Nikon 600PF - Share Photos & Discuss!!!

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This morning and evening I took my Z9 with the 600mm pf with a 1.4 teleconverter out with me to the field. I drove around to some playa lakes and other places jutst to see what I could get. My goal was to test the limits of the lens in distance. Many of these were with the 1.4 tele and shot in crop mode. My editing was done to try and get the best out of the images I could including cropping and denoising.

I am thouroughly impressed with this lens. I think it is better than my 500pf with better backgrounds, faster AF, and sharper.

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More blessings from the Bohemian Waxwings, enjoying Sorbus Commixta in a fellow birder's garden. This second 600mm PF set from me is now with the 1.4 TC.

I am delighted with this lens, for the features we are becoming familiar with : ease of handling, sharp high contrast images, excellent VR and performance with TC.
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First time out…and this was with the 2x TC…pretty good if you ask me. There are Red Headed WPs in Fl…but not usually in Fort Myers, more typically seen at Babcock Ranch. I’m impressed and glad for the weight saving over the 180-600 and any other lens IMO.
 

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Internal debate has been going on since bringing this lens home, as to where it would slot in my lineup alongside the 180-600 and 800PF, and I think that it's actually become the centerpiece. The 600mm FOV is just perfect for up close-to-moderate distance birds, and you can't beat how light and small it is. The 800PF is now my specialty lens, and I don't think it'll see as much use as before when it was my primary. The 186... it's so good, and it'll get used, but mostly for travel and areas that I know have birds that come in close. But yeah, 600PF is now my starting quarterback.

Another Dark-eyed Junco shot, this time in an apple tree in my backyard. A while back, when I was first starting out, I used to consider these one of my "nemesis" birds, but as now we're best mates. Their little "laser gun pew pew" calls are adorable.
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A dragonfly in flight at Consumnes Wildlife Preserve, original shot and after processing. 600PF with 1.4TC. No cropping, I use Transform in LrC instead most of the time. Transform was used twice at 150 on this image. Once before denoise in Topaz and once after. Even after all this processing the subject retained sharpness.

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Providing some pictures from a comparative lens/camera body test, specifically the Z600PF/Z8 compared to 500PF/D850.

Background – Have owned a D850 and 500PF lens for 2-3 years. The 500PF lens is ultra sharp, very light weight. This has been my ultimate field bird photography combo.

With the 600PF being introduced wanted to give it a try, as us bird photographers always want more reach. My friend owns a Z8 (which I was hesitant to lay out cash for until I saw if the 600PF lived up to the reviews where pre-production lenses were tested).

The 600PF arrived several days ago. I cobbled together a test chart. My friend and I had about an hour available yesterday to do the comparative test

Keep in mind, the test was not to measure ultimate sharpness of either combo. Rather it was to determine if the 600PF/Z8 could provide a meaningful increase in reach.

After making the test chart I carefully photographed it with the 500PF/D850, handheld, under overcast skies (I never use a tripod with the 500PF/D850) until the results with the test chart began to look marginal. Then tried the 600PF/Z8. Was there any improvement? Would the 600PF at 60 ft look as good as the 500PF at 50 ft?

Here are some selected results from the 64 images taken. All images were handheld, iso 400 with shutter speeds from 1/370 to 1/400th second. Aperture was f/5.6 for the 500PF (it’s sharpest f-stop which I commonly use with the 500PF ) and f/6.3 for the 600PF. Images were taken at 25 ft, 40 ft, 50 ft and 60 ft. from target. VR was on with both cameras/lenses. At distances of 25-40 ft you could not really differentiate the lenses. It was only at distances of 50-60 ft where distances could be seen

Conclusion – I am ordering the Z8…….if anything it gave a little more reach than expected from the difference in focal length (and this was compared to the standout 500PF). Also the VR and therefore sharpness seemed more consistent with the 600PF/Z8


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Test chart









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500PF/D850 at 50 ft











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500PF/D850 at 60 ft












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600PF/Z8 at 60ft
 

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ronnieboy said:
Providing some pictures from a comparative lens/camera body test, specifically the Z600PF/Z8 compared to 500PF/D850.

Background – Have owned a D850 and 500PF lens for 2-3 years. The 500PF lens is ultra sharp, very light weight. This combo has been my ultimate field bird photography combo since I bought it.

With the 600PF being introduced wanted to give it a try, as us bird photographers always want more reach. My friend owns a Z8 (which I was hesitant to lay out cash for until I saw if the 600PF lived up to the reviews where pre-production lenses were tested).

The 600PF arrived several days ago. I cobbled together a test chart. My friend and I had about an hour available yesterday to do the comparative test

Keep in mind, the test was not to measure ultimate sharpness of either combo. Rather it was to determine if the 600PF/Z8 could provide a meaningful increase in reach.

