Dark Morph Red Tailed Hawk

[Loi Nguyen]

Finally got a chance to test my new toy, the amazing 400f4 DO II over the holidays. It's significantly lighter and easier to hand hold than my 500f4 II, especially when trying to shoot out of a car window.

1DX
400f4 DO II + 2X III @ 800mm
1/3200
f8
ISO-1600
HH
Added a sliver of canvas on top
Cropped to ~ 40% of FF

The AF is a bit slow as you can imagine, but I was amazed that I could still get the shot. With the 1.4X, the AF is quite a bit faster.

Happy New Year and thank you for your comments.

Loi

[Karl Egressy]

Nice up wing pose and eye contact, Loi. IQ is excellent.

[annmpacheco]

Pretty hawk and congrats on your new lens, what a wonderful combo to hand hold for this excellent inflight shot, well done.

[Richard Gollar]

I cant get over how well the 400f/4 DO II does with TC. Especially the 2x TC. Got me all undecided on what lens I am saving for now. I was going to get the 500mm f/4 but this lens has me second guessing myself now. Great shot.

[Loi Nguyen]

I cant get over how well the 400f/4 DO II does with TC. Especially the 2x TC. Got me all undecided on what lens I am saving for now. I was going to get the 500mm f/4 but this lens has me second guessing myself now. Great shot.

Thank you Richard. I have both the 400DO II and the 500f4 II. When I'm in my car, I put the 1DX on the 400DO plus 1.4X and the 5D3 with the 500F4 plus 2X for max reach as my default. On my next trip that I need to fly, I will leave the 500F4 home. The 400DO II weighs on paper 36% less than the 500f4 II, but in using it, it feels much much lighter due to the center of weight closer to the camera body. Loi

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice Loi, I love my DO II as well, it doesn't replace my 600 II but it's the 2nd best lens especially for shooting from vehicle/kayak.

If I were you I'd sell the 500 II, get a 600 II instead.

I like this shot, the dark morph is a handsome bird. I wish you had slightly better HA

TFS and happy new year

[gail bisson]

I am amazed at how well the IQ has held up despite your large crop.
Great wings up pose and what a beautiful bird.
I like the BG as well but would smooth out the horizontal grass coming out of the middle of the LHS of frame.
Tack sharp with lots of nice detail
Gail

[stuart wanuck]

clarity and image well done

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Excellent capture, Loi. Great wing position and detail. The only suggestion might be to remove the lower eye catchlight/spot. Would love to see one of these in person.


Geoffrey

[Daniel Cadieux]

Congrats on the new lens Loi, looks like a winner. I like the wings up position, and the grassy BG looks good - but like Gail I would smooth out the one horizontal blade in ULC.

[Loi Nguyen]

Very nice Loi, I love my DO II as well, it doesn't replace my 600 II but it's the 2nd best lens especially for shooting from vehicle/kayak.

If I were you I'd sell the 500 II, get a 600 II instead.

TFS and happy new year

thank you Arash. Yes, the thought of selling the 500 and acquire the 600 has crossed my mind many times, but the issue is the weight. May be I will wait until Canon releases a 600 DO!

[Loi Nguyen]

Congrats on the new lens Loi, looks like a winner. I like the wings up position, and the grassy BG looks good - but like Gail I would smooth out the one horizontal blade in ULC.

Thank you Daniel, but what is ULC?

[Arthur Morris]

Upper left corner :) a

[Arthur Morris]

Superb. With a bit of luck, the near-wing would have been fully raised. a

ps: see a pretty cool flight shot with the same rig here. (http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/2015/12/06/running-in-place-in-flight-going-light-for-flight-with-the-400-do-ii-the-2x-iii-tc-and-the-eos-1d-x/)

[Glenn Conlan]

Nice shot Loi that 400DO has a great operator