Steppe Eagle

Hi you took some really nice pictures. What lens are you using with your D850?
Do you live here in KZ or were just visiting? -Rob

Hi Rob. Thank you very much! This picture is taken with a 600mm f4/G ED. I don't live in Kazakhstan (yet) but my wife is from there, we try to visit every summer. This was the first time I brought the camera equipment with me and I did not regret it. Had the time of my life and cannot wait to come again next summer!

Hi Kari, aha, that is a serious lens haha. Yes, looks like a great time and I'm jealous of some of the birds you spotted.
My wife would disown me if I bought a lens like that :-) But I am hoping to get a Z7ii once there are more of them on the used market (and if they can upgrade the firmware so it autofocuses at least close to the performance of the D850!). And if they ever come out with a Z-mount 500 F4 PF I might look into that.
best
Rob

Yes it is a great lens! I got it used online shortly after the newer version was released. But it's a bit heavy to carry around, those PF lenses seem very interesting in that regard. Another thing is the very narrow depth of focus, which means that in many pictures I don't get it quite right despite autofocus tuning. I think the mirrorless developments are very interesting there because they focus directly on the sensor, but like you mentioned they don't preform quite well enough now. I think I'll wait for 1 or 2 generations before switching.
I saw many fantastic birds, many more than I managed to get decent photographs of. I had the help of Vladimir Muravskiy for all of those birds photographed in the south, he guided a tour organized by this website.
Best regards,
Kári

Hi Kári
it's good that you mentioned that. I had assumed that the trips would stop when Askar passed away. Now I know who to contact.
I'm intrigued by the 500mm PF, too. But I don't think the FX version of it would work with a teleconverter and the FTZ adapter. So I will wait :-)
take care
Rob