Teleconverter ? (1 Viewer)

The D7200 is your best bet,its an exceptional camera for bird photography with a great sensor capable of capturing amazing detail.Like nikonmike said,the croppped sensor will give you more reach which is a big plus.
I can post some sample images if you like as i use one.

Ok, thanks for the advice.

What sort of shutter count would be considered low for a D7200?

You should pick one up under 10,000, the daft thing is in the UK you can pick a new grey import up with 3 years warranty for not much more than a private sale secondhand one with no warranty.
I do know though over there it can be impossible to get greys repaired so if you buy private make sure its a Nikon import.
Companies like B&H sell nikon refurbs sometimes.

I came across an article about a person who purchased a "new" Grey Import D7000 from a camera retailer.

After using it for approx. 13-14 months it developed a problem with the AF which apparently is a common issue with D7000s.

After sending the D7000 into Nikon for repair, Nikon contacted him where he was told by Nikon that the D7000 he had sent in to them was a "Fake". He was told further that the serial number on the body doesn’t match up with the internal serial number.

Link to article - https://petapixel.com/2015/08/14/i-bought-a-fake-nikon-dslr-my-experience-with-gray-market-imports/

So apparently at least part of the Grey Market have "Fake" Nikons and I would assume other well known brands as well.

Yes I could go with a refurb such as B&H, which is the smartest thing to do as their cameras have been checked out by professionals. I'll probably be first looking around on eBay and possibly Craigslist to determine what's available from individual sellers.

As you say third party warranties can be great, that's why we don't have too much of a problem in the UK with grey imports, companies like HDEW do a D7200 for £609 including 3 years warranty, plenty places in the UK repair Nikons, as i say not like the USA.

The fake Nikon and Canon thing needs taking with a pinch of salt as they say, it was an emotive phrase used to scare potential purchasers of grey imports.

opticoholic said:

If you decide to get one of the Sigma 150-600mm lenses, I would do so without any expectation to use a teleconverter. But as long as the lens has no problems or defects, 600mm is a lot of reach, especially on a crop sensor camera. What you said earlier about wildlife being wary is of course often true. But if you are patient, even very small birds will sometimes allow you to get close enough to get excellent results with 600mm. So with any of these zoom lenses having a maximum aperture of f/6.3 or f/5.6, I would just forget about the teleconverter. I'm not saying it is impossible but I would instead think about your tripod/stability, your field technique/stealth and a future camera upgrade. Just my 2 cents.

Dave

Click to expand...

Today it was snowing and fairly dark. I picked up the Sigma Lens today at the post office, before driving back home I tried the teleconverter and it works with the D80, however it's undeterimed how well. The D80 is able to focus and I believe also meter, however the shots while it was snowing aren't imo all that clean and sharp.

I haven't yet tried the Sigma Lens by itself to determine differences with and without the Sigma 1.4x teleconverter installed.

Here's a few fuzzy pics, I was handling the camera and lens with only my hands, and there was some shaking.

The first two shot are from a considerable distance where it's difficult to make anything out with the naked eye. The third one with a single person is closer, approx ~200 yards. Normally I wouldn't have used a teleconverter for the third shot as the subject was too close. These were the only subjects I could find on the beach to shoot.

I'll try again after the weather changes, on a day with sunlight and compare shots with and with out the converter installed. It appears from the current photos the converter has problems taking photos that are sharp enough to provide good details.

Not bad for those conditions.

The snow let up and stopped for a while then turned sleet with some drizzle.

Here's a link to a few pics of seagulls washing them selves, some were rolling over in the water upside down, most are taken with the converter installed. Some of the photos are blurred and or the focus is on the background.

https://postimg.org/gallery/30lsvzbas/

Another link to a Bald Eagle with converter installed.

https://postimg.org/gallery/27mz8l9f8/

And a link to the Bald Eagle without the converter installed

https://postimg.org/gallery/15v690k50/

I didn't bother to remove any blurred photos

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This lens a Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary, came with a firmware dock that allows one to access various lens firmware settings.

FOCUS SETTINGs
For fixed focal length lenses, the focus can be adjusted at 4 shooting distances. For zoom lenses, the focus can be adjusted in a total of 16 distances (4 focusing distances x 4 shooting distances - 150, 250, 400 and 600 mm)

Download this pdf file to create your lens calibration template tool http://www.mediafire.com/file/81c53c5xpm05hez/GhettoCAL-Template.pdf

Or you can find pre-made lens calibration cards or sheet from online or ebay https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_sacat=0&_nkw=lens+calibration&_sop=15

Use a calibration card or sheet along with Sigmas usb firmware dock and Sigmas SIGMA Optimization Pro software to calibrate your Sigma Lens.

Some instruction how to perform a lens calibration can be found from this link:

https://www.diyphotography.net/calibrate-focus-lenses/

FOCUS LIMITER SETTINGs
It is possible to adjust the range of the AF drive (only available on lenses with a custom mode switch).

AF SPEED SETTINGs
It is possible to select 3 different AF speeds (only available on lenses with a custom mode switch C1 and C2).

