Cedar Waxwing

[bobfriedman]

Nikon D4 ,Nikkor AF-S 600mm f/4G ED VR
1/1000s f/7.1 at 850.0mm iso1250

[Bent Hjarbo]

Amazing 

[Michael Erlewine]

Nice shot!

[Akira]

Stunning shot!

[atpaula]

A bird shot with points of interest other than the bird itself is always a pleasure to see.
In this case the action with the berries and the colorful background make the image for me.
Congrats.

[elsid]

Excellent capture Robert. You never stop to amaze us with your Photos.

[Birna Rørslett]

A bird picture with something extra to recommend it

[golunvolo]

Oleeee. Emotional. Vivid. Alive.

[Frank Fremerey]

excellent. Love your work!

[Anthony]

Timing is all!

[Kuri]

This is perhaps the best wildlife/bird photo I have ever seen. Exquisite.

[Erik Lund]

Excellent IQ    Superb!


However I suggest you look at using this stellar lens without TC, and try cropping instead and look at the difference in the out of focus areas, Bokeh suffers here again, these double line type halos really distracts.

[Nikkor Shooter]

I suggest you look at using this stellar lens without TC,

Same thing here. I did try plenty of proposed solutions in the TC
world but found nothing that keeps the cosmic sharpness of this
old 600mm… working so well on all my 5 bodies.

and try cropping instead

Cropping is less an option with the single digit bodies. That is
why I went the D850 way.


Spectacular rendition, Bob!

[bobfriedman]

However I suggest you look at using this stellar lens without TC, and try cropping instead and look at the difference in the out of focus areas, Bokeh suffers here again, these double line type halos really distracts.

where i am (wildlife is not that close - or you can't get that close) cropping is not a very good option especially with a lower megapixel cam like the D4 here..  as the loss of detail is significant and a greater loss than the artifacts introduced by the TC..   so sometimes it is a matter of getting a shot or not and suffering the background artifacts.

i have plenty examples using the TC that were completely acceptable.. so it is hard to know when and where not to use it.. example below with D5 and the new 600/E FL (could be the old lens was more susceptible to this.. as you indicated in the wood duck shots, which was the old 600/G and is used above)

i agree that the cedar above has particularly bad artifacts - which i guess i should clone out when i get around to it. (will post result)

Nikon D5 ,Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR
1/2000s f/8.0 at 850.0mm iso1800


this shot with new 600/E FL without a TC doesn't have the best background. i will search for other examples.

Nikon D5 ,Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR
1/2000s f/9.0 at 600.0mm iso1600


bare 600/E FL with similar artifacts.. i should probably start a separate thread on this.

Nikon D5 ,Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR
1/3200s f/9.0 at 600.0mm iso1000


Nikon D5 ,Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR
1/320s f/9.0 at 600.0mm iso8000


this one is with the old lens/cam combo and doesn't have the artifacts..  or as much anyway..

Nikon D4 ,Nikkor AF-S 600mm f/4G ED VR
1/4000s f/7.1 at 850.0mm iso2200


here is bare 600/E FL and cropped.. i am not impressed with this shot at all.. for detail or background.

Nikon D5 ,Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR
1/3200s f/9.0 at 600.0mm iso5000

[Erik Lund]

Thank you, it is just an observation and an excuse to buy an 800mm, a D850 or both


I also have good image quality for most scenes and combinations, but sometimes the TC just disappoint in the rendering,,, same with VR,,,


Thank you for your lovely images!