All Forum Comments
#2 is beautiful. Really like #3 as well.
Comment by Frogfish posted on Mallorcan Panoramas at 11/04/2012 - 20:44
Lovely set ! The Sparrowhawk on the blackbird has his eyes on you !
Comment by Frogfish posted on Various Birds of prey at 11/04/2012 - 20:40
pmcquail wrote:
The shape of the spots is the usual way to tell from the front. Song thrush have heart shapes whereas the mistle are more rounded.
Yep. This is the #1 pointer, arrows (Song) vs. blobs (Mistle), also brown vs greyish, smaller body vs larger body (same head sizes) and to me it always seems the Mistle has rather less markings on the chest with more below than the Song which seems to be more heavily spotted on the chest area.The shape of the spots is the usual way to tell from the front. Song thrush have heart shapes whereas the mistle are more rounded.
So yours is a Song Thrush !
Comment by Frogfish posted on Not very clever so need a Bird ID at 11/04/2012 - 16:59
For street I use a combination of 30, 43 & 77 or 85. 15 is always with me but obviously not for people. 30 is my favourite street lens.
The 17-50 is about the perfect range for street and I disagree that it's a massive lens, I have it and it isn't (and it's very sharp too), but it is more obvious than a small prime, though if you are pointing a DSLR at someone it's not a big difference (I sometimes use a Sigma 50-150 too when I need more distance) unless you have a large zoom such as that Sigma or a 70-200 on there !
However I'll add a caveat here that I do all my street shooting in Asia and maybe people are more camera tolerant here ... they certainly love cameras !
The 17-50 is about the perfect range for street and I disagree that it's a massive lens, I have it and it isn't (and it's very sharp too), but it is more obvious than a small prime, though if you are pointing a DSLR at someone it's not a big difference (I sometimes use a Sigma 50-150 too when I need more distance) unless you have a large zoom such as that Sigma or a 70-200 on there !
However I'll add a caveat here that I do all my street shooting in Asia and maybe people are more camera tolerant here ... they certainly love cameras !
Comment by Frogfish posted on Which is better for street photography ? at 11/04/2012 - 05:35
You can copy photos direct from your SD to your iPad (I guess this is fast though I haven't had the need to try it yet even though I bought the 'dongle)'. And there is also the Eye-Fi which I've got to work quite well but it's a bit slow and probably a waste of your battery.
Comment by Frogfish posted on Laptop,notebook suggestions please? at 10/04/2012 - 18:03
johnriley wrote:
This basically won't work. Catch in focus is best used with manual focus lenses, although, as mentioned, some lenses have an AF/MF switch.
it works a dream with the DA*300 John .. but of course it has an AF/MF switch.This basically won't work. Catch in focus is best used with manual focus lenses, although, as mentioned, some lenses have an AF/MF switch.
Comment by Frogfish posted on catch in focus at 10/04/2012 - 13:08
K5 - no brainer, an absolute must have ahead of all else ! I wonder just how good the Bigmos or the Bigma would be in comparison to a DA*300 (cropped or with TC), certainly the K5 has the edge in speed but when shooting birds I'm almost always f8 to f5.6 (unless dusk has set in and you still can't drag me away - and I now have another solution for that).
The DA*300 alone isn't quite as good cropped as with the Tamron x1.4 (one of the best TCs, for 420mm) and neither of those cropped (300 or 300+x1.4) is quite as good as the 300+AFA x1.7 for 510mm.
I looked at the M400/5.6. Shaaarp lens ! However the focus throw is looong and needs a bit of muscle, unlike the DA*300 which is a one finger operation (I almost always shoot small birds with MF, or AF with AF cancel on the rear, and CIF) so sadly I ruled the M400 out. Bargain lens for around £200 if you want a great lens for birding and don't have the cash for a more expensive lens.
I have just bought a Tokina 300/2.8 MF lens (the Tamron 300/2.8 MF would be almost as good an option and around the same price for excellent/ perfect condition used copies, ca. $750-1,000) and plan to try the AFA x1.7 (ca. £250) on it for 510mm @ 4.85. So that may be something to try .... I'll let you know how that goes when my wife's friend brings it over here from Hong Kong ! Beauty of this of course is you have an f2.8 300mm lens too (though I'd never be shooting birds at that aperture). MF is absolutely the way to go when birding, I have faar more keepers and no AF racking in and out trying to find the subject.
