Reviews by Andy Bright

Posted accidentally in product description by member pantanalexpeditons


Celestron Regal M2 16-48x65 ED Angled Spotting Scope
We purchased this scope through some clients from USA to bring to Brazil for a birdwatching trip in the Pantanal, Southwest Amazon and Cerrado Biomes with us. As our primary scope was out of alignment, we had to make a quick decision as to which model to purchase, and budget was an important factor. The Pentax model that we had originally favored was not available at the time we were ready to purchase on a few day's notice, and after several reviews we settled on this model. We hadn't had great experiences here with the Celestron MK1 models in the past but after reading reviews of this model we decided to purchase. The dark green and black color scheme is more compatible with birding, the objective lens cap is more secure, the aluminium frame has been replaced with magnesium making it much lighter. The fine and gross focusing know is also a big plus. It is too early to answer questions about durability, but the issues of the previous model have been resolved and it it is an excellent value for the price we paid. One small criticism that I would mention is that the black anodized aluminium screw on viewfinder cap makes a heck of a lot of noise when you screw it on or off. You need to take it off before you encounter the birds. Our goal was to purchase a lightweight angled spotting scope in the 16-60x65 range. After some thought and study, we decided that the 16-48x65 range would be adequate given the distortion caused by heat humidity and dust in the neo-tropical environment where we will be using the scope. Occasionally it would be nice to have a little more zoom, but we are quite satisfied with the decision to purchase a 16-48x65.

Posted accidentally in the product description by member Andrew_ca

Hello,
This is my first post (Hello all!). I feel as though I would post as I have spent countless hours trying to find good binocular for the past two months.

I started by looking over many reviews and my budget was low as I wanted a basic set for an upcoming Safari. I originally bought the Kowa YF 8x30 which has received a ton of great reviews however I had some problems with the fit for my face. As well I had the eyecups break within a day of using them.

My local store went above and beyond to ensure I was happy and I was just about to buy the Vortex Diamondback 8x32. Just as I was about to buy them I looked through the Kowa BD 8x32's and noticed that there was no chromic aberration. Once I saw the difference I couldn't un-see it.

The owner offered me the Kowa's at cost (or atleast that what he said, either way $200 off MSRP)

I bought them and I have to say I am so far very happy with them. As a perfectionist though I thought I would do my best to let you know what I love and dislike about them.

BUILD QUALITY 9

They are very sturdy and have the feel of something that is great quality. My only complaint, and this is true of 90% of the bino's I have tried is that the eye relief is a TINY bit sloppy. I wish companies would make this a very hard 'CLICK'.

It has nice objective lens covers but wish they were more like the Nikon Monarchs, as they are a touch loose (TINY bit loose but better then most).

I have eye shields so the rear covers are not needed and I won't comment as I left them with the store.

The strap is of great quality and very comfy.

The bag is your typical $2 pouch which I wish they just did not include as it makes the purchase seem cheap. I wish binocular companies sold these separate and of better quality as I am likely to throw it away.

The focus nob is 'backwards' but I like this as all the way left is for close and all the way right is infinity. (kind of like reading numbers left to right...it gets bigger to the right)

The diopter ring is extremely tight which is perfect IMHO, as you set it and forget it...would be nice if it locked but a minor issue.

Image Quality 10

I can't say enough good things about the image quality. I am not a 'Birder' but I am VERY picky. I was sold on these when I looked through them and lost my balance as I thought I was were I was looking! VERY clear and crisp.

The image quality is much improved with the eye shields from Field Optics.

Overall Impressions 8-10

For the price I paid ($400 CDN plus tax) I am extremely happy. At the MSRP of $550 I would be content but I would not have bought them as for the amount of time I will use ANY binocular I couldn't justify it. If you want a fantastic smaller sized bio for travelling this is definitely worth looking at. I just wish it carried the Vortex warrenty...having said that for Vortex to offer such a good warrenty you lose either some quality or pay for it-nothing is free.

Hope you enjoy my review and if you have any questions feel free to ask.

Andrew

Posted accidentally in the product description field by member CWObrien

Used this lens for the first time yesterday on my Nikon D3200. I wanted to post this review because I know people will be interested to know how this lens works with a lower-end consumer body. (Really an entry level body in the case of the D3200).

My concern when buying this lens was whether or not it would autofocus fast enough with my D3200, which obviously doesn't have as good an autofocus system as more advanced models.

