Hello Yamil! Thank you! I appreciate your inputs, yes, I'm familiar with Keeble (let's just say I've made my contribution to the local Palo Alto economy :-) ), I'll rent the 300mm this afternoon. I have not heard back from Marcus, but hopefully if you can let me tag along, I'm really interested in taking more shots of hawks. I live in Fremont and work in Santa Clara, but not a lot of "wild" bird for photography - I guess I need to go at the right time. In our area, it's just mainly ducks, gulls, terns and egrets.
Reason for my desire to upgrade is now I'm noticing unsharp images and softness (from the 80-400mm) - I'm using a new system at home and the monitor just shows a lot more of the "defects". Of course, It may also be my technique - I'll know after I rent that 300mm.
Anyway, if you plan on shooting on a weekend or friday afternoon and need a buddy, let me know. My email is jmontenejo@yahoo.com or jingm@amkor.com
HelloJinggoy, Another great shot from the Zoo. Great details, colors and shadows and I also like the blurred background. Thank you for your recent comment on my site. The equipment you need obviously will depend on your goals. I am not familiar with Nikon but I know that 80-400 mm is a very versatile lens. The 100-400 mm F 4.5- 5.6 made by Canon is considered by some nature photographers a better option than the 300 mm F/2.8 even with the converter. That is probably applicable to Nikon. However I also hear the oposite. I use the 400 mm F/4 DO. This is a very sharp lens and a better option than 300 mm F/2.8. Besides is cheaper and not as heavy as the 300 mm. My recommendation is to rent the lens for a couple of days and start doing some testing by yourself under different light conditions with different subjects, before you make any decision. A good place to rent equipment is Keeble & Schuchat, 290 California Street @ Birch Palo Alto, California. By the way, Marcus is a very good friend of mine. He actually is responsible for my enrollment in use film. Now we shoot very frequent at the same locations. If you happen to have interest for a particular image in or portfolios just contact us and we’ll be glad to help you. Take care and hope to see you in the field. Yamil