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This video was made last weekend at the NSWAG during the Tropfest event that I attended.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0AYjibuXoM

The only question to ask is why?

The geek in me finds it awesome, but the samples posted are less so.

Sounds impressive but his sample images are rubbish

Why did they turn out so bad ? The v1 is competent and the 500/4 is awesome, so don't quite get why the final result is so atrocious.

I blame YouTube

Rooz wrote:Why did they turn out so bad ? The v1 is competent and the 500/4 is awesome, so don't quite get why the final result is so atrocious.

is it because he is shooting thru a thick pane of window glass?

the one where he is looking onto the pier (DSC_2083) is at a angle to glass which is gonna make any image look shit.

biggerry wrote:is it because he is shooting thru a thick pane of window glass?

I think that is part of it, but another factor is 1/60s shutter speed. Even on a tripod, this is more than a little slow for an 1350mm equivalent.It is telling, I think that the couple on the bridge are much better and there the shutter speed is 1/250s. At that focal length, you are also going to have issues with heat haze, road vibration, wave action on the pier, etc etc.

I have to say though that none of these photos do anything to sell me the V1 as a cheap way into the world of super telephoto. Much as I would like to go there.

photohiker wrote:The geek in me finds it awesome, but the samples posted are less so.

Doesn't the V1 shoot movies? Why didn't "ThatNikonGuy" shoot some video with that set-up and add it into the YouTube video?

Why not just get the D800 and crop down to 10.1 MP - I wonder what effective focal length that would create?

From the video it didn't look like he was locking down the tripod head, and he was also not using any shutter release or timer so I'd say a fair bit of it was technique. As I've seen better example shots of long nikkor lenses with the V1 & J1.

Mr Darcy wrote:

biggerry wrote:is it because he is shooting thru a thick pane of window glass?

I think that is part of it, but another factor is 1/60s shutter speed. Even on a tripod, this is more than a little slow for an 1350mm equivalent.It is telling, I think that the couple on the bridge are much better and there the shutter speed is 1/250s. At that focal length, you are also going to have issues with heat haze, road vibration, wave action on the pier, etc etc.

I have to say though that none of these photos do anything to sell me the V1 as a cheap way into the world of super telephoto. Much as I would like to go there.

photohiker wrote:The geek in me finds it awesome, but the samples posted are less so.

Greg has nailed it with his shutter speed observations. That was about the first thing I noticed when shooting with the 80-400 on the V1, and I think I mentioned as such.

You seriously need to keep an eye on your technique, and the thick glass will also be less than useful here. I think the examples are good, in terms of showing some potential, rather than anything else. Certainly, the V1's sensor is up to the mark, and the glass is certainly very high quality.

And no, when you consider the cost of the 500mm lens, this is not a cheap way into the world of super telephoto.

Reschsmooth wrote:Why not just get the D800 and crop down to 10.1 MP - I wonder what effective focal length that would create?

One of the video modes on the D800 is a 2.7 crop factor .... I'll let you do the math, but I don't think that's a coincidence.

gstark wrote:One of the video modes on the D800 is a 2.7 crop factor ....

Not according to Thom Hogan

bythom wrote:The D800 allows FX or DX crop video, but not the 2.7x crop that the D4 does.

gstark wrote:And no, when you consider the cost of the 500mm lens, this is not a cheap way into the world of super telephoto.

But you must admit that the cost of a 500mm f/4 + V1 is considerably less than a 1350mm f/4 + D4 Especially when you consider that the 1350 would be a bespoke lens.

ATJ wrote:

gstark wrote:One of the video modes on the D800 is a 2.7 crop factor ....

Not according to Thom Hogan

bythom wrote:The D800 allows FX or DX crop video, but not the 2.7x crop that the D4 does.

Ahh, thanks. I knew I saw it somewhere ....

... and the other question is - why did they limit themselves to a 1350mm focal length?

With for example, a Nikon Fieldscope EDG85 plus a FSA-L2 DSLR Photo Adapter with the V1 adaptor and a V1 - then you would have a 1350mm to 4750mm f5.9-f22 zoom. Now with proper long lens technique, that would be an interesting test.

Mr Darcy wrote:Especially when you consider that the 1350 would be a bespoke lens.

Just get a used Canon 1200mm with the adaptor. You will also need a pickup truck to transport it.