AGeoJO wrote:
Maintaining eye contact throughout the flying sequence…
Joshua, just out of curiosity - what percentage of frames in focus are you getting for BIF?
My A1 + 1.4x TC are getting delivered on Friday, but I will have to wait another two weeks for the lens... It will be fun to have the camera and TC but NO lens lol.
docusync wrote:
Joshua, just out of curiosity - what percentage of frames in focus are you getting for BIF?
My A1 + 1.4x TC are getting delivered on Friday, but I will have to wait another two weeks for the lens... It will be fun to have the camera and TC but NO lens lol.
It depends on the distance to the bird (and indirectly, the size of the bird), the flight speed of the bird, the flight pattern (whether it is flying straight at me, flying diagonally or sideways), the background, etc. For burrowing owls, they are about 10-inch tall, I could get between 80- 90% or so. About the same percentage as peregrine falcons. Kites, on the other hand, are easier to photograph. Even using my A7r IV, I could get my in focus images in the 90%, I would say. I hope this helps.
Enjoy your new gear! What lens did you order, BTW?
AGeoJO wrote:
It depends on the distance to the bird (and indirectly, the size of the bird), the flight speed of the bird, the flight pattern (whether it is flying straight at me, flying diagonally or sideways), the background, etc. For burrowing owls, they are about 10-inch tall, I could get between 80- 90% or so. About the same percentage as peregrine falcons. Kites, on the other hand, are easier to photograph. Even using my A7r IV, I could get my in focus images in the 90%, I would say. I hope this helps.
Enjoy your new gear! What lens did you order, BTW?...Show more →
Thank you!
Those look like good numbers. I'm getting considerably less with my current setup, but it could be just me and my technique. That's the reason I started visiting this forum
The lens is the 600/4 GM. As soon as I receive it I'm planning to go to a local wildlife refuge and compare it first hand with the R5 + RF600/4 setup, and then one lens will have to go...
The last Sony camera I had was the A7rII (sold in 2016), and I noticed the menu on the A1 is completely different. I know people used to complain a lot about the old Sony menu, but I personally never had problems with it. The new menu looks a little confusing, but hopefully I'll figure it out.
Giving some props to my mom. I had a specific request and she was able to come up with something that basically solved it perfectly. I shoot a lot around saltwater and specifically on local beaches from a very low angle. Most of the time I am on my stomach shooting shorebirds because I like that aesthetic. Of course sand and salt are concerns and more than a few times I've come back with some sand in places on the lens where I don't want it. So I asked her to come up with a cover to mitigate sand and salt incursion. Full disclosure here: we have access to as much GoreTex as we want because of a family connection that works for Gore. My mom is very skilled with the sewing machine and she came up with waterproof cover that fits the 600GM perfectly with the short hood attached. Had a chance to test it today it works as designed. I would feel completely comfortable using this in a rain storm but I asked her to design something that covers the body too for that use case. That should be done in a day or two. Before anyone asks, no you cannot access the buttons on the lens when this cover is on nor could you really turn the focus ring effectively but I don't need access to those when I am shooting like this.
149113 wrote:
Giving some props to my mom. I had a specific request and she was able to come up with something that basically solved it perfectly. I shoot a lot around saltwater and specifically on local beaches from a very low angle. Most of the time I am on my stomach shooting shorebirds because I like that aesthetic. Of course sand and salt are concerns and more than a few times I've come back with some sand in places on the lens where I don't want it. So I asked her to come up with a cover to mitigate sand and salt incursion. Full disclosure here: we have access to as much GoreTex as we want because of a family connection that works for Gore. My mom is very skilled with the sewing machine and she came up with waterproof cover that fits the 600GM perfectly with the short hood attached. Had a chance to test it today it works as designed. I would feel completely comfortable using this in a rain storm but I asked her to design something that covers the body too for that use case. That should be done in a day or two. Before anyone asks, no you cannot access the buttons on the lens when this cover is on nor could you really turn the focus ring effectively but I don't need access to those when I am shooting like this....Show more →
galenapass wrote:
Nice! How much is your mom charging?
I don't think I'll be able to talk her into doing more than she's creating for me. What I can do I get the template she created to cut the GoreTex pattern from and include a list of materials used in the construction. I had it out today and it worked great
