Science Fiction-Like AF with the Sony a1/200-600/1.4X TC!

San Diego IPT Late Registration Discount

If you are interested in joining me in San Diego to improve your photography by leaps and bounds and enjoy the phenomenal Brown Pelican photography this month, please shoot me an e-mail for IPT #3 late registration discount info. Though different every day, the photography has been consistently and astoundingly good.

Homer Late Registration Discounts

If you are interested in traveling to Homer, AK with me in FEB/MAR 2023 to photograph Bald Eagles, shoot me an e-mail for late registration discount info. Several folks are in the process of registering so do not tarry. The first IPT is looking sold out as I await the last two deposit checks.

What’s Up?

BAA blog volunteer proofreader Jordan Cait joined me for an In-the-Field session at La Jolla on Thursday morning and learned a ton from the first minute. When the sun came over the hills to the east, he was in the right place at the right time with his Canon R5/EF 70-200mm L IS lens/1.4X TC with the one gorgeous pelican on The Ridge that performed well for about a dozen photographers. He wound up with one great one and learned a lot from his errors. He had such a great time that he went home and purchased the R5/R6 guide! Later in the morning we walked down to the point at La Jolla Cove and enjoyed some great pelican flight photography.

Today is Friday 13 January 2023. Be sure not to walk under any ladders. Again, I will be heading to La Jolla early. The peregrine has not been relocated. Yet. This blog post took more than an hour to prepare and makes two hundred ninety days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

It is looking as if Homer #1 and #3 will be sold out fairly soon. Please do not forget to use my B&H or Bedford’s affiliate programs for your new gear purchases.

My plan is to continue to post every day until the streak reaches one year and one day and then go back to posting every other day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so, works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Induro GIT 304L Tripod

Out of production for more than two years, BAA just sold its last one. The good news? We have located two more new-in-the-box tripods. They will be available for shipping at the end of January. Best to order yours now to be sure that you get one. We will not run your card until your item ships. The 304L was my go-to tripod for more than a decade. Best to grab order yours right now to avoid being disappointed.

Bedfords Amazing BAA Discount Policy

Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, or to any prior purchases.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex Air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The waitlists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard-to-get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a 1, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link on the right side of each blog post page). My affiliate link works fine with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

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. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

This image was created on Tuesday 10 January 2023, the fourth morning of the second San Diego IPT by IPT veteran Steve Murdock. He used the tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 840mm) with The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera. ISO 400. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/320 sec. at f/9 (wide open). When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be 1/2 stop too dark. AWB at 8:47:55am on a partly sunny morning. Tracking: Zone with Bird Face/ye detection enabled performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #1: Peregrine Falcon stretching Image courtesy of and copyright Steve Murdock 2023 Image Optimization by BIRDS AS ART

Steve Murdock

Steve Murdock is a tall, friendly, smiling man. I vaguely remember that he attended a Bosque IPT with his son in 2006. He has enjoyed three or four distinct and different careers and as a result is an interesting guy to talk to with an eclectic knowledge base. He knows a lot about a lot.

He arrived at the San Diego IPT with a Sony a1 and a 200-600 and had little idea as to how to use the camera effectively as it was not set up for efficient use. I copied my camera settings onto a card and loaded them onto his camera and to both of Bryan Love’s a1 bodies as well. Bryan had pretty much been in the same boat as Steve. It took me about two minutes to teach both of them how to use the camera. Both were quick studies.

Tuesday past, when we spent two hours with the tame peregrine, there were very tight shooting windows due to the dead vegetation on the cliffside between us and the perched raptor. As long as you worked wide open, the intruding thin branches were not evident in the images. Kudos to Bryan who was the first to walk up the path well past the bird to see if there were any alternative shooting locations. Steve, who had added the 1.4X TC to his set-up, followed suit and found a wide-open angle past Bryan.

Steve seemed a bit leery about my exposing far to the right in all situations and wound up a bit dark with his very fine image. Going vertical to include the suffused green at the bottom was brilliant. As you will see below, the Sony AF system did the rest brilliantly.

Steve got a bit lucky by creating a super-sharp image at 1/320 second. In retrospect, what would have been a better choice of ISO? Why?

Via e-Mail from Steve

I learned a lot during the excellent workshop. Your energy and enthusiasm are infectious. Stay safe and hope to see you again soon.

Steve

Image #1: a7INFO screen capture for the Peregrine Falcon stretching image. The green crosshair icon shows the location of the active AF point. Image courtesy of and copyright Steve Murdock 2023

Science fiction-like AF

With all dSLR bodies, the speed of initial AF acquisition and tracking accuracy suffered with the addition of any teleconverter. With the Nikon D850 and the 500mm PF lens and the TC-E 14 for example, AF beyond the center point was extremely poor at best. That the Sony a1 with the 200-600 and the 1.4X TC tracked the peregrine’s eye perfectly as the bird leaned forward to stretch is beyond remarkable.

I’ve said to before and I will say it again, a Sony rig with the a1/200-600/1.4X TC set up properly as detailed in my a1 User’s Group e-mail/guide, will change your life.

For the Eagle-Eyed

What five small changes were made during the image clean-up? You can compare the original in the a7INFO green capture with the optimized version (IMAGE #1.).

Click on the image to better see the green eye-AF boxes in action. Sony Alpha 1 Flight Photography AF Points!

The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up Guide and Info Group: $150.00 (or Free)

The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up Guide and Info Group is going great guns as more and more folks chime in with thoughtful questions and experience-based answers. As the a1 is becoming more readily available, more and more folks are getting their hands on this amazing body. By June 1, 2022, the group was up to an astounding 124 lucky and blessed folks. (More than a few folks own two or more a1 bodies! Early on, we discussed the myriad AF options. I gave my opinion as to the best one for flight and general bird photography. The best news is that everyone in the group receives an e-mail that includes a .DAT file with my a1 settings on it, and explicit directions on how to load my settings onto your a1; talk about convenience! I am now offering a .DAT file compatible with firmware update 1.20. Your entry into the group includes a consolidated Sony a1 CAMSETA2 INFO & GUIDE. New a1 folks will now receive six e-mails instead of the previous 28! You will receive new e-mails as they are published. Simply put, this e-mail guide is an incredible resource for anyone with an a1.

All who purchased their Alpha 1 bodies via a BAA affiliate link — B&H or Bedfords — will receive a free Sony Alpha a1 Set-Up Guide and free entry into the Info Updates group after shooting me their receipts via e-mail. (Note: it may take me several days to confirm B&H orders.). Others can purchase their guide here in the BAA Online Store.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.