Boney Loc: Huntington Beach

I got very lucky and managed to buy the new Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens without being on a waiting list. I took some moon shots. They are cropped down to just the moon. They were taken with a D800E and a D7000. With this lens you can quickly see how crumby your tripod is. I have an Induro tripod with a ball head and if a breeze comes along the moon does a dance with the lens set to 600mm. Because of the weight of the lens, adjusting the camera and lens together on a ball head is difficult. Thinking a pan and tilt head would be better.
Discovered an interesting issue with the D7000. The first picture I took I used the D800E. Set it up in live view, zoomed in on the LCD display, pushed the DOF preview button to close down the aperture and focused the lens manually. Tried to do the same thing with the D7000 but discovered that the preview feature does not work in the live view mode, so I had to use the viewfinder for focusing because the moon is so bright that the LCD screen blooms making focusing next to impossible unless the lens is stopped down.
Incidentally the focus adjustment on the Tamron lens is one of best I have used. Very smooth and insensitive to setting the focus. In other words it was easy to focus, whereas most of my Nikon lenses are very touchy.
Sure hope the new D7200 has an articulating LCD.

D800E

(Download)

D7000

(Download)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Very nice shots. I don't know about the D7200, but I bet it will have a movable LCD. If you can't wait for that, get the D750. :D

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Congrats on the Tamron, I picked up one without a waiting list also, local shop had a few for my Canon in stock, I just took a week to decide to spend the money. Hope you enjoy your lens as much as I'm enjoying mine. I also found that the Kenko Pro 300 2X works well with the Tamron and my 6D. I wonder if Tamron's own converter will do even better?
http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-248993-1.html
I don't have a crop frame or an action oriented body to try it on. Maybe that is next.
[quote=Boney]I got very lucky and managed to buy the new Tamron 150-600mm zoom lens without being on a waiting list. ... Thinking a pan and tilt head would be better.
...
Incidentally the focus adjustment on the Tamron lens is one of best I have used. Very smooth and insensitive to setting the focus. In other words it was easy to focus,...

MtnMan Loc: ID

I'm waiting for a mirrorless D5300. My patience may run out sooner rather than latter.

jpendasulo Loc: TN

Same here. I have been playing with mine hand held on my D800. I definately need more practice with this lens at 600mm and I'm experimenting with camera settings. The photos attached are cropped.

I'm using AutoISO at 1/1000 sec., aperture priority, AFC, 51 focus points.

I would be interested in hearing what settings others are using for wildlife photos and birds in flight.

Fergus Loc: Westfield,IN

Fergus Loc: Westfield,IN

Really nice shots. Sorry that you tripod is giving you trouble. As the lenses get bigger and the cameras are heavier its going to be a problem until we bite the bullet and buy a big hunker of a
tripod to drag around. That's why I love the 2.8 lenses. They are so fast!

PJfromjoja Loc: Great Inland Northwest now NE FL

Nice shots. As far as the tripod head goes, I bought a simple az-latt telescope mount from a thrift store (not an equatorial mount but they will work too). I made a quick rudimentary adapter and and it works good. Now I just have to save some cash and buy a geared tripod head or a better tele mount.

cfhousler

good shota Boney; I ahot exactly the same with the 7000 and got the same as you. however yours show slightly more detail. guess you focused better than me.

Floyd Loc: Misplaced Texan in Florence, Alabama

Boney
I recently purchased a gray market gimbal head for less than $100 and expect it to solve problems after placing on a reasonable tripod. I've seen several "pros" pictures using a gimbal and, I think, MT Shooter does as well.

steve_stoneblossom Loc: Rhode Island, USA

To elaborate on Jerry's comment, the 750's LCD screen tilts up and down only, I believe 135 degrees up and 90 degrees down, but not fully articulated.

As for live view focus, I believe the 7100 is capable of accurately previewing, even without pressing a button. But no tilt screen.

PJfromjoja Loc: Great Inland Northwest now NE FL

FYI my little setup is for static shots only. A more dynamic head as a gimbal for moving stuff.

GC likes NIKON Loc: East Greenwich, Rhode Island

MT Shooter is a big proponent of gimble heads !! Trust in what he says........