However an absolute must is the piece of equipment I was trying out in the back garden today, the Better Beamer. I'll post some comparison shots later but it's roughly a 50% improvement in flash alone. On full power with the Better Beamer the Metz 50 was illuminating detail at 35m ! 1/16 power (and almost instantaneous recharge) was good for 10m. Can't wait to try this in the field and it would improve almost any birding lens within range and with a good quality powerful flash !
As far as your other lenses go, I wouldn't change them for the 18-200.
The DA*300 alone isn't quite as good cropped as with the Tamron x1.4 (one of the best TCs, for 420mm) and neither of those cropped (300 or 300+x1.4) is quite as good as the 300+AFA x1.7 for 510mm.
I looked at the M400/5.6. Shaaarp lens ! However the focus throw is looong and needs a bit of muscle, unlike the DA*300 which is a one finger operation (I almost always shoot small birds with MF, or AF with AF cancel on the rear, and CIF) so sadly I ruled the M400 out. Bargain lens for around £200 if you want a great lens for birding and don't have the cash for a more expensive lens.
I have just bought a Tokina 300/2.8 MF lens (the Tamron 300/2.8 MF would be almost as good an option and around the same price for excellent/ perfect condition used copies, ca. $750-1,000) and plan to try the AFA x1.7 (ca. £250) on it for 510mm @ 4.85. So that may be something to try .... I'll let you know how that goes when my wife's friend brings it over here from Hong Kong ! Beauty of this of course is you have an f2.8 300mm lens too (though I'd never be shooting birds at that aperture). MF is absolutely the way to go when birding, I have faar more keepers and no AF racking in and out trying to find the subject.
However an absolute must is the piece of equipment I was trying out in the back garden today, the Better Beamer. I'll post some comparison shots later but it's roughly a 50% improvement in flash alone. On full power with the Better Beamer the Metz 50 was illuminating detail at 35m ! 1/16 power (and almost instantaneous recharge) was good for 10m. Can't wait to try this in the field and it would improve almost any birding lens within range and with a good quality powerful flash !
As far as your other lenses go, I wouldn't change them for the 18-200.
Comment by Frogfish posted on A big decision at 10/04/2012 - 13:03
johnriley wrote:
The one I'm waiting for is the Adapter K for Q. Enabling the use of K mount lenses seems an interesting idea.
That will be interesting ! I doubt if you could even see the Q behind a lens like the 16-50 !The one I'm waiting for is the Adapter K for Q. Enabling the use of K mount lenses seems an interesting idea.
Comment by Frogfish posted on So what can we expect from the Q? at 10/04/2012 - 12:15
That Lynx shot is just superb Vic. Pity the snow wasn't whiter - maybe you can 'influence it 's PP eh ?
Very good set indeed - looks like you had a great time !
Very good set indeed - looks like you had a great time !
Comment by Frogfish posted on Shooting Bears, Wolves, & lynx. at 09/04/2012 - 19:18
I saw this on another forum and have Copy/Pasted the link below.
I'm sure many of you know of him. I follow JV on TV whenever there is anything on about the man and his work and absolutely adore his incredible bravery, his knowledge of tigers and the invaluable work he is doing, his documentaries are totally enthralling. My heart-felt wishes for a speedy recovery are with him, the world needs more people with the passion and determination of this man.
http://www.jvbigcats.co.za/index.htm
I'm sure many of you know of him. I follow JV on TV whenever there is anything on about the man and his work and absolutely adore his incredible bravery, his knowledge of tigers and the invaluable work he is doing, his documentaries are totally enthralling. My heart-felt wishes for a speedy recovery are with him, the world needs more people with the passion and determination of this man.
http://www.jvbigcats.co.za/index.htm
Comment by Frogfish posted on Wildlife filmmaker John Varty mauled by Tiger at 07/04/2012 - 07:19
