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Denali Wolf


Denali Wolf
Photo Information
Copyright: Christopher Campbell (cjcampbell) Silver Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 28 W: 0 N: 57] (270)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2007-06-02
Categories: Mammals
Camera: Nikon D200, AF VR-Nikkor 80-400mm ED
Exposure: f/11, 1/500 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version
Theme(s): zoologist's other favorites, BEST OF: Coyotes, Dingo's, & Wolves 1 [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-06-11 18:29
Viewed: 666
Points: 16
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Wolf in Denali National Park. The Alpha males wear radio collars.

I am becoming increasingly unhappy with the 80-400mm Nikkor. It simply is too soft at 400 mm, no matter what you do. I know it is a poor worker that blames his tools, but dang.

Edit to add some information about this particular wolf: He is a gray wolf, rather large (the grass is a little above waist high on me), following the track of some caribou we had seen earlier. Other reports said that there were four other wolves following roughly the same line, with this guy in the lead. The caribou are in the middle of their spring migration and are moving slowly in small groups of no more than 30 animals or so. No doubt these wolves intended to pick off one or two at the earliest opportunity.
rousettus, deblink, Debz, andTiggerstoo has marked this note useful
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Discussions
ThreadThread Starter Messages Updated
To vanderschelden: Nikon 80-400 mm lens sharpnesscjcampbell 1 06-12 13:00
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Christopher,
Well I think the image is impressive. The colours in the Wolf look superb and it blends in well with the vegetation that surrounds it. It is a lovely animal to view.
Cheers,
Debbie

  • Great 
  • trinko Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 610 W: 83 N: 324] (4310)
  • [2007-06-11 21:59]

focus isn't soft as far as i can see. also 1/500 is a bit slow for a moving animal in my opinion. nice colors and pose. sure looks like a dog to me.

  • Great 
  • Debz Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 582 W: 0 N: 866] (3283)
  • [2007-06-12 4:24]

Hi Christopher, this wolf was moving fast and you probably had shoot fast to catch him, so I think its not bad at all! In fact I think its wonderful, a beautiful Wolf and there is fine detail and natural colours on the Wolf. Good light also. I have a Canon 70-300 and at 300 over a distance it doesn't do well at all. Anyway I like this shot a lot.
tfs
debz

Hi Christopher,
Nice action photo; it isn't razor sharp but you can argue the softness suggests 'movement'...
In the recent past Nikon was known for its criteria concerning lenses. If the lens doesn't met the former, the lens wasn't market. I don't know if this policy has been changed. I doubt it?
For this specific lens I don't know whether it is seen as a good lens in the Nikon gamma or not; what we do know of course is that the range between 80 and 400 seems an awful lot.
TFS
Annick

Beautiful shot. I really don't get the impression that it is too soft at all.

Hi Christopher,
wonderful capture. it is natural and nicely composed. focus, POV and colors very nice. Thanks
best wishes
Ahmet

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2007-06-13 23:13]

Hello Christopher

Wow a very good capture of this wolf.The details are sharp and the colours are well saturated.Nicely composed in the frame.Good sense of motion forward from this shot.TFS

Rob

The face and teeth look pretty sharp to me. The color is beautifully natural. I had the Sigma 80-400 and it was softer than this at the long end. I now have the Canon 100-400 and it is definitely better at 400mm. I sure have seen some wonderful photos taken with your lens. That's a lot of money to spend to be disappointed. I'm jealous of this shot. We just returned from Yellowstone and only saw wolves at a distance. A lot of the photos I've seen of Yellowstone wolves show them to be not nearly as robust as this fellow of yours.

TFS
Evelynn : )

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