OS Settings
For the Optical Stabilizer (OS), 3 unique view modes are available. This offers the most suited OS function for any shooting style (only available on lenses with a custom mode switch).

Dynamic View Mode - This mode offers a recognizable OS effect to the image in the viewfinder. This helps to ensure the composition of images quickly.
Standard - This is the default setting. The OS effect is well-balanced and suitable for various scenes.
Moderate View Mode - This mode offers an excellent compensation of camera shake, and achieves very smooth transition of the image in the viewfinder. The composition of the image remains natural even when the angle of view keeps changing.

- There's another setting for Full Time Manual mode On or Off.

To evaluate lens performance make sure you use appropriate shutter speed. Some of your photos show 1/50s. Even on a rock solid tripod this will cause blurred images as the subject may move (and IS can't compensate for this kind of motion).

I would shot for shutter speeds faster than 1/1000s. Also it takes a bit of time to learn using long lenses, i.e. jerking the rig when pushing the shutter button is a common beginner problem.

Tuning a Sigma lens with the dock to the camera is time well spent, in particular since we shot most of the time wide open and the limited DOF shows focusing errors mercyless.

On a different note; consider to have your camera sensor cleaned. There are some very noticeable "dust bunnies" that will become even more of an issue when light gets better and for sure if you stop-down the aperture.

Andonso said:

The snow let up and stopped for a while then turned sleet with some drizzle.

Here's a link to a few pics of seagulls washing them selves, some were rolling over in the water upside down, most are taken with the converter installed. Some of the photos are blurred and or the focus is on the background.

https://postimg.org/gallery/30lsvzbas/

Another link to a Bald Eagle with converter installed.

https://postimg.org/gallery/27mz8l9f8/

And a link to the Bald Eagle without the conve.....................

Click to expand...

seaspirit said:

On a different note; consider to have your camera sensor cleaned. There are some very noticeable "dust bunnies" that will become even more of an issue when light gets better and for sure if you stop-down the aperture.

Click to expand...

Beat me to it!

Funny isn't it how reach is always prioritised. I always seem to have a TC bolted on my lenses too.

Ok, will look into having the DSLR camera cleaned. I did give the sensor, a quick cleaning a week or two ago. Only wiped the sensor down with an appropriate swap. I have both wet and dry sensor swabs and a couple of cleaning kits.

However my eyesight isn't what it use to be. I think I may require magnification goggles.

The closest camera shop is over 125 mile one way.

Near where I reside the only place that sells cameras is Walmart, approx. 30 - 35 miles one way.

What would be a typical fee if I were ship the D80 to a repair shop found online? Any recommendations for a DSLR service shop?

After receiving and using the Sigma lens that one time I did give it a thorough cleaning. The seller never bothered to clean it and there was significant amount of exterior dust and dirt from the glass on both ends of the lens. However it cleaned up really nice. Now I'm unable to detect any dust, dirt, smudges, etc. from the lens.

I do have a tripod that I was thinking of using the next time going out to shoot. It's still fairly cold with alot of stormy weather of rain and snow. The wind sometimes comes in from off the ocean up to around 40 to 50 mph, (possibly a little higher). There was one storm a number of years ago with wind gusts up to 120 mph, however that sort of storm is uncommon for this area.

Depending on the background, the dirt on the shots you took stands out quite clearly. I have attempted to highlight them for you but there might be more hidden in the bright snow !
Sending the camera off for a professional clean can be quite expensive so depending on it's value I always consider DIY. Most of us have been scared in to thinking we are likely to damage the sensor but in actual fact it has a glass cover and that's what you clean. I did read that one particular brand of cleaner which is a sticky bud was so strong it could lift the glass off some sensors, Nikon was mentioned as one.

Ok thanks for pointing out the blemishes from the photo.

I did take those photos prior to cleaning the Sigma 150-600mm lens.

I'll take some more shots against a white background to determine if those blemishes are from the D80 DSLR or the lens. Also test for blemishes using my other lenses.

Yes, I did clean the D80 sensor once but it was a very quick clean and I didn't look all that close at the sensor using a magnifying glass.

I have a cleaning solution from a kit and some CMOS CCD Cleaner SWABS both the wet and dry type.

Andonso said:

Ok thanks for pointing out the blemishes from the photo.

I did take those photos prior to cleaning the Sigma 150-600mm lens.

I'll take some more shots against a white background to determine if those blemishes are from the D80 DSLR or the lens. Also test for blemishes using my other lenses.

Yes, I did clean the D80 sensor once but it was a very quick clean and I didn't look all that close at the sensor using a magnifying glass.

I have a cleaning solution from a kit and some CMOS CCD Cleaner SWABS both the wet and dry type.

Click to expand...

Sensor cleaning is a whole different issue! I bought some swabs and fluid from Eclipse and never used them on the camera but tried the fluid on the computer screen. I was horrified at the mess it left so never tried it on a sensor but they were one of the leading brands last time I looked. In built sensor cleaners seem to be getting better and better and I tend to just use a blower now.