Question about background rendering of Z 180-600mm

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As other's have stated, definitely atmospherics affecting the background blur. I have found the background blur from the 180-600 actually very good in most circumstances.
 
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In short the lens was not the problem in these examples my composition and atmospheric conditions contributed to the 'problem'.

I am generally very pleased with this lens. It is definitely an improvement over my old Tamron 100-400mm - which I used on a DX camera, so I am glad to have the full reach of that combination back but with improved sharpness, contrast and VR and with the improved low light capabilities of FF. But I do find the FF combination at 600mm trickier to use than the DX combination, so for me there is definitely a learning curve to using the 180-600mm. My last observation is that this lens is probably best paired with a faster, more consistent and more sophisticated AF system than that of the Z6ii, as well as with a higher resolution sensor.

Thank you all for your feedback. I really appreciate the collegial atmosphere of BCG's forums.
 
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jcollins said:
One thing to note is that all of your shots are at f6.3 while most of the OP shots are at f8, while atmospherics are the major problem at play here it doesn't really help to stop down the lens where you start getting unwanted background detail. If I were taking the picture of the man in the field, I'd probably have gone for f6.3 to keep the foreground and background as OOF as possible, it might help to understand why f8 was used.
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I agree. These shots were among the first I took as I received the lens and as I was trying out the behavior of the lens. I have since found out that the lens is quite sharp wide open but improves a little in sharpness by closing it 1/3 of a stop. As it turns out f/8 is no improvement over f/7.1 so I have generally gone to using f/6.3 or f/7.1 depending on the subject and the available light
 
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Steve said:
As a final note I'll also add that one of the tricks to using lenses like the 180-600 or any aperture-limited lens is learning how to overcome the limitations of that optic. You have to really learn the strengths and weaknesses of a given lens and make decisions in the field to deliberately play to those strengths and avoid situations where the lens isn't going to perform at a high level - or at least adjust when in those situations to make them favorable.
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Thank you Steve. Your photos demonstrate your point convincingly and beautifully. Now all I need to do is find these animals :)
 
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