A New One for Me: Hand Holding a 600mm f/4 for Flight Photography! SONY a9 II AF Performance and a Great SONY AF Tip

What’s Up?

San Diego is fantastic. Repeat private-client Bill Schneider and I have been having a great time. I pick up good-friend and multiple IPT veteran Monte Brown at the airport after today’s (SUN 5 JAN) morning session. Afternoons at a somewhat atypical location have been great and Saturday afternoon was astoundingly good, probably the best-ever. I still have about 2500 images from Saturday to edit …

Your Favorite?

Consider taking a moment to leave a comment letting folks know which of today’s four featured images you like best and why. All comments on the images are welcome.

IPT Updates

Coming soon: one or two Spoonbill Boat IPTs, a spring Fort DeSoto Sandbar Secrets IPT, and a Nickerson Beach IPT this summer.

Do check out the Galapgos Gallery here.

• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Archipelago Photographic Experience. August 17-31, 2021 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,999.00.

You can see complete IPT info and details here.

BIRDS AS ART

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

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 very hot for the past month with the continuing price drops on both Canon and Nikon gear. And there have been some great buys on SONY stuff too. There are still lots of solid bargains right now on the Used Gear Page. In addition to the recent sales below, there are several pending sales.

Recent Sales

In addition to the recent sales noted below, there are many pending sales as well.

Jim Lewis sold his Fujinon XF100-400mm F/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS lens in excellent condition for $899.00, his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II lens in like-new condition for a very low $3077.00 (was $3,198.00), a Canon Extender EF 1.4x III and a Canon Extender EF 2X III, both in like-new condition for only $223.00, all in mid-December 2019.
IPT veteran Dane Johnson sold his Canon EOS-1D X in like-new condition (with a low shutter count of < 7,100) along with a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens in mint condition for the crazy low price of only $2,095.00 (was $2,599.00) in mid-December 2019. BPN friend Ravi Hirekatur sold his 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 in mid-December. Multiple IPT veteran Jim Miller sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in excellent condition for a BIRDS AS ART record-low $1149.00, his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM telephoto lens (the “old five”) in excellent condition for $2399.00, a Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition (with some paint scrapes on the bottom of lens foot where it meets mounting plate) for a very low $5,699.00, a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent condition (there are some tiny paint chips here and there) for only $849.00, his refurbished Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera body in excellent condition with a few small, faint rubs on the body for a ridiculously low $699.00, a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 lens in excellent condition for $129.00, and a Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (teleconverter) in very good condition for $199.00, all within days of their being listed in mid-December, 2019. Ken Siegel sold his Sony a7r III in mint condition for only $1949.00 (was $2049.00) in early December 2019. IPT veteran Joe Randle sold a Canon 500mm f4L IS USM Super Telephoto lens (the "old five") in near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $2499.00 and his Canon EF 24-70 f2.8L II USM lens in near-mint condition for the very low price of $899.00 both in early December 2019.

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.

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 January 3, 2020. I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the blazingly fast Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body) that features incredibly accurate AF. ISO 3200. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/1600 sec. at f/4 in Manual mode. AWB at 5:36pm in the shade of the tall buildings. WIDE Continuous/tracking (C) AF was active at the moment of exposure. Click on the image to see a larger, inexplicably sharper version. Image #1: Brown Pelican in flight: downstroke<

My Arrival Afternoon

My MCO to SAN flight landed on time on Friday afternoon and thought that I would get to my AirBNB, take the afternoon off, and unpack slowly. I called Patrick Sparkman expecting him to be at work but he was already at LaJolla. So I dumped my bags and got to LaJolla (through the expected traffic) ASAP. Seeing Patrick hand holding his SONY 600mm f/4 inspired me to try doing the same thing. In 36 years I have hand held one of my 600 f/4 lenses only a handful of times, and never for an extended flight photography session. I did much better than I expected hand holding the big SONY GM lens — the lightest 600mm f/4 lens on the planet BTW, in large part due to its superb balance with most of the weight to the rear. Buoyed by my success on Friday afternoon, I did the same thing on Saturday afternoon and glimpsing at my results, I did even better. What they say about practice is doubly true when it comes to any type of flight photography.

