p.2 #1 · camera gear for Costa Rica bird photography trip. What to bring?
Thanks Bruce, definitely, I am planning to bring mainly my Nikon setup based on Z7/D850 right now.
Thinking that 500/4, 300PF, 70-200 mainly for animals and 105 for macro.
I am still experimenting a bit with Z7/Techart adapter and Sony 100-400GM. So far, I am quite happy with the combination especially for a more stationary subject so that might be an option.
That will all fit in my MP-3 bag easily.
I probably will stick like Leica 50/2 apo and 14-30/4 or something small and light for other misc use.
If there is any room, I definitely would love to squeeze in GFX with 120/4 macro as I think that will be a lot of fun but that will depends on how my packing goes. Unfortunately I don't have 200/4 but do have 70-180 macro which I enjoy using once in awhile.
p.2 #2 · camera gear for Costa Rica bird photography trip. What to bring?
suteetat wrote:
Thanks Bruce, definitely, I am planning to bring mainly my Nikon setup based on Z7/D850 right now.
Thinking that 500/4, 300PF, 70-200 mainly for animals and 105 for macro.
I am still experimenting a bit with Z7/Techart adapter and Sony 100-400GM. So far, I am quite happy with the combination especially for a more stationary subject so that might be an option.
That will all fit in my MP-3 bag easily.
I probably will stick like Leica 50/2 apo and 14-30/4 or something small and light for other misc use.
If there is any room, I definitely would love to squeeze in GFX with 120/4 macro as I think that will be a lot of fun but that will depends on how my packing goes. Unfortunately I don't have 200/4 but do have 70-180 macro which I enjoy using once in awhile. ...Show more →
FYI,
I've been working 3 bodies with 3 lenses. This has helped me avoid lens changes in the rain... It's been a good system thus far.
p.2 #3 · camera gear for Costa Rica bird photography trip. What to bring?
The 200mm macro provided a full size image at double the camera to subject distance that a 105mm would require. This was key with subjects that move around as with both the snakes and the frogs. The longer lens also made it easier to position the flash units to the best effect for lighting these critters. Even with butterflies I found the 200mm to be beneficial as the butterflies will spook and I could be further away and still get a usable image size.
It was not apparent to me at first but going from a 105mm to a 200mm results in 4x the image size overall at a given distance. Not a problem if you can get inches away from a sedentary subject but this is not the situation I have often found with the frogs and butterflies and with snakes it is more a matter of wanting to avoid a trip to the hospital or the morgue.
p.2 #4 · camera gear for Costa Rica bird photography trip. What to bring?
OwlsEyes wrote:
FYI,
I've been working 3 bodies with 3 lenses. This has helped me avoid lens changes in the rain... It's been a good system thus far.
I definitely will bring 2 Nikons. I still would love to take GFX with me if there is any room with 120/4macro and 250/4 if at all possible. We shall see.
---------------------------------------------
elkhornsun wrote:
The 200mm macro provided a full size image at double the camera to subject distance that a 105mm would require. This was key with subjects that move around as with both the snakes and the frogs. The longer lens also made it easier to position the flash units to the best effect for lighting these critters. Even with butterflies I found the 200mm to be beneficial as the butterflies will spook and I could be further away and still get a usable image size.
It was not apparent to me at first but going from a 105mm to a 200mm results in 4x the image size overall at a given distance. Not a problem if you can get inches away from a sedentary subject but this is not the situation I have often found with the frogs and butterflies and with snakes it is more a matter of wanting to avoid a trip to the hospital or the morgue. ...Show more →
You made a very solid point regarding 200mm. However, for snake, I think 70-200/2.8 or longer tele should be perfectly fine for that as we are not really in the macro territory for this and I would really prefer to stay as far as possible away from it. So it is really the frog and I agree that more working distance for flash would be better. I will have to think a bit more about this.
p.2 #5 · camera gear for Costa Rica bird photography trip. What to bring?
I was either photographing snakes hanging off trees and branches or held by a handler and so able to use the 200mm macro with no problems. I take the 80-400mm to Costa Rica and so leave the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at home.
The 200mm works better for small subjects than the 70-200mm lens with the latter having a minimum focusing distance of 3.6 feet at 200mm as compared to 1.6 feet for the macro lens. Being closer also means that the flash needs put out a fourth as much light as would be required with the 70-200 lens which makes for much shorter recycle times.
p.2 #6 · camera gear for Costa Rica bird photography trip. What to bring?
elkhornsun wrote:
I was either photographing snakes hanging off trees and branches or held by a handler and so able to use the 200mm macro with no problems. I take the 80-400mm to Costa Rica and so leave the 70-200mm f/2.8 lens at home.
The 200mm works better for small subjects than the 70-200mm lens with the latter having a minimum focusing distance of 3.6 feet at 200mm as compared to 1.6 feet for the macro lens. Being closer also means that the flash needs put out a fourth as much light as would be required with the 70-200 lens which makes for much shorter recycle times. ...Show more →
I will be in Tokyo in September. Will have to see if I can locate a reasonable copy of used 200/4 macro.
I looked around on ebay and by the time I pay for shipping and import tax, I might as well just order a new one through
local store here .
p.2 #7 · camera gear for Costa Rica bird photography trip. What to bring?
suteetat wrote:
I will be in Tokyo in September. Will have to see if I can locate a reasonable copy of used 200/4 macro.
I looked around on ebay and by the time I pay for shipping and import tax, I might as well just order a new one through
local store here .
Plenty of second hand camera stores in Tokyo. I have owned the 200mm macro and sold it. It has some, for me, unexplained behavior. in a series of shots for instance did I have most of them sharp and yet some were way OOF.
I currently own 3 macro lenses:
Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8 VR (1:1)
Carl Zeiss 100/2 Milvus (1:2)
Laowa x 2,5-5 (ultra macro)
If I ever wanted another macro lens then I go for the Sigma 150mm but the Zeiss is just fantastic for damsels, dragonflies, frogs, ... The sharpness and colors are simply out of this world. (MF only but with focus peaking is that no issue)
p.2 #10 · camera gear for Costa Rica bird photography trip. What to bring?
Vinnie_VdB wrote:
Plenty of second hand camera stores in Tokyo. I have owned the 200mm macro and sold it. It has some, for me, unexplained behavior. in a series of shots for instance did I have most of them sharp and yet some were way OOF.
I currently own 3 macro lenses:
Nikon AF-S 105mm f/2.8 VR (1:1)
Carl Zeiss 100/2 Milvus (1:2)
Laowa x 2,5-5 (ultra macro)
If I ever wanted another macro lens then I go for the Sigma 150mm but the Zeiss is just fantastic for damsels, dragonflies, frogs, ... The sharpness and colors are simply out of this world. (MF only but with focus peaking is that no issue)...Show more →
I had a lot of fun last time browing through Map Camera's used department. They are not the cheapest but almost always have multiple copies of everything to choose from and I am never disappointed in their items.
I always am curious about Zeiss 100/2 Milvus but I don't really shoot macro often. Beside Nikon 105/2.8, I do have
Leica R 100/2.8 macro which I use quite a bit for portrait. Works very well with Z7 and is relatively compact. I wonder if I should bring it along, not sure if the frogs will be stationary long enough for manual focus though.
p.2 #11 · camera gear for Costa Rica bird photography trip. What to bring?
I prefer to buy from sellers listing on Fred Miranda's buy sell. I get pictures to show overall condition and the prices are fair. Most of my camera and lens sales are done on fredmiranda as well.
