Kingfisher

Hi , nice juvenile (female) looks like you had some harsh sun to contend with ,colours look good ,not the nicest perch but they land were they land .
Looks rather soft to me ,cant see exif ,
 
den said:
Hi , nice juvenile (female) looks like you had some harsh sun to contend with ,colours look good ,not the nicest perch but they land were they land .
Looks rather soft to me ,cant see exif ,
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this is taken with my new 400 2.8 mk2 and ive convinced myself its not as sharp as my old mk1 . This was taken at f4.5 with a 1.4 converter on ,very early morning light, I have had a go at MA but doesn't seem to improve tbh
 
That lens is one of canons best ... were you .handheld or tripod mounted ..i can get Kingfishers tripod mounted (sharp) as low as 1/80 sec with a 300mm f4 ,what was your shutter speed
 
den said:
That lens is one of canons best ... were you .handheld or tripod mounted ..i can get Kingfishers tripod mounted (sharp) as low as 1/80 sec with a 300mm f4 ,what was your shutter speed
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Just looked in Lightroom at the data 1/1000 shutter f4 iso 250 tripod mounted , tbh its slightly better at f11 but it should be pin sharp , think I telephone call is in order
 
kev_blizard said:
this is taken with my new 400 2.8 mk2 and ive convinced myself its not as sharp as my old mk1 . This was taken at f4.5 with a 1.4 converter on ,very early morning light, I have had a go at MA but doesn't seem to improve tbh
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Something VERY wrong I fear, althoough you haven't said just how much of a crop this is.:thinking:

The mkii 400 F2.8L is an awesome lens, possibly one of Canon's best. If that shot is anything less than a huge crop, you need to be trying a different body, or getting the lens seriously checked-out.

I snapped a kingfisher with the same lens (and a 1.4x) a couple of weeks ago, without knowing that my lens was utterly obscured by cobwebs (don't ask). The sharpness of the resulting pic was still many times better than this! :eek:

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/check-your-equipment.633362/
 
Envious that you have a local spot. Lovely bird but as others have said, soft for a lens of that quality. Please let us know the outcome.
 
It is a fantastic pose etc, but I would agree that it looks way to soft and lack of clarity for some top end canon equivalent.. even if a heavy crop, should be better than that I think
 
Sorry, but it looks either like a huge crop or you've missed focus. I suspect the latter?

Maybe the highlights could be tamed a bit too, as they look quite bright on his perch.

Great pose and could've been a lovely shot :(
 
Kev,

Are they all like this, even test shots not cropped?

That lens has a reputation as being as good as it gets, and your settings are fine - it's not camera shake.

There are only 3 options as far as I can see -

1) its a massive crop so all detail is gone

2) User error - AF missed, but this should be pretty much a one off with this gear

3) faulty equipment,

I think the first question needs to be how big was the crop?

Mike
 
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pooley said:
Kev,

Are they all like this, even test shots not cropped?

That lens has a reputation as being as good as it gets, and your settings are fine - it's not camera shake.

There are only 3 options as far as I can see -

1) its a massive crop so all detail is gone

2) User error - AF missed, but this should be pretty much a one off with this gear

3) faulty equipment,

I think the first question needs to be how big was the crop?

Mike
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sorry for the late reply , lens now been sent back to Wex who are sending it Fixation to be recalibrated
It was not a massive crop and I didn't miss the AF point as the bird hangs around for ages and lens is mounted on a Wimberley / tripod combination

Having looked back to shots taken with my old mk1 version at same location and same distance it appears that this mk2 is slightly soft hence its gone back for calibration hopefully be back in a week or so :) , above photo taken with old mk1 version
 
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kev_blizard said:
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sorry for the late reply , lens now been sent back to Wex who are sending it Fixation to be recalibrated
It was not a massive crop and I didn't miss the AF point as the bird hangs around for ages and lens is mounted on a Wimberley / tripod combination

Having looked back to shots taken with my old mk1 version at same location and same distance it appears that this mk2 is slightly soft hence its gone back for calibration hopefully be back in a week or so :) , above photo taken with old mk1 version
Click to expand...

Looks like a lens issue then Kev, hopefully it'll get sorted - don't be fobbed off, that should be a razor sharp bit of kit.

Mike
 
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