Bird photography with the Nikon 300/f4 AFS lens

[Neil]

I'm a bit constrained for magnification as I only have the Nikon 300 mm glass but I'm finding that as the 300/f4 is light enough to carry around all day I'm getting photos I wouldn't get otherwise. This is a grab shot from a walk around today . I came across the night heron sitting out in the open (very unusual ) and I was able to get about 50 frames off in horizontal and vertical mode as well as from iso 640 down to iso 200. These were all hand held. I suspect that if I had had a tripod over my shoulder he would have been off like a flash while I was setting it up.
The first image is as out of the camera, just re-sized. The second is a crop with no adjustments. The third has some minor CS2 work.
Neil.
ps the distance was about 20 metres in dull light.

Nikon D3 plus Nikon 300/f4 AFS (in Full Frame mode and iso 200 )

Lamma Island,
Hong Kong,
China
February 2008

[Outboard]

That came out very nicely. I don't think you need much in the way of lens fine tuning on that setup.

[rioja]

Interesting to see what you have achieved with your set up. The 300 plus 1.4TC has it at about the same reach as my fully extended zoom on the 80-400.
I took this on my D200. It was in fairly heavy shade so I was messing about with various settings. This one ended up at ISO400 f32 and 1/6th sec. The bird was rigid so I could play. My camera of course isn't full frame and I have further cropped and sharpened the image.
Not as good as your though ! Your lens was cheaper than mine too......... but the camera certainly isn't !!!
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q212/Rioja_1/BlackCrownedNightHeronGambiaD22008-.jpg
I thought my bird was about 20 metres away too but looking at your full frame picture, yours was closer.

[fugl]

I agree, the 300mm f4 Nikkor is an excellent "walking about" lens. I've had one for almost 4 years now and have taken thousands of bird pictures with it, the vast majority (99%) hand-held at ISO 400. I often wish for more reach-- who doesn't?--but I find that opportunities abound in most reasonably birdy areas to get in close enough for a decent shot or two, and not having to carry round and set up a tripod is a real boon.

Here are some examples of bird photos I've taken with this lens over the years. Except for a series of tripod-mounted Ruby-crowned Kinglet shots, and a few wide-angle views with a short zoom, everything was taken with the 300mm hand-hand. The camera in all cases was the Nikon D-70.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7117259@N05/

[rioja]

Some superb photo's there. The detail on the Grebes shows how sharp the lens is.