First Test of Classic Nikon 800mm f/5.6 ED/IF manual focus on Monopod
Sep 16, 2016 01:04:55 #
Shot this bird looking for something to eat. Got a heavy duty monopod and head to handle this 17 or so pound lens. Must change camera settings and so forth. Just thought to post the evolution. Thinking of changing the camera, but still aching from the digital Hasselblad back. Still need one more shipment from California to get busy around here. Had the annoying spot focus on, inappropriate for this kind of shooting. Just wanted to see if the thing made an image.
Sep 16, 2016 02:06:57 #
mas24
Loc: Southern CA
Beautiful shot of the long legs bird. A 17 pounder. Heck, that can give you backache in due time. The 800mm prime manually focused on a heavy duty monopod. Impressive.
Sep 16, 2016 03:40:58 #
Sep 16, 2016 07:30:17 #
It's a good question. Maybe 100 feet or so. I will try to keep better track next I shoot. This was shot with a lowly D7000, so the net effect is a lens around 1200mm. This gives an effective magnification of 44x, like a huge pair of binoculars.
The $10,000 I spent restoring my Hasselblad system to functionality BEFORE the price cut became permanent (that's the only reason I sprang for that back - the discount) kept me from upgrading my smaller DSLRs.
The $10,000 I spent restoring my Hasselblad system to functionality BEFORE the price cut became permanent (that's the only reason I sprang for that back - the discount) kept me from upgrading my smaller DSLRs.
Sep 16, 2016 08:56:33 #
As it rains a lot here in Florida, I was looking into camera/lens covers, which all seem to be for little lenses, like the 300/2.8. This 800mm is basically two feet in length with lens shade. Big trash bags, that's the ticket.
Sep 16, 2016 09:59:30 #
Sep 16, 2016 12:51:04 #
Wow .. Fun and expensive stuff .. You definitely have to move on from the 7000 .... After you recover form the back $10,000 ..and of course a good non center tripod .. All in all you'll have a great set up .... I can't wait to see your future posts when it all comes together ....
Sep 16, 2016 15:13:03 #
I have a Gitzo Tele Studex Giant here (the small one, about 6 foot max height) and expect to see one of my big Gitzo Tele Studex tripods (about 11 foot max height) in the near future. I wouldn't dream of putting this lens on my supposedly top end Manfrotto. Too many coffee nerves on Manfrotto tripods, almost as if designed to be shaky. Manfrotto tripods make good coat racks.
The monopod is from Prima Photo and has a load capacity of 33 pounds, and the monopod head is from Sirui and has a load capacity over 50 pounds, and although this rather large combo is almost unwieldy on it, the light weight of the monopod, next to the 15-25 pound weights of the Gitzos, makes for a better lug-around. The monopod is so light, I can leave it on the lens foot when I put the camera down on its lens shade.
I just wish the focusing screen had a split image or microprism focus assist. Having to watch the focus confirm takes the eye from the action. Maybe I'll pull out my old F2 Photomic (plus MD2 and MB1 motor/battery) with Beattie Intenscreen and shoot film again. I have a 10,000 dpi 35mm film scanner.
The monopod is from Prima Photo and has a load capacity of 33 pounds, and the monopod head is from Sirui and has a load capacity over 50 pounds, and although this rather large combo is almost unwieldy on it, the light weight of the monopod, next to the 15-25 pound weights of the Gitzos, makes for a better lug-around. The monopod is so light, I can leave it on the lens foot when I put the camera down on its lens shade.
I just wish the focusing screen had a split image or microprism focus assist. Having to watch the focus confirm takes the eye from the action. Maybe I'll pull out my old F2 Photomic (plus MD2 and MB1 motor/battery) with Beattie Intenscreen and shoot film again. I have a 10,000 dpi 35mm film scanner.
Sep 16, 2016 15:42:15 #
Here is another shot from the Gitzo, after sunset, with a Nikon 2x tele-extender on the 800mm, making it a 1600 f/11, where the D7000 was not able to indicate focus electronically, so I used live view, zoomed in, and focused that way. An annoying work around. This bird is about 200 feet away from the camera, which saw the full frame lens as a 2400mm, or about 48X magnification.
Sep 17, 2016 22:00:52 #
Sep 27, 2016 09:07:00 #
I just checked the EXIF info... that shot was wide open at 1/60th second. Good thing old Gitzos do not have the coffee nerves of lesser tripods.
Oct 9, 2016 20:36:25 #
I finally got my Pocket Cinema Camera attached to my Nikkor 800. Here is a shot at nearly 100 yards (300 ft.) in about 20 mile per hour winds with a certain amount of vibration due to my big tripods and fluid heads are 2,700 miles away. This is a cropped frame grab from a 1080p 24p sequence, meaning the shutter speed is about 1/80th. Not the best conditions to reveal the quality of the lens, but interesting to show the monster magnification of it. The image is cropped only, but still at 1:1, pixel for pixel.
Oct 11, 2016 09:54:12 #
Finally got the adapter to attach the 800/5.6 ED-IF Nikkor to my Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera. Given the close to 2.5 to 1 crop factor, it makes the lens a 2000mm/5.6 which is the equivalent of 40x magnification. So, although I had lousy shooting conditions (windy, wrong tripod head) and the slow cinema shutter (about 1/48 seconds), I got a full frame capture to share of birds about 400 feet away. I note this post is like that above... oh, well...
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