After making the test chart I carefully photographed it with the 500PF/D850, handheld, under overcast skies (I never use a tripod with the 500PF/D850) until the results with the test chart began to look marginal. Then tried the 600PF/Z8. Was there any improvement? Would the 600PF at 60 ft look as good as the 500PF at 50 ft?

Here are some selected results from the 64 images taken. All images were handheld, iso 400 with shutter speeds from 1/370 to 1/400th second. Aperture was f/5.6 for the 500PF (it’s sharpest f-stop which I commonly use with the 500PF ) and f/6.3 for the 600PF. Images were taken at 25 ft, 40 ft, 50 ft and 60 ft. from target. VR was on with both cameras/lenses. At distances of 25-40 ft you could not really differentiate the lenses. It was only at distances of 50-60 ft where distances could be seen

Conclusion – I am ordering the Z8…….if anything it gave a little more reach than expected from the difference in focal length (and this was compared to the standout 500PF). Also the VR and therefore sharpness seemed more consistent with the 600PF/Z8


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Test chart









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500PF/D850 at 50 ft











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500PF/D850 at 60 ft












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600PF/Z8 at 60ft
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I bought a Z9 when it came out, a nice camera, but fairly heavy for me. I still have it but don't use it any longer. When the Z8 came out I bought it and then I bought a second one! A perfect camera for me and now it's even better with the 600PF as I don't need the converter. I love the combo! Great camera, great lens!
 
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I took my 600mm PF out and found a Great Horned Owl high in a tree at dusk. I ended up getting shots handheld at 1/80. These images are cropped. I’m impressd with the sharpness and VR.
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I’ve been using the 600 PF 6.3 for about 10 days now and love it. Going from the 500 PF to the 600 has obviously given me more reach with at least equal if not better IQ. VR is great, and I find going from 5.6 to 6.3 to be insignificant. I am finding that I sometimes get too close in my setup, particularly for perched to BIF transitions. Just something I’ll have to get used to.

Here are some eagle shots from nearby.

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Had and encounter this morning with a Ferruginous Hawk this morning. He was on a high-line poll and took off when i got too close.

I really like the 600 on my Z9.

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Thanks for sharing those images......really impressive.....sharpness, focus etc. I ordered the 600mm f6.3 about a week ago. Not having a Nikon mirrorless camera , I tested it with a friends Z8 using a home-made test chart. Based on the excellent results. I ordered the Z8..

I posted the results on the results of my testing on this forum two days ago. In short, the results with the 600PF at 60 ft from the target were better than the 500PF at 50 ft. At these distances, it is notable that the images captured by both camera/lens combos are essentially on the same number of pixels. I love my 500PF/D850 combo and the fact that the 600PF/Z8 beat such a stellar combination convinced me to keep the lens and order the camera too .
 
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Photographed on the 27th Oct @ Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Fl. 1/3200, F/9.5, ISO 800. He made me wait for close to 45 minutes with his back to me while he searched for food in the marsh below him. Finally he turned to stare at me for a brief 5 seconds before resuming his search for an afternoon snack
 

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glsmith9823 said:
Photographed on the 27th Oct @ Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Fl. 1/3200, F/9.5, ISO 800. He made me wait for close to 45 minutes with his back to me while he searched for food in the marsh below him. Finally he turned to stare at me for a brief 5 seconds before resuming his search for an afternoon snack
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Any shots of him looking? :)
 
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Fishboy1952 said:
I’ve been using the 600 PF 6.3 for about 10 days now and love it. Going from the 500 PF to the 600 has obviously given me more reach with at least equal if not better IQ. VR is great, and I find going from 5.6 to 6.3 to be insignificant. I am finding that I sometimes get too close in my setup, particularly for perched to BIF transitions. Just something I’ll have to get used to.

Here are some eagle shots from nearby.

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wow!
Which location are those from?
Also, your shutter is really slow, and f/10 for a frame filling eagle. How did you managed to get it sharp?
 
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For those who have used the new 600 PF and have been on a photography safari or somewhere like Costa Rica, would you consider this lens adequate for a trip like that (assuming 600mm is the desired focal length), or do you think a wider aperature is still needed?
 
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JoelKlein said:
wow!
Which location are those from?
Also, your shutter is really slow, and f/10 for a frame filling eagle. How did you managed to get it sharp?
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The location is near a set of ponds in the western side of the Phoenix metro area. The ponds attract water birds, which then attract various predators including this pair of eagles. I was shooting the pair and adjusted to f10 to increase the DOF to get both eagles sharp and in focus. I was shooting from my vehicle and had the camera/lens braced against the window frame. Right then the left one (male) decided to take off and I just shot a burst of him. I didn’t try to adjust back to wide open, but I probably should have. I generally never try to shoot BIF with that kind of shutter speed. As far as sharpness….. just lucky. A broken clock is right at least once a day!
 
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