Red Kite

[John 2]

This is a bird that has been re-introduced to the UK in recent years after having been hunted to extinction. It's rare to find an example without wing tags because it is still being monitored but a few escape the net and I guess some even migrate from the continent. This was taken in one of the release areas - Loch Kent just north of the Solway Firth.

Nikon D7000
70mm - 300mm Nikkor plus 1.4 converter.
1/800th sec @ f8
Spot metered with +.67 compensation
ISO 400

[jprzybyla]

Nice image of a beautiful bird, good to read they are being restored to the original habitat. I noticed you shot this with a D7000 with a 70-300 plus a 1.4 converter, how did you focus with the teleconverter? I thought the D7000 would not focus well beyond f5.6, it would seem the tele would up that to f8.

[gregj1763]

John you have to hang that somewhere. Thats something special

[terrib]

Gorgeous!

[harmon1]

Excellent!

[Anne22]

Stunning bird and photo ...

[John 2]

Nice image of a beautiful bird, good to read they are being restored to the original habitat. I noticed you shot this with a D7000 with a 70-300 plus a 1.4 converter, how did you focus with the teleconverter? I thought the D7000 would not focus well beyond f5.6, it would seem the tele would up that to f8.

Thanks all for your comments.

Joe, you are absolutely right. It is one of the most frustrating facts about the combination. I have been wondering if the D7100 is any better given the reviews about the overall improvement in Autofocus performance. On this occasion, I know that at some stage I resorted to manual focus because these birds soar quite lazily on a warm day and I suspect this might just such a shot. Sadly my meta data doesn't record this info. Even so, I think that I came away with some 50 -60 frames of which only a handful were worth keeping. I still enjoyed myself enormously though.

P.S. Just looked at your SmugMug site - stunning images and I note that you list nothing longer than a 70mm - 300mm Nikkor. I have been persuading myself that I need a 150mm-500mm. Perhaps perseverance would be the less expensive option.

[jprzybyla]

P.S. Just looked at your SmugMug site - stunning images and I note that you list nothing longer than a 70mm - 300mm Nikkor. I have been persuading myself that I need a 150mm-500mm. Perhaps perseverance would be the less expensive option.

Hi John, you are correct, all I use is the Nikkor 70-300. I capture everything hand held. I am as likely to shoot a dragonfly as a bird flying, hand holding allows me to act quickly. A feature I really like on the 70-300 is the autofocus override. If I have just shot a bird at infinity and the dragonfly is 5 feet away, a quick turn of the focusing ring and I am close to the focus. The camera hunts much less and snaps into focus. Are there some things I cannot shoot...of course. I shoot mainly birds and I like to be close enough to capture the feather detail, so I have to be close. Florida for bird photography is wonderful in that many opportunities are offered in an outing. And then there is the cost of larger lenses, I just cannot justify it at this time.

[ajsmith]

What a gorgeous photo.

I am new to DSLR photography and have found myself looking for birds to photograph. They are so colorful and beautiful.

[Digital]

Really nice photograph.

Bruce

[John 2]

I'll persevere I think Joe.

Thanks Ali, thanks Bruce.

[dje]

Excellent capture John.

Dave

[jamn4ex]

wow! what an image!! manual focus. Double wow!! I stand in awe..

[NorthernFocus]

Excellent capture of a beautiful bird.

Regarding the AF of D7000/7100, the 7000 had the previous generation AF system which Nikon claims will not AF with a smaller max aperture than 5.6. The 7100 has the newest gen AF system rated for f8. Having owned both bodies, IMO the 7000 doesn't hold a candle to the 7100. I was so frustrated with the 7000 that I gave up on shooting BIF with it and restricted its usage to landscapes and mammals. Since I've had the 7100 the majority of what I've shot with it has been BIF.

[John 2]

Thanks Dave, thanks James, thanks Dan. Dan that's very helpful. Although I have been happy with the D7000, I have been considering the upgrade for some time for lots of reasons. A D600 was on the cards for a while, the hesitation being weight and that I have a bunch of very good DX lenses. The IQ of the D7100 seems to be a step up and good enough to make FF unnecessary. Your experience adds fuel to the fire.