Stuff
I woke at 4:30am on Thursday morning and started packing for my flight to Long Island. By 9:30 I was in good shape so I took a nice 48-length swim. Jim and I left the house right on time at 11:30am. He dropped me off for my dental cleaning and had the oil changed in the Sequoia. Then he picked me back up and dropped me at MCO way early for my flight which is currently delayed a bit. I normally remember to bring my Samba hoodie to wear on the plane if needed. Right now I am still in the Orlando airport and it is so cold in the terminal that you could freeze water in a glass!
I am taking just a bit of camera gear: the 600 II, the 100-400 II, one 2X III and two 1.4X III TCs, and two 5D Mark IV bodies. All in my larger Think Tank Roller that weighed a svelte 33 1/2 pounds. My Mongoose and my Induro GIT 304L are in one of my two checked bags.I hope to find a few shorebirds here and there between visiting family, making several scheduled appointments, and enjoying the two planned trips into the city. I fly back to Florida a week from Sunday.
I was glad to learn late on Thursday that the sale of Stephen November’s 200-400mm f/4L IS with the Internal 1.4X TC is pending.
Great IPT News
An amazing nine or ten folks — I need to check carefully — have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today makes sixty-five days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about two hours to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
September Sales
- Margaret Page sold her Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition along with a $175 value L-Plate for $949 in late September.
- Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS 5Ds body in like-new condition for $2249.00 in early September.
- Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $9,899 with lots of great extras in early September.
- Lisa Tri sold her Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom lens (the original IS version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $898 in early September.
- IPT veteran Joe Messina sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in excellent plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $7,900 in early September.
- Ivan Kuraev sold his Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1699 and his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in excellent near-mint condition for $2499 in early September.
- IPT veteran Mike Ross sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip all in mint condition for $1,099 on the first day it was listed in early September.
- Ray Stranagan sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition for $3999 in early September, just three days after it was listed.
Brand New Listings
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body in excellent condition (with slight scratches on top of camera) for a very low and fair $1199. The sale includes the front body cap, a RRS L-plate, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).
Two dependable, rugged 1D Mark IVs served as my workhorse professional bodies for several years; I really enjoyed their 1.3X crop factors, the fast frame rate, and the excellent image quality. artie
Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS 5D Mark III digital camera body in excellent condition (with slight scratches on top of camera) for a very low $1299 (recently cleaned and checked by Canon). The sale includes the front body cap, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).
I have used the 5D III for birds on occasion with excellent results, even with the 2X III TC and the 600 II. For man years it was my go-to dSLR for flowers, landscapes, and Urbex photography until I replaced it first with the 5DS R and then with the 5D Mark IV. In my experience, the quality of the image files is superb. artie
Canon EOS 5DS R
Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS 5DS R digital camera body in like-new condition for only $2649. The sale includes the front body cap, a RRS L-plate, a LensCoat BodyBag, the Canon batter grip (with only one battery), the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).
The 5DS R is the premier dSLR for landscape photography and as Patrick Sparkman and I proved, it is a great body for bird, wildlife, and nature photographers who have good sharpness techniques, especially those who make large prints; it’s image quality is unmatched. artie
Canon EOS-1DX Mark II
Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS-1DX Mark II professional digital camera body in like-new condition for only $4899 with only 23,000 shutter actuations.The camera was recently cleaned and checked by Canon. The sale includes the front body cap, a RRS L-plate, a LensCoat BodyBag, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).
The 1DX Mark II is Canon’s rugged, blazingly fast professional digital camera body. It features an amazing AF system and high quality image files with great dynamic range. It is the choice of Arash Hazeghi, one of the world’s premier birds in flight photographers. artie
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This image was created alongside my house two days after Irma visited us. I used my favorite flower photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/20 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB. Flexi-Zone Single/Rear Button AF on the center of the white flower. Live View for mirror lock-up with the 2-second timer for sharpness. 3/4 inch wildflower |
You Tell Me …
Take a close look at the image caption above and then make an educated guess and let me know what lens, what focal length, and what accessory or accessories you think I used to create today’s featured image of a relatively small (3/4 inch) flower. Trust me, there is a clue, at least to the lens used. After that, you might be able to figure the rest out. But it won’t be easy.
Shepherd’s Needles
Thanks to my right-hand man, Jim Litzenberg, for correctly identifying today’s wildflower as Shepherd’s (or Spanish) Needles. Whether Bidens alba or Bidens pilosa is the correct Latin name is part of a continuing taxonomic debate. The same can be said as to whether the plant in question is native to Florida. Learn more here.
Your Call
Feel free to leave a thoughtful critique of the image. Exposure? Sharpness? Image design? Light? Interest or impact?
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As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
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Typos
In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).
Beautiful image! Did you use the Canon 100-400 with a Canon 500D close-up filter? I have used the same filter on my Nikon 80-400 for frog of similar size.
Good guess. That would have worked too. See my work-around for close focus in the upcoming Saturday October 14 blog post.
with love, artie
Hey Arthur, 180mm 3.5L macro is the lens.
Nope 🙂
with love, artie
My Guess with 70-200 f/4 lens with couple of extension tubes.
Nope 🙂
with love, artie
I’m going with Scott: 180 Macro, probably did not need any extension tubes.
Maybe add a Polarizer.
Have a great trip to NY. Glad to hear you survived Irma OK.
Guido
Nope 🙂
with love, artie
Could you possibly post a picture of all that gear in the bag? I would love to se how you carry it all and how it fits in the bag.
Thank you
Hi Scott, For me, this trip was traveling light. As I had lots of room in the bag — heck, it only weighted 33 1/2 pounds — I almost went with the smaller of my two Think Tank rollers. I have made trips with as much as 45 1/2 pounds … I will try to make and post an image. If you do a search in the little white box on the top right for “packing for air travel” you might beat me to the punch.
with love, artie
You were using the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro (at 180mm) with no accessories for flower photography post-Irma and the blur looked similar to this photo. That would be my likely guess until you said accessories.
My lottery guess is the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II with an extension tube at 180-200mm. Something about the detail in the bud of the flower makes me think one or more extension tubes were used.
Perhaps a combination of the 180mm macro and extension, but the more I talk, the less educated the guess becomes!
Good guess, but nope 🙂
with love, artie
My guess: 100/400 w/ 1.4x converter considering the close focus capabilities of the new version of this lens.
Good guess but you could not get anywhere close enough with the combo to create a 1/3-frame sized image of a 3/4 inch flower …
with love, artie
A wild guess–180mm macro (or could be 100mm macro, but I’m not sure you have that lens) since the background is a nice blur. Background would be more in focus with a wide angle. And added a polarizer since I don’t see any glare on the leaves?
Nope 🙂
with love, artie