Combining Systems - Micro 4/3 (Lumix GX7) and Nikkor Super Telephoto 500mm f4 AiP Lens

Just for fun, I decided to take out my enormously heavy Nikkor AiP 500mm f4 lens, and mount my Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 body to it, for some bird photography. That's right, the body mounts to the lens in my mind, as it's tiny in size compared to the big telephoto.

 

I put the combination on my even heavier Gitzo tripod with Manfrotto gimbal mount, and commenced to photographing wading birds at my local nature walk. I set the GX7's in-body image stabilizer to 500mm, but left it on. You would usually turn it off when using a tripod.

 

Here's an example shot of a great blue heron.

 

Portrait of a GBH, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Nikkor AiP 500mm f4 Lens (Manual Focus)

iso 1600, f8, 1/1000 sec.

 

With an equivalent field of view to a 1000mm lens on full-frame 35mm, it's obviously a challenge to manually focus this big lens, and hold it steady enough to get a decent shot, even at 1/1000 second exposure. The manual focus magnifier and focus peaking helped immensely, especially the magnifier. The peaking seems to be a little too forgiving, overestimating the depth of field at this long focal length.

 

This bird actually was a little too close for me to get the shot I wanted, not your normal situation in bird photography.

 

Even at iso 1600, the noise levels are quite reasonable with the GX7.

 

So, rather than worry about carrying a tele-converter to get just a little more reach from my 500mm lens, I can just carry the GX7 body! It probably weighs less than a converter, and you don't lose an f-stop of light gathering. Pretty cool.

 

Now that I know it technically works okay, I need to go back and see if I can get some more interesting images with this combination.

 

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Feeling the Urge to Get in the Kayak - It's Osprey Season Again!

 

Osprey (Pandion Haliaetus), by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, 300mm f4 AF-IF Nikkor

iso1600, f5.6, 1/1000 sec

 

I saw a great post on mu-43.com about shooting ospreys at the nest.

 

(Click Here) to read denniscloutier's post and see his awesome osprey picture.

 

Forgive me for reposting last year's osprey shot of my own above, but it is motivating me to make time to get the kayak down from the garage ceiling and get paddling! It's one of the great attractions to living here in Northern Virginia - the Chesapeake Bay, Potomac River, etc. - lots of great kayaking, and lots of great birds of prey, including a healthy population of bald eagles.

 

This shot from last year made it into a published calendar, along with my shot of an Eastern Kingbird.

 

So, before this actually posted, I did dust off the kayak and got out to shoot. No perfect shots on this particular trip - this is a patient person's hobby. But I got a couple that are perhaps worth sharing:

 

Osprey (Pandion Haliaetus), by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, 500mm f4 AiP (Manual Focus) + 1.4X Nikkor Converter

iso 800, f8, 1/1000 sec.

While the ospreys are my real target species, these beautiful little Kingbirds are my constant companions at this particular spot, so I occasionally grab a nice shot of them, too:

Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus), by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, 500mm f4 AiP (Manual Focus) + 1.4X Nikkor Converter

iso 560, f8, 1/1000 sec.

 

It's great to welcome springtime with some time out on the water with my camera!

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

 

Awesome Bird Shots With Panasonic Lumix DMC-G5, Lumix 100-300 f4-5.6, and a Telescope

 

By FernandoBatista on mu-43.com

Shot with DMC-G5 and Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6

Image Source: http://www.mu-43.com/f54/bird-new-g5-image-heavy-33977/

 
FernandoBatista on mu-43.com has posted several amazingly sharp bird photos, all shot with the new Lumix DMC-G5. Some were shot with the Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6, others with an apochromatic telescope adapted to the Lumix body.
 
(Click Here) to see them all.
 
I have really gotten some nice images with the 100-300mm Lumix lens. Sitting birds are one thing. Shooting them in flight, which really helps to make them look less like stuffed taxidermy models, is much harder. The Lumix lens' fast autofocus is pretty good, but it's definitely still not a high hit-rate endeavor.
 
 

Red-Wing Blackbird, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6 at 275mm

iso400, f5.6, 1/80sec

 
This is about the best I've done on birds in flight with the Lumix 100-300:
 

Osprey in Flight, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1, Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6 at 177mm

iso400, f8, 1/1250sec

I've actually done much better with a manual focus Nikkor 500mm f4 than with any autofocus lens. That said, I've spent a lot more time perfecting my technique with that lens, and matched with the superb Nikon D700 full-frame sensor, it's not really a fair comparison:

Ospreys in Flight, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor Ais 500mm f4 (manual focus)

iso500, f5.6, 1/1500 sec

I have this one enlarged to 12x18 on my wall, and the sharpness is remarkable. It's easy to tell these guys aren't stuffed!


DMC-365.blogspot.com