Jan-Arie wrote:
If you have a couple of lost hours to spend..
I watch "Dogfights" on the History Channel..usually anything past the F4 is way to fast for me....This type of aircraft was for "scrappin' " with an enemy.
Dan
gerov wrote:
Interesting setup, Douglas. Are you trying to compete with the Japanese tourist who shows up at the dam every year with three superteles on a bar mount??
And beautiful images!
Thanks Gero, I haven't seen that guy for several years. I have seen 4 or 5 guys with dual cameras/lenses setup like the picture I posted, one for video one for still. Some years ago there was this guy who had a crazy setup like an anti-aircraft gun, he sat on the platform that could rotate. I am waiting for my other Sony A1II to be delivered next week before I want to try it. I received the dual gimbal head last week.
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Ray Swindle wrote:
OK Douglas...You have my attention! I will be waiting the results.
Thanks Ray. Will see how it goes.. Problem is, I have never edited videos.
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Danpbphoto wrote:
Geez a lou Douglas! Looks like some kind of mounted "cannons" ready for action!
Hope it works out for you!
Great looking setup!
Dan
Will find out how it works soon, Dan!
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JWilsonphoto wrote:
That will be a very interesting experiment Douglas. Wonder how the focus tracking will behave on the one you aren't looking through? Better have spotters right and left or you will be taking out photographers as you pan................
Jim, after seeing similar setups at Conowingo, I made a crude dual camera holder myself several years ago, before there were dual gimbal head available on the market, the problem of my self-made setup is, both cameras/lenses are pointing parallelly, so they aren't focus on the same thing! With the dual gimbal head I showed, the direction of the cameras can be adjusted up to 15 degrees horizontally, so the cameras can be adjusted to point at the same spot like the center of an "X", I think one of the lenses needs to be shorter so when the subject passes the center of the "X" towards the photographer, it can be still in the frame of the short lens for video. There will be a great deal of trial and error. I will be looking through the view finder of the camera for still shoots and let the camera for video do its own thing.
Talking about knocking other photogs off, here is a recent picture of Conowingo dam taken by some I know. This place gets really packed during the seasons, thanks for social media. People come from all over the country, some even come from Asia, to try their luck. The eagle activities have been exceedingly slow so far. I stopped by last week for 2 hours, only got a few shots of eagles in blue sky. I feel sorry for the folks who travelled from so far away only to witness little action.
Tomorrow I will try the 2X TC on the 600 f4 lens. The actions have mostly been on the other side of this wide river, a 2000mm lens and a 100 MP camera would do the job.
ILCE-1M2FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS lens652mmf/8.01/2500s400 ISO-1.7 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS lens652mmf/8.01/2500s320 ISO-1.7 EV
ILCE-1M2FE 400-800mm F6.3-8 G OSS lens800mmf/8.01/2000s500 ISO-1.3 EV
Douglas L wrote:
Thanks Gero, I haven't seen that guy for several years. I have seen 4 or 5 guys with dual cameras/lenses setup like the picture I posted, one for video one for still. Some years ago there was this guy who had a crazy setup like an anti-aircraft gun, he sat on the platform that could rotate. I am waiting for my other Sony A1II to be delivered next week before I want to try it. I received the dual gimbal head last week.
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Thanks Ray. Will see how it goes.. Problem is, I have never edited videos.
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Will find out how it works soon, Dan!
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Jim, after seeing similar setups at Conowingo, I made a crude dual camera holder myself several years ago, before there were dual gimbal head available on the market, the problem of my self-made setup is, both cameras/lenses are pointing parallelly, so they aren't focus on the same thing! With the dual gimbal head I showed, the direction of the cameras can be adjusted up to 15 degrees horizontally, so the cameras can be adjusted to point at the same spot like the center of an "X", I think one of the lenses needs to be shorter so when the subject passes the center of the "X" towards the photographer, it can be still in the frame of the short lens for video. There will be a great deal of trial and error. I will be looking through the view finder of the camera for still shoots and let the camera for video do its own thing.
Talking about knocking other photogs off, here is a recent picture of Conowingo dam taken by some I know. This place gets really packed during the seasons, thanks for social media. People come from all over the country, some even come from Asia, to try their luck. The eagle activities have been exceedingly slow so far. I stopped by last week for 2 hours, only got a few shots of eagles in blue sky. I feel sorry for the folks who travelled from so far away only to witness little action.
Tomorrow I will try the 2X TC on the 600 f4 lens. The actions have mostly been on the other side of this wide river, a 2000mm lens and a 100 MP camera would do the job....Show more →
Douglas this is absolutely amazing all the photographers now there!!!
When Gero and I 1st started photographing the Conowingo eagles, maybe 3-5 photographers there at most. Most days I was the only one there. I go very early in the morning.
Quite an event it has turned into!
