they're trained, of course, like your hummers I will say I've had some luck shooting larger birds with my 70-200+TC 1.4, which reaches out to 280mm.
