Show your Bird Portraits

SteveC

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Sep 3, 2019
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PLEASE Stop Already! (I'm already working hard to find things to sell, trying to be Extra Good around the house, and eating out of cans trying to put together the cash to move up to an R5!)
Beautiful photos, By the Way!

It's not bad unless you're eating Ramen for a month.

And I've often said I'd be doing that after buying either an expensive coin or (more recently) gear.
 
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ISv

"The equipment that matters, is you"
CR Pro
Apr 30, 2017
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".... so what rationale is there for looking beyond when I don't even make a living with this stuff?! Even I can answer that - Nada."
No rationale Jack: we are just old guys who are stuck to their toys! Well, there is also the competitive element but you did say it well in your post: as an amateurs we spend money for the new toys! Pros are getting that small or whatever advantage they are looking for to beat the concurrence and get a profit! It's more complicated off course but I'm sure you know what I mean.
On other hand taking photos is the way for me to escape from the problems in my job - when you are doing research there are always problems - you are stepping in nowhere, and it's the goal in the research actually: nobody has done it before and you may contribute with something really new (and you get the new grant...)! We are doing very well so far, much better then others but it's a stress! Taking photos when I can is the way I relax. Unfortunately not every photo makes me "relax" :))) - I want GOOD photos, at least for my criteria! The new instruments are really helping (for those who can take the advantage of them!) more or less...
So far this "medicine" is working for me - to kill the stress or part of it... and to move further.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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".... so what rationale is there for looking beyond when I don't even make a living with this stuff?! Even I can answer that - Nada."
No rationale Jack: we are just old guys who are stuck to their toys! Well, there is also the competitive element but you did say it well in your post: as an amateurs we spend money for the new toys! Pros are getting that small or whatever advantage they are looking for to beat the concurrence and get a profit! It's more complicated off course but I'm sure you know what I mean.
On other hand taking photos is the way for me to escape from the problems in my job - when you are doing research there are always problems - you are stepping in nowhere, and it's the goal in the research actually: nobody has done it before and you may contribute with something really new (and you get the new grant...)! We are doing very well so far, much better then others but it's a stress! Taking photos when I can is the way I relax. Unfortunately not every photo makes me "relax" :))) - I want GOOD photos, at least for my criteria! The new instruments are really helping (for those who can take the advantage of them!) more or less...
So far this "medicine" is working for me - to kill the stress or part of it... and to move further.things
Well put. I have always needed an unrelated unstressful hobby to help me unwind from my research. And I like doing things in the company of others without competition but being part of a community who enjoy doing something for the sake of it.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
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The sun was shining and a Song Thrush was singing away. This time, it wasn't obscured by a twig, the weak morning sun was on it, I was closer, and I had 800mm on the R5. It was ridiculous. I clocked up 750 shots on an hours walk because of the fast burst speed and discarded about 725 to keep the very best. I do find it tiring to hold the 400mm DO II +2xTC pointing up for a length of time and the 100-500 or 100-400 are so much easier. Both are 100% crops from the centre.

309A4235DxO_song_thrush_on_tree-lsss.jpg309A4204DxO_song_thrush_on_tree_singing-lsss.jpg
 
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usern4cr

R5
CR Pro
Sep 2, 2018
1,376
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Kentucky, USA
I hope it works for you, not sure for some other guys... Honestly it's a combo that makes me (first time!!!) thinking about adding one more system to my backpack or simply switching... On other hand - there is regularly something popping up that makes you jealous (and your pockets lighter:) and it could be significantly lighter:confused:!) . Any way - that's the new (not so new actually - at all!) trend in photography but I'm comparing it with the old good times when you buy a good camera/lens(es) and you are practically done (ha, ha - you stupid you just think so:ROFLMAO: - at least in my case!).
Yes, the combination of old age (unfortunately that means me) and hunkering down which avoids travel costs has left me with some serious GAS. After I've given my Olympus gear to my brother (a good deed in it's own right) and invested in the R5 & RF lenses I've even (dare I say it) been looking at the Olympus 150-400 f4.5 TC1.25X pro lens as a possible all-in-one travel birding/cat-ing & closeup flower/insect lens that goes from (FF EQ) 300 to 800mm @ f9 (or to 1000mm @ ~f11) & 0.58x max mag. But I'd have to get one of their not-cutting-edge bodies with smaller sensor and fewer AF points so animal eye AF might be much poorer (?). Having used an EM1_II with DXO PL4, I know it can do it's magic on the smaller & grainier files to make for some beautiful photos. They may not be what a R5 or big white lens delivers, but it'd be a single lens without lens changing for the times when you just want to hike with a single lens for those purposes, or maybe also take the R5 with a single zoom for wide/normal range photos.

It'll be fun to see the photos it gives from real people and how the IQ compares with their 300mm f4 pro lens, which I have to say is superb. Now if Canon would come out with a similar RF lens with similar specs it'd be awesome, but realistically having that whole lens train in a FF version would make it far too heavy, unfortunately. So maybe there's room to have a smaller format camera with just 1 lens to complement the FF magic that Canon can provide in the other ranges? Of course, there's no point in actually getting something like that until I see the new RF tele lenses Canon comes out with, and then I'll probably be so amazed at what they can do that I'll forget about the smaller format option. Who knows?

