Cape White-eye

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

There's just something soft and tender about these little birds which makes me reserve a special place for them in my heart. I was actually trying to determine whether my Nikon 300mm f4 would be able to take usable shots when used wide open after seeing quite acceptable shots of other guys who has done exactly that (up to now I've always closed the aperture to f/7.1 or narrower with the TC attached). I would have preferred a cleaner BG but this is what I was offered.

Main adjustments in PS: LM midtone levels & curves. One round of Smart Sharpening. Greens & yellows desaturated a touch. About 50% crop.

Nikon D7100
Nikon 300mm f4 + TCE14 II (FFE 630mm)
f/5.6 | 1/500s | 500 ISO | HH

All C&C's welcome

[gail bisson]

Sweet little bird.
I wish you had been able to move to your right to get the stuff in the RHS of BG out of the way. This would have also reduced the size and impact of the perch.
I never shoot wide open with a 2X TC on unless desperate. Almost impossible to get a TACK sharp shot- sure you can get a sharp shot but not TACK sharp ( or maybe it is just me!)
Gail

[Morkel Erasmus]

I like them too, Tobie.
The head here seems just too soft for an acceptably sharp photo, unfortunately. I think you needed at least 1/800 for a sharper handheld shot given your effective focal length, you certainly had the ISO.
I would have tried the shot at f8, 1/800, ISO1600 or so. That being said, it looks very grainy for ISO-500?

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Sweet little bird.
I wish you had been able to move to your right to get the stuff in the RHS of BG out of the way. This would have also reduced the size and impact of the perch.
I never shoot wide open with a 2X TC on unless desperate. Almost impossible to get a TACK sharp shot- sure you can get a sharp shot but not TACK sharp ( or maybe it is just me!)
Gail

Thanks for looking & commenting, Gail. I'd never dream of using a 2x converter with anything other than a 300mm f/2.8 VRII - a lens way out of my budget range!

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

The head here seems just too soft for an acceptably sharp photo, unfortunately. I think you needed at least 1/800 for a sharper handheld shot given your effective focal length, you certainly had the ISO. I would have tried the shot at f8, 1/800, ISO1600 or so. That being said, it looks very grainy for ISO-500?

Thanks for commenting Morkel! I agree with you about the ss and I knew I was taking a bit of a change HH it on a non-VR lens and at a same time breaking the reciprocal rule. Sometimes I get away with it, sometimes not. Unfortunately ISO1600 is out of the question for the D7100 and it would have been a guaranteed throw-away. The sharper shot below was at the same settings but I don't like the pose as much as in the OP - all depended obviously on what the bird was doing at that moment in time and these little birds are always on the move! I can see from your recommended settings however that you're agreeing mostly with my common practice of never using this lens on anything wider than f/7.1. I've played a little with the Smart Sharpening tool (which I've never used before) and might have introduced a little too much grain in the process - still need to play around with this sharpening method - the PS experts reckon that it's the preferred sharpening tool for digital shots but I'm not convinced yet).