Getting pro gear in India is such a pain ( thats another story in itself for some other time ) but finally on 20th October 2007, I got hold of a VR 300mm F2.8G lens.
I was being told time and time again by a lot of folks that I need to upgrade from the Sigma 50-500. The Sigma 50-500 is a superb lens for the price but yes it does get a bit limiting on the AF speed and the Image Quality (IQ) if the light is not too good and especially on a D2X which exposes the lens limitations pretty quickly.
Well..to start with the 300 is a lot heavier and well a lot “Macho” to look at. The VR certainly helps and the best part is what is probably extremely understated, the ” Nikon Nano Coating ” . This one really really works and works amazingly well.
Ok now how did I get to this conclusion ? The last sunday I was shooting spoonbills with the Sigma and that too pretty much into the rising sun. All the photos were like mud and I had a real hard time with lens flare that killed the pictures and made them look like mud. Now this sunday, enter the Nano Coating on the 300mm and the results are way better in pretty much the same conditions. Just that this sunday I got no spoonbills but, greater flamingos at the same spot !!!We had seen the flock come in on the previous Sunday (14th October 2007) but the birds had been too far for any photographic efforts. The Nano Coating cuts lens flare and improves the image contrast.
A quick image comparison ( by no means scientific ) between the Sigma 50-500 and the Nikon 300mm 2.8 with TC 17.
Grey Heron ( On the left is the Sigma and on the Right is the Nikon )
I clamped on my TC 1.7 and all shots are are with the TC which gave me a reach of 510mm.
Godwit in the of Pink Dawn. A dash of fill in flash used here.
Them ‘Mingoes’. I captioned this image “Firewalk”
I then gave the VR a spin by doing hand held shots. The AF even with the TC is very good and the AF can seriously keep pace with the action. Looking very good ….the lens 🙂
A Red Avadavat foraging nesting material.
An Indian Roller Fly-by. I used the Dynamic AF here ( The second from bottom setting of the 4 level AF possibilities switch on the back of the D2X )
Well you can see all the shots from this outing below
This is the ultimate lens for CQB ( Close Quarter Birds ) or BIF (Birds in Flight) photography 🙂 and of course mammals.
Results look great, but is it just the lens or has our technique improved with age too 😉
Cheers…Kishore
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ah…the “Macho” lens. rather interesting and insightful 🙂
I must agree with Kishore !
Nice Pics ! I have already started saving for my Nano Lens 😉