First shots with my new 300mm f2.8

[Morkel Erasmus]

Hey guys, sorry for posting another sacred ibis (they are nearly outnumbering humans in my town haha), but just had to visit the local pond this afternoon with my new 300mm f2.8 lens...this thing is just sooo sharp!

Techs:
Canon 7D with 300mm f2.8 L IS USM
f4.0 @ 1/2000 SS @ ISO-2500
Exposure bias +1
This is about 60% of the original image

[Keith Carver]

You're right Morkel, this is super sharp - really pops! Love the wings down and the light through the primaries and secondaries. A little fill flash might have softened the shadow. Nice BIF shot, congrats!

[Greg Basco]

Hi, Morkel. Glad you're enjoying your new baby -- it is awesome, and I think you'll love it for the kind of stuff you do. This image is indeed sharp, but though I'm not opposed to shadows in bird images, I agree with Keith that a bit of fill-flash might have helped to soften the shadows a bit.

Cheers,
Greg Basco

[Ed Cordes]

I also agree on the fill flash. The detail is super you have a nice sharp example.

[Jay Gould]

MorkMan - have you used it with the 2.0 TC?

This image is very very sharp; you will find that with the 2.0 there is hardly a difference.

ISO 2500 and no detectable noise!

I now have the new 2.0 III and have to really decide about keeping this lens now that I have the 70-200 f/2.8 with the 2.0 III. I got some bites to my ad quicker than I expected.

The 200 = 640 on my 7D; the 300 = 960.

[Ofer Levy]

Looks pretty sharp to me. However, shooting angle and shadow are not great. Nowhere near the high standards you show in your wildlife images.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Thanks for the feedback everyone

Jay I am meaning to link it with a new 2x TC soon!

Ofer I know there's a lot wrong with this image, agree with the critique and should have said so upfront. I was just excited to post an image taken with my new toy hehe :)

I am going back this afternoon in search of a better image

[Chris Kotze]

Congrats on the new lens Morkel. Well captured and exposed
Yip it's so sharp you'll see you don't even need to do sharpening in PS I love the 300 2.8

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Nice light , wing position here !! Enjoy your new lens !

[Dumay de Boulle]

Glad to see you are enjoying the new toy...Hope it brings many hours of joy

[Pieter de Waal]

Allways great to get out there with the new lens Morkel, look forward to more. Sharp as mentioned , hand held I assume ? I am also intrigued with the iso2500 - any NR in PP?

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks folks

Dumay - yes thanks to you :)

Pieter - 2 rounds of my standard NR action on the BG only...bird is as shot with slight sharpening applied after downsizing

[Nico Steenberg]

Great exposure and sharpness. Like the comp and light