Thanks John - I can't recommend the DA*300 enough - it is a great lens. Having started out today with the 50-135, then swapping to the 300, I am now thinking I should start saving for a DA* 60-250mm.

Mind you from the looks of your portfolio you are getting pretty exceptional results already Whilst I was watching the Egyptian Goose he went into a right 'honk-fest' - really quite funny. All his mates joined in as well!

Regards

Mat

Thanks David and Bob - I started out with the 50-135 DA* (the first two) and then switched (as I inevitably find myself doing) to the DA* 300mm. I really rate both lenses! It was pretty much the middle of the day (between 1100 and 1300) so it was at it's brightest. I have since discovered that there was a big protest in the park today as the Government are intending to introduce parking charges, but I managed to miss that altogether (too busy crouching in a hedge I expect )

Regards

Mat

I love the first image - reminds me of the starship Enterprise! very well done

Mat

Hello all. I headed up to the Park in Richmond today to see if there were any signs of spring arriving... It was a lovely morning, although still cold and here's a handful of what I managed to get:

Some green shoots starting to poke through...




A Great Tit - I was pretty pleased to get this with the DA* 50-135 as he was fast! (and small), but with a combination of my sneaking and his bravado I ended up quite chuffed:




The inevitable squirrels - first one doing his ninja moves and the other striking a pose!







An Egyptian Goose mid-preen and looking pretty self satisfied:




and a backlit robin coming to see what's going on:




Hope you like them - any comments welcome

Regards

Mat W

Thanks Konrad and Angela. The Snow Leopards at Banham are very beautiful creatures (indeed whenever I see Snow Leopards anywhere I always think they are fantastic); and the penguins are always so much fun to watch.

Mat

Thanks everyone. I like the red panda too - it was nice to see one quite close up and active. Often when I've seen them in the past they've been asleep up in a tree. Their enclosure had no bars or wire which was nice as well and enabled some more options for taking pictures...

Regards

Mat

Hello all. I went to Banham Zoo near Norwich on Saturday. It was a really dark and murky day - all that was missing were great sheets of rain! However, the zoo was great, with some wonderful animals and it looked like it had benefited from some recent investment as in general the place was modern and looked very well maintained - I would certainly recommend it if you are in the area. I thought I would post a some shots I managed to get - overall I got a load of shots (still processing) but it was a bit of a mixed bag; the light was so poor so I was using high ISO/big aperture and still struggling with slow shutter speeds...and there were the usual issues with glass/wire enclosures. I've posted a couple in the gallery already and here are a few more...

I hope you like them...

Red Panda takes lunch...



Feeding the tigers... using tongs!



The inevitable penguins - these remind me of a group of tourists...



Snow Leopard tries to get some peace - on the roof...



Kookaburra



Pensive Snow Leopard in repose



I hope you like them. C&C welcome as ever

Regards

Mat W

Feb/Mar/Apr I hope... any ideas on what price it might be?? If such a lens arrives I am thinking I might trade in my Sigma 70-300mm...

Regards

Mat

Wow they are great shots - I especially like the first and the last. The first is a bit like a Mandelbrot set (I guess I shouldn't be surprised) and the last is just wonderful. I like the third one being called Stormtroopers - great title

Cheers

Mat

I agree as well - I take lots of wildlife/birds and the like inevitably find myself using the DA* 300 almost to the exclusion of everything else - it is really very good. That said, for certain situations (for example I was at the zoo at the weekend), I found the range from 70-300 of my sigma lens ideal (and it actually performs pretty well IMO), and would have been doing lots of lens changes if I had been using the 300mm prime. Horses for courses I guess, so recommend checking out the other available zooms; but by the same token if you use 300mm a lot then you certainly won't be disappointed by the DA* 300mm (even though it is expensive)

Regards

Mat