V1 and long lenses - pretty good zoo lens, in addition to wildlife.

Took the V1 to the zoo yesterday. NO problems with reach (finally!) using this came and a 300F4. Didn't even bother to bring the 1.4 teleconverter. Would have loved a tripod as you just can't handhold that much focal length steady, but with family that wasn't going to happen. A monopod next time, I think.

Started with the 300F4 on the V1 (FT-1 adaptor). Set to aperture priority and low apertures to keep the shutter speeds up. ISO up to 400, but tried not to go past that. Really wish there was a way to lock in the settings as the little zoom lever (controls aperture in A mode) is far too easy to hit. Found myself at F29 instead of F4...

Eventually switched to the 70-200vr on the V1 and put the 300F4 on a D800. The DSLR needed more focal range, and the V1 needed less (and needed VR). But both lenses worked extremely well on the V1. It was a treat shooting the animals with up to 810mm F4 effective focal length next to people trying to get a shot of a spider monkey in a tree with an iphone.

Here are some V1 shots:


Cropped a bit


Too much focal range! Distance to bird about 8 feet.


Napping spider monkey high in a tree.


D800e, 70-200vr shot taken at 200mm for comparison to following shot with V1


V1 with 300F4.




--
Craig
www.cjcphoto.net

Very nice shots.




I agree that the V1 is great for the zoo, when i was at the belize zoo i found that even with the 30-110 it can give some very nice shots in a small package for travel

Really nice shots! That 300/4 is a nice lens, isn't it?! Have to start saving ...

Nice shots. Here are a couple of mine. V1+dumb PK adaptor +tamron 70-300

What lens did you use?
What is the pk adaptor?

Very nice shots

Thanks

Sorry missed that you mentioned the tamron zoom lens

...but I'm also wondering what is a PK adaptor. Even more a dumb PK adaptor.

I am going to guess he is referring to an adapter for Pentax k-mount

Yes, the 300F4 AF-S is really a nice lens. Heavy, and long, so somewhat inconvenient to pack.

I got mine to try to get better IQ than my 80-400vr. On a DSLR I use it with a Nikon 1.4TC. It loses some magic with the TC.

PHXAZCRAIG said:

It was a treat shooting the animals with up to 810mm F4 effective focal length next to people trying to get a shot of a spider monkey in a tree with an iphone.

Click to expand...

I get such a kick out of the gaggle of people trying to get shots with their phones. I mean, I know there will be something saved that looks like a monkey, but what is the point... Oh wait, Facebook images look great tiny

I have gotten out just once to our modest zoo (Tucson, AZ) with my V1 and Tamron 70-300VC - but my results were very good. And to get that close, I would have to bust out my D7000, the Sigma 120-300OS and the 2.0x TC.

The V1 is quite a little marvel. I feel like I have a super-zoom P&S that can actually be used above base ISO ;-)

If anyone is interested, my images from that first outing are here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50410598

Nice shots - a bit overprocessed, but they are good. Certainly using the V1 with big lenses opens up new photographic opportunities.

Now where's my monopod gone...

How do you carry the V1 with the large lenses on the FT-1? Do you use a Blackrapid or similar strap attached to the FT-1 and let the camera and lense dangle over a period of time while walking around?

apmat said:

apmat wrote:

How do you carry the V1 with the large lenses on the FT-1? Do you use a Blackrapid or similar strap attached to the FT-1 and let the camera and lense dangle over a period of time while walking around?

Click to expand...

Well, I'm in a transition state right now. My V1 came missing one of the little strap-attach-thingies (like a little triangle), and so I've not been able to attach a strap at all.

When shooting in the desert, I have a tripod and before setting up I keep everything in a waist bag. After setting up, I usually just leave it all attached to the tripod and carry the whole thing over my shoulder. (I have ARCA-Swiss mounts on the lenses I've been using).

If I have the 10-30 lens on the V1, I put it in one of the bag pockets until I need it.

When I was at the zoo, I had a D800 hanging from a shoulder by a strap with either the 300F4 or 70-200 attached. When using the V1, I carried it. When not using it, I rotated the waist bag to the front and stuck it in there, attached to the lens.

Here's a shot of me carrying the V1 with the D800 hanging from the side:


Craig at the Phoenix Zoo holding the V1 with FT-1 and 300F4 attached.

It's hard to see, but the waist bag (ThinkTank Speed Racer) is rotated to the front so I can put the V1 in it and use the D800.

My intention is to get a strap on the V1 and hang it from a shoulder. I do have a Black Rapid I may use instead.


Actually, for the zoo, if I had my way, I'd instead attach the lens to a monopod and carry it over a shoulder, or hang it from a strap w/monopod while shooting another camera. If I go with a tripod, it will stay on the tripod the whole time. That would actually be handier as I could simply put the tripod up and then not have to be holding the V1 while trying to shoot the DSLR.

--
Craig
www.cjcphoto.net

Yes, Pentax K-mount. And it's a dumb adaptor since is just mechanical tube so no metering or af with v1. Well, actually light metering works fine in A but shutter button is locked with warning on screen. Tamron lens gives some huge aberrations but LR managed.

That last shot of the monkey with the V1 at 300mm... compared to the D800 at 200mm.. that reach is really nice! I'm going to have to get me a 300 it looks like. LOL We go to the zoo a lot.

So with a 2.7 crop factor the 300mm is like a 810mm. Is that right?

virtualkyr said:

So with a 2.7 crop factor the 300mm is like a 810mm. Is that right?

Click to expand...

Yes, exactly. With a 1.4TC on there, the focal range is rather too much (for handholding).

Some comparisons of the 300+1.4 on D700, D300 and V1 are here:

Thanks for the tips. I will soon try hanging the V1 from the FT-1 adapter via camera strap with 70-300 and see how well it works. I guess I may have to have a waist bag for it as well depending on how it goes.

I was in a camera store yesterday looking at Black Rapid (and similar) sling straps. I was a bit surprised that the price of such straps was so high - starting at $70. A sales rep suggested that the 70-300 is a fairly-light lens for its type, and suggested the V1's strap and lugs should be able to support the weight of the FT1 and 70-300. I tried carrying the V1+FT1+70-300 combo with the lens pointed towards the ground using the regular camera strap, and it seemed to work ok. But I wouldn't want to try it with a lens that was much heavier, and I definitely wouldn't want to attach the 70-300 if the V1 itself was attached to the tripod. When shooting, however, I supported the set up by resting the FT1 and rear part of the lens on my left hand.

That said, when using a tripod, I use a set up similar to PHXAZCRAIG, whereby I mount the set up on a tripod via the FT1 before I begin taking photos.

If interested, I made a post earlier today about using the 70-300 handheld on the V1 to photograph birds .