Quite impressive. Amazing morning doves and cardinals brave that kind of cold ... here they bail in October.

Very nice. I like the black & white Winter scene best.

Good Comp, great shot. Keep shoot'n.

Second that motion!!! The af-s Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR lens is my GO TO lens. If I got robbed and the thief left me just one lens in the house, and it was the 2.8 70-200, I'd be so ever grateful and still be in business for just about everything. If the thief took it too, I'd cry like a baby.

Greer, my friend ... buy the lens. You won't be disappointed. I'm 74 years old and have been toting heavier long lenses around for over 30 years. Well, to boot, I'm disabled with MS and racked with unforgiving arthritis ............. and, I love my Nikon 200-500mm lens! Too heavy? Give me a break ... 'it comes with the territory'. The too heavy excuse doesn't cut it with me!

Having gone from serious amateur to semi-pro to pro photographer, I've packed around a lot of 'Fast Glass' lenses. Yes, these lenses do produce some sharper images, yet, even though I could afford it, I gave up trying to 'keep up with the Jone's' of the photo world. Much less trying to impress anyone, especially fellow shooters. Having shot next to 'Top Guns' from Time, Life, and other rival publications, my slower and un-impressive lenses compared to theirs did the jobs just fine!

You might be new to photography, and if so, always remember ... it's not the camera that creates the picture, but the person behind the camera. You don't need a high-dollar piece of 'Fast Glass' to take stunning photographs.

I'm partial to Nikon gear, don't get paid to endorse or promote their stuff, but I graduated to it and I truly love it. And, I just don't understand why folks continue to screw cheaper, lesser costing glass different make glass in front of their Nikons, Cannons, Sony's, just for the sake of pinching a few bucks or getting some smok'n deal. Then, the next thing they do in short order is to put the thing up or sale for what-ever reasons.

So, have a look at these images some of these SM'ers have posted to your question ... have a peek at a bunch more images people are getting with this lens. Nikon made a keeper for me with the 20-500 f/5.6 and depending on the photo subjects I strap on a Nikkor TC 1.7 III for 750mm @ f/8. If I really want to 'reach out and touch someone, the DX mode produces 1050mm. I love the results with all three.

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Wow! Gorgeous detail. That says a lot for the Nikon 200-500 (I have one too and love it).

Staying with DSLR. Good for you, my friend.

Wedding photography is for a certain breed of cat (IMHO) and I'm not one of them. I met a Bridezilla or three when I thought shooting weddings would put a whole lot of $$ in the bank. I then discovered, to my amazement and liking, that shooting Aerials for real-estate developers, brokers, and construction companies paid way better money ... and, I didn't have to put up with the snooty Bridezillas and go to all the head aches and hell of creating prints, albums, and all the rest of that BS. Additionally, shooting aerials was way more exciting and fun ... and, I discovered the world of shooting beautiful landscapes that found their ways into homes, banks, and a host of other clients.

To each, their own. When one stays glued to shooting weddings, one will, without a doubt what-so-ever, meet lots of Bridezillas along the journey. Good luck (if there is any such thing, as luck).

Best window mount for shooting out of the vehicle: Go to the hardware or plumbing store, buy a length of foam, winter pipe insulation - the kind with the slit down the entire length ... this sells for only a couple of bucks and works better and way cheaper than a photo bean bag.

I use this handy little noodle for most wildlife and scenic shots taken from the driver's seat of my vehicle. Simply roll the window down to a comfortable shooting height, cut the thing to the length needed with a pocket knife, slip it down over the window top and shoot! Keep it in place and the window can be rolled up so as to stay nice and warm, or cool with the heater or AC on - even at highway speeds.

Thanks Swamp-Cork!

Thanks Katydid. The photo was shot within 50 yards of the Clark Fork River and Noxon Reservoir - this country offers an eagle's smorgasbord of waterfowl. They often prefer the smaller Coots to the larger ducks and geese. Although, I once had a Beagle dog and while on an outing in Northern Arizona a bald eagle swooped down, sunk it's claws into the dog's back, and went airborne with the dog. The load was apparently too heavy for the bird, so it dropped the cargo from about 10 feet in the air. The beagle was unhurt except for bloody talon incisions on it's back.

Spied this eagle this morning perched in a dormant cottonwood tree. Hand-held from my pick-up's open window using the door frame for a brace. 500mm 1/1600 @f/14 ISO3200

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With that temperature they were probably freezing their a...s off and had to get airborne an flap their wings to generate some heat.

The trade-off is $$$$$$ and more $$$$$$$$$. Soon there will be laser-beamed cameras, and then thought-cameras where one just wishes a thought and out pops an image, and then .. and then ...

And then ... it all never ends!

The mirror up option on my camera works just fine. Having shot enough weddings and wildlife where the sound of the shutter has never been an issue - in fact, I am quite fond of the mirror smacking up and down. Giving up film in order to stay up with the 21st century's demands of client's 'wanting it now mentality' is as far as I'm going.

Staying where I am ... thank you.