Well, I'm glad to report that my fears were misplaced. I was very, very impressed with how this lens performed. It was very quick to acqure focus right throughout the focus range. Admittedly, fast-moving birds flying right towards me did give it some trouble, but that could be the D3200s limited autofocus capabilities, plus the fact that I had only one autofocus point selected (not the best choice for flight photography).

I was pleasantly surprised with how sharp this lens was. It produced sharp images throughout the zoom range, right up to 600mm. This lens can also be locked at all marked focal lengths, which is certainly useful, but not the best idea for bird photography unless you're working with a very stationary subject. Otherwise, the limited field of view could see you lose a moving subject.

As well as the great focussing motor from Sigma, the optical stabilization from Sigma also worked very well, making this an easy lens to handhold. Admittedly, my arm did start to tire after half-hour-plus of shooting, but I find if you just swap hands when supporting it it's easy to carry this lens for long-distance hikes. I'm only 5'8" and not a particularly strong person, so I'd imagine bigger, beefier birders than me will have no problem with it!

On first impression, I'm very pleased with this lens. It delivers a stellar performance at an affordable price point. As much as I'd love to splash out on top-end Nikon pro glass, there's no way I can justify that to myself right now. This is an excellent, affordable alternative. And given how well it works with a low-end body like a D3200, a higher-end model should unlock even more of the potential this lens has to offer.

The following was 'accidentally' posted in the product entry by
member Alexander Clarke

Great binoculars at reasonable price !
Amazed by the weight and the quality of the lenses ! Not only these binoculars are easy to handle and carry but they also offer a great field of view and super bright images. They seem to be good quality binoculars as some parts are made of metal. If it happens they are not (which i doubt), they got a 10 years warranty.
I was not sure to buy them, I finally did... And I'm really happy with my Trophy 10x42!

Posted on behalf of Lozninja
Please! read the instructions on the main review page... upload the product, then add your review.

Im' Posting This review Because There Doesn't Seem To Be Much Information On This Lens On Any Forums When I Needed Information Or Advice .

I Picked Up This Lens Second Hand , Bargain it had only been used a few times .

I opened the Box & the lens is all niceley solidly packaged in a proper sigma lens case with decent foam & interior padding .

On pulling out the lens you can see this is a well made & solidly Constructed casing made of alluminiim and is quite large and bulky . It comes with a support handle etc so you can attach to tripods or monopods or for help ith carrying the lens and camera whilst walking etc.

There 3 Electronic switches on the side of the lens , one is a lock , one is a Optical Stabilizer Switch and one is for manual or Auto Focus . All of these Switches are easy to use and are in sensible easy to reach places.

I'm attaching my lens to my Nikon D300 and i need more zoom for wildlife etc without the expensive price tag of the upper end lenses . I know as a rule you get what you pay for with equipment but the feel and quality so far on this lens is very pleasing.

On first walkabout with Sigma the first thing you realize is that it is quite weighty espicially when fully extended to 400mm , looking through the viewfinder focus on a object and i realize now how much i'm wobbling . Turn on The Optical Stabiliser hold steel take a shot and you hear the Optical Stabiliser Correcting the Lens .

There are 3 Settings on the Optical Stabilizer : Off / 1 / 2 . Postion off Is for tripod use etc , Postion 1 is handheld and postion 2 is for panning shots etc. The lens takes approx 1 second to fix the shot in position 1 and does the job very well .

The lens focusing and speed is very good indeed and has nice quite motor, i took several shots in HUSH HUSH Situations and lens didnt scare or frighten anything . Infact the actuall size of the front lens with a hood on is more daunting to animals etc than the noise of the lens.

All in all its done a very fine job indeed it handled everything that i've thrown at it . Focusing resonably quick . Even if you need to slightly adjust the manual focus you quickly just manually the focus ring , which is also a decent size about a quarter of the way up the lens .

All though i dont like tripod shooting ( prefer Walking ) , When used on a tripod you get some nice clear shots . Not quite real crisp profesional shots but very good for most people usage.

My friend uses the Nikon 400mm f2.8 ED VR AF-S , Now that does produce some lovelly crisp clear shots . But unfortunatly you have to have very large budget for one of these as since i dont i'm quite happy so far with my sigma .

All in all the sigma is a budget lens and it performs very well . I don't think you can go wrong with the price as the images it produces are very good .

