Heh. The classic challenge in this case is Chiffchaff vs Willow Warbler - very similar indeed (the Chiffchaff being a Warbler itself).
My favourite tool is Merlin ID, the photo and sound ID parts of it, from Cornell Labs. What’s yours?
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Heh. The classic challenge in this case is Chiffchaff vs Willow Warbler - very similar indeed (the Chiffchaff being a Warbler itself).
My favourite tool is Merlin ID, the photo and sound ID parts of it, from Cornell Labs. What’s yours?
I can well believe it - but good payoff for your patience!
Well done - I normally find these moving far too fast for good in-flight photos.
Oh, Kites can do “Evil Mastermind” looks really well already - even this one is not giving a friendly look! And glad to have provided practice for your new and promising skill.
Weight - sounds like you should do OK, and are used to the challenge, but I’d still recommend trying the lens on a camera in the camera shop first, if you are lucky enough that’s possible. The knee monopod - I know it well from the times I was able to use it! Oh, a factoid - handheld pointing directly upwards to spot goldcrests really emphasises the weight problem.
Hood - I can’t remember - now you mention it, it probably did, as the hood I use is a Canon one, and I’d guess there’s a plenty of cheaper third party options for me to have bought. So change the advice to “Actually use the hood you get, regardless of apparent need due to weather”.
Just for completeness, I did have a lot of pleasure birding with the RF600 F11 lens for a few years - no zoom, fixed aperture, but it served me well (and much lighter and so easier to aim). The RF200-800 is only better as a matter of degree (a bit more reach, a bit more light, and occasionally that zoom is useful), rather than a step change improvement. That “degree” does of course mean some shots noticeably change from OK to nice, because bird shots are often on the limits of what a camera can make look good.
I stand corrected on Teleconverters then - a long while ago I was investigating them, and I gathered a “Not too bad” vibe, without much jumping for joy, which left me unconvinced.
Observations then:
Obviously a very expensive lens for most people
I’ve paired it with a good (and expensive) Full-frame body
This was in good light - which you can’t rely on (see various of my other posts over the last few months for examples): ISO 320 at 1/1250. I normally expect more round ISO 1000-5000 in my birding shots, and you can tell the difference.
A Teleconverter is in effect waveshands doing an optical crop, which, in effect is losing you precious light. If the subject is brightly lit that won’t be a problem, but yes, for more usual lighting, can result in what you say. There’s some optical distortion as well, but I suspect its often not bad.
The lens is seriously heavy. I do use it handheld for birds, but can only hold it on target for a couple of minutes, before resting it more comfortably. There again, I’m not strong. But do test out the weight (on a camera) before purchase - I was a little gung ho on this.
Do get a hood, not for glare, but to protect against knocks, especially while learning to handle it
Plural? As in two or more? But, but … oooooo, there’s the other one!
Indeed!
Though that song has so many variations in its lyrics…
And that, too, is a proper use of a camera :) Quietly satisfying.
if you haven’t already, one thing to ask yourself is whether you should rotate the shot to make the leftmost verticals truly vertical. it’s not a question with a universal correct answer - with a photo like this, you could easily decide that true vertical will look too clinical and against the spirit of the rest of the photo, and that the “out of the camera” angle is better. And it is your opinion that counts!
“… Eight for heaven, Nine for hell, And ten for the devil’s own sell!”
Oh, and a bonus one
Grey herons beget grey herons, or at least I assume that’s what’s happening here - same walk, maybe even same seat:
Really satisfying photo…
Except for those paper cups.
It’s been a little while since I’ve seen kestrels - here, the Kites get chased off by Jackdaws and Crows, though I’m pretty sure sometimes the Kites deliberately provoke them first to have a bit of fun.
Because I’ve watched them so much, I’m familiar with their flight patterns (loosely, a lazy horizontal corkscrew, a lazy half straight glide, and then a determined “I want to get there” flight - oh, and a circling up on thermals which is a “no hoper” for photos) - with those I find it much easier now to predict and track their flight. Though a good lens and auto-focus obviously helps a lot!
Well, there are Scottish release & feeding stations (I’ve been to the Galloway one), and they are happy in urban environments, it shouldn’t be more than a few years before you’re seeing them in Glasgow!
Oops - the one time I forgot to add it!
Canon R5 MkII + RF200-800mm lens (at full extension) - ISO800, F/9, 1/1250s So, umm, not the cheapest of setups :)
Over in the UK we call them LBJ’s - little brown jobs. But you’ve been getting such good shots of them, so well done!