I finally got my hands on the used 500mm f/4 that I had acquired a couple of months ago. It had been sitting with family in another country until now. In general I am very happy, but I have had very few opportunities to get out and use it due to work and weather. Therefore initial subjects will most likely be common species from the neighbourhood, like this female mallard.
To preempt any comments on its presence, the blue tinge around the edges of the bird is there in the original raw file and is a consequence of the light.
Congratulation with the 500mm, you just made me envy :D
lots of feather details on the duck that I think can bring out more with a bit of sharpening. Love the pattern and color of the water and nice composition too.
Ben, congrats on the big piece of glass! I'm also jealous!
One thing I see right off the bat is that the head and eye feel softer than the curve of the neck. I wonder if you had your focal point where it needed to be in this case? Even at f8 that little bit of difference can show up with a big lens. Make sure you're focusing in right at the eye area. I think additional sharpening everywhere on the bird except the neck area would be nice.
The image feels a little bit underexposed to me as is evidence by the amount of noise throughout the image. I'd run a round of NR and mask out the bird so it doesn't soften the feather detail. You might also look at doing a curves or levels adjustment to bring those lighter tones up a bit, especially near the bird's head and face.
Overall, a very nice start with this lens. We'll be cheering you on as you get out there and explore what all it can do!
Another mallard (a 500mm trial)
