Bigma & Kingfishers

Well, that was a great session - first time seeing kingfishers. I got a few snaps that were nowhere near as good as the regulars were getting BUT, as it's the first attempt, then I'm fairly happy. Pleased that we were able to see them so close up too! The 2nd hand new-to-me Bigma 50-500mm weighs 2kg (and feels like 5kg!!!).
Pix cropped a bit were at ISO 800 and 1/800th sec - still not fast enough!
But then again - neither was I!

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Grumpy GrandPa, Recently Retired.
K-S2 and suffering from a relapse and so now buying digital camera kit - started with a little Lumix TZ80 and now LBA has re-occured for my K-S2. Not sure where it will lead!
Previous addiction has resulted in using Zeniths, Yashicamat, Chinons, Minoltas, Samsungs, Fujis, Cosina, Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Pentax etc etc - have tried most makes in the past 40 years. Love cameras - love taking photos even more

I'd be more than happy with these as a first attempt - I bet it was a great experience

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LennyBloke

Thanks LennyBloke.
I was, obviously, the only one there with a Pentax BUT I feel that I now have a better idea and am not so frightened to push the ISO up a bit
The others in the hide had 150-600 lenses that cost 3 arms and a leg.
Must admit that the weight of my Bigma is still a problem for me, need more spinach.
Tripods and mono pods dont work very well in a hide - poss need to look at those gimbal things which I can attach to a shelf in the hide. Wonder if I can afford such a device? P'raps I'll just keep on workig on my technique with the kit i have. Surely, Accessory Buying Addiction CAN'T be as expensive as LBA (I hope)?

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Grumpy GrandPa, Recently Retired.
K-S2 and suffering from a relapse and so now buying digital camera kit - started with a little Lumix TZ80 and now LBA has re-occured for my K-S2. Not sure where it will lead!
Previous addiction has resulted in using Zeniths, Yashicamat, Chinons, Minoltas, Samsungs, Fujis, Cosina, Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Pentax etc etc - have tried most makes in the past 40 years. Love cameras - love taking photos even more

Really good for a first attempt. I use a mono pod in a hide and rest the lens on the hide window ledge. Alternatively use a bean bag to support the lens on the window ledge.

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Paul

K1000, Espio 140, ist, istD, K70, K3iii and numerous lenses, just don't tell my wife.

Thanks. I did use the ledge BUT this hide and the downwards angle of the close perching posts made it difficult and there were 5 possible pints they could land on. Twas a challenge. Yes, I will test out my monopod to see if it is OK with the heavy lens.

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Grumpy GrandPa, Recently Retired.
K-S2 and suffering from a relapse and so now buying digital camera kit - started with a little Lumix TZ80 and now LBA has re-occured for my K-S2. Not sure where it will lead!
Previous addiction has resulted in using Zeniths, Yashicamat, Chinons, Minoltas, Samsungs, Fujis, Cosina, Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Pentax etc etc - have tried most makes in the past 40 years. Love cameras - love taking photos even more

A good start, the Kingfisher is possibly my favourite bird and whenever I see one all my camera knowledge seems to go out the window and I end up forgetting my settings and just shooting.

I now have a Sigma 150-600mm Sport on another system which is a touch over 3kg but I used the same Sigma 50-500mm you have when I had my K-5IIs. Here is a Kingfisher I got with it LINK

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. My Flickr

Lovely, I'll get a good one like yours eventually!

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Grumpy GrandPa, Recently Retired.
K-S2 and suffering from a relapse and so now buying digital camera kit - started with a little Lumix TZ80 and now LBA has re-occured for my K-S2. Not sure where it will lead!
Previous addiction has resulted in using Zeniths, Yashicamat, Chinons, Minoltas, Samsungs, Fujis, Cosina, Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Pentax etc etc - have tried most makes in the past 40 years. Love cameras - love taking photos even more

It took me years of waiting

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. My Flickr