Tord
Well-known member
Superb pictures; great light, detailed and sharp.
/Tord
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Astroscope + DSLR = Gallery! (2 Viewers)
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/Tord
JvdM
JvdM
Luck? Nah, seems like you Oly guys have got this licked now. Focus is spot on and no camera shake, then the result must be good.
Good stuff
Regards
Jaco
JGobeil
Nature Photographer
Thank you guys for your comments on my Yellowleg. It is much appreciated.
Jaco, regarding luck, I meant that I was lucky to be able to succeed in focusing that quickly, which is still unusual for me.
Those who have been on this "Astro" telescope forum long enough know how much I struggled to get decent quality photos. Given that one is a decent photographer, the photo won't be better than the weakest link between the eye and the bird. In order to build a solid chain, I had to replace everything and I'm glad I did: camera, scope, barlow, tripod and head. Cost: about 2K$, 6 times less than a Canon 600mm. :t:
I still have 3 elements to tame:
Jules
Jaco, regarding luck, I meant that I was lucky to be able to succeed in focusing that quickly, which is still unusual for me.
Those who have been on this "Astro" telescope forum long enough know how much I struggled to get decent quality photos. Given that one is a decent photographer, the photo won't be better than the weakest link between the eye and the bird. In order to build a solid chain, I had to replace everything and I'm glad I did: camera, scope, barlow, tripod and head. Cost: about 2K$, 6 times less than a Canon 600mm. :t:
I still have 3 elements to tame:
- Accurate and quick focusing accuracy
- BIF
- Shallow depth of field
Jules
DanC.Licks
AKA Daniel Bradley
Purple Heron.
From Hungary two days ago. TS 90/600 + 1.9x TN.
Tord
Well-known member
Well, I will hopefully still find application areas for my SW moving forward; whenever the terrrain is more rough or if longer walks are involved, calling for portability. I may upgrade to a triplet short scope at some point in time, but for the upcoming winter season most of the photography I foresee will probably be done from car or within a radius of a few hundred meters from car.
DanC.Licks
AKA Daniel Bradley
You said it! Lesson in point:
Herons are relatively slow moving and distant, which makes it a little easier to frame, focus and shoot. But Jays are NOT! OK, they are slowish fliers, especially loaded down with nuts, but still. I noticed a group of five or six birds flying back and forth from a distant maple tree to their nest, hauling acorns for the winter. Their flight path wasn't more than about 20-30 meters wide. So I set up early in the morning with the sun behind me, on the edge of a pond that was right in their flight path. They often rested in a tree to my left, and than made a dash to the next stand of trees to my right, so they were in the open for maybe 30 meters. As I couldn't get any closer, and as I didn't want to shoot too much from below, I set up on a slight rise and put on the TN in the 1.9x position, 11mm from the body. That was a mistake. The field of view was so narrow that I often couldn't even find them in the frame, none the less focus and shoot. I must have shot well over 100 shots and not ONE was bang on in focus! This is the best of about three or four "keepers". I didn't realize how many were off until I got home last night.
Lesson learned: it would have been better to keep the focal length at 600 and have a wider field of view, a brighter image to focus, a little more DoF, and a faster shutter speed at the expense of some resolution. Maybe I could have done better with an E-M1 or a D7100 where I might not have tried to squeeze so much out of the scope, but that is beside the point. The mistake was mine, no mater what camera I have stuck on the scope.
Herons are relatively slow moving and distant, which makes it a little easier to frame, focus and shoot. But Jays are NOT! OK, they are slowish fliers, especially loaded down with nuts, but still. I noticed a group of five or six birds flying back and forth from a distant maple tree to their nest, hauling acorns for the winter. Their flight path wasn't more than about 20-30 meters wide. So I set up early in the morning with the sun behind me, on the edge of a pond that was right in their flight path. They often rested in a tree to my left, and than made a dash to the next stand of trees to my right, so they were in the open for maybe 30 meters. As I couldn't get any closer, and as I didn't want to shoot too much from below, I set up on a slight rise and put on the TN in the 1.9x position, 11mm from the body. That was a mistake. The field of view was so narrow that I often couldn't even find them in the frame, none the less focus and shoot. I must have shot well over 100 shots and not ONE was bang on in focus! This is the best of about three or four "keepers". I didn't realize how many were off until I got home last night.
Lesson learned: it would have been better to keep the focal length at 600 and have a wider field of view, a brighter image to focus, a little more DoF, and a faster shutter speed at the expense of some resolution. Maybe I could have done better with an E-M1 or a D7100 where I might not have tried to squeeze so much out of the scope, but that is beside the point. The mistake was mine, no mater what camera I have stuck on the scope.
