I have given my 70-200mm lens a bit of a work out this morning because I never seem to use it and I was wondering whether to trade it in. However, even with the x2 extender, it's still pretty fast because 2.8 becomes 5.6 which is OK but it is rather heavy!!! I am trying to work out which lenses I shall take to Kenya in February because I keep thinking about buying the new 500mm prime as it's light and easier to handle but I'm still not sure.
I wish I knew more to comment on the lens front. It doesn't look to me that this image is as sharp as those you usually take - but the little blue tit is a sweetie.
I have to agree with Helen that this doesn't look as sharp as your usual captures - perhaps the light wasn't good? I think if your can afford the 500mm prime Rosie go for it especially as it is lighter than this combination!! This is your opportunity to get those fabulous shots!!
I took the plunge and traded in some of my lenses to get the new 500 prime. It's amazing, so light to carry around :-) I hardly used my telephoto zoom lens because it's so big and heavy but having this in the bag is hardly noticeable and when it's on the camera it's so much easier to hold steady. The only downside is that you lose the zoom but that's not a problem when everything is far away, like most of the birds I seem to photograph!
Lovely shot even if its a little soft Rosie, tele-converters are notorious for softening the image its almost always down the your lens and camera calibration in auto focus mode, when you add another piece of glass i.e, (x2 extender) this adds additional inaccuracy to the point of auto focus, If you are looking to get a consistent sharp focus your camera needs to be calibrated for each of your lens and the extender when fitted, generally a Nikon Lens with a Nikon camera will be pretty much acceptable but with the larger lens not always perfect, almost all professional sports and wildlife photographs using large lenses have them calibrated to the camera:)