The only thing i will add is it states in the owners maual that its " NOT WATERPROOF " too many curcuits inside etc so keep this in mind if your planning on using it in harsh environments .

Theres a picture below i took the first day out with it not the best but hay i'm still practicing .



Hope This Help's



Lozninja

Im' Posting This review Because There Doesn't Seem To Be Much Information On This Lens On Any Forums When I Needed Information Or Advice .

I Picked Up This Lens Second Hand , Bargain it had only been used a few times .

I opened the Box & the lens is all niceley solidly packaged in a proper sigma lens case with decent foam & interior padding .

On pulling out the lens you can see this is a well made & solidly Constructed casing made of alluminiim and is quite large and bulky . It comes with a support handle etc so you can attach to tripods or monopods or for help ith carrying the lens and camera whilst walking etc.

There 3 Electronic switches on the side of the lens , one is a lock , one is a Optical Stabilizer Switch and one is for manual or Auto Focus . All of these Switches are easy to use and are in sensible easy to reach places.

I'm attaching my lens to my Nikon D300 and i need more zoom for wildlife etc without the expensive price tag of the upper end lenses . I know as a rule you get what you pay for with equipment but the feel and quality so far on this lens is very pleasing.

On first walkabout with Sigma the first thing you realize is that it is quite weighty espicially when fully extended to 400mm , looking through the viewfinder focus on a object and i realize now how much i'm wobbling . Turn on The Optical Stabiliser hold steel take a shot and you hear the Optical Stabiliser Correcting the Lens .

There are 3 Settings on the Optical Stabilizer : Off / 1 / 2 . Postion off Is for tripod use etc , Postion 1 is handheld and postion 2 is for panning shots etc. The lens takes approx 1 second to fix the shot in position 1 and does the job very well .

The lens focusing and speed is very good indeed and has nice quite motor, i took several shots in HUSH HUSH Situations and lens didnt scare or frighten anything . Infact the actuall size of the front lens with a hood on is more daunting to animals etc than the noise of the lens.

All in all its done a very fine job indeed it handled everything that i've thrown at it . Focusing resonably quick . Even if you need to slightly adjust the manual focus you quickly just manually the focus ring , which is also a decent size about a quarter of the way up the lens .

All though i dont like tripod shooting ( prefer Walking ) , When used on a tripod you get some nice clear shots . Not quite real crisp profesional shots but very good for most people usage.

My friend uses the Nikon 400mm f2.8 ED VR AF-S , Now that does produce some lovelly crisp clear shots . But unfortunatly you have to have very large budget for one of these as since i dont i'm quite happy so far with my sigma .

All in all the sigma is a budget lens and it performs very well . I don't think you can go wrong with the price as the images it produces are very good .

The only thing i will add is it states in the owners maual that its " NOT WATERPROOF " too many curcuits inside etc so keep this in mind if your planning on using it in harsh environments .

Theres a picture below i took the first day out with it not the best but hay i'm still practicing .

Hope This Help's

Lozninja

Having been a user of the Gitzo G1548 for several years, I did wonder just what the new changes were like on the replacements that have appeared over the last couple of years. Initially the G1548 was replaced by the GT5540LS but this has now been replaced by the GT5541LS.

For those unfamiliar with any of these legsets, they are the number one choice for supporting 600/4 lenses, capable of supporting 50lbs+. They are big, heavy and expensive, and if you use one, you will never lose sleep wondering if you are getting poor shots through tripod instability.

Upon opening the rather nice Gitzo box I see that Gitzo are now supplying their legsets in rather nice cloth bags... in reality your legset probably won't see it again for a long time, a bit like the case your 600/4 came in. Along with the legset in it's 'sleeping bag', there's a plastic bag which has instructions and a few Allen key tools for maintenance and a tube of, presumably, moly grease. Oh and there's a little fabric pad for cleaning the legs of debris.

Anyway, time to get the legset up and running and I'm awestruck by the leg locks compared to the older series... the new short travel twists locks are a breeze to use, no rotation of the leg above if you don't tighten right up. But another bonus was the total lack of vacuum when extending the legs. Previously, the leg sections were practically airtight, so you were pulling (or pushing if you were closing the legs) against a vacuum, if you let go of the leg, it would often shoot back in!! Now there is none of this tomfoolery and time is saved, which is worth a lot when you're out and about with unpredictable nature in front of you. So, it may seem like a minor change, but wow does it make a difference!!