This image was created on January 3, 2020. Again I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the blazingly fast Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body) that features incredibly accurate AF. ISO 3200. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/1600 sec. at f/4 in Manual mode. AWB at 5:38pm in the shade of the cliffs. WIDE Continuous/tracking (C) AF was active at the moment of exposure. Click on the image to see a larger, inexplicably sharper version. Image #2: Brown Pelican juvenile in flight: against cliff<

SONY a9 II AF Performance

Using WIDE or center ZONE AF with Animal Eye AF turned on is the most accurate AF system I have ever used for birds in flight. Of the about 3,000 or so flight images I have created on this trip so far, more than 99% have been razor-sharp on the eye. And once the system is locked it stays locked no matter if you are working against backgrounds-other-than-sky (BOTS). Those include the Pacific Ocean as in Images #1 & 3 and sandstone cliffs as in Image #2. Canon AF has huge problems with BOTS and while Nikon is much better, a9 II AF is science-fiction-like. Not to mention consistently accurate.

A Great SONY AF Tip

Trying to acquire focus on birds in flight at close range in low light/low contrast situations can be problematic with SONY. The solution is to focus on something relatively distant. In. most cases, the system will then acquire quickly even when working incoming birds in flight at close range in low light/low contrast situations.

This image was created on January 3, 2020. Again I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the blazingly fast Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body) that features incredibly accurate AF. ISO 3200. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/1600 sec. at f/4 in Manual mode. AWB at 5:50pm in the shade of the cliffs. WIDE Continuous/tracking (C) AF was active at the moment of exposure. Click on the image to see a larger, inexplicably sharper version. Image #3: Brown Pelican in flight: downstroke<

Top-Shots

This great afternoon location offers lots of chances for creating top shots, images that show the dorsal surfaces of the bird’s wings. I just love creating them and each ocean background is unique. I forgot to mention that the actual 15 frames-per-second frame-rate of the a9 II gives you lots of frames to choose from. Lastly, with no mirror blackout– be sure you are using the Electronic Shutter — your panning skills will improve rapidly as you can see the bird in the viewfinder finder as you track it.

This image was created on January 3, 2020. Again I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the blazingly fast Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body) that features incredibly accurate AF. ISO 6400. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/1600 sec. at f/4 in Manual mode. AWB at 6:00pm in the pink western sky. WIDE Continuous/tracking (C) AF was active at the moment of exposure. Click on the image to see a larger, inexplicably sharper version. Image #4: Brandt’s Cormorant at sunset

Yup!

Yes sir, the sky color in this image is quite accurate. To get there, after exposing well to the right, I used the Color Editor in Capture One during the RAW conversion.

WIDE AF

One of the great advantages of using WIDE AF for birds in flight is that you can position small-in-the-frame subjects anywhere you like.

The SONY Zebras Exposure Guide Short Video

If you own a high-end SONY camera body, there is absolutely no reason that you should not be getting a perfect exposure every time with every image even in the most difficult situations — white birds, dark backgrounds, dark birds against white skies, simply pick your shutter speed and aperture and then adjust the ISO on the Control Wheel until you see faint blinkies. It’s that simple. Learn how in the SONY Zebras Exposure Guide Short Video. To order your copy, please send a Paypal to us at birdsasart@verizon.net for $30. Please state in the Paypal that the payment is for the SONY Zebras Exposure Guide Short Video.

Alternatively, you can place a phone order for the SONY Zebras Exposure Guide by calling Jim at 863-692-0906 MON to THURS and most FRI mornings.

Folks who have purchased a SONY lens and/or a SONY body using either my B&H affiliate links or from Steve Elkins at Bedfords will enjoy a $20 discount. If you qualify, please shoot me an e-mail so that I can confirm your discount.

Folks who have purchased the SONY 600mm f/4 GM lens using my links will receive the file for free. If you qualify for a free copy, please shoot me an e-mail so that I can confirm your discount.

After I confirm your discount, you can either call Jim or send us a Paypal (as above).

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 :).