For a good while there, I had myself thinking that circumstances surrounding current events had dampened my enthusiasm for chasing critters. And, yes, crowded parks did influence that feeling.
But when I look back at some of my photos shot over the past six months, what I see is that I was outdoors almost every day shooting landscapes and known targets. Maybe I was trying—unsuccessfully—to validate the suitability of the several lenses I shot with during this time.
Funny how I quickly got interested in critters again after the arrival of the PL 100-400mm; and the Oly 300mm just poured fuel on the fire. What I’ve come to realize is:
a) While the 90-280mm SL is the best general purpose tele zoom I’ve ever used, it is not, for me, a lens for bird-chasing. And the SL2 takes forever to wake from sleep when this lens is attached. Hey, Leica?
b) Both of the Lumix S Pro 70-200mm lenses are decent, albeit overpriced, lenses on their own. Both absolutely suck with a 2X teleconverter attached.
c) The Sigma 100-400mm trombone, even with its very good optics, is too fiddly in the field for critter-chasing when used with the SL2. In a climate where rain can come as suddenly and as heavily as if poured from a bucket, it’s not a practical choice to take along on a hike here.
d) Ditto (c) for the R telephotos. Light drizzle, no problem. Heavy rain can put water inside the lens through the focusing knurl.
e) The Nikon 300mm PF is useless on backlit subject matter, near-useless if there’s a strong light source anywhere in the hemisphere it faces. And recent copies are not as good as early ones.
Gotta remember to bookmark this one in case another episode of GAS lunacy strikes . . .