A slightly interesting but minor change is that the new legset is about an inch and a half higher than my G1548... which means that, fully extended, with Wimberley atop, the viewfinder of my camera is absolutely perfectly level with my eye (I'm 6ft 4 by the way). It's not going to mean much to anyone, but I found it quite pleasing.

The base plate of the tripod has been changed, and I believe this is the main difference between the GT5540LS and this new GT5541LS. It is excitingly named the 'Power Disc', unfortunately it's not quite as exciting as it sounds and seems to be a separate disc (black in colour) on top of the original but with a grub screw lock that goes through the plate to prevent head rotation... a bit like you have seen on most Manfrotto legsets for years.

As this 'safety lock' is located too far off centre to fit under the base of my Wimberley, it hasn't got much appeal to me...besides, I have never had my Wimberley rotate without my permission. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if this new disc provides better mechanical coupling between head and legset to dissipate vibration, a base plate with a hammered metal finish never seemed ideal to me.

Another welcome feature, which is fairly commonplace today, is the hook on the underside of the base plate, allowing you to hang something heavy for extra stability.
The feet of the new legset can be unscrewed and replaced when damaged or changed for specialised feet.

These are the main points that I noticed. Other changes are not so visible or that noticeable in use, such as the statements from Gitzo claiming 20% increase in rigidity from the new leg locks, and the Carbon 6X ALR tube being stiffer, lighter and helping vibration damping. You can see visible difference in the carbon wrap between older models and the new one, with a far tighter weave in the new ones.
It seems as if 200g has been knocked off in the weight of the GT5540LS compared to the older G1548.... which can only be good, but I couldn't really detect the 200g benefit in my trials.

In use with my Canon 600/4, teleconverters, 1Ds MkII and Wimberley MkII I couldn't honestly say I noticed any difference in stability/vibration suppression compared to my G1548. So from stability aspect I haven't noticed the difference between one amazing legset and the newer one....but those new leg locks (and the lack of leg vacuum) are amazing and have a big impact on real world use.

This tripod head, designed for huge telephoto lenses needs very little introduction. The original Wimberley gimbal appeared on the market in the early 1990\'s and has dominated the bird photography market ever since.

The new incarnation of the Wimberley head has shed a whole pound in weight, dropping from just over 4lb to just over 3lb. As far as dimensions, it has shrunk in all aspects, it may not look much on paper but it really does look a far more compact unit as a result.

The new Wimberley has also lost that oversized (and slippery) tilt control knob to be replaced with a smaller rubbery and contoured knob. The pan control knob is also now of the same desing as the tilt knob and has now been relocated to the side of the head instead of on top of the base, thus becoming easier to come to hand... although panning control is not likely to be changed very often.

The new Wimberley WH-200 has a new lens mounting system, where-by the Arca-swiss clamp is built-in to the unit (and this really makes sense)

Where-as my trusty Manfrotto 393 relies upon balance and some friction to keep it in position, the Wimberley can work purely on balance alone to keep the lens in position, even the lens axis point needs to be positioned correctly to achieve this. In use you do keep some friction there for the sake of solidity, but it\'s not vital. Once set up, you can have the lens totally free and it will not droop or raise.

I have to say that I have found the new Wimberley to be tighter in many aspects, and locked-up it is a stiffer unit than the previous design with very little scope for bounce.

With the tilt knob tightened, you can remove the camera with total confidence that there will be no dramatic plunging of the lens.
Operating your camera and lens is a breeze with the Wimberley MkII, there is assured solidity even with a relatively free-running set-up.

more at http://www.digiscoped.com/wimberley.html

The lens comes in one of those new style travel cases, the CS60040, made of strong polycarbonate. Gone are the \'coffins\' that big lenses used to arrive in, now we have smooth rounded edges and an altogether more modern look... even if you think that these new cases are a bit cheap in comparison.

The slip-on E-185 lens cover is standard fayre, always more time consuming to remove and attach than you would hope but thankfully it is not elasticated like some I have seen, that seem desparate to cling on to the the lens and snag on something.

Contrary to some reports, maybe earlier models, the tripod collar rotates very smoothly with indents at 90 degree intervals.

All the standard switching is laid out on the side of the lens. I would still rather have the focus memory recall as buttons rather than the twist ring and would be really nice to have control of focus memory recall via the camera, as a number of lens features can be controlled by a Canon pro body... just not focus memory recall.

