What Do I Think of the Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 VR II—Part 2

Sometimes, I really wonder about both Nikon and Canon.  Why?  Because both of them completely ignore some very simple but important improvements that they could make to their equipment.   Improvements that the vast majority of their customers would appreciate and probably not cost them much money at all.

What specifically Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 VR II feature am I talking about?  The tripod foot attached to the lens.  The manufacturers’ tripod foot is too bulky and lacks the Arca-Swiss milling that almost all advanced amateur and professional photographers use.  What would it cost to add an Arca-Swiss type of plate milled into the bottom of the foot?  People who do not use this type of tripod mounting could attach their own plate to the bottom of the foot like they currently do, but for millions of photographers who use the Arca-Swiss system, it would mean one less accessory (which neither Canon or Nikon makes) that the photographer would have to purchase.

In addition, in the Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 VR II, I have found that the collar is not strong enough to allow for the lens to be easily pivoted from landscape to portrait orientation.  Many years ago, I purchased a Nikon AF-S 300mm f/4 that had a Kirk NC-300 replacement lens collar attached (you can see it here).  The collar works great.  I will probably replace the one on the 80-400mm with a Kirk collar made for it.

A shout-out to Nikon, people want equipment that works easily so beef-up your collars so that they do!

Today’s photo is as much about mood as it is about the crane.  The bird was completely in the shade and the light had a slight blue/green cast to it.  I wanted to maintain that look so I set the white balance to cool and I underexposed the photo by about 1½ stops.

Enjoy

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 (DX format), 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 at 600mm (effectively), ISO 2500, f/5.6 at 1/250^th of a second on a tripod.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 5—applied Nikon Vivid preset during import, set white and black points, added clarity, sharpness and vibrance and did some dodging and burning with an adjustment brush.

What Do I Think of the Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 VR II—Part 1

This spring, I purchased the Nikon AF-S 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 VR II.  I bought this lens to shoot my grandchildren’s softball and baseball games.  I am going to Wyoming in August to attend my nephew’s wedding and JD and I plan to visit Yellowstone National Park (my very favorite national park) after the wedding.   I wanted a longer lens to photograph the animals.  I felt like I needed the extra reach that this lens gives me to do a good job photographing both subjects. 

I generally use the lens on my Nikon D800 with the camera set to DX format that effectively turns the lens into a 120-600mm lens. 

What do I think of the lens?  Before I reply, a couple of notes.  Shooting the lens made me learn “good long lens” technique.  Between the length of the lens and the small pixel size of the Nikon D800, you must keep the lens very still.  The slightest movement will produce blur.  Because the depth-of-field is so narrow, you must focus accurately on your subject. 

I intend to go through a series of shots and describe various aspects of the lens. 

Today’s photograph comes from one of my visits to Brazos Bend State Park.  I was taken relatively early in the morning when the sun was very low in the sky.  I focused on the bird’s eye. 

Enjoy 

Camera settings:  Nikon D800 (DX format), 80-400mm f/4.5~5.6 at 600mm (effectively), ISO 100, f/8 at 1/250^th of a second on a tripod. 

Post Processing: 

Lightroom 4—applied Nikon Vivid preset during import, set white and black points and added clarity, sharpness and vibrance.

Amy Blake’s Academy of Dance Recital—No 5

 

To me, ballet is the most graceful art form there is.  Photographing ballet dancers is probably my favorite subject matter—in spite of the fact that I am not really that good at it and I have not done it very often.  Still, when I get to do it, I really enjoy it.

Today’s photo is totally about grace.  I took this photo early in the performance and was still thinking that I needed to use the lowest ISO that I could.   It was shot at:  ISO 2800, f/5.6 and 1/90^th of a second.  Pushing the ISO to 6400 and opening the f-stop to f/2.8 would have allowed me to use a shutter speed of 1/750^th of a second which, in turn, would have probably frozen her back leg and produced a better photograph.

Live, photograph and learn.

Enjoy

Camera settings:  Nikon D4, 70-200mm f/2.8 at 140mm, ISO 2800, f/5.6 at 1/90^th of a second on a tripod.

Post Processing:

Lightroom 4—applied Nikon Vivid preset during import, set white and black points and added clarity, sharpness and vibrance, and cropped image.