Nice capture and I am definately a fan of that little lens; as regards autofocus;

A couple of points in response to Nigel's queries:

1. On very fast small birds I have all autofocus and automation off generally and track the bird as a blurred image, only releasing the shutter when it becomes momentarily sharp in the prefocussed area as it is passing by.

ie; Don't give the cameras automation a lot to do at the point of capture so prefocus preset and shut it all off,

2. A second technique is more or less the same except everything is preset and the autofocus is initiated as the bird is closing in on the prefocussed zone, but only works if the bird is a bigger image in the veiw finder and the entry point of the prefocussed capture zone is ahead of the bird in its flight path.; the AF button can really improve the result too

3. When the image area of the bird is large and the flight path is a little longer distance then autofocus tracks it nicely, as is the obviuos case with large birds with pendulous flight;.

My own experience as a tormented BIF photographer has been the same with Canon, Nikon and I must say , to a lesser degree with the K3's and definately TO A MUCH LESSER DEGREE with the K1 because the increased viewing area (window) of the FF makes it easier to keep up with the bird and the AF system has evolved positively.

The key success criteria for me are flying speed, distance, size of the bird and contrast;
Ie.
1. the relative speed of the bird passing through the potential capture zone

2. That is affected also by the shooting distance ; easier if the bird is further away but the image is smaller

4. The area the subject takes up in the veiwfinder; when it is fairly large as a proportion of the view finder area then the AF system tracks it.

5. The difference in the cintrast between the bird and the background is significant in the capability of autofocus to lock on.

However BIF Is a " moving feast" but a couple of sessions on puffins is good because the birds are oassing by all day; at their size the puffin need to be within 30 metres to be trackable, passing through a very narrow capture zone at almost 50mph will lead to option 1 above , giving the best keeper rate. Autofocus can't keep up.

A day on those " feathered missiles" will definately hone the skills of the would be BIF photographer

Finally in my experience with birds in trees , particularly small birds,the very animated scanning process they engage in to, continuously check for predators or danger will need to be taken into account with a high shutter speed as those minute movements, particularly of the head of birds such as tits will result in " everything sharp except the head." The worse news is that often you don't notice it until you are reviewing your capture on the desk and see the " smudged facials"

These are Just some thoughts from a very slowly improving, "not quite there yet" BIF photographer.

Hope this gives food for thought and generates some commentary that will help me too.

Regards

Daron

Concurring with Robers's comments above, this is a very interesting and surreal image that really grabs attention, " well seen" and very nicely taken.

Regards

DARONL

Great stuff as always Gareth and as Gary said you are definately making the most of the colours ( in a good way of course) and I also think you kept the best till last.

Regards

Daronl

Hi Gareth,

Just tried a few desperate things based on typical PC black magic approach and finally when I disabled and re-enabled the USB port it solved the problem.

Don't know why but it worked so I am, updated to Version 6 (K1) having started at Version1 (2011)

Anyway thanks for the heads-up on the firmware update.

Best regards

Daron

Hi Gareth,

Just wondering had you experienced any problems installing drivers using the Metz firmware update Software,

Following the stage where the drivers are being installed on my C Drive I get a message saying they were installed successfully but when I then go to the next stage of upgrading the flash with the USB connected (no batteries and flash switched off) I then get a message saying please install the drivers before initiating the firmware update to the flash.

It is a 58AF 1 and the firmware update package is available but seems to fail at the driver installation or maybe it is not connecting (seeing the flash)

Just wondered had you had any issues,.

Regards

Daronl

What a lovely well crafted set David, really captures the place and of a quality that would grace any travel publication; makes me want to get on a plane.

Regards

Daronl

Great set, great lens already got the bigger bag (Peak Design 15" Messenger)

Takes the KI, 15-30-, 24-70, 70-200 and one more lens, in my case the Sigma 35mm F1.4 ART DG (FF)
Also takes all bits and pieces and a CF tripod - stunning bag but needs a porter to carry it when loaded as above.

Regards

I have to say Alan, that picture makes me feel properly inadequate, it is stunning,technically, compositionally and every other "ally".

It really is wonderful.

Regards

Daronl

My only comment is Wonderful !

Not tourist shots but travel mag shots for sure David.

Superb composition, top drawer images .