Canon EOS-1DX Mark III dSLR
Price Reduced: $500.00 on 18 May 2023!
Price Reduced: $500.00 on 11 June 2023!
Price Reduced: $600.00 on 1 August 2023!
BAA Record-low Price!
Tom Torget is offering a Canon EOS-1DX Mark III body in near-mint condition for $3149.00 (was $4,749.00). The sale includes three Canon batteries, the battery charger, the strap, the front lens cover, the manual, the original product box, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 addresses only.
Please contact Tom via email at e-mail or by phone at 1-830-377-5483 (Central time).
The 1DX III is Canon’s top-of-the-line professional digital camera body. It feature’s Canon’s best-ever dSLR AF system. It is fast and rugged. BAA friend and many multiple IPT veteran Clemens Van der Werf absolutely loves his and killed with it in Homer even during blizzards! The camera sells new right now at B&H for $5,999.00; grab Tom’s camera today and save a very handsome $2250.00 on his as-good-as-new body! artie
What’s Up?
After photographing birds in Iceland for 19 of the last twenty days — we had one full day of travel, I opted to take the last morning off to get rested up and to pack for the long trip home. We took the ferry to Akureyri on Monday afternoon and overnighted there after a late, great dinner.
Today is Tuesday 1 August. We are leaving the hotel at 8am and driving to Reykjavik. Once we check into our hotel there, we will be heading for the loons for one last shot at fame. On Wednesday morning I get picked up at 7:00am for my airport transfer. I fly to Boston at 10:00am Iceland time, enjoy a 6+ hour layover there, and fly to Orlando arriving at 7:23pm if all goes as expected. Jim will be picking me up there so I should be home at about 9:30 Florida time. It will be a very long travel day, about 18 1/2 hours from door to door.
On Sunday afternoon it was incredibly windy. We were not doing very well so I took a long walk down an ATV track and discovered a new spot with a bonanza of flying puffins. After a very good morning that included almost 2000 Black Guillemot images, mostly flight shots, I wound up creating almost 8,000 images for the day. Today’s post details the afternoon flying puffin circus.
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Puffin in Flight on a Windy Afternoon
In a fierce wind, I walked down a long track with the wind behind me to see what I could find. After a few hundred yards, I made my way carefully to the edge of the cliff. There were hundreds of puffins on the rock ledges below and many hundreds of them in flight. Keep reading to learn more about the amazing spectacle.
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This image was created on 30 July 2023 at Grimsey Island, Iceland. Seated on the grass at the edge of a tall cliff working behind my lowered tripod, I used the