Llano, Texas Eagle chicks

[Michael Lloyd]

The chicks aren't so "chicky" anymore. According to the locals they will be gone on or around 3/10/09 so I caught it about right. The chicks are fledging. I didn't get any decent images of it though. I think I've used my 2X TCII for the last time. I really don't understand why Canon even sells it. It's junk IMHO... all of my images are too soft for my liking. Granted... the nest is way out there but the extra magnification that I get with the 2X TCII is not enough to offset the damage that it does to the image IMHO... enough ranting...

EOS !DMKIII
600 f4L IS with 2x "Terrible" Converter II = 1200mm

ISO 400
1/640 @ f8

I got a decent fly over shot of one of the parents. It flew nearly directly over our heads and that made for a nice full frame image.

[Michael Lloyd]

I don't know if this breaks the rules or not... but here's one of the parents. This is uncropped. Same camera / lens combo. The sky is very saturated... I didn't add anything in post so I guess it's the result of shooting almost straight up at mid-morning...

[David Smith]

Michael:

I'll give you $50.00 for that "terrible" piece of junk, and I'll pay shipping..

Dave

[Michael Lloyd]

make it a 100 and it's yours :)

[Bill McCrystyn]

You keep the converter and it's a deal. :D Really like the overhead shot. Can you S/H the underside of those wings?

[Michael Lloyd]

You keep the converter and it's a deal. :D Really like the overhead shot. Can you S/H the underside of those wings?

:D I'll bet I could. In truth, I was so disgusted with the fuzziness that resulted from the TC that I didn't put much into the images.

[Bill McCrystyn]

Did you use the 2TC for the overhead? It looks like decent res on that one looking at the eye and beak.

[Michael Lloyd]

I did. It came in over some trees to our west and there was barely time to swing around and take 6 or 7 shots much less take the TCII off. The 1.4X TCII doesn't seem to be as bad as the 2X is. Also, the overhead shot is a full frame shot vs an 8x10 crop in the first post. In looking at the full sized file it's easy to see the softness. By the time I sharpen it in post and reduce the size of the image for posting it loses some of the softness... or at least has the illusion that its not as soft :D

[Fabs Forns]

Terrific habitat with very nice framing, Michael, congrats!

[Michael Lloyd]

Thanks Fabs. I guess I shouldn't whine about the TC so much. I knew it had a tendency to muddy an image but the large subject in the viewfinder was seductive :) Lessons learned and all that. I'm planning a trip back next week. It's about a 3.5 hour drive one way and morning is the only decent light so I have to get up pretty early to get there at a decent time.

[Nate Chappell]

I like the inclusion of the whole nest here Michael, neat to get the 2 youngsters like this. I'm with you on the 2X, I have one but I rarely use it. Now, if I need more magnification I go with the 50D and the 1.4X rather than my MkIII and the 2.0. The 1.6 crop factor and 15 megapixels more than compensate and I don't lose image quality with the 1.4 the way I do with the 2.0