Mountsberg - Birds of Prey

[Marko]

I agree - I really like this collection!
These things are so personal but my faves are the Merlins. Crazy "sad" expression in their eyes. Wonderful selective focus as well!

[mbrager]

These are excellent and interesting. Each shot presents a slightly different perspective which makes them all interesting. They are so sharp, especially the eyes and feather details. Isn't this the shoot you rented the 70-200 lens for? Any comments on the lens? Which one did you have (f/4 or f/2.8?).

[Mad Aussie]

I love the cute American Kestrel! Looks like a young one. Nice shots!

[asnow]

Thanks everyone.

mbragger - Yes this is the shoot I rented the Canon 70-200 f2.8 for. It was the rev 1 version. Love that lens as it is so sharp and focuses so much faster than my kit lens. It is however a heavy sucker so I used a monopod to take these pictures.

[AntZ]

All fantastic shots. The bokeh in the shallow DOF ones is beautiful. I have that lens, and will tolerate the weight because of the fantastic shots. Now, you know, you want to buy that lense The F4 version is also supposed to be very good and a lot lighter(and cheaper), but obviously not as fast.

[Hillbillygirl]

All beautifully done Asnow. Very nice use of shallow dof also.
As Antz said. You can pick up an f4 version of this lens, and it is usually just a tad sharper than the f2.8 version, along with being lighter. I have the f2.8 version and really, how often do I "really" need the 2.8???? I would say, if you really enjoy that focal range, save up some pennies and buy a good used f4 version.
There is also the new L version of the 70-300 that is getting excellent reviews also. Not as fast, but more reach.

[asnow]

Thanks AntZ and HBG. I will definitely consider you suggestions. I may rent one or both of these and give them a try in order to figure out what is the more suitable lens for me. As for the speed of the f2.8, HBG you are probably right, I did shoot most of these pictures at f5.6 and iso 200. Mind you I was only about 10 meters (yards) away from them so maybe the extra reach of the 70-300 would be more suitable when out in the wild.

Anybody have any suggestions on good places to buy used lenses?

p.s. The other lens I really want to buy is the 10-22. I've rented it twice and really love that lens. That would give me three good lenses (10-22, 50 1.4 prime, and 70-200(or 300)) and that should handle 'most' situations.

[Michaelaw]

All great shots but the Kestrel is way cute