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#1
There are three eagle nests along my kayak route. I've gone there every Spring to record Junior's early life. This year I am guessing there is more than just Junior in the nest based on the feeding pattern of the adult working a couple areas of the nest. Junior (and siblings) are still to small to view, the nest is deep plus it is high in the tree, I am guessing over 60 feet - maybe more.
In the past when I have taken the 800mm lens out to shot the nest it has been a challenge holding the nest up waiting for a head to appear. Additionally, 800 is still too short given the height and resulting distance away from the nest to get a decent shot. So I devised a way to shoot with 1120mm. I have replaced all my L brackets with cages for my Z9's and Z7's. I mounted a Viltrox monitor on the cage and use my body like a mount for a cannon. I slide my butt forward, lean back and pull my feet towards my butt. This raises my knees. I put the Z9 in my crotch and rest the lens hood on my knees. This aims the camera up and I view using the Viltrox monitor. I then aim my kayak pointing to the nest and adjust the elevation of the cannon to hit the nest. Eagles feeding their chicks are heads down in the nest and come up quickly and then duck back into the nest. There is no way I was able to hold the Z9 800mm combo long enough to get a shot with the head up. All told I took well over 1000 images on this outing and got about 80 shots with heads. I elaborate here in vase there are other kayak shooters looking for long focal lengths on a kayak, I could easily use a 2X TC and go to 1600mm but that would be too much. I included a shotof the camera setup - I did not need the cable release.
I plan to go back weekly and monitor Junior's progress.
A NOTE ON Z9 AF
The Z9 would often jump to the pine needs to focus. However at 20 FPS I got as many in a sequence in focus and out of focus. To me, having shot soccer games at 400mm with manual focus this is just a miracle. I am guessing SONY would get even more keepers with their gear but as long as I can come aay with some good shots - I am happy.
Apr 14, 2026 at 01:04 PM
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