Delighted to see them back in the park. While not really a native bird, they are a long time introduction from Asia, and these are “wild”. Prospect Park, Reading, UK
Canon R5 Mk II + RF200-800mm
Bonus female, also showing a failure to correct for depth of field
On aperture - “Oh!” and “How did I not notice that over years of use?”
Perhaps explained by rarely even wanting to change the aperture from minimum as I was always craving more light in my birding photos - if I had more light than I needed, I’d just up the speed, as that’s almost as useful for birds.
If you’ve already got a 100-400mm the 600mm fixed focal length is probably not going to give you enough “more”.
As to “photohowitzer” - all the bird photos I’ve given on this group are hand-held (if obviously with camera and lens stabilizer functions all on), even those of birds in flight. Tiring to the wrists but doable for a minute or two - and yes, I do wave around a couple of 4kg one-hand dumbbells as part of morning exercise.
Provided we’re talking about the same lens, anyhow…
Every once in a while I also get the itch to just get one of the Canon focal length extenders and declare the hell with it. Still haven’t been able to justify the cost for one of those, either.