Great photography brother!
Dan
Dan, I think that shot is from 2006 or 2007. Lou was a great guy and a real resource on the N&W forum. If that shot in Douglas's post is from the last two weeks, I think it should be a little saner now as the busload of Japanese photographers is usually gone by Thanksgiving - unless they are now booking multiple option weeks. While it can be a great opportunity to meet new people and friends, it's a bit overwhelming and may be why the birds don't land in the trees along the fence any more.
Douglas, like Jim, I'm curious as to how you will manage the focus tracking if you can only have your eye to one camera, unless you use the rear screen and tap on the eagle on both screens and then use your magic shutter fingers. Are you able to pull full resolution still images from the videos captured on the Sony cameras?
gerov wrote:
Dan, I think that shot is from 2006 or 2007. Lou was a great guy and a real resource on the N&W forum. If that shot in Douglas's post is from the last two weeks, I think it should be a little saner now as the busload of Japanese photographers is usually gone by Thanksgiving - unless they are now booking multiple option weeks. While it can be a great opportunity to meet new people and friends, it's a bit overwhelming and may be why the birds don't land in the trees along the fence any more.
Douglas, like Jim, I'm curious as to how you will manage the focus tracking if you can only have your eye to one camera, unless you use the rear screen and tap on the eagle on both screens and then use your magic shutter fingers. Are you able to pull full resolution still images from the videos captured on the Sony cameras?...Show more →
I am olde Gero! Years tend to blend together! I will have to check the exif data for the correct date.
Yes Lou was a great guy.
gerov wrote:
Dan, I think that shot is from 2006 or 2007. Lou was a great guy and a real resource on the N&W forum. If that shot in Douglas's post is from the last two weeks, I think it should be a little saner now as the busload of Japanese photographers is usually gone by Thanksgiving - unless they are now booking multiple option weeks. While it can be a great opportunity to meet new people and friends, it's a bit overwhelming and may be why the birds don't land in the trees along the fence any more.
Douglas, like Jim, I'm curious as to how you will manage the focus tracking if you can only have your eye to one camera, unless you use the rear screen and tap on the eagle on both screens and then use your magic shutter fingers. Are you able to pull full resolution still images from the videos captured on the Sony cameras?...Show more →
Gero, I haven't seen busloads of Japanese photographers at the dam but I only go there 5-6 times each season. There are LOTS of Vietnamese and Chinese photographers though. Most of them live in the States, like me. I have seen at least 5 or 6 guys with dual setup for video and still photos, I need to learn from them how to make the camera for video track the eagle if my eye is on the camera for still. Maybe the subject tracking of the new mirrorless cameras are so good that I can just press the record button on the camera for video and let it track without my input. I just learned that the Sony A1II can shoot still and video at the same time, if an external recorder like Atomos Ninja is attached to it. That saves the trouble AND $$$$ of having two cameras/lenses to do video and still independently. The restriction is, the Ninja can only record 4K 60 FPS, not the 4K 120 FPS the Sony A1II can record internally, supposedly this is a restriction imposed by Sony. I was told 4K 120 FPS is much better than 4K 60 FPS. I know ZERO about video stuff. I got to say the 4K slow motion videos are amazing to watch. I know you can pull images from video but at much lower resolution than the images taken in still mode?
Hi Douglas. You're making me realize how long it's been since I've been there before Christmas. I had knee surgery late 2024 and didn't make it, so it would have been at least two years ago. Time really flies when you're not having fun
With the dual setups, I'm wondering if they decide that for certain action, like eagles battling it out across the river, that they'll just shoot slow motion video, and if it's a single eagle coming down to the water for a snatch, they shoot images, and hope that there is enough action to get a little bit of both on each camera.
Mark it down, the Christmas decorating marathon for 2025 just wrapped up at 11:15 CST and my life is once again my own…,,until New Year’s Day when I have to do it all in reverse. Merely a snippet of the decorations.............
Ray Swindle wrote:
Wouldn't it be nice if they recorded the user manual on 'AUDIBLE' (or other app) so you can listen to it while you play with the camera...or sleep!
Ray,
there are many days where I yearn for the days of rotary telephones, Smith Corona typewriters, and manual focus film cameras. As much as I appreciate modern technology, the current social media and all that stuff make me want to go way back in time...
The weather and my schedule got in the way of several air to air assignments that I had this week so the X2DII remains at rest in it's ThinkTank case. Maybe next week.
JWilsonphoto wrote:
The weather and my schedule got in the way of several air to air assignments that I had this week so the X2DII remains at rest in it's ThinkTank case. Maybe next week.
More time for your grandson to learn about it and practice inside.
Oh he is all over it. I don't know if it's because of the big OLED preview screen or just the fact that it is such a joy to have in one's hands, but he's all about the Hasselblad.
