BIF Sony 300mm 2.8 + 2x

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Telscossie

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I have recently purchased the 300mm and paired with the A1 and the 2x tele but i'm not overly impressed with image quality compared with my 600mm f4 , I know some users have said it's great and hardly see the difference between to two set ups but i'm just not seeing it , I have been shooting BIF early mornings but in good light but images are very grainy and out of focus shooting at 5.6 max iso of 2000 and shutter speeds of 1600-4000
 
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You're being way too vague. What size subjects are you shooting? How far away are they? What are you comparing the lens to? 200-600? 600GM? What is your lighting like? High ISO or low ISO? Shutter speed? Time of day? Do you have any examples of "not impressed with image quality"?

Seeing as most users report the 300GM + 2X as almost indistinguishable from the 600GM with close subjects, it's most certainly going to be something going on with technique, settings, situation, etc.
 
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No problems here. Only lens I use the 2xTC with as I'm not a fan of the 2x on the 400GM or 600GM.
It is summer time....you basically have 2, maybe 3, hrs to shoot starting at sunrise because after that the shots will be ruined by atmospherics unless it is a full cloudy day without much temp change through the morning. I suppose the hour or two before sunset may be okay also but I don't shoot in the evenings and it takes forever to cool down here at night so I'm not sure if the evenings are free from the atmospherics or not??

To be of any further help would need to know more about what you've been shooting and ideally some examples of the shots you aren't happy with.

These are all with the 2xTC...

July 06, 2024.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
June 01, 2024-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
June 29, 2024-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
 
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nmerc_photos said:
You're being way too vague. What size subjects are you shooting? How far away are they? What are you comparing the lens to? 200-600? 600GM? What is your lighting like? High ISO or low ISO? Shutter speed? Time of day? Do you have any examples of "not impressed with image quality"?

Seeing as most users report the 300GM + 2X as almost indistinguishable from the 600GM with close subjects, it's most certainly going to be something going on with technique, settings, situation, etc.
Click to expand...
have updated the question . thanks
 
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Early morning and good light means we can probably rule out atmospherics. Shutter speeds seem reasonable for most BIF if you are experienced in panning with BIF at longer focal lengths. ISO is ISO, lens won't have an affect on the grain, that is a camera/sensor property. However, if the images aren't sharp then they would appear grainier over the subject than they would if they were sharp.

Not sure how else to help, maybe some examples would still help. Ideally uncropped with no exposure adjustment and cropped versions with all your adjustments as severe crops are always going to increase grain and lower IQ and underexposures, lifted in post could mean 4000ISO is really 8000ISO or more.
 
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I agree, we need some comparison pictures to evaluate further.

Also how far away are your subjects? I'm learning that distance is probably the number #1 determinant of a telephoto lens outcome. I can take the 300GM + 2x, or a 600GM and if I push the subject far enough out - all of the pictures are going to be garbage no matter what.

If you're shooting subjects at 200'+, that could easily explain what you're seeing.
 
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arbitrage said:
Early morning and good light means we can probably rule out atmospherics. Shutter speeds seem reasonable for most BIF if you are experienced in panning with BIF at longer focal lengths. ISO is ISO, lens won't have an affect on the grain, that is a camera/sensor property. However, if the images aren't sharp then they would appear grainier over the subject than they would if they were sharp.

Not sure how else to help, maybe some examples would still help. Ideally uncropped with no exposure adjustment and cropped versions with all your adjustments as severe crops are always going to increase grain and lower IQ and underexposures, lifted in post could mean 4000ISO is really 8000ISO or more.
Click to expand...
Many thanks for your help , Now that you mention it I do have trouble exposing for birds in flight so maybe that could be a problem possibly I will post some pics tomorrow thanks
 
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arbitrage said:
No problems here. Only lens I use the 2xTC with as I'm not a fan of the 2x on the 400GM or 600GM.
It is summer time....you basically have 2, maybe 3, hrs to shoot starting at sunrise because after that the shots will be ruined by atmospherics unless it is a full cloudy day without much temp change through the morning. I suppose the hour or two before sunset may be okay also but I don't shoot in the evenings and it takes forever to cool down here at night so I'm not sure if the evenings are free from the atmospherics or not??

To be of any further help would need to know more about what you've been shooting and ideally some examples of the shots you aren't happy with.

These are all with the 2xTC...

July 06, 2024.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
June 01, 2024-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
June 29, 2024-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
Click to expand...
Beautiful shots👍👍👍
 
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arbitrage said:
No problems here. Only lens I use the 2xTC with as I'm not a fan of the 2x on the 400GM or 600GM.
It is summer time....you basically have 2, maybe 3, hrs to shoot starting at sunrise because after that the shots will be ruined by atmospherics unless it is a full cloudy day without much temp change through the morning. I suppose the hour or two before sunset may be okay also but I don't shoot in the evenings and it takes forever to cool down here at night so I'm not sure if the evenings are free from the atmospherics or not??

To be of any further help would need to know more about what you've been shooting and ideally some examples of the shots you aren't happy with.

These are all with the 2xTC...

July 06, 2024.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
June 01, 2024-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
June 29, 2024-2.jpg by Bird/Wildlife Photos, on Flickr
Click to expand...
Those are beautiful!
 
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Telscossie said:
I have recently purchased the 300mm and paired with the A1 and the 2x tele but i'm not overly impressed with image quality compared with my 600mm f4 , I know some users have said it's great and hardly see the difference between to two set ups but i'm just not seeing it , I have been shooting BIF early mornings but in good light but images are very grainy and out of focus shooting at 5.6 max iso of 2000 and shutter speeds of 1600-4000
Click to expand...

I was very disappointed with the IQ of A1 + 300/2,8 + 2x TC I bought a few weeks ago. As the IQ without the TC was fine I asked for another 2x TC to try. I got it a few days ago and ... ... the difference is night and day, the new one is much better!
 
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curtf said:
I was very disappointed with the IQ of A1 + 300/2,8 + 2x TC I bought a few weeks ago. As the IQ without the TC was fine I asked for another 2x TC to try. I got it a few days ago and ... ... the difference is night and day, the new one is much better!
Click to expand...
I had a 1.4 x that was soft as ! Sony exchanged it for me😊
 
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