Brahminy Kite and crab

[Paul Burdett]

During a recent visit to Point Arkwright on the sunshine coast I was able to get a number of Brahminy Kites, Ospreys and White-bellied Sea eagles. The Kites were a bit far away (as they tend to be for me), so I had a go using Topaz Gigapixel to enlarge this image of the Kite. I've only just purchased this plugin, and so far it's looking good. Feedback always appreciated. Cheers.

D5/500PF, 1/4000th sec@f5.6, iso1250.

[arash_hazeghi]

the bird is awesome and the prey is the icing on the cake, never seen one with a crab. Wish the near wing was lower. in terms of details/IQ it's certainly good but not great, I can tell some fine details are missing although the kite was sharply focused. for example the crab, the underwings and the talons don't have much texture. looks like a big crop.

Most of these up-res plugins are a bit of a snake oil if you ask me. mathematically the information is not in the RAW, in the old days software would just interpolate those missing pixels but now it is "guessing" it....and the result...as good as a guess. probably OK for web posting, FB etc. but not for critical viewing.

The D5 is going to struggle to deliver the same level of details as your D500 at low ISO with a short lens such as the 500, unless the kite is really close. When I had Nikon I rarely used my 500PF with the D5, I have less than 10 shots with this combo...my D5 lived with the 600 + TC....

hope this helps

[Paul Burdett]

Thanks Arash for the quick reply. Your valid comments are appreciated as always. I haven't gone the mirrorless route yet, maybe later. Would you say the A1 auto focus is much better than the A9ii when both used with a 200-600? 600f4 is still a little out of reach for me.
BTW I don't own a D5, but good to know your feeling here. Cheers.

[arash_hazeghi]

yeah A1 is a killer camera. nothing can get even close to it.

I enjoyed shooting with the D5 in the 3 some years I had it (see my review below), at the time it was the best in its class ... but sine then the world has moved on and moved far, Sony has made a joke out of the $6K DSLR cameras. triple the speed, two and half times the resolution. 20 times the AF power etc. etc., you can't even compare them. The "pro" DSLR is all but dead so at this point I don't recommend investing in one of those large bodies. If you have one it's probably better to sell it while it's still worth something and just stick to the D500.

https://arihazeghiphotography.com/blog/nikon-d5-review/

[Paul Burdett]

Thanks again Arash. Apart from my D500 I have a Canon 6D (which I'm happy with) + various Canon lenses that I use for landscapes. I may hold off for a while with mirrorless, but Sony is a strong contender. Canon's R3 and R1 could be interesting as well. Spoiled for choice these days.

[gail bisson]

This looks pretty darn good for your first go at Gigapixel.
Great prey and such a cool view of the legs on the crab.
Nice to see the ocean as a BG,
Gail

[annmpacheco]

Good effort here, love the crab and the BG, wish you were closer but maybe next time! TFS

[Bill Dix]

Terrific view of the kite, with the crab framed by the downward wings it makes for a great composition. Sense of the ocean adds to it. Looks good for a large crop, but I can certainly see what Arash is seeing, about some loss of detail in the underwings. Still, a good looking shot for web posting. Hope you get another look at him.

[Paul Burdett]

Thank you all for looking and commenting. Whilst Gigapixel is certainly not a panacea for every large crop image, it does rescue some. I'm working on my workflow using the Topaz plugins. Cheers.

[Joseph Przybyla]

Hi Paul, nice view of this kite with the crab. Good wing position and head angle, I like the ocean background. Thank you for sharing.

[Arthur Morris]

Looks great to me too. Next time don't mention Gigipixel :). The crab and the far underwing are both superb. Love the breaking wave, the rock, and the blue above as well.

As for the a1, AF is far superior to the a9 ii and the files are superb.

with love, a

ps: I almost forgot: use the Spot Healing Brush (J) to gt rid of the brightest specular highlights.

[John Mack]

Looks great. Really like the way the kite is holding that crab. The ocean background is nice as well.

[William Dickson]

This is looking real good Paul....Well done mate.

Will

[Paul Burdett]

Thanks so much all for replying...much appreciated as always.
Artie: Yes..I went back and removed those SH.