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JGobeil
Nature Photographer
Nice !
DanC.Licks
AKA Daniel Bradley
Thanks!
Later in the afternoon, just before sundown, we parked beside a small lake. The gulls were skimming, and at one point, three Red Shanks flew by. They are FAST! Anyway, these are without the TN and are the three best out of maybe 20 shots.
Much closer and faster moving than the Jays, but better focus and keeper rate. There are times, though, when I am a little envious of the guys with their monster Canon and Nikon 600mm autofocus lenses.
Later in the afternoon, just before sundown, we parked beside a small lake. The gulls were skimming, and at one point, three Red Shanks flew by. They are FAST! Anyway, these are without the TN and are the three best out of maybe 20 shots.
Much closer and faster moving than the Jays, but better focus and keeper rate. There are times, though, when I am a little envious of the guys with their monster Canon and Nikon 600mm autofocus lenses.
JGobeil
Nature Photographer
Thanks!
Later in the afternoon, just before sundown, we parked beside a small lake. The gulls were skimming, and at one point, three Red Shanks flew by. They are FAST! Anyway, these are without the TN and are the three best out of maybe 20 shots.
View attachment 466643 View attachment 466644 View attachment 466645
Much closer and faster moving than the Jays, but better focus and keeper rate. There are times, though, when I am a little envious of the guys with their monster Canon and Nikon 600mm autofocus lenses.
You are jealous of their lenses, but your bank account is happy... No way I would buy one of those unless I win big at the lottery.
DanC.Licks
AKA Daniel Bradley
My bank account??!! What about my BACK??!!!o
We have all accepted the limitations and challenges of photographing birds with scopes. We get a LOT of reach and a LOT of image quality for comparatively little money. There is always something "better". Like they used to say in the Wild West, there is always someone quicker!
We have all accepted the limitations and challenges of photographing birds with scopes. We get a LOT of reach and a LOT of image quality for comparatively little money. There is always something "better". Like they used to say in the Wild West, there is always someone quicker!
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Tord
Well-known member
Sea Eagle
Encountered this guy on my way driving home from work today. I noticed a big commotion at distance with 100's of agitated Lapwings, Duck and Geese, so I stopped the car and located this youngster at distance working hard on picking a weak one.
Pictures are taken from 250-300 meters distance, trhrough gaps in the foliage, as close from the action as the road would take me. IQ and light could have been better, but still the pictures deserve to be shared I think - not every day you are blessed with a Sea Eagle on the hunt while commuting.
TS Optics 102mm F7
OM-D E-M5, 1000 ISO, cropped
Encountered this guy on my way driving home from work today. I noticed a big commotion at distance with 100's of agitated Lapwings, Duck and Geese, so I stopped the car and located this youngster at distance working hard on picking a weak one.
Pictures are taken from 250-300 meters distance, trhrough gaps in the foliage, as close from the action as the road would take me. IQ and light could have been better, but still the pictures deserve to be shared I think - not every day you are blessed with a Sea Eagle on the hunt while commuting.
TS Optics 102mm F7
OM-D E-M5, 1000 ISO, cropped
Attachments
DanC.Licks
AKA Daniel Bradley
Those are quite good, Tord. I love the little Lapwing going after the eagle. I suppose he is used to that sort of thing.
Tord
Well-known member
Agitated ducks
Some agitated ducks taking off as the Eagle showed up. Among the ducks was also a big party of gulls and an even bigger party of coot.
The TS102 F7 scope seems to have potential.
Some agitated ducks taking off as the Eagle showed up. Among the ducks was also a big party of gulls and an even bigger party of coot.
The TS102 F7 scope seems to have potential.
Attachments
DanC.Licks
AKA Daniel Bradley
Yes, it does,
Were you able to get a Coot stampede? Nothing like 40 or 50 of those guys all running/flying across the water at the same time!
Were you able to get a Coot stampede? Nothing like 40 or 50 of those guys all running/flying across the water at the same time!
Tord
Well-known member
DanC.Licks
AKA Daniel Bradley
Coot stampede.... very good! Quite a noise they make. All good shots. Do you have time to use the focus assist or do you just focus in normal view?
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Tord
Well-known member
Birds in flight - I always use the normal view (1X), except from occasions when birds will hover.
Static birds - first a record shot then 5x magnification.
The issue with 5x, which is equivalent to the angle of view rendered with 3000/3500 mm, is that you easily lose track of a moving target and when that happens, the opportunity is usually gone.
