[Theme] Show Birds

[elsid]

Hi Nasos, this is a migratory bird, can be found in Greece only in the winter. It is the first time I saw it in Schinias. I have seen it before in the North part of Greece near Salonica.

[Jan Anne]

Hi Jan, I've not been keeping up recently,  but assume these were taken with the new'ish  x-600m zoom on your Sony?
I'm interested to know the shutter speeds you used and how much you cropped (not much on the seagull it seems)?

I'm sure my results would be no better, but to my eye it seems like the seagull isn't as sharp as the wonderful shot of the cormorants? I'm guessing tracking BIF introduces additional challenges etc.

It would be lovely to hear any other findings from your early use of this combo, ergonomics, balance during a long days shooting etc

The images were indeed taken with the Sony a7IV and 200-600mm lens. The Seagull is uncropped, the first cormorant is a 6K crop from a 7K file and the second was cropped at 5250 pixels by 3500. But somehow I loose a lot of sharpness when exporting these pics from Affinity at 2160 pixels on the long end, I am kind of used to apps which resharpen on export so need to look into that a little more.

That said, the “VR” on the Sony 200-600mm is not as good as the 200-500VR with the D500 which doesn’t help with an even longer lens, the consensus seems to be to switch OSS off for most situations above 1/1000th or so whereas the 200-500VR never gave me blurry images at high speeds and also did a better job at better stabilizing the image at low shutter speeds.

But these are early days, there’s so many more AF options and setups to figure out than on the D500 and some can really ruin the outcome.

[Tom Hook]

The images were indeed taken with the Sony a7IV and 200-600mm lens. The Seagull is uncropped, the first cormorant is a 6K crop from a 7K file and the second was cropped at 5250 pixels by 3500. But somehow I loose a lot of sharpness when exporting these pics from Affinity at 2160 pixels on the long end, I am kind of used to apps which resharpen on export so need to look into that a little more.

That said, the “VR” on the Sony 200-600mm is not as good as the 200-500VR with the D500 which doesn’t help with an even longer lens, the consensus seems to be to switch OSS off for most situations above 1/1000th or so whereas the 200-500VR never gave me blurry images at high speeds and also did a better job at better stabilizing the image at low shutter speeds.

But these are early days, there’s so many more AF options and setups to figure out than on the D500 and some can really ruin the outcome.

Jan Anne,

I have the same problem with the loss of sharpness. NX Studio looks fine until export. Here's a shot I took today and it looks flat and indistinct when compared to its pre-export version. I have tried various adjustments and nothing seems to resolve the problem. I would appreciate you sharing any solutions you might discover.

Thanks, Tom

[Bruno Schroder]

White-tailed Eagle. Danube delta, Romania August 2021

D500 500/5.6PF

[golunvolo]

It looks unreal. What a character

[Nasos Kosmas]

It looks unreal. What a character

I do agree, unreal
The metal tower seems to be spot for birds

Tom very nice robin

[Bruno Schroder]

Thanks, guys. With more context:

[Snoogly]

Although this is going off topic somewhat, I wanted to post it here as a warning to you all to keep an eye on your camera while birding.

The video is legend!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/04/kleptomaniac-new-zealand-parrot-steals-gopro-films-airborne-escape

[Snoogly]

Thanks, guys. With more context:

Mad Max!

[Bruno Schroder]

Mad Max!

So true

[Nasos Kosmas]

Although this is going off topic somewhat, I wanted to post it here as a warning to you all to keep an eye on your camera while birding.

The video is legend!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/04/kleptomaniac-new-zealand-parrot-steals-gopro-films-airborne-escape

Very funny story I can’t imagine a bird take my Nikon 200-500 2,3kg lens away

[Nasos Kosmas]

My first Buzzard 
There is a story behind these photos, we were walking very carefully with a friend for birding when we show a buzzard near by a dead ship   
The bird flew away  and stood on a tree for a while
We were so shocked that was not so easy to help the camera to find best focus behind the tree
Z50 200-500

[Nasos Kosmas]

Same day photos

[ColinM]

My first Hawk 

To my eyes, this looks like a buzzard (though I am not familiar with the hawks of Greece)

I saw quite a few of these, plus some Red Kites yesterday.
I've yet to review the shots, but don't think any were as close or as clear as these.

Nice work Nasos.

[ColinM]

I watched some Red Kites Wheeling & swooping in the high winds on Sunday
Though I was closer than I've managed on many occasions, the ratio of keepers wasn't very high.
This is a crop of about a quarter of the frame, D500 300mm PF & TC14 bright direct winter sunlight

I think I need some more time practicing technique when the birds are almost directly above me & moving fast.
Any comments or suggestions are welcome