It was 102° (but it’s a DRY heat!) outside and I was itching to test the new lens that I bought at Action Camera a couple of days ago specifically for bird photography. I plan to take it with me in January on my next Moose Peterson adventure, photographing birds in Costa Rica. The focal length of this lens is 80-400mm and, when attached to my D7100, a DX (crop sensor) body, the lens is effectively a 600mm lens. Wow, I can’t wait to see what will happen with the 1.4x teleconverter attached. It would then be an 840mm lens.
At about 4PM, at the time of almost peak temperature, I ventured outside with my glass of iced tea and the new lens on the D7100. But, because of the length of the lens, I could sit in the shade right outside my back door. Almost immediately, a hummingbird appeared at the edge of the fountain to get a drink. I took a few shots, hand holding this monster 3.5 pound lens. Immediately after the hummer flew off, a house sparrow landed to take a few sips. After that bird flew off, I set up the tripod but no birds returned after that. I posted both cropped (same crop) and uncropped photos. Needless to say, I am very happy with the new lens.
Settings: 400mm (effective 600mm) f/7.1 1/125 ISO 200
Cropped:
As shot:
Cropped:
As shot:
