More Waxwings - DA 300

Photographed some Waxwings on Saturday with the Siggy 150-500. Well I got another chance to capture them on Sunday. This time used the DA* 300mm.

The shots I took on Saturday with the Siggy were mostly taken at fovcal lengths not too far either side of 300mm, so it made an interesting comparison.

My thoughts on the day was that I lost focus more often with the DA than I had with the Siggy, so I missed quite a few shots. The ones I did get however were sharper. Several factors played a part in this though, so not straightfoward.

Slightly better light, larger aperture allowing increased shutter speeds and finally using a lovely 300mm prime.

Anyway, here's some pics. Hope you like.



Waxwing with a gob full by Alan Wennington, on Flickr



Waxwing upside down by Alan Wennington, on Flickr



Another Waxwing eating berries by Alan Wennington, on Flickr



Waxwing - not many more .. lol by Alan Wennington, on Flickr



Waxwing. Last one for now by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

And finally a female blackbird



Blackbird by Alan Wennington, on Flickr

Alan,

I am really enjoying this series of photographs. The poses are very much like Victorian watercolour illustrations.

Are you cropping these a lot from the original or you able to get really close?

Dave

Another superb collection, and as davem said really enjoying these photographs.

Thanks for feedback Dave/John . Crops, but not massive crops by any means. Maybe using about a third of the overall frame. They really allow you to get very close

In that case the detail is really very good. Did you use the 300 handheld?

Dave

Yeah Dave, handheld. Tried monopod once, for low light owls. Very restricting.

Wow, love these. Absolutely fantastic!

great vibrant sharp images. I like the second and third image

The shots with the Sigma were good Alan, but these are streets ahead in terms of clarity, colour and sharpness. They are testament to your ability to hold a lens steady and also a fabulous advert for the DA*300.

This lens will soon be on my shopping list!

Regards
David

Couldn't agree more.

Great set - love them all! Well done

Cheers

As David has said i much prefer these to the earlier one's with the sigma
for me there is no contest the DA* wins hands down.Now where is that tree?!!

Another very nice set Alan - I do love these birds !

People are going a little OTT on the DA*300 I feel. I have and love this lens but unless conditions are near identical it is difficult to judge.

In this case better light (blue not grey skies !), a larger aperture and faster shutter speeds are going to make a big difference to sharpness, colour and clarity, especially so when hand-holding big lenses such as the 150-500. Though the DA*300 is of course still a better lens overall !

The point made about the focusing speed of the DA*300 vs the Sigma 150-500 just seems to bear out the test that that European magazine made, Pentax cameras & lenses target accuracy over speed. I've found this to be true of the Nikon/Sigma 500mm too, much faster but not always as accurate.

My constructive: A bit too blue on the colour balance and a bit too bright..... but ....

....other than that they are fantastic captures!!!

Perfectly captured birdie going about his/her business harvesting the berries!!

I'm not normally into bird or flower shots, but these are the wildlife equivalent of human street candid shots and are excellent!!

The last shot of the female blackbird is boring in comparison and I really feel you should have left it out of the set. All the rest are stunning and I have no favourite as they all capture real bird life in it's honesty.

Well done, really enjoyed looking at them.

Don't underestimate the value of this!!! The main reason your set here has so much impact is the depth caused by the narrower DOF due to the wider aperture. This is more important than sharpness IMO.

Increased shutter speed ( while desirable ) is a secondary bonus compared to the shallower DOF obtained from wider apertures.

IMO too many photographers get so hung up on getting everything sharp they end up with flat deathless images because they stop down too much.

The bits that are out of focus and giving the bokeh are very important to providing a vibrant image IMO and you've succeeded 100% in this set.