Nightheron- Bigma + Tamron 1.4X test

[Steve Cavigliano]

Hello all,
I received the Tamron 1.4X $80 TC, from B&H last week. The weather finally cooperated and I was able to see how this TC worked on the Bigma. I left it wide open (F5.6 reported, F9 actual exposure).

The good news is that it AF's fairly acurately (nowhere near as good as without the TC) and that I don't see much/any image degradation. The bad news is that the AF is pretty slow and it does hunt alot :cry No biggie, I expected this kind of result when using this combo. I'll be trying it (the TC) on my 70-200mm, today. Judging by my first experiences, the combo works much better. Much faster AF (aperture set to F5.6).

Anyhow here's the nightheron (at least I think it's a nightheron....lol) Full zoom, about 20 feet away, aperture wide open.

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/15019131-L.jpg


Thanks for taking the time to look :-)

Steve

[Nir]

Full frame Steve?

Beautiful results!

[pathfinder]

Hello all,
I received the Tamron 1.4X $80 TC, from B&H last week. The weather finally cooperated and I was able to see how this TC worked on the Bigma. I left it wide open (F5.6 reported, F9 actual exposure).

The good news is that it AF's fairly acurately (nowhere near as good as without the TC) and that I don't see much/any image degradation. The bad news is that the AF is pretty slow and it does hunt alot :cry No biggie, I expected this kind of result when using this combo. I'll be trying it (the TC) on my 70-200mm, today. Judging by my first experiences, the combo works much better. Much faster AF (aperture set to F5.6).

Anyhow here's the nightheron (at least I think it's a nightheron....lol) Full zoom, about 20 feet away, aperture wide open.

http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/15019131-S.jpg


Thanks for taking the time to look :-)

Steve

Are you shotting this long, heavy combo hand held or from a tripod? This looks pretty crisp to me.
:thumb

[GREAPER]

Excellent Shot... WOW

[Harryb]

Hello all,
I received the Tamron 1.4X $80 TC, from B&H last week. The weather finally cooperated and I was able to see how this TC worked on the Bigma. I left it wide open (F5.6 reported, F9 actual exposure).

The good news is that it AF's fairly acurately (nowhere near as good as without the TC) and that I don't see much/any image degradation. The bad news is that the AF is pretty slow and it does hunt alot :cry No biggie, I expected this kind of result when using this combo. I'll be trying it (the TC) on my 70-200mm, today. Judging by my first experiences, the combo works much better. Much faster AF (aperture set to F5.6).

Anyhow here's the nightheron (at least I think it's a nightheron....lol) Full zoom, about 20 feet away, aperture wide open.




Thanks for taking the time to look :-)

Steve
Hey Steve,

Thats a good capture of a Green Heron. They are one of the smallest herons (the night herons are the only ones smaller). They can be hard to capture. The shot looks to be about a 1/3 to 1/2 of a stop over exposed.

Harry

[John Mueller]

Ahhh yes that bigma,nice sharp capture with ths combo.
Im hoping to pick up a 1.4 next week for my 400 5.6

[GREAPER]

Hey Steve,

Thats a good capture of a Green Heron. They are one of the smallest herons (the night herons are the only ones smaller). They can be hard to capture. The shot looks to be about a 1/3 to 1/2 of a stop over exposed.

Harry

Good call Harry, I didn't think it was a night heron. It was a different angle than I have ever seen a green from and I wasn't sure.

This guy is a Black Crowned Night Heron


http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/6578119-M.jpg

[Steve Cavigliano]

Full frame Steve?

Beautiful results!
Thanks Nir :D Even with all this focal length (somewhere around 100mm's) he still only filled about 10% of the frame :dunno But, I was able to lay enough pixels on him to get some nice detail.


Thanks for your comments and for taking the time,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Are you shotting this long, heavy combo hand held or from a tripod? This looks pretty crisp to me.
:thumb
PF,
Handheld. The speed is usually high enough that I don't get much, if any, motion blur.

Thanks for the nice comment and for looking,
Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Hey Steve,

Thats a good capture of a Green Heron. They are one of the smallest herons (the night herons are the only ones smaller). They can be hard to capture. The shot looks to be about a 1/3 to 1/2 of a stop over exposed.

HarryHarry,
I thought it might be a Green. But, it didn't look quite like the pics either....lol
I knew it wasn't a black crowned nightheron, but I figured it might be some other type. I need to get a book :rolleyes

You are also right about the exposure. He was facing the setting Sun, so the light was tough and he landed and took off again, within about 5 seconds. So no chance to even dial in enough EV comp. No time to chimp, for sure.

This any better?
http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/15081416-L.jpg

Thanks for the comments and for taking time to look :-)

Steve

[fish]

I was able to lay enough pixels on him


I like that term. may i borrow it?

[fish]

Ya know...I think shooting birds is probably more difficult than shooting macros. DOF is always an issue, and it's a constant battle between good bokeh and full body DOF. At least in my experience.


Oh btw steve, one of your friends wanted me to say "hello" for him.


clickity on image for exif data.
http://coyfish.smugmug.com/photos/15085112-L.jpg (http://coyfish.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=15085112)

[Steve Cavigliano]

Good call Harry, I didn't think it was a night heron. It was a different angle than I have ever seen a green from and I wasn't sure.

This guy is a Black Crowned Night Heron


http://dehmphoto.smugmug.com/photos/6578119-M.jpg
Greaper,
Thanks for the comments :D Yeah, I was unsure myself, which is why I added the "I think" to my description. I looked all over the web. Bitterns, tricolor and green herons. Nothing really matched.

I guess if I shoot long enough and capture enough different birds, I'll get to know em all :lol Or, I guess I could break down and buy a book :uhoh


Thanks for responding,
Steve

BTW, really nice Black Crowned Nightheron :clap :thumb

[Steve Cavigliano]

Ahhh yes that bigma,nice sharp capture with ths combo.
Im hoping to pick up a 1.4 next week for my 400 5.6
Thanks for the nice words and I hope you are satisfied with the 400 F5.6 + 1.4X TC combo. I'll need to do a bit more experimenting before I'm convinced the Bigma + TC combo will work well enough in AI Servo.


Thanks for responding and good luck next week :-)

Steve

[Steve Cavigliano]

Ya know...I think shooting birds is probably more difficult than shooting macros. DOF is always an issue, and it's a constant battle between good bokeh and full body DOF. At least in my experience.


Oh btw steve, one of your friends wanted me to say "hello" for him.


clickity on image for exif data.
http://coyfish.smugmug.com/photos/15085112-L.jpg (http://coyfish.smugmug.com/photos/newexif.mg?ImageID=15085112)
LOL Fish,
Feel free to use any of the things I write. When under oath I will deny ever writing them :lol3

I agree about shooting birds. It's tough.

Funny you should mention my buddy above. I just saw him this afternoon. He saw me packin my new 1.4X on my 70-200 and asked me to shoot his girlfriend :rofl


http://freezeframephotography.smugmug.com/photos/15081415-L.jpg

Thanks for looking,
Steve

[fish]

she's got purty eyes, steve. :lust