The Nikon Lens I Miss the Most, and How to Get Your Dream Gear Soon. And a Superb Juan Tolentino Image from Bird Photographers.Net

What’s Up?

The morning of Monday December 2, 2019 was my least productive morning at Bosque this year. The sky was dead-clear and the bulk of the fly-in was late so I hightailed it to the crane pool. The winds were light from the NNW and the birds were taking off every-which-way. I moved and moved and moved — often several hundred yards. But every time the birds would wind up flying right to the spot that I just left. In short, the cranes outsmarted me …

IPT Updates

• The 2020 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) WED JAN 8, 2020 thru and including the morning session on SUN JAN 12: 4 1/2 days: $2099.(Limit: 8/Openings: 5)

Click here for complete IPT info and details.

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 over $1000.00, 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. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H. Those include the SONY a7r IV, the SONY 200-600, the SONY 600mm f/4 GM, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is eager to please.

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 EOS-1DX, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. Most recently the price of used Canon 600mm f/L IS II lenses have been dropping like a rock with the introduction of the 600 III. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

The Used Gear page has been hot for the past two months with the continuing price drops on Canon and Nikon gear. There are still lots of great buys right now on the Used Gear Page. In addition to the recent sales below, there are many pending sales.

New Listing

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS lens

BPN friend Ravi Hirekatur is offering a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4-5.6L IS lens (the original 1-4) in excellent condition for the BAA record-low price of $499.00. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps, lens hood, the original carrying bag, and insured ground shipping via UPS to lower-48 US addresses only. The lens was cleaned and checked and the image stabilizer mechanism was replaced two months ago by Canon. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Ravi via e-mail or by phone at 1-608-217-9593 central time.

The original 1-4 is a sharp, amazingly versatile telephoto zoom lens. When I used Canon, I made hundreds of great images and saleable with this lens (including the front cover of Scott Weidensaul’s “Return to Wild America. And it was Denise Ippolito’s favorite Canon lens. Ravi’s lens would make a great starter lens for a beginning bird oor nature photographer, especially when paired with a 7D Mark II. artie

Canon EF Extender 1.4X II

BPN friend Ravi Hirekatur is also offering a Canon EF Extender 1.4X II (the 1.4X II teleconverter) in excellent condition for the very low price of $179.00. The sale includes the front and rear caps, the lens pouch, and insured ground shipping via UPS to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Ravi via e-mail or by phone at 1-608-217-9593 central time.

The 1.4X II TC is every bit as sharp when used with older lenses such as the original 100-400 above and the original 500 and 600mm f/4 lenses. The series III TCs provide advantages only when paired with the series II and III lenses. I used this item more than quite often when I was using Canon, often with great success. artie

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Multiple IPT veteran Jake Levin is offering a Canon EOS 7D Mark II in excellent plus condition for $648.00. The sale includes the Canon battery grip, an extra Canon battery, two 32GB Lexar cards, the front lens cap, the strap, and insured UPS ground shipping to both Canadian and lower-48 US addresses. Your item will not ship until your check clears, unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Jake via e-mail or by phone at 1-514-601-9544 (Eastern time zone).

Both Patrick Sparkman and I used and loved the 7D Mark II for many years when we both used Canon. We both made some truly great images with it. Two of my three 2016 Nature’s Best honored entries were created with the 7D II, one still, and one video. One thing is for sure: the 7D Mark II is the greatest value ever in a digital camera body. Jake’s Body would match perfectly with the two items above. artie

Price Drop!

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens

BAA Record-low Price!
Price reduced $100.00 on 12-3-19

Regular Used Gear page seller John Bowden is offering a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lnes in excellent-plus condition for a BIRDS AS ART record-low $498.00 (was $598.00). The sale includes the rear lens cap, the front lens cap, the lens pouch, the lens shade (hood), the original product box, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US-addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact John Bowden via e-mail e-mail or by phone at 1-919-358-5717 EST.

The 24-105mm focal length is my all-time favorite for B-roll stuff: bird-scapes, quasi-macros, photographers and people, scenics, and just about everything else on the planet. Whenever I would decide to leave it in the car I would not get far before I was wishing that I had taken it along for the ride. artie

This image was created in Ochopee, FL by IPT veteran Juan Tolentino with the hand held Nikon 500mm PF lens and the D500. ISO 400: 1/4000 second at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Red-shouldered Hawk top shot with arced wings and flared primaries Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

A Dramatic Flight Shot

When I saw this image here in the Avian Gallery at BirdPhotographer’s.Net, I said, “Whoa! This one is very special.” You can follow the link to the original post to see what others in the BPN community had to say about Juan’s fine image.

I got in touch with Juan and he kindly allowed me to share his wonderful image with you here.

Ihe Nikon Lens I Miss the Most

Without a doubt, the Nikon lens I miss the most is the Nikon 500 PF. It is a great flight lens, it is eminently hand-holdable by most folks, it does pretty well with the TC-E14, and is a fabulous walk around lens when you are working around tame birds.

How to Get Your Dream Gear Soon

As much as I love my afiliate friends at B&H many folks have been frustrated by the long wait list for the hottest items. IPT veterans Carl Kling and my great friend Anita North have both been waiting for a Nikon 500 PF from B&H for more than a year. Yes, for moroe than a year. Total insanity. Thus, I have directed many folks to Steve Elkins at Bedfords (see the contact info above) and he has been doing an awesome job of getting the latest great stuff for BIRDS AS ART folks in relatively short order. He has consistently delivered on the following items:

• Canon 600mm f/4 L IS III
• Nikon 500mm f/5.6 PF
• Nikon 600mm f/4 VR
• SONY a7R IV
• SONY a9 II
• SONY 200-600
• SONY 600 gm

If you have been on a too-long waiting list for the great gear that you want, it makes absolute sense to to get in touch with Steve Elkins at Bedfords asap. If he comes through, you can simply cancel your existing order. And I almost forgot, use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout to save $50 on oorders over $1,000.00.

Here’s what Juan Tolentino had to say aboout Bedford’s: I contacted Steve Elkins with Bedfords in mid-September and placed an order for the 500PF. I thought it was going to be a long wait, but to my surprise somebody called me from Bedfords on October 31st to let me know that they have received my lens and it was ready to be shipped. I got the lens on the next day with the FREE overnight delivery and I also got a $50 discount when I used the BirdsAsArt code at checkouot. I am really happy with this lens; it is a joy to use.

If In Doubt …

If you are 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 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 or Bedfords, 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 or Bedfords 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 :).