The textures of winter

[Akira]

Especially so when the "humble" super tele zoom has a super humble super photographer driving it!

Cannot agree more!

[pluton]

Great shots, they are pleasure to behold.
This is strong evidence that the "3D effect" comes from the lighting, period.

[Andrew]

Fantastic-as usual!

[David Paterson]

Thank you for the very flattering comments, Carl, Akira, Hugh, Andrew and Keith.

I am delighted with the response to these images from my fellow-members because this was something very new for me - to shoot landscapes with such a long lens. Previously I almost never shot longer than 200mm, though I owned a sweet 400/5.6 AIS. It's performance, however, was not up to the standards of modern teles, even tele-zooms, and I rarely used it.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Even though the 400/5.6 ED-IF is quite capable, it frequently does best service in the near to medium range. Maybe this is caused by its lower contrast compared to today's standard?

[David Paterson]

Even though the 400/5.6 ED-IF is quite capable, it frequently does best service in the near to medium range. Maybe this is caused by its lower contrast compared to today's standard?

I agree with that. However with my copy of this lens lacked not only contrast - when shooting at distance - but sharpness as well. I stopped carrying it when I realised that the 70-200/4 gave better results when 2x enlarged than the 400/5.6 at full-frame.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The 400/5.6 ED-IF is very susceptible to vibrations and thus need much more sturdy tripod support than one might think.

[simato73]

All excellent but no doubts my favourite is #8.
I like a lot telephoto landscapes.

The 200-500 is one of the lenses that is almost worth having with a dedicated camera if one is using a different system.

[David Paterson]

All excellent but no doubts my favourite is #8.
The 200-500 is one of the lenses that is almost worth having with a dedicated camera if one is using a different system.

Thanks, Simone - #8 is among my own 2-3 favourites. And I have already adopted the strategy you suggest - my D600 and the 200-500 are now a unit.

The 400/5.6 ED-IF is very susceptible to vibrations and thus need much more sturdy tripod support than one might think.

I'm sure you are right, Bjørn, and my present tripod is something of a compromise. However, if I can be forgiven for quoting myself - this was from an email to another photographer-friend, earlier today -

 "The VR was a revelation - it was too awkward to get the camera/ big lens/ tripod in and out of the car in one piece, and too slow taking the camera and lens
on and off the tripod-head all the time so I soon started trying to hand-hold. I tried to lean on something - anything - but often there was nothing suitable and I was
genuinely hand-holding. 9 out 10 ten are absolutely pin-sharp; razor-sharp. This lens has WAY the best VR I have ever experienced."

I love those classic lenses but I'm ready to take whatever help I can get, to make sharp pictures.