Hot pursuit

Gary,nice shot! A butterfly in flight is not easy to get in focus. You did pretty well here

Very cool, Gary. A capture in midflight is really tough. Too bad the light did not allow for a faster shutter speed. The presentation of the stationary butterfly on the beautiful bloom is wonderful.

Nice compo Gary!

Second butterfly is a nice choice, Fantastic shot

Gary,
this is a verey, very nice shot with a good story!

I use a 300f4S and I'm pretty satisfied of. It is lighter and easily handled with a closer focus (good for close up with a good bokeh) than the 2.8 and... less expensive by far! Yet the 2.8 has a unique sharpness...
The only concern I had with it was the collar, then I overcame the issue with a dedicated Kirk collar that works very vell.
Mauro

Here's an image taken with the 300 f4

Mauro

Hey Gary, awesome image. great timing on the shot, good details and BG,

Gary, another fleeting moment captured! I know exactly how difficult it is to catch insects in flight. I have not yet succeeded in having two insects in the frame with either one or both in flight and both sharp. You came amazingly close here, with only slight motion blur on the flying BF---no doubt due to the overcast lighting conditions forcing a lower shutter speed. But your plane of focus and composition look perfect!

I think you’ll like the 300mm f/4. It’s one of my favorite lenses on the D700. I agree it may not be quite as sharp as the 105mm Micro-nikkors on a crop sensor camera, but the bokeh is wonderful. And if you ever move to a full frame DSLR with the more forgiving larger pixel-pitch sensor, my tests indicate that the 300/4 out-resolves the sensor across the frame.

Since it’s a newly acquired lens, I do suggest that you perform some careful tests locked down on a tripod of a flat detailed subject, to check sharpness at your focal distance range of interest. As you say, Live View is great for this. Wide open, mine is slightly soft at nearest focus, but tack sharp at a foot or to further out. Stopped down one or two clicks, it’s nearly flawless close-up even on my D200. If you do landscapes, it’s super sharp past 20 feet, even wide open. The only lens with higher resolution in that range is the 300mm f/2.8.

Bob

Wonderful capture Gary.

Very nice comp and a great capture, Gary.

Great capture Gary especially getting the BF in flight. Enjoy your new lens.

Gary: Terrific capture of the moment. The motion blur of the male is the only thing that keeps this from being a perfect 10. Just have to settle for 9.95. I envy you the 300 f4. There is no such lens available for Sony yet. I have a 300 f2.8 but it is so heavy that hand holding is out of the question and even using a monopod is unwieldy. Great shot.>=))>

Gary, just one more comment if I may. If this is the kind of image you can capture when your just learning a new lens, I keep wondering what your skill will offer us next when your completely familar with the 300/4. Perhaps four male Papilio's surrounding a female in a perfect circle, all in flight and all in perfect focus?!

I'll throw my 2 cents in on this one too. I think this is a great shot. The motion is due to the slower shutter speed. I appreciate the reflexes it takes to get this kind of capture without moving the camera and making everything soft. I think you'll have a short learning curve and really like this lens. Mirror lock up, if you have it, on slower shutter speeds helps as does a shutter release cable. Cheers!

Gary, this is nice. I love my 300f4 and use it alot on everything from birds to flowers etc, I think you will love this lens once you learn the ins and outs.