For now, I'll enjoy what the RF 100-500mm f4.5-7.1L lens can do. When you consider the ability to crop in post, at say 2x for to up 1000mm ~f14 in a 11 MP file, I'm sure Canon's superb animal eye detect & PL4 can work it's magic to make it pretty darn good for a single zoom lens! ;)
 
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usern4cr

R5
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Sep 2, 2018
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The sun was shining and a Song Thrush was singing away. This time, it wasn't obscured by a twig, the weak morning sun was on it, I was closer, and I had 800mm on the R5. It was ridiculous. I clocked up 750 shots on an hours walk because of the fast burst speed and discarded about 725 to keep the very best. I do find it tiring to hold the 400mm DO II +2xTC pointing up for a length of time and the 100-500 or 100-400 are so much easier. Both are 100% crops from the centre.

View attachment 195593View attachment 195594
Those are really beautiful shots, AlanF. Were you using a RF 800mm f11 lens, or the 400 DOII & 2xTC? I've got the RF 800 f11 lens and really enjoyed how lightweight and easy to use it is, but didn't think it could produce high IQ shots like you just did.

Out of curiosity, do you use full or 1st curtain electronic shutter? Single or continuous shooting? cRaw or Raw?
I've come to use one back button for spot AF and another for animal eye AF and that's working pretty well for me. Do you do something similar?
I'm always interested in possible ways to make using the R5 easier & better.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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Those are really beautiful shots, AlanF. Were you using a RF 800mm f11 lens, or the 400 DOII & 2xTC? I've got the RF 800 f11 lens and really enjoyed how lightweight and easy to use it is, but didn't think it could produce high IQ shots like you just did.

Out of curiosity, do you use full or 1st curtain electronic shutter? Single or continuous shooting? cRaw or Raw?
I've come to use one back button for spot AF and another for animal eye AF and that's working pretty well for me. Do you do something similar?
I'm always interested in possible ways to make using the R5 easier & better.
These were done with the 400mm DO II +2xTCIII, which I find heavy but versatile because of using it also at 400mm f/4 and 3.3m mfd. If the 800mm f/11 becomes available on sale or return, I'll give it it a try and keep if the IQ is good enough in comparison. I keep things simple and use EFCS, continuous shooting, cRAW and the same button assignments as you.
 
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usern4cr

R5
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Sep 2, 2018
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These were done with the 400mm DO II +2xTCIII, which I find heavy but versatile because of using it also at 400mm f/4 and 3.3m mfd. If the 800mm f/11 becomes available on sale or return, I'll give it it a try and keep if the IQ is good enough in comparison. I keep things simple and use EFCS, continuous shooting, cRAW and the same button assignments as you.
I'll be interested in what you think of the RF 800 f11 quality. You may be jaded by your higher expectations since you have such good equipment already. I have the RF 100-500 and RF 800 f11 and find that I just use the RF 100-500 and don't (hardly) bother with the RF 800 since it also lacks the close focus ability. YMMV.

I use EFCS normally, unless I'm so close that the shutter sound scares the birds away (as it does when shooting outside my window at them nearby). The downside of full electronic shutter is that it's too darn fast at the FPS, and I can't get it to use a slower speed.

It's good to hear you use the same setting I do as it makes me feel more confident in continuing that way. :)
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
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Aug 16, 2012
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I'll be interested in what you think of the RF 800 f11 quality. You may be jaded by your higher expectations since you have such good equipment already. I have the RF 100-500 and RF 800 f11 and find that I just use the RF 100-500 and don't (hardly) bother with the RF 800 since it also lacks the close focus ability. YMMV.

I use EFCS normally, unless I'm so close that the shutter sound scares the birds away (as it does when shooting outside my window at them nearby). The downside of full electronic shutter is that it's too darn fast at the FPS, and I can't get it to use a slower speed.

It's good to hear you use the same setting I do as it makes me feel more confident in continuing that way. :)
What is the IQ of the 800 like compared with your other lenses with extender? The Digital Photograph site leaves me puzzled. Its copy of the 400mm DO II is very soft wide open and so doesn't make good comparisons, and the RF 100-500mm + 1.4xTC looks sharper at 700mm.
 
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usern4cr

R5
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Sep 2, 2018
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What is the IQ of the 800 like compared with your other lenses with extender? The Digital Photograph site leaves me puzzled. Its copy of the 400mm DO II is very soft wide open and so doesn't make good comparisons, and the RF 100-500mm + 1.4xTC looks sharper at 700mm.
I'm OK doing a test of the IQ of both. Edit: I've never tried to do a quality test between lenses and don't have studio lighting to make it easy, so I'll contact you directly to see if I can come up with some way to test that you think would give you good results.
 
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JPAZ

If only I knew what I was doing.....
CR Pro
Sep 8, 2012
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Southwest USA
These two hang out in my backyard. Obviously a committed relationship :), they always sit on a utility pole together. Shot handheld with R5 and EF 100-400 mkii + 1.4x mk iii; f/8; 1/4000; ISO 1250 using "animal eye focus" mode. Full disclosure, I did replace a solid blue sky with this cloud one.Bird Romance.jpg
 
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ISv

"The equipment that matters, is you"
CR Pro
Apr 30, 2017
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Today I was hunting a Laughing Gull in that area (there are reports of one wandering there). The one on the photos doesn't look exactly like a Laughing Gull
:)LOL:) but it was what I found :(! The strange pattern in the water is due to a tall (40-50 floors?) building(s) and some trees behind the water.

DSC_0162_DxO.jpgDSC_0174_DxO.jpg
 
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Jul 29, 2012
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Canada
Very nice pictures.
a025.gif
Well done, ISv.
 
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