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300/4 AFS wTC-14e

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Rick Moran

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Homestead, FL, US
I have been using this lens for 18 months and still find it amazing. I had stopped using my 600/4 because it was getting a little to heavy for me to carry around. Turned 65 last May.
What I really like about this lens is mobility to go anywhere without a tripod.
I had to make a few adjustments in technique, such as getting closer when I can.
Here's a few pictures taking with that lens on a D300 recently.
Comments welcome.
Rick



























http://slopoki1.smugmug.com/Nature
 
Excellent lens, I have one.
Excellent photography.
--
Geoff
Gold Coast, Australia
 
Nice shots. What shutter speed, F/stop and ISO were you using?
--
truview
 
Island Golfer said:
Nice shots. What shutter speed, F/stop and ISO were you using?
--
truview
Click to expand...
iso 320 wide open at 1/2000 sec most of the time. Usually stay in manual mode.
 
Looks real good. However, I think you should remove the slightly OOF ones and the slightly blurry ones from your set, and it would look even better...
 
It is indeed a wonderfull piece of glass and works well with 1.4TC. I also own one and use it most of the time without TC, but sometime with, and, when your skills and technique is good, it dellivers great images with nice bokeh, contrast and colors.

The one thing i dislike is that you have to crank-up ISO (more noice) when the light isn't that good. and then you have to use a tripod to get decent results.

Here are some of mine:





























--
http://www.rutgerbus.nl
Photographic Moments
 
This combination is really the most portable and most practical exotic of Nikon... A real bargain...



 
Wow! I'm 67, and don't have nearly the steady hand that you have. I usually try to stay around 400 ISO; but often find myself raising it to as high as 800. One think I notice myself doing, is trying to reach out too far distance-wise. The lens seems to give better shapness if I stay within 100 feet. Often, I find myself trying to steady the lens on the side of a building, or on top of a fence, etc. I need a lot more practice with it, I'm affraid.









--
truview
 
Can you give some details on your second image? (Dove in saguaro).

One thing I'm curious about is the lighting on the underside of the arms.

--
Craig
http://www.cjcphoto.net
 
Superb work. That combo is the best although I prefer the 300 alone or use the 500 or 200-400.

The first shot is a bit too sharp for my taste but then...

Number four, the bird with the fish, did you use a flash? Really excellent.

My preferred is the blue bird, what a magnificient creature.

Thanks for showing your wonderful nature work, a real pleasure. Peter
--
http://www.pbase.com/peter55/galleries
 
Sorry it took so long in getting back to you. I have been out all day. There was no magic in how this particular shot was taken. I was staying at a friend's home in Tuson. He had spent about a year constructing a house out of an experiemntal cement (lava crete, he calls it). He asked me if I would help him take some pictures of it for a magazine article. Wake-up time in the desert is early. I steped out of the guest room, onto the outer patio and saw the dove eating the rippened Saguaro blooms. I slipped back inside and grabbed my D300. The 300mm F/4 was already mounted on the body. The dove must have heard me opening the door, as it looked up and lost it's grip on the cactus momentarily. Fearing it would scurry away, I merely pointed and shot. The morning sunlight just happened to light its wings as it tried to regain its balance.





--
truview
 
Hi Rick,

I love these. Your technique is excellent. I am new to wildlife photography and have bought the 300 F4 plus the 1.4 and 1.7 TC's. I have just acquired a manfrotto 393 head that I was going to use but seeing what you are getting through hand holding I am really impressed. I would be grateful of any tips you could.

Kind regards
Mark
--
http://www.markdennisphotography.co.uk
[email protected]
 
OK, I understand now. The lighting seemed very odd to me, because I shoot in the evening and not the morning. It's the light on the underside of the cactus arms that had me wondering. Now I'm pretty sure it is just direct sunlight from a rising sun. Usually when you have sun that low in the sky the rest of the scene looks a bit different.

I keep meaning to go out and shoot at dawn, but I'm a night person...

--
Craig
http://www.cjcphoto.net
 
I'd also like to hear Rick's thoughts. I bought the 300F4 and 1.4 TC last May and I'm still getting to know it. In the past I've been using an 80-400vr a lot.

In short though, shutter speeds UP. Unlike the 80-400vr I don't find too much need to stop down with the 1.4TC. (I won't shoot the 80-400vr below F9 except on rare occasions, at 400). The EXIF on Rick's shots are there, and he's using 1/1250th on the first couple of shots. Even on tripod, I find I get significantly better results on my 80-400 at 1/500th and up.

I've heard that the tripod collar of the 300F4 is poor (allows movement), and it's the same design as the 80-400vr. I found that indeed the tripod collar wasn't that great on the 80-400 so I replaced it with one from RRS. When I got the 300f4, I ordered an RRS collar at the same time.

Here's a handholding tip from my time with the 80-400. To stabilize the lens as much as you can when shooting handheld, hold the lens at the hood with the left hand. The farther out you hold it, the less it wobbles.

If you haven't noticed, the lens hood pulls out and then rotates into a locked position.

--
Craig
http://www.cjcphoto.net
 
Fantastic photos. They really inspire me to do better in my photography.

Wish I had taken them
 
My Nikon 300 mm f/4 and other related equipments (Manfrotto 293 & 393):












PHXAZCRAIG said:
I'd also like to hear Rick's thoughts. I bought the 300F4 and 1.4 TC last May and I'm still getting to know it. In the past I've been using an 80-400vr a lot.

In short though, shutter speeds UP. Unlike the 80-400vr I don't find too much need to stop down with the 1.4TC. (I won't shoot the 80-400vr below F9 except on rare occasions, at 400). The EXIF on Rick's shots are there, and he's using 1/1250th on the first couple of shots. Even on tripod, I find I get significantly better results on my 80-400 at 1/500th and up.

I've heard that the tripod collar of the 300F4 is poor (allows movement), and it's the same design as the 80-400vr. I found that indeed the tripod collar wasn't that great on the 80-400 so I replaced it with one from RRS. When I got the 300f4, I ordered an RRS collar at the same time.

Here's a handholding tip from my time with the 80-400. To stabilize the lens as much as you can when shooting handheld, hold the lens at the hood with the left hand. The farther out you hold it, the less it wobbles.

If you haven't noticed, the lens hood pulls out and then rotates into a locked position.

--
Craig
http://www.cjcphoto.net
Click to expand...
 
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