Hi
These are my most recent images, a very restless subject offering a few seconds a pose if luck is with you, captured a hour or so before last usable evening light.
The advantage of the Lackford Lakes location is that Directly behind the foliage on the west side, there is a 50 hectare lake, and the evening sun offers excellent reflected light
into the dense hedgerows and trees.
Taken with a D800E + 500mm AI F4P + TC 16A modified. I have had this lens for a few weeks and this was my third occasion out with it.
This is almost at closest focal length, there was only a few millimetres of left hand rotation left on the focus ring.
I swapped to the 500mm naked to try and get a IQ comparison, but failed to get a usable image. This will be a ongoing challenge.
I believe the TC acts like a extension ring, as the naked 500mm would not focus at the same shortest focal distance as the lens +TC. I was forced to move backwards.
The focal path to the birds was obstructed by foliage and these were taken from a very precise point, any need to reposition affected the clear view, due to foliage obstructions,
in this case the TC helped capture the images, but had many challenges to find and stay steady on the subject with only a few seconds a pose.
Beyond the images, I am very impressed with the lens + TC modified combo. I have started tracking birds in flight in continuous high shoot mode, as the light has improved
greatly in the Eastern region of the UK.
