Black-capped Chickadee & Dragonfly

Where: Richmond Nature Park, BC, Canada

When : Sept 04, 2011

Gears : Nikon D300, Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED, Sigma 1.4x EX APO

I took some test photos with this odd combination: Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300mm f4.5-5.6G IF-ED + Sigma 1.4x EX APO teleconverter. Thanks to the smaller optics and lower lens group design, the Sigma 1.4x EX APO TC fits well with the Nikkor AF-S VR 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens. However, it hunts for AF because mine is not the DG version, but still works better than other brand's TCs. The non DG version TC will not convert the metadata to record the actual f stop and shutter speed. In fact, it records the lens metadata without the TC conversion. The Sigma 1.4x EX APO DG is an excellent teleconverter. It handles the CA (Chromatic Aberration) very well.

Initially, I was using AF-C servo to shoot the Black-capped Chickadee but it is hard to focus, so I switched to AF-S in the later shots. For the dragonfly shooting, I switched back to AF-C servo. All photos are in original frame, no cropping.

My opinion:

The performance of this odd combination surprised me, they work so well(beside the focus hunt) as the consumer lenses. This combination will be great for travelling when you don't want to carry heavy gears. Of course, the results can not be compared to those taken with the pro lenses. But hey, for value vs performance wise, this is an excellent match!