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[wildfowler]

I’ve only been to Houston one time and I don’t think I could drive there without a roadmap today.

But I do remember it was within closer proximity to the Noxubee refuge. They have a waterfowl observatory there and I remember always seeing a lot of ducks and deer and other wildlife when I used to hang out there.

At least they used to have an observatory there when I was in school nearby.

 

[fcotterill]

I have the book on the secrets of autofocus for the Nikon Z camera that I have. About 1/2 way done.

One of the main reasons I signed up here yesterday was to be able to see the camera data for the photos posted in the 600pf topic on the main page. I don't know what pf stands for and didn't see "PF" listed in either of the model numbers of the two Nikon 600 mm prime Z mount lenses.

Nikon uses the acronym PF for its 4 telephotos that use a phase-fresnel element in the optical design to reduce the length and weight. The 300 f4E PF and 500 f5.6E were released in 2015 and 2018 for F-mount only; and they have been a big success, and still are used on Z cameras with the FTZ adapter.

Help me understand Nikkor Phase Fresnel elements (PF)

I have never owned or researched a Nikon PF lens. The rumored 600 PF lens has me interested in what that means now and for future lens development. The little research I have done seems to indicate PF allows smaller and lighter elements while maintaining quality. Since PF has only been around...

bcgforums.com

The first phase-fresnel Z Nikkor, the 800 f6.3S PF was released in April 2022, and this prime has arguably revolutionized bird photography especially being hand holdable and relatively affordable.

Nikon 800PF Review For Wildlife Photographers (Official Discussion Thread)

Nikon just announced their new 800mm PF and my extensive first-look review for wildlife photographers is ready to go! In this first-look video, I'll answer all the burning questions you have about the 800PF. We'll talk about the specifications, the controls, features, technology, ergonomics...

bcgforums.com

The 600 f6.3S released a year later also uses a PF element, although "PF" is not used in the formal name of this S line. The dedicated threads in BCG (and on other forums, reviews etc) testify why this lens is also a major success.

Nikon 600 PF Test: Sharpness, Bokeh, AF Speed, VR, Focus Breathing & More

In this follow up 600 PF review, I pull out all the stops and put the 600PF through the wringer! We'll scrutinize sharpness, AF speed, background rendering, focus breathing, VR performance, and I'll even share the ARCA-SWISS foot I'm using with it! But it doesn't stop there - we gotta see how...

bcgforums.com

I was trying to figure out if that topic was referring to the $15,000 lens, or the $5,000 lens.

After signing up, I was able to see that the topic was the less expensive f/6.3 lens. That lens may be in my budget next year.


Yes sir, I was hoping to get close this year with the teleconverter as a workaround.

The Z Teleconverters work well with caveats of loss of 1 stop of light, minimizing cropping and realistic subject distances

Thank you.

 

[NorthernFocus]

...Does using a teleconverter cause the camera to physically be limited to a new max wide aperture opening of two stops smaller?

Or does the camera still physically utilize its widest aperture setting and the depth of field associated with its widest physical setting, but now has an “effective” reduction of available light to work with?...

The physical aperture opening in the lens does not change. What changes is the effective focal length. F-stop indicates the size of the iris/aperture opening relative to the focal length of the lens. The teleconverter changes the focal length so the effective aperture changes with the change in focal length. So with a 1.4x converter aperture area decreases by half(1/1.4^2) therefore f-stop increases by a full stop(i.e. half as much light reaching the sensor). With a 2xTC it's 1/4 the light so two stops. It is a real physical change to the optics. Similarly depth of field also changes to the same effective aperture. So a lens with f 2.8 max aperture used with a 2xTC becomes an f 5.6 lens.