European Robin - First shot with new lens

[shane shacaluga]

Went for a little walk in the woods today to test out my new lens. Nikons 200-500. After contemplating between Sigma 150-600 sport and the Nikon, i decided on the Nikon due to it being much lighter and not front heavy as the Sigma.

After following some robin calls through some bushes i found this one defending its territory and not at all scared of me. Let me get in quite close for a few good shots

Nikon d800e
Nikkor 200-500 @500mm
f6.3
1/200
ISO 800

Cropped to about 80% of original size. Cloned out a bright branch cutting across the background
Surface blur on BG and very slight sharpening on subject (as its always part of my workflow) although i dont think it needed any at all.

Thanks for your comments

[keith mitchell]

Hi Shane, looks like your new piece of kit does the job very well, bird looks nice and sharp with good colour ,nice BG to finish it off.
how is that lens for weight? if it is light I could be interested..

Keith.

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks Keith, I could handhold this lens all day to be honest. My 300f4 and 1,4x was a bit lighter but this zoom lens without the tripod collar is very easy to manage. I am really enjoying the VR as my old setup would have looked a mess at 1/200 handheld.

The sigma when zoomed out was a lot more front heavy than the Nikon and can get uncomfortable after a short period of time.

Still need to see how the AF works with BIF. I will let you know when I try

[keith mitchell]

Thanks for that Shane, good luck with your new toy.

[Karl Egressy]

It is always a treat to see this bird posted. Nicely done.

[Randy Stout]

Shane:

Very sweet, sharp, nice detail,well exposed.

One of the few complaints I have heard about this lens is the very long throw to zoom from 200-500mm. Have you found it to be a hinderance in real life shooting? I suspect the biggest challenge will be with BIF or other action where the subject is coming right at you.

Cheers

Randy

[Diane Miller]

Gorgeous image of a gorgeous little bird! Beautiful soft light and great detail!

I'd consider cloning, cropping or burning to reduce the bright branch as it exits the bottom of the frame. Same with the tiny bright speck on the right edge.

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks!

Randy to be honest I have been shooting mostly at 500mm and only brought it back to 200 to do a few test shots of my dogs

I didnt notice it was too much of a problem to zoom in or out but I dont really have much experience using superzoom lenses and cannot compare to anything else

I had not envisaged having to focus on an incoming bird, keep it in the frame and on top of that having to zoom out to keep firing. Will let you know if I ever try that how it goes! I assume its a question of preparing the hand properly under the lens to be able to rotate it to cover the full range

My reasons for choosing the lens were, weight, short enough to fit in my rucksack, reported sharpness in online reviews, the focal range and the VR. All the boxes were ticked to make it a number one choice as a hiking lens

[dankearl]

The image looks very nice Shane, I really like the Euro Robin.
I am also thinking about the lens but have seen little from it.
Post more, soon, please, maybe some shorter focal lengths and low light?

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks for the tip Diane. I have addressed this on the PSD and it does improve the image thanks

Sure Dan, will post as many good ones as I can. Just need to find more time to get out.

[christopher galeski]

Loverly capture,nice BG and perch,the bird is sharp with good detail.TFS.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Beautiful little bird, nicely shown. Lovely color palette, composition, and perch. Thank you for sharing, Shane.

[Bill Dix]

Congrats on the new lens. It served you well here, and sounds like a great choice. Lovely little robin with good colors and nice light.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely shot colours spot on and detail excellent. It is not difficult to appreciate why the robin has been the UK's "favourite bird" for so long is it?

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks for your comments everyone! Indeed its a beautiful bird and an excellent subject to photograph