D300 Does Egret

[OWC Jamie]

[quote hal]well I can understand that - your amazing picture and one of a stationary heli would look exactly the same...

That was pretty much the universal response . :-)

[laarree]

[quote wowzer]Just got the D300.

I was using the Bigma (sigma 50-500).

The real trouble with the Bigma in the past was the fact that my D50 couldn't AF fast enough for 500mm...slow things like birds about to takeoff was okay, but anything fast and close (i.e. birds flying overhead near me) the D50's AF would not achieve focus.

When I got the D300, initially I had a lot of trouble focusing because now any camera shake is magnified by the smaller pixels (please feel free to correct me if I am wrong). Technique also helps--the bigma needs a tripod at 500mm. I also used a shutter speed of 1/2500 (IIRC). With the D50, I was able to get away with a monopod. The extra pixels of the D300 requires better technique.
So did you use a monopod or tripod with Bigma this time?

Shooting moving animals is indeed a technical challenge. The D300 helps because
you can set it at a higher ISO than usual and therefore capture at a faster shutter speed
because of its image quality at higher ISOs versus older Nikons, and its auto-focus
system is pretty sophisticated.

[wowzer]

Tripod.

[mikebw]

The whites look a bit hot on the top area of the wing. Could just be my monitor.

Great detail on the body though.

[laarree]

[quote mikebw]The whites look a bit hot on the top area of the wing. Could just be my monitor.

Great detail on the body though.
I opened the jpg in Photoshop--there is no clipping to pure white going on.