New Toy!

[Kayaker72]

You just have to be closer. I have always thought my best bird shots came from when I was at or very close to the minimum focal distance and that distance is much closer with the 300mm than the 500mm.

Agreed.

I have not yet set this up myself, but I've been thinking about using shorter lenses, set them up so that they are manually focused on a perch with a deep DoF, and then using a remote trigger when a bird is approaching or at the perch. I've seen that technique used a couple times with great success but haven't yet done it myself.

[HDNitehawk]

Agreed.

I have not yet set this up myself, but I've been thinking about using shorter lenses, set them up so that they are manually focused on a perch with a deep DoF, and then using a remote trigger when a bird is approaching or at the perch. I've seen that technique used a couple times with great success but haven't yet done it myself.

If you are doing a back yard perch you could get enough cable to run from your camera to your computer at your desk inside. Once you get the camera set up you could shoot from your computer. I like that idea.

However the concept of a shorter lens vs the longer I am not sure you would gain much at minimum focal distance. The bokeh would change, but I ran the numbers on the 300mm vs the 35mm II and your subject would fill the frame equally at the minimum focal distance. The DOF at equal apertures is near identical. The only advantage I would see is if you own the shorter lens and not a longer lens. The perspective with the DOF and the shorter lens might give some creative opportunity.

[Kayaker72]

If you are doing a back yard perch you could get enough cable to run from your camera to your computer at your desk inside. Once you get the camera set up you could shoot from your computer. I like that idea......The perspective with the DOF and the shorter lens might give some creative opportunity.

Exactly. We used something similar in a blind at Laguna Seca for the landing pics. Bottom line is AF isn't fast enough, so shoot in a pre-determined MF mode. But I like the idea of being closer and having a wider angled perspective. While I hadn't been thinking 300 mm, this thread made me think of it as it is a way of getting closer to birds.