WesIam wrote:
I recently acquired this lens.Has anyone on the Hog use this lens and what are your thoughts? My first shot at 600mm.Handheld.
The more the X factor, the more careful the photographer has to be.
For instance, lets take a 2X zoom like the Nikon 200-400 f4 lens, a very fast and only doubles it's focal length throughout it's zoom range.
Usually, as the X factor goes up, many negative things can happen, so when you use a high X factor slow lens you should adhere to the following. Especially one that has a 10X factor like the 60-600
1. always shoot at a shutter speed equal to the focal length of the lens or higher, so if your shooting at 60mm your minimum shutter speed should be 1/60 sec. if your shooting at 600mm, your minimum shutter speed should be 1/600 sec.
2. A slow lens like a 5.6 to 6.3 already has a great DOF (depth of field) and this increases as you go away from the camera location. So, isolating a subject from the back ground becomes something you have to take into account. Always try to have a lot of room behind your subject so you can isolate it from the background.
3. Learn to get close to your subject.
4. Shoot from a low angle, that's right, lay on the ground so your almost aiming upward, this will help eliminate a background.
5. A fast zoom can be shot wide open and still stay sharp, like a 300 2.8 or a 600 f4 are designed to shoot wide open and still be sharp. A slow zoom sometimes means it has to be stopped down a stop or two to get the maximum amount of sharpness out of it.
6. You may want to use Aperture Priority and auto iso to help get the maximum sharpness out of your lens.
The lens is capable of great shots but you will have to work on your technique to achieve greatness.
good luck and keep on shooting until the end.