Another Surprising AF Revelation and the Catastrophic Demise of My Nikon D5 ...

Stuff

It was a rare morning in Phoenix: cloudy for the most part. I was sort of lost without the sun and blue skies. I wound up keeping ten images, more than half of those of a single male Anna’s Hummingbird. Then therapy and more Ring-necked Ducks in flight. Just another day in Phoenix.

The Streak

Today makes two hundred nineteen days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 40 minutes to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings on the Used Photo Gear page here.

Booking.Com

Several folks on the Spoonbill IPTs used the Booking.Com link below and got great rates and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. 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. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

This image was created on the morning of Friday, February 16, 2018 with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and the blazingly fast AF king, the Nikon D5 DSLR (Dual XQD Slots). ISO 400. Matrix metering at about – 1 2/3 stops: 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1 AUTO0 WB at 7:52am on a clear day. Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune value: +8. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Center Group (grp) Shutter Button AF as originally framed. Be sure to click on the image to see the larger version. Image #1: Roseate Spoonbill taking flight

Another Surprising Revelation and the Demise of My Nikon D5 …

This is the bird that put a cap on the 2nd 2018 Spoonbill IPT when it flew in, landed in front of the group, bathed and flapped and preened and preened and flapped. After 30 minutes of that it looked around and took a step forward. In a whisper, I cautioned the group: “It is gonna take off.” It did. When the smoke had clear I had created almost 500 images of the bird. Three of the last four were the take-off images. All but one was more than sharp enough for me. Today’s featured image, the last one, is my favorite although the lift-off image –very similar to this one — is pretty darned good. I kept only 26 of the almost 500. Most folks would die for at least half of those that I got rid of. Such is my wonderful life.

Anyway, getting back to the point. Once I saw those image on my laptop I decided that I would keep my Nikon D5. As much as I love my D850 I was firmly convinced that for birds flying right at me — emphasis on the me — that the D5 outperformed the D850. That despite the two bodies having the identical AF system. The next day I was Focus Fine-tuning the D5 with my new 80-400 VR. I got a strange message on the back LCD. When I looked at the top LCD it said, and I quote, “ERR.” I took out the battery, cleaned the contacts, and put in a fresh battery. It still showed ERR. When I un-mounted the lens I noted that the shutter was jammed open. I packed it up and returned it to B&H for a full refund.

I am having another one delivered this week. That will have me doing lots more AF fine-tuning and give me the opportunity to get the new guide done. My plan at present is to use the D5 in pure flight situations. I may wind up with two D850s as I always make big international trips with three camera bodies.

Spring at DeSoto is often magical

DeSoto IPT #1 Sunrise: 7:07 am. Sunset: 6:22pm.

3 1/2 DAYS: SUN 15 APR thru the morning session on WED 18 APR: $1599. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 4.

You must purchase a season Parking Pass in advance for early entry. Click here and scroll down for info. If you are not a local, the six month pass if fine. Best to order by mail. Join me to photograph a wide variety of birds of the shore including pelicans, gulls, terns, sandpipers, oystercatchers, heron, egrets, and night-herons. Many in full breeding plumage. Most are ridiculously tame. Osprey likely. Learn to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret DeSoto locations, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations. Enjoy some great sunrises and sunsets.

Which will offer better opportunities, Desoto #1 or DeSoto #2? I have no idea. Both have the potential to be great.

DeSoto is one of the very few bird photography hotspots that can be great any given day of the year/strong>

DeSoto IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:41am. Sunset: 8:12pm.

SUN 13 MAY thru the morning session on WED 16 MAY: 3 1/2 DAYS: $1599.

You must purchase a season Parking Pass in advance for early entry. Click here and scroll down for info. If you are not a local, the six month pass if fine. Best to order by mail. Join me to photograph a wide variety of birds of the shore including pelicans, gulls, terns, sandpipers, oystercatchers, heron, egrets, and night-herons. Many in full breeding plumage. Most are ridiculously tame. Osprey likely. Learn to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret DeSoto locations, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations. Enjoy some great sunrises and sunsets.

Which will offer better opportunities, Desoto #1 or DeSoto #2? I have no idea. Both have the potential to be great.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my (stupendous) efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

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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 :).