In use the lens is pure magic, the I.S. allows you to get on with photography, not worry over vibration every moment.

Wide open it can produce razor sharp images, but stopping down takes it to another level. No real penalty in image quality nor AF speed when using a 1.4x teleconverter.

Using the Canon EFII 2x, there is a degradation in iq but that is only in comparison to what it can achieve without. The results from the EFII 2x can be outstanding and professionally viable if you take great care and realise that compression of the air between you and the subject is the real quality killer. If you use the 2x over great distances, prepare for the worst.

AF is not rapid with the 2x teleconverter on the 600mm with a Canon Pro body, but it is quite reliable. Do not expect quick focus lock when the AF system has to cover significant changes in distance.

More detailed review and photos here
http://www.digiscoped.com/Canon600mm.html

Purchased, after my switch to Canon, to act as a replacement for the Nikon 300mm f2.8 VR and to used as a walk around lens in combination with teleconverters.

Not particularly heavy as 300mm f2.8 lenses go, though I would advise replacing the supplied Canon strap for a Neoprene type.

All the normal features of the Canon professional telephoto lenses are present.

3 AF Focus range limits are available, the 2.5 metres - infinity (full) setting allows the lens to focus from minimum distance to infinity. Then the 2.5 metres - 6.4 metres and finally 6.4 metres to infinity. Basically, if your target is expected within a known distance from you, it speeds up autofocus if the lens is not hunting through its entire range to get a lock-on.

It is a fulll time manual lens, which means you can use the manual focus ring at any time.

Two I.S. mode 1 controls movement vertically and horizontally, mode 2 just counteracts vertical movement... so as to allow you to pan along with a subject without the I.S. system trying to compensate.

Lastly in this panel is the focus preset functions. Basically, you can set a focus distance on the lens, press set and you can recall this distance at any time via the twist ring (the ring with the serrated edge) just in front of the focus ring. It is a handy feature if you are likely to be shooting at 2 vastly different distances. I would prefer it if focus recall was an option on the 4 focus lock buttons and in a really ideal world, a focus recall button would be situated far closer to the camera body, or indeed controlled via the camera itself, as some lens functions are on the Canon 1Ds MkII.

In use this lens is awesome in AF speed, even with a 1.4x teleconverter. With a 2x teleconverter, the AF speed is still as fast as many bare lenses, it is still rapid. AF is almost silent in operation.

Results from the bare lens are very sharp, even wide open. With a 1.4x teleconverter, virtually nothing is lost in image quality, stopping down makes for marginally improved images. With a 2x attached, the results are still remarkable though stopping down is certainly preferrable.

Even using stacked 1.4x and 2x teleconverters can produce acceptable results, though very much a method for desperation and manual focus is recommended even with a 1Ds camera body.

More detailed review and photos here
http://www.digiscoped.com/canon300mm.html

It has come down to Leupold Gold 15-30 vs. Nikon Spotter XL II.
Any opinions on which to buy?

Click to expand...

Please use the main forums (scopes section) for equipment questions and recommendations. The review secion is not the ideal place.

Thanks
Admin

This is not a review by Andy Bright but a member who did not fully understand the procedure


Just managed to acquire one of these lightweight collapsible travel scopes from Bushnell at a ridiculous price from the States even with Carriage, VAT and Import duty, I still saved a considerable sum.

What was in the box?

Metal Travel case
Vinyl Carry case
Collapsible Scope Body
15-45 Eyepiece
25x Eyepiece
Window clamp/ table stand.
Scope Case
Carry Strap
Lens Cloth
Warranty

Performance

I\'ve been fortunate enough to test this scope quite extensively in a number of locations in different light conditions and I was really pleasantly surprised, as were a number of fellow birders with me who gave it the once over. The zoom eyepiece give a 15-45 magnification which in bright conditions delivers a bright clear image from the 50mm Objective lens from the hide. The only downside is in quite overcast conditions, x45 is dark, but not unviewable...but again that\'s understandable. The additional 25x eyepiece offered a bright clear image with a reasonable 110m field of view at 1000m even in cloudy early evening murk on a beach.
Both eyepieces have fold down cups offereing up to 14mm eye relief

Build Quality

Although much of this scopes\' body is plastic, it still feels reasonably well built even when the body is extended. It\'s protective glove like case offers extra protection and the small metal briefcase is great for the boot of the car and safe storage. This scope has been lugged around in rucksacks and vehicles as well as being \"tested\" by small children and has stood up to quite a lot in the last fortnight without complaint.

