The hummingbird is quite common in CR and the background was meh... Although the pose is interesting alright but what impressed me more is the ISO setting to make that capture. I processed the file using LR only but also using the AI noise reduction feature available in the desktop version. Lightroom has come a long way and I am relying less and less on PS for my images. At one time I edited some 90% of my images using PS. Now, I would venture to guess my PS edited images are less than 20%. The advantage? Faster editing and less storage requirement.
The hummingbird is quite common in CR and the background was meh... Although the pose is interesting alright but what impressed me more is the ISO setting to make that capture. I processed the file using LR only but also using the AI noise reduction feature available in the desktop version. Lightroom has come a long way and I am relying less and less on PS for my images. At one time I edited some 90% of my images using PS. Now, I would venture to guess my PS edited images are less than 20%. The advantage? Faster editing and less storage requirement....Show more →
Thanks Joshua. Beautiful images you posted as usual, these birds are so colorful.
I didn't pay attention what these buttons on the lenses are for, so l left them at the factory "focus hold" default. I am speculating that reason my cameras stopped focusing once in a while is I touched one of these buttons by accident. I just learned how to program these buttons yesterday, now they are programmed to cycle through the subject recognition, I think it's really convenient! I was 75% set to sell the 600 GM and replace it with the Nikon Z8 and the 800mm PF, which is much lighter and cheaper, since I use a 1.4TC on my GM most of the time anyway. Now I am having some second thoughts. The Z8's AF is excellent and the 800 PF is so light, but it can't do 600 at f4, I think I would miss the 10% of the time when I shoot the 600 GM bare. So now I am 75% set to keep the GM and sell the Nikon combo. I am getting very good at buying stuff and selling them shortly after at a loss.
Douglas L wrote:
I didn't pay attention what these buttons on the lenses are for, so l left them at the factory "focus hold" default. I am speculating that reason my cameras stopped focusing once in a while is I touched one of these buttons by accident. I just learned how to program these buttons yesterday, now they are programmed to cycle through the subject recognition, I think it's really convenient!
So now you will speculate that object detection doesn't work because you touched one of these buttons by accident? I would set it to something dead obvious if used unintentionally or else to just do nothing. Usually the latter.
Daran wrote:
So now you will speculate that object detection doesn't work because you touched one of these buttons by accident? I would set it to something dead obvious if used unintentionally or else to just do nothing. Usually the latter.
Now I know what these bottoms do I will be more careful. What I meant was the AF completely froze, didn't matter where I pointed the camera to. I had to turn off the camera or dismounted/remounted the lens to make the AF work again. It happened quite a few times. Maybe that's why I got a sequence of shots like this one out of the blue while it worked beautifully other times.
Douglas L wrote:
I wonder what you guys set the "focus hold" button on the 600 GM for? I have never used it.
Hey Douglas,
I use the button as a super zoom mechanism to look for critical focus, usually in situations where the camera can’t easily find the eye of an animal.
The button itself is mapped to AF/MF Selector Hold. Elsewhere auto magnifier in MF = on, Focus magnifier time = no limit, Initial focus mag = x4.2, and focus peaking on.
It’s there when I need it, and I don’t recall activating it by accident. It would be immediately obvious with this setup.
We were chasing some birds and my shooting buddy noticed this tiny frog climbing up a tree nearby. I didn't take my macro lens with me. So, this long lens would have to do it in a pinch...
Taken in combo with the much maligned 2X TC on a recent trip to CR - Not a BIF image though but really, I cannot complain about it although the target is nothing spectacular...
AGeoJO wrote:
Taken in combo with the much maligned 2X TC on a recent trip to CR - Not a BIF image though but really, I cannot complain about it although the target is nothing spectacular...
The bird is beautiful! But the image does seem rather soft. So far I haven't had any luck with the TC2 on this lens.
Daran wrote:
The bird is beautiful! But the image does seem rather soft. So far I haven't had any luck with the TC2 on this lens.
Daran, thanks but it has to do with the compression/conversion to JPG and on the top of it, the FM site somehow manages to reduce the details further. I could see the details on the feathers, down to individual feathers on my monitor. That doesn't apply to images posted on outside image hosts however...
A midair fish heist. The osprey seemed to be unaware of the eagle swooping in from below, until the eagle actually grabbed the fish. https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53622034494_3be9a82bb9_o.jpg
(100% crop from bare lens, this happened maybe half a klick away)
Bird on a stick: this goldfinch was keeping watch for his buddies feeding nearby. I could not fully avoid the bright spot in the background, so I tried using it as a natural backstage light instead.
. The Z8's AF is excellent and the 800 PF is so light, but it can't do 600 at f4, I think I would miss the 10% of the time when I shoot the 600 GM bare. So now I am 75% set to keep the GM and sell the Nikon combo. I am getting very good at buying stuff and selling them shortly after at a loss.
