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Recent content by dkperez

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    Birds in Arizona

    Thanks for the answers... By purely dumb luck I found the cactus wren a couple minutes ago... Now I'm trying to tell the difference between female Anna's, Ruby Throated, and Costa's hummingbirds.... I'm starting to think I should stick to photographing mallards and Canada Geese. At least I...
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    Birds in Arizona

    I've concluded that I'm the WORST bird identifier in the world! Here are a couple I photographed in Sedona and Tucson... While I'm in here, can someone recommend a good online tool for identifying birds? I've been using what bird, and spent hours going through long lists, but rarely find a...
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    Replacement for Nikon 80-400

    I figure I"ve been using these lenses long enough now to put an update in here....... I have to admit, MUCH AS I DISLIKE SIGMA (I don't dislike their lenses, but the attitude of their reps is pure feces - to the point that if I could have found ANY equivalent from another source I'd have tried...
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    Replacement for Nikon 80-400

    It's possible that there's a technique problem, but if one area of the lens is sharp and another soft, I'd suspect a lens problem. I get LOTS of out of focus shots, movement blur shots, and generally lousy shots, but when they're bad, usually the whole thing is bad. If I had a shot where the...
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    Replacement for Nikon 80-400

    I picked up the Nikon 70-200 AF-S ED VR II and the Nikon TC-20E III a couple days ago. I had a long, involved recitation of how both the Nikon and the sigma 50-500 OS performed and compared....... And then I realized y'all already KNOW how good the Nikon 70-200 is (and the equivalent Canon...
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    Replacement for Nikon 80-400

    Either your technique or your lens has a problem... Have you tried the lens on a different body? Do you get the same result? I've got images a 400mm and f5.6 with mine, and they're sharp. Certainly I haven't noticed any difference from side to side. If the problem really disappears when...
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    Replacement for Nikon 80-400

    The Sigma 50-500 OS arrived yesterday so I took it down to the local river to photograph the geese and ducks swimming around... Yes, I'll be doing sharpness, resolution and front/back focus tests on the thing, but since it's going to be used hand-held, I figured some fer-real hand holding...
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    Replacement for Nikon 80-400

    OK, life is too short to agonize over this silliness....... I looked at a bunch of stuff, of wildly varying prices, weights, and capabilities.... Today I ordered a Sigma 50-500 OS and next week I"ll hit the local camera place and pick up a Nikon 80-200 VR II and a Nikon 2X....... Test...
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    Replacement for Nikon 80-400

    It looks like I'm going to have to replace my Nikon 80-400. It's a fine lens, but it's costing me images because it focuses so slowly. With birds in flight or airshows, or even race cars on a road course, it just isn't fast enough autofocusing..... SO, WHAT do I replace it with? My...
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