Wow from very little activity last week to a whole mornings worth today. I'm still downloading but I think I've got a decent bunch. I was not prepared today and did not have my portable HD so I couldn't dump the cards or I'd still be shooting. Looks like the 800/5.6 can be focused ok on the 40D if the light is good. Anyway, a few quick samples prepped as I downloaded.









I also noticed 9 different eagles close to the house as I drove back in around noon. There's one tree where a solitary bird has been for the past 3 years but today there was one mature and 5 immatures in the tree. And then a few hundred yards off where 3 more. Time to call the boss and tell him I'm feeling too sick to come in tomorrow, LOL!!

Hey Jim,
looks like focus is dead on to me. Nice shots!

Happy sick day .

Jim

Very nice work. Glad you're enjoying the lens.

wow, very nice,

Excellent shots
They're starting to arrive here in Iowa as well, saw 3 juvies last week. cloudy day so the pics didn't turn out as good as I'd hoped.

Don

Some more from today, just processed them real quick to get a feel for what I have. These are using a Nikon 800/5.6 on the 5D or 40D.













Now the Canon 400/5.6L on the 40D:





Next time I'll be better prepared and get hopefully get better positioned in relation to the rising sun.
--
Long live the HMS Beagle
Critiques always welcome!

Jim, these are spectacular shots. My apologies if this was addressed earlier but are you shooting manual focus and stopped down metering? If so they are even more amazing. Awesome shooing!

I also remember reading somewhere some of these lens adapters can be very dangerous on the 5d, mirror striking the adapter? Is this not an issue?

Hi Bob,

For the most part the images were manually focused. I few were taken using an autofocus 400/5.6 like the last two images in the last set. Stop down metering also but I'm finding it easier to take an incidence reading with my light meter for either f/8 or f/11 and then just dial that in manually. Then I can focus wide open and quickly count clicks as I turn to the right aperture. I actually shot a lot more flying pictures with my 40D and 400/5.6 than the 800/5.6 on the 5D. My main problem was I was using my truck as a blind to shoot from. I had not expected to find the eagles there yet so was not prepared with an adequate way to secure the lens to the truck window area. So I was hesitant to do much action shooting with it yet as I had to pay attention to securing it versus my focusing.

You are correct about some issues with the 5D and adapters. Seems some of the cost cutting decisions with the 5D included tight build tolerances. So a lens/adaptor combo on one 5D may be fine but hit the mirror on another. I have problems with only two of my dozen and a half alternative lenses. My Pentax 50/1.4 will be struck by the mirror anytime it is focused at infinity. My other problem lens is my Contax Ziess 50/1.4 which hits the mirror only when the body is in the vertical position. That is probably some slop in the adapter. Some folks will grind off the bottom of the 5D mirror while others will file down the metal ring on the back of the lens. It is such a rare occurance for me that I still have not selected a solution.