When it is bug season here there is little else moving. Haven't seen a big bird in over a month, even the Canadians have moved off the lake and to an adjacent pond.
But this morning I got my favorite macro of all time. Not the most technical (no stacking, I didn't want to euthanize this gem for a shot) but one I've wanted for many years.
I captured the Rosy Maple Moth two days ago and just this morning did she(he?) wake up for the aerial view. Now released back to the yard.
MedicineMan404 wrote:
When it is bug season here there is little else moving. Haven't seen a big bird in over a month, even the Canadians have moved off the lake and to an adjacent pond.
But this morning I got my favorite macro of all time. Not the most technical (no stacking, I didn't want to euthanize this gem for a shot) but one I've wanted for many years.
I captured the Rosy Maple Moth two days ago and just this morning did she(he?) wake up for the aerial view. Now released back to the yard.
With the massive heat wave we had here on the BC coast last week, there was a massive die-off of intertidal marine life. I went out this morning thinking I would find lots of shorebirds enjoying an easy meal, but all I saw was this solitary Black Oystercatcher.
I didn't realize that using the FE 1.4x would disable or hinder the bird eye AF on the A1, but even in bright light it was not picking up the eye of this bird. I ended up stopping down to f10 or f11 to get a bit more depth of field, but a lot of the images were just a bit out of focus, plus a bit of motion blur from using the smaller f-stop and corresponding lower shutter speeds.
I also had a few moments of panic when I got home after an hour's shooting, when my computer could only find 35 files on the SD card... the missing images were also not visible if I connected the camera to the computer with the USB cable, although I could see all of the raw files on the back of the camera. Digging up an old card reader solved the problem, but I'm puzzled why I couldn't download the missing files via the USB connection...?
interesting, I don't notice much difference using the 1.4tc on my A1 with the 200-600. I feel AF performance is almost the same (I'd rate it 95% with tc vs. without)...some difference for sure but negligible. Anyone else have this experience?
molson wrote:
With the massive heat wave we had here on the BC coast last week, there was a massive die-off of intertidal marine life. I went out this morning thinking I would find lots of shorebirds enjoying an easy meal, but all I saw was this solitary Black Oystercatcher.
I didn't realize that using the FE 1.4x would disable or hinder the bird eye AF on the A1, but even in bright light it was not picking up the eye of this bird. I ended up stopping down to f10 or f11 to get a bit more depth of field, but a lot of the images were just a bit out of focus, plus a bit of motion blur from using the smaller f-stop and corresponding lower shutter speeds.
I also had a few moments of panic when I got home after an hour's shooting, when my computer could only find 35 files on the SD card... the missing images were also not visible if I connected the camera to the computer with the USB cable, although I could see all of the raw files on the back of the camera. Digging up an old card reader solved the problem, but I'm puzzled why I couldn't download the missing files via the USB connection...?...Show more →
Maxxus46 wrote:
interesting, I don't notice much difference using the 1.4tc on my A1 with the 200-600. I feel AF performance is almost the same (I'd rate it 95% with tc vs. without)...some difference for sure but negligible. Anyone else have this experience?
I'm probably doing something wrong, but based on this morning's results, I don't think it's worth using the TC with the 200-600. It's disappointing, because I got good results using the same combo (but different copies) with the A9 II a few months ago.
Maxxus46 wrote:
interesting, I don't notice much difference using the 1.4tc on my A1 with the 200-600. I feel AF performance is almost the same (I'd rate it 95% with tc vs. without)...some difference for sure but negligible. Anyone else have this experience?
No, my experience mirrors yours, but it's highly dependent on the subject. On ducks, eagles, shorebirds, and herons, I saw no difference in Eye AF performance between the naked lens and lens+tc combo. Oyster Catchers were always iffy for me with/without the TCs; Eye AF triggered, but nowhere near as reliably.
MedicineMan404 wrote:
When it is bug season here there is little else moving. Haven't seen a big bird in over a month, even the Canadians have moved off the lake and to an adjacent pond.
But this morning I got my favorite macro of all time. Not the most technical (no stacking, I didn't want to euthanize this gem for a shot) but one I've wanted for many years.
I captured the Rosy Maple Moth two days ago and just this morning did she(he?) wake up for the aerial view. Now released back to the yard.
Amazing looking moth!
If you want to focus stack you can try a method I have used. Put your A1 in manual focus, focus on a near point, then start taking frames at 30fps as you slowly lean forward to sweep focus through the bug. Only takes a second. I use Zerene and find the frames will align and stack nicely.
I too owned an A9II and currently using the same 200-600 with 1.4tc on my A1. I am not finding the results disappointing at all. Could it be a setting on your camera? I know Arbitrage uses this same combination so would be good to ask him to chime in here...he is very skilled and helpful
molson wrote:
I'm probably doing something wrong, but based on this morning's results, I don't think it's worth using the TC with the 200-600. It's disappointing, because I got good results using the same combo (but different copies) with the A9 II a few months ago.
Maxxus46 wrote:
I too owned an A9II and currently using the same 200-600 with 1.4tc on my A1. I am not finding the results disappointing at all. Could it be a setting on your camera? I know Arbitrage uses this same combination so would be good to ask him to chime in here...he is very skilled and helpful
I don't know what camera settings would be specific to the TC. Without the TC, I'm very happy with the results, with it - not so much. Maybe the TC is defective, but they are in short supply so I may not be able to get another one to try.
I'm not as happy with pixel level sharpness of the 2-6/1.4 as I was on the lower MP A9/A9II. I haven't been using it as much lately. Usually sticking to the bare lens.
However, I hadn't noticed any decrease in BEAF activation with the 1.4TC. I will test that out this weekend to see if I do notice a drop in BEAF activation.
When I first had the A1 in out in cloudy, dark, I couldn't get it to work on Oystercatchers but then the next time with sun it worked. It seems to work better for Oystercatcher in flight than Oystercatcher on ground....weird but true...I tested it a lot on that species.
