[M_Six]

Sweet ride, Ed.

Speaking of jealousy, I'd give anything to have your access to raptors. It was 58F here today, so I went down to the lake in search of eagles. They were there, but way across the lake from me. Always seems to happen that they fish the opposite side of the lake from wherever I stop. Even with 600mm f5.6 at my disposal, they're still just a dot in the image.

[Itsed65]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Sweet ride, Ed.

Speaking of jealousy, I'd give anything to have your access to raptors. It was 58F here today, so I went down to the lake in search of eagles. They were there, but way across the lake from me. Always seems to happen that they fish the opposite side of the lake from wherever I stop. Even with 600mm f5.6 at my disposal, they're still just a dot in the image.

Thanks Mark. That seems odd to me, as it seems everywhere I go in California, I can at least usually spot two or three red-tails around, especially near farms. I don't take it for granted though, I am greatful that I live close to some great parks and refuges. I've see a LOT of northern harriers this year, and I have been leaving the 500 at home lately in favor of the very light 100-400+1.4TC combo. Now if I could just stop blowing out the white rump feathers

Northern Harrier by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[drmdvl]

Itsed65. Great ride. Now you have a reason to come on out to Colorado.
I'm a bit bummed my shutter speed wasn't a bit higher.
Juvenile fishing.

[dcstep]

I'm back, after a bunch of family activities tied me up the last two weekends. My new EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM came last Friday and I haven't shot it yet. I'll probably leave work early today.

Anyway, here's a shot with the old 500mm from a couple of weeks ago:

Harrier On Vole by dcstep, on Flickr

BTW, my old Series I 500mm is going up for sale for $5,000, plus shipping. It's still a stellar lens, just 1.5-lbs heavier than the Series II and not quite as good in the IS. There's very little difference in IQ.

Dave

[Itsed65]

I'm sure you won't have any problem selling the glass Dave, that is still a stellar performer. I was toying with getting the Series II myself until this weekend (See above ).

That harrier shot really shows off her mask. Very well done

[Itsed65]

Also shot with the 7DII and 500mm V1 (with 1.4). Still working on the haloing

BW Peregrine by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by drmdvl

Searched on several outings and finally found him...

It's time for them to begin nesting. Look for a nest near this siting. They take over old, used hawk nests. When you find a nest, you'll have several weeks of reliable shooting. Go out when it's snowing and look for something like this:

Papa Owl Endures Snow by dcstep, on Flickr

[BrokenVert]

Thats either a tree in the background...or a very large owl.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Thanks Mark. That seems odd to me, as it seems everywhere I go in California, I can at least usually spot two or three red-tails around, especially near farms. I don't take it for granted though, I am greatful that I live close to some great parks and refuges. I've see a LOT of northern harriers this year, and I have been leaving the 500 at home lately in favor of the very light 100-400+1.4TC combo. Now if I could just stop blowing out the white rump feathers

Brown birds with white rumps are really tough. That's somewhere between -1 and 0EV. For a brown bird, with no white, it's +1EV for those that shoot Raw and ETTR.

You might do a sharpness comparison with and without the TC, particularly with the 500mm. Handy as the TCs are, the IQ drop off for me is quite large when you look closely. I find I'm better off using the bare lens and doing a digital crop.

I'm really happy with my Series II 500mm after two-hours of shooting. I'm processing some really super sharp images right now. The 1.5-lbs weight savings is huge. I'm happy that the AF seems to be zeroed right out of the box. Next, I'll work with my TCs to see if they work better than with the Series I. I'll post a couple of pix in an hour or two.

Dave

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

Thats either a tree in the background...or a very large owl.

LOL. That's the tree.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Also shot with the 7DII and 500mm V1 (with 1.4). Still working on the haloing

Maybe a touch too much sharpening. That lens hardly needs any at all.

[drmdvl]

Originally Posted by dcstep

It's time for them to begin nesting. Look for a nest near this siting. They take over old, used hawk nests. When you find a nest, you'll have several weeks of reliable shooting. Go out when it's snowing and look for something like this:.

Awesome! Great shot and thanks for the tips. I found mine by beginners luck. However, I did find a nest in Fort Collins. Just couldn't get a good shot. I'll be back!

Side note - how do you post process your noise. LR seems to do a good job but messing too much with luminance really kills the detail.

[dcstep]

One of my first shots with my new EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM. Can't complain about the focus, contrast, color or detail:

Cotton-tail Bunny Close-up by dcstep, on Flickr

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by drmdvl

Side note - how do you post process your noise. LR seems to do a good job but messing too much with luminance really kills the detail.

I use DxO Optics Pro and actually turn down the default luminance setting to avoid smearing details. I'd rather see grain than kill the detail. OTOH, I HATE colored noise from chrominance, so I try to get rid of most of that, if not all.

DxO is one of the leading NR programs. They've got a NR option called PRIME that does a pixel-by-pixel comparison and preserves more detail, but takes minutes to process, rather than seconds with the default NR.

If you're not already too wed to Lightroom, then DxO Optics Pro may be worth a try. I have several friends that love it, but none ever moved from LR to DxO.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by dcstep

One of my first shots with my new EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM. Can't complain about the focus, contrast, color or detail:

Wow, I guess not. That's amazing detail.

[dcstep]

Another shot with the new lens:

Mallard Drake Passes By by dcstep, on Flickr

If you click on the image, that'll take you to the same image in Flickr and then if you click with the + magnifier, you can see it even large, for a detailed look.

I'm happy, happy, happy...

[Itsed65]

Glad to see you got the obligatory duck shot taken care of

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Glad to see you got the obligatory duck shot taken care of

Yeah, I was on the hunt for bald eagles in flight, but none came close enough, so I settled for ducks and bunnies.

[Itsed65]

I like ducks and bunnies

Shoverler Drake by lennycarl08, on Flickr

[Trijicon]

Matterhorn - Storm is Coming

[Itsed65]

Very Cool!

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

Very Cool!

Agreed. And it's a reminder that you can produce outstanding shots with older cameras.