Went into the archives of my 2008 Point Pelee trip for this Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) taken just under a year ago. They are quick little birds and seldom sit still long enough to be photographed. Also fast flying so in-flight shots can also be challenging. Not sure whether I’ll make it to Point Pelee this spring, and if I do it will not be for the full week I spent there last year.
Nikon D300 DSLR with Nikkor AF VR Zoom Nikkor 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED at 400mm ISO 400, 1/500 sec at f/11
Sigma offers a 300mm f/2.8 prime lens, a favourite lens category with sports and wildlife photographers. The really interesting factor is the sub-$3,000 price tag the Sigma version is expected to carry. I like the versatility of this f/2.8 lens which becomes f/4 with a 1.4X teleconverter or f/5.6 with a 2X teleconverter. Add the crop factor of most digital SLRs and you get 630mm and 900mm respectively on, for example, a Nikon DX digital SLR.
SLRGear gives the lens a pretty good review, which should be enough for amateur photographers to, at least, give this latest 300mm f/2.8 a serious look—I know it got my attention.
The lens it is available in Sigma, Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sony/Minolta mounts and comes standard with a soft case, tripod collar, caps and a large, round lens hood. The lens is apparently available for a street price of around US $2,700.
The reviewer concludes:
“Our tests show the Sigma 300mm ƒ/2.8 to perform very well: sharpness is very good, CA is optimized for use at ƒ/2.8, there’s virtually no distortion and light falloff is almost non-existent. Optically, the lens stands well on its own.”
This is not an April Fool’s joke; it is a real bird. I saw this Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) a few days ago on the boardwalk that runs through Grindstone Marsh—a part of the Hendrie Valley hiking trails—at the Royal Botanical Gardens here at Burlington, Ontario, Canada. This is a terrific spot to shoot birds virtually all year round. And if you park at the Cherry Hill Gate entrance on Plains Road, you can nip across the road to Louie’s West Side Grill, as I did, for coffee and a plate of delicious steak and poached eggs.
Photo taken in RAW format with a Nikon D300 D-SLR and a Nikkor AF VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D ED Zoom lens at 400mm, handheld. ISO 200, 1/640 sec at f/6.3
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price tag the Sigma version is expected to carry. I like the versatility of this f/2.8 lens which becomes f/4 with a 1.4X teleconverter or f/5.6 with a 2X teleconverter. Add the crop factor of most digital SLRs and you get 630mm and 900mm respectively on, for example, a Nikon DX digital SLR.
