RHS Harlow Carr gardens seems to have been popular with PU members this year, so it was clearly necessary to visit (and not for the first time) while in the area last week. Some of the big drifts of flowers were lovely, but somehow didn't seem to inspire when looked at through the viewfinder . So here are a few individual flowers that caught my attention. All handheld, K3 + F135mm f2.8.

Rain stopped play at lunchtime, but a good lunch at Betty's was adequate distraction .

Thoughts, comments are welcome as usual.

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Steve

The concept and composition work for me. However, the blemish on the apple draws the eye and detracts from the overall impact. Also, the transition from shadow at left to brightest area doesn't seem smooth (but that might be partly due to the tablet screen I'm using).

Steve

Stunning. No favourite, they each say something different.

Steve

It looks like a winged version of the top knob could hit the camera. Would a head with a lever to lock/unlock the QR plate be better?

Steve

Images aren't as good as a DSLR (obviously!). The sensor is small so images have all the limitations of a small-sensor camera. Impressive headline megapixies are misleading, they are upsampled from the lower resolution sensor. Having said that, though, I've been quite impressed with some image of birds when they happen to have wandered into the optimum position for sharp focus and the light is good. Don't expect beautiful out-of-focus areas, though, these are small, fixed aperture cameras that try to get as much depth of field as reasonably possible, and you can't change it.

The camera will come with a standard tripod mount, a strong, metal fitting at the back and a long, webbing strap to attach camera to post, tree etc.

Now to bring this thread to Pentax Land . I've been wondering about looking for a PIR sensor/trigger for my K20D with 18-55mm WR attached then pointing it at the bird feeding station. Neither camera nor lens get much use now, this could give them a new lease of life. Does anyone have any opinions, advice etc?

Steve

Plenty of fuel at Harrogate Sainsbury's today, but plenty of people trying to get it. At least I've now got enough to do the 300+ miles home in a few days time.

But elsewhere nearby ... several independents closed, traffic queuing to get into another one backing up and blocking a main road. Insanity!

Steve

Good choice! Time to confess that I've got the no-glow version of the same and it's very good, also one that's a couple of generations earlier. As far as I can work out, no-glow has lower IR light intensity so needs longer exposures, which means video isn't quite as sharp.

JohnX's advice re cheap tripods is spot on. It's given a new lease of life to a cheap old thing that I'd almost thrown out a few times.

Now for your first challenge: work out what creature owns the moving pair of dots in shadow near the edge of the frame that are clearly IR reflected from eyes but the body has gone AWOL. That was my first hedgehog video. It got better after that!

Steve

The things I've got are stand-alone, all-in-one boxes, the sort that you can fix to a tree in a wood, come back a week later and see what has wandered by. There are lots of different brands, but they all work in much the same way. A PIR sensor detects the creature (strictly it's 'moving warmth'), that starts up the camera bit of the kit (takes a second or so), then it will take an IR flash picture using built-in IR lights or, if you want video, an IR-illuminated video. All done automatically. Just leave it out overnight, check it in the morning and see what triggered it (if anything!).

My earlier comment about 'low-glow' or 'no-glow' relates to your concern about animals seeing an IR flash. 'Low-glow' is definitely visible to some animals, including humans. However, hedgehogs and a lot of other garden wildlife (including mice and rats) aren't bothered. 'No-glow' uses a different part of the IR spectrum which is almost invisible to most animals and humans. I went for 'no-glow' because I hoped to go looking for deer etc. on Scottish holidays, but it definitely isn't necessary for hedgehogs.

Davidwozhere's picture is the sort of thing that a friend showed me a few years ago which got me started. He was using a £50 Chinese thing. Perfectly OK for close distance in a fairly sheltered garden. They tend not to have as long a detection range as more expensive, big brand models, and are not as robust, but if you're going to put the camera 10ft from the hedgehog in your garden, that's not a problem. Incidentally, all of these cameras are fixed focus, fixed aperture, with minimum focus distance about 6ft.

Steve

I got a couple for hedgehogs from naturespy. They only sell brands that they use prefessionally and do their own testing. I won't recommend a specific camera or brand, but some things to consider:
- Maximum range for detecting a hedgehog is about 20ft. Ignore anything bigger, that's either marketting hype or for detecting bigger things like a deer.
- 'Low-glow' is OK for hedgehogs and cheaper than 'no-glow'. You need 'no-glow' for animals that can be spooked by a dull red light (e.g. deer).
- A built-in timer is useful but not a necessity.
- Don't bother with rechargeable batteries unless the camera has been specifically designed for them, and then use eneloops. Best non-rechargeables are Energiser Ultimate Lithium Pro and similar. Expensive but worth it. Avoid Duracell. It's something to do with battery chemistry and voltage.
- Wifi costs! It's a lot cheaper to just check the memory card once in a while...
- Decent quality nocturnal video and 'cheap' don't go together.
- Try to fit the camera low down, no more than 2 ft above ground. Be prepared to experiment with height and angle.

Have fun. And if you're lucky, you'll end up with more gigabytes of hedgehog videos than you know what to do with (the voice of experience speaking!).

Steve

Filled up on Thursday for a drive to Yorkshire on Friday. Will fill up again next Thursday for the drive back home on Friday. Buying, but not panicing. Just getting what's needed when it's needed.

Anyway, John Denver's 'Grandma's feather bed' is playing so life is good. Thank goodness there's more to life that petrol/diesel.

Steve