Stoppit !

I have been using the DFA WR 100mm for some time and it is excellent. Recently I've tried it with the new 1.4x converter and it works perfectly. Very little image degradation, good focusing and is good at 140mm for things like butterflies and dragonflies.
Dave

Wonderful indeed. I am particularly envious as my own Kingfisher spot has been deserted this year due to the floods polluting this low lying dyke. I did have a similar shot a couple of years back with my 55-300 but can't wait for the opportunity close up with my 300DA*. We have few suitable easily accessible rivers here and I am currently having to resort to public hides on reserves for my kingfisher buzz!
Dave

Have had it for a while now and my main thoughts are with the 300DA* and 100mm DFA WR Macro:-
1.No change in focusing characteristics - you don't know it's there
2. No noticable change in sharpness
3. Possibly a slight drop in resolution, eg in feather detail but not sure about this yet as I haven't fine calibrated the combo yet
4. Very handy for butterflies and dragonflies - gives you same size image from slightly further away. In some instances not much different to cropping but at the limit of desirable cropping slight advantage.
This Kingfisher pic is with the DA*300 and is about a 65% crop.

As a parting shot almost any of the above is capable of taking good wildlife shots.
"I have been thinking for a while and having seen some stunning photos on here, I thought I would try my hand at a bit of wildlife photography"

This may be more tricky. The really good shots you see usually come from years of studying and understanding wildlife and hours and hours of patiently staring into space waiting for something to come along!
Good luck!
Dave

All very good detail. 3 looks like one of the Shield bugs to me as well.

It looks to me that it was taken in very harsh light - the contrast and slight over exposure giving the over-sharpened look. I don't know if you could "dodge" the eye a tad to lessen the gauge out look - I find you often can and it makes a difference. Possibly take a bit off the top as well.I think it is positioned well. It is a very good environmental shot of a Chiffchaff though.

......... and well done for the response from SRS. How many firms do you know that would respond so well and so quickly.

Set up works great.The first seems to be more detailed (shrper?) but I prefer the background in the second one. Very nice
Dave

My favourites are the Zebra Spider. I'm a fan of the shallow DOF in some cases. It adds perspective and is more dramatic. I love the way they look likethey're wearing sunglasses.
I would add that some of the apparently stunning shots one sees are produced from stacking of dead or chilled creatures. Personally, as an amateur naturalist I am against this technique on principle, much as I am of extolling the virtues of a picture of a bird or animal in captivity. (I'm not so much against them being in captivity, it is just too easy to get a decent image).
Dave