On a lightweight travel tripod it works well, however you really wish there was more weight when the wind starts to get up as it requires a little steadying with your spare hand.

Overall

Well lets be honest it ain\'t going to compete with Leica, Zeiss or Swaro but you are compromising on any travel scope, size/weight and, to a certain extent, optical peformance. Opticron\'s Mighty Midget ED and Nikon\'s ED50 Fieldscope offer excellent quality travel optics but at a higher price tag. This is a budget scope that is both compact and performs surprisingly well.

I would say overall it\'s compromises are outweighed by it\'s performance and on long hikes to difficult to reach spots it\'s size and weight do make a difference. You could choose to take a scope afterall!

If you source your supplier well it might not cost you any more than a pair of budget bins as well.

Review by tjsimonsen who posted in wrong place

A suberb all-round wildlife lens! While it is definitly not as sharp as a 400/5.6 prime at the long end wide open, it comes pretty close stopped down to f8. I personally do not think that the difference would be visible on even a large print - if you get a good copy of the zoom, that is! The short close-focus distance also makes it a good lens for lager insects - though it would be highly misleading to call it a hidden-macro! The IS is often very handy, but NOT a replacement for good lens-holding technique. The push-pull zoom mechanismn is not my cup of tea, but I have found it easier to use that I feared.

Now this has become a very popular adapter to get a camera up to a spotting scope, and it\'s not difficult to understand why... it cost practically nothing in the world of digiscoping and photography.

Yes, there\'s quite a lot of plastic involved but it can do the job of putting most cameras up to most eyepieces. It did fall a few mm short of being able to get my Canon A95 up to my Zeiss 20-60x eyepiece but the design of the tripod screw and it\'s locking nut enables some packing to be placed under the camera to raise it enough. With smaller eyepieces (the Zeiss 20-60x is big), there should be no problems.

Given the price of this device (almost a 1/10th of what the big brackets cost), it\'s hard to be too critical. The Baader Microstage does what it is designed to, but I would still say it suits the dedicated digiscoping photographer better than the digiscoping birder.

More, with larger photos, at http://www.digiscoped.com/Adapters.html

(Voluntary full disclosure: this description was written and submitted by John E. Riutta, Observation Market Development Leader for Leupold.)

The Leupold Yosemite 6x30mm binocular is the first binocular designed for use by the entire family. It was created by a partner in the optics industry and myself. Our purpose was to create a binocular suitable for use by our children; a binocular that was not a toy and that would not cause children eye strain from poor optical design or frustration from inappropriate physical design. Additionally, it had to be affordable so that cost would not prohibit its being bought for children. In the end, we created a binocular useable not only by children but by the entire human population.

Too many people think it is perfectly acceptable to use compact binoculars for children but compacts are made for adults the magnification is too high and the overall design is simply not designed for children to easily use; as the father of a young daughter, I know this from experience.

Traditionally, binoculars have been designed for the average man. Consequently, they are usually too large for nearly all children and many women (not to mention a sizeable percentage of men). This results in many people not being able to use them comfortably or effectively.

The Yosemite 6x30mm binocular is designed for the average person. Most importantly, the interpupillary distance (IPD) on the Yosemite 6x30mm binocular spans a larger range.

Traditionally, binoculars are designed for men who average 66mm. Most adult women in the U.S. have IPD ranging from 56-66mm, averaging 63mm. Whats more, adult IPD is not even reached until the mid teenage years. Most traditional binoculars IPDs do not close to 56mm. In many cases, they only close to 60mm.

Other design modifications have also been made to make the binocular more universally useful. The body size is slightly smaller and the focus control is slightly larger; both to accommodate smaller hands. The magnification level of 6x allows for a wide field of view, 8 degrees, enabling beginners and less experienced users to more easily locate objects while viewing through the binocular. Finally, the Leupold Yosemite 6x30mm binocular weighs only 17 oz., making it light enough for easy carrying by anyone.

First off, the AF-S 300mm 2.8 VR is far more compact than I had imagined (I have previously owned a Nikkor 300/2.8) and this one seems far shorter in length, I think some Japanese designer has been active with a hacksaw on the hood or it is a trick of the eye with the main lens barrel being so fat.

Weight wise it does seem lighter in weight, but I know this is solely because I am now used to lugging a 600/4 around.

