Still learning

David Lal wrote:

arniebook wrote:

The first one shows great feather detail, but some of the others have a bit of motion blur. I sure this lens is perfectly sharp at f5.6, so I would recommend opening up and increasing the shutter speed to eliminate the motion. Ensure your focus point is exactly where you want it, as there is little depth of field with this long focal length, even at f8.

Well, more than 10 years ago I took this one. It's a French snow bunting. Totally wild. I was using a D70 and Nik 50mm F1.8D. Not nearly as good as Dick's but not too shabby (hopefully?) and my kit was very much cheaper:

D70; La neige; snow bunting. Haute Savoie; Tignes

The trouble with using very long lenses for birding is that when the birds come close you can't get them all in the frame.

Dave,

Nice Bunting.  I'm sure though, you're not suggesting we grab our old D70's and a 50mm lens, and go out birding ... Ha Ha. I've got one that I used with a 70-300 5.6  Quantary, as well as a 400 5.6 Sigma Apo.

There have been more than a few occasions when I was able to get much closer than expected,  but given the choice going out the door, I'll go long.

This is from 2004 with the D70.

Your post points to a very good reason for the popularity of the Nikkor 200-500 f5.6. It's very unusual for any bird photography situation to require less than 200mm, and very beneficial to do bird photography with 500mm.

Arnie