500 vr images and thoughts

Took the 500 out to Eastern Creek last Sunday. Expecting a bike meeting, and found there were 3 events on.

Bikes, 4 wheel drive championships and a weird one I have never seen before, Subaru owners on a wet surface?
Anyway. My thoughts on the gear.

The D3 and 500mm combo were very reliable and accurate. The use of a teleconverter of any sort slowed the focus down to a point where the first shot of a continuous burst nailed it, but all following captures were not up to keeping track of the motorbikes. The D300s without a teleconverter was as reliable as the D3 with a tc fitted, so no real advantage using the crop body for extra length. The 2 x's tc was a shocker, but then we are talking about a f/8 combo and I think Nikon claim it will not autofocus. I have found the combo DOES AF-S focus, but can not be used for moving subjects.

Here is a question for you guys. When using Continuous burst, does the lens open wide between each shot or does it remain at the set aperture? I was using f/10 a fair bit to maintain a slow shutter for wheel blur.
Here are a few images.

Next one was at ISO800 and late in the afternoon, getting dark, have included a 100% crop

4 wheel drives were up on the hill a fair way off, so swung the camera around now and then between races, these guys are mad. They have a guy running around the vehicle to check ground clearance etc. and the amount of times I thought they were going to get run over.....

And of course they tip over and a lot of shouting ensues!

I need a lot of practice with this lens to get consistant results, but it looks promising.
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Warm regards, Dave.
Australian NPS member
http://www.dksphotography.com.au
Cameras- D3, D300s,
Zooms- 14-24 f/2.8, 24-70 f/2.8, 70-200 f/2.8 VR1

Primes- 10.5 f/2.8 fisheye, 50 f/1.4, 60 macro f/2.8, 85 f/1.4, 150 macro f/2.8, 500 f/4 VR11.
Teleconverters- TC- 14E 11, and TC-20E 111.
A bucket full of flash units.
http://www.sydneyuniversitycricket.com.au