I purchased the lens solely as a walkaround lens. with a strengthened optech neoprene strap, it is very easy to walk around with this lens around your neck for many hours.

Tripod foot seems minute compared to my bigger lens... and it was removed very quickly (half hoped it would weigh a fair bit, but its removal did not shed too many grams). The facility to remove the whole collar was attractive until I realised that I would lose the lugs for the shoulder/neck-strap so that idea was ditched, not that collar removal seems to be in the realm of the user but a shop job.

VR seems more far responsive and rapid in kicking-in than the 80-400, though it does seem a little noisier than the 80-400mm VR

AF is very rapid... but most USM/HSM/AF-S lenses are, and the main questions these days revolve around the camera side of the AF equation.

What I had presumed to be nothing more than 4 AF lock buttons on the lens barrel (as with my 600/4) turn out to be multi purpose, the most useful purpose being that a press on any of them will take you straight to a preset focus point (excellent).

Lots of sliding switches on this lens, most are just a waste of space really.

Initial results;
300mm bare = sharpness beyond belief, never had a lens this sharp. Backgrounds were totally convincing, natural and smooth fall-off. No real evidence of improvement to image after stopping down. Colours looked totally accurate to me.

300mm + TC-14E = as above, no visible loss of any aspect of the above... even wide open at f4.

300mm + TC-17E = A major (and pleasant) surprise to me. Wide open at f4.8 there was no significant degradation to the image, just very minor softening. at f5.6 we were back to images all but identical from the bare lens

More, including photos at http://www.digiscoped.com/Nikon300mmVR.html

The Gitzo Mountaineer G1548 tripod is the definitive wildlife photography support for big lenses. With a 600mm f4 lens this is pretty much the one to use for stability and ruggedness in the field.



The Mountaineer series includes many fine tripods but it is the 1548 that provided the most solid support. The 1548 is available in several forms including the extra tall G1548GT version, this is a 6 leg section tripod weighing 3.72kg that can place your camera well into the sky to almost 8ft ( 91 inches to be exact ).

I am 6ft 4 inches tall and the camera viewfinder is at eye-level for myself when it is fully extended. I say fully extended but this is without the G1518 rapid column option. With the rapid column you can gain extra height but at a cost of both stability and the ability to get the tripod down to a low angle working height... the column will obviously also add extra weight

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Gitzo Review

A big chunk of glass and metal and no mistake.

Optically awesome, the f4 factor seperates subject from background (or foreground) in a masterly and convincing manner.

Some may think about a Sigma 800mm f5.6 but a 600mm f4 still outguns this with a 1.4x teleconverter to achieve fast and reliable auto focus, even a 1.7x teleconverter will allow pretty good auto focus.

Clarity and colour rendition are the two big strengths of this lens. AFS is fast and quiet in operation though a tad slower than the latest Canon USM design.

Minimum focus distance is close to 20ft, so extension tubes or teleconverter will be need for smaller birds close up.

Do not buy any 600mm f4 lens without making fully sure you are aware of the size and weight of these monsters, in most regards a 500mm f4 will be the better option. Also make sure that you give lenses like this the support they need, that could mean the best part of 1000 for a Gitzo 1548 and Gimbal type head.

More here http://www.digiscoped.com/600mm.html

Everyone seems to knock the AF speed of this lens but it is perfectly adequate for most bird photography situations and is generally faster on pro bodied Nikons such as the D2x.

In truth, the lens is a little bit dated now and would not be the first choice for a fast action lens.

No one can doubt the optical quality from this lens, capable of razor sharp images even wide open at f5.6.
Tripod collar designed by an idiot but it is a VR lens that positively encourages handheld use, so leave the tripod collar in the box and consign it to a life in the attic.

VR clunks in and out with a slightly worrying noise but it does work.

Review available here http://www.digiscoped.com/Nikon80-400.html

A handy teleconverter that does make a considerable focal length difference on long lenses compared to the 1.4x teleconverter with just half an f stop extra. Nikon\'s TC-20E 2x teleconverter is often too much and doesn\'t have such a wonderful reputation compared to its smaller siblings.

In use it is difficult to spot if this teleconverter introduces any optical problems of it\'s own, as use on very long lenses will likely introduce factors such as atmospheric pollution and instability into the equation.

In ideal circumstances this teleconverter is a remarkable performer, optically close to the TC-14E.

Build quality is excellent.