Super San Diego AF Tip for Canon and Nikon

Stuff

I slept pretty well for almost ten hours on Sunday night. The hernia repair felt pretty good when I woke but as I got dressed to go to town it began to hurt quite a bit … Dr. Holmes thought that they incision was healing well. So did I. After that appointment I had a red laser treatment on my left shoulder to help with the healing. Or not. 🙂 After my nap the pain was greatly reduced as long as I was staying still.

The Streak

Today makes two hundred sixty-eight days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one about an hour to prepare including the time spent on the image optimization. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

Thanks to the Patient

With the injured shoulder, the recently concluded DeSoto IPT, and the hernia surgery, I have gotten more than a bit behind on e-mails, especially some Used Gear Sales business. Many thanks for your patience. I have had lots of time to rest lately and am almost caught up.

Dark-siders: Please Do Not Take This Personally

I have been saying this for a while: after many years in the business of brokering used gear sales, one pattern that I have seen is that most Nikon folks think that their stuff is worth a lot more than it actually is. That especially with the potential sales of the older 600mm lenses, some of which weigh in the 12-14 pound range. If you can shed any light as to why this might be the case, I’d love to hear from you.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog 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 went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

New Listings

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dSLR

Sale Pending First Day of Listing

Gary Meyer is offering a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dSLR in mint condition with only 3115 shutter actuations for the very low price of $2599. The sale includes the front lens cap, all the manuals, the cords, the strap, the original box, and insured ground shipping via UPS. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Gary via e-mail.

What can I say. The 5D IV was my favorite-ever Canon dSLR. I owned and use three of them while my 1DX II sat on the shelf in my garage. If you have been dreaming of a 5D IV, grab Gary’s practically new copy right now and save a cool $700.artie artie

Canon EF 100-400 IS-II USM Zoom Lens

Sale Pending First Day of Listing

Gary Meyer is also offering a Canon EF 100-400 IS-II USM Zoom Lens in mint condition for the very low price of $1699.00. The sale includes a 77mm B&W UV Filter, the tough fabric soft case, and the front and rear lens caps, the lens hood, and insured ground shipping via UPS. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Gary via e-mail.

Y’all know how much I used and loved and miss my 100-400II for its incredible sharpness (even with the 1.4X TC), it’s amazing versatility, and its hard-to-believe close focus. artie

artie

Canon EF 1.4X III Extender (teleconverter)

Sale Pending First Day of Listing

Gary Meyer is also offering a Canon EF 1.4X III Extender (teleconverter) for a very low $299. The sale includes the front and rear caps, the soft lens pouch, and insured ground shipping via UPS. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Gary via e-mail.

The 1.4X teleconverters were so important to what I do in the field that I routinely traveled with three of them! And each had to be micro-adjusted with all lens and body combinations as well as at the long and short ends of zoom lenses … artie

Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS Lens (the original version)

Gary Meyer is also offering a Canon EF 24-105 f/4L IS Lens (the original version) in mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $447.00. The sale includes the front and rear caps, the soft lens pouch, and insured ground shipping via UPS. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Gary via e-mail.

When I shot Canon, I rarely made a trip or headed out to the beach without my 24-105 in my Xtra-hand vest. Whenever I’d leave this amazingly versatile B-roll lens behind, I’d wind up regretting it. I use it for bird-scapes, photographer-scapes, landscapes, mini-macro scenes that included bird feathers, dead birds, and nests with eggs (the latter only when and if the nest can be photographed without jeopardizing it), and just about anything else that catches my eye. While I am nowhere near as good as Denise Ippolito is with this lens, I have made lots of good and saleable images with mine, the old version. artie

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM Lens

Sale Pending First Day of Listing

Gary Meyer is also offering a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L USM lens in mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $349.00. The sale includes the front and rear caps, the soft lens pouch, the original box, and insured ground shipping via UPS.

Please contact Gary via e-mail.

As I was not a very good landscape photographer, the f/4 versions of the 16-35 and the 17-40 were always more attractive to me than the larger, heavier f/2.8 versions. The IS feature with this lens makes it a snap to hand hold. artie

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

Booking.Com

Several folks on the DeSoto IPT used the Booking.Com link below, 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 photographers 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 1st San Diego IPT on the morning of January 14, 2018 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III — at 299mmm — and the blazingly fast Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. ISO 1250. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/1600 sec. at f/9. AWB at 8:10am on a foggy, overcast morning at 7:56am. Center Large Zone/Shutter Button/AI Servo (Continuous in Nikon) AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system activated an L-shaped array of three points on base of the the distended bill pouch, right on the same plane as the pelican’s eye. Brown Pelican, Pacific race in breeding plumage, head throw

Super San Diego AF Tip for Canon and Nikon

When attempting to create vertical head throw images, the tendency is to select an upper AF point. But, except when working wide for full body vertical head throws, it is far better to select an array of AF points near the center of the frame. Why? It is too easy for AF to lose the (too skinny) bill tip at the peak of the action. By choosing an array near the center of the frame the system it is much easier for the system to acquire and hold AF on the much broader, fully distended bill pouch.

For Canon …

For Canon I would recommend Large Center Zone to get broad AF coverage that will be on the same plane as the bird’s eye.

For Nikon …

For Nikon I would recommend center (or one up from the center) d-25 or d-72 to get broad AF coverage on the distended bill pouch that will be on the same plane as the bird’s eye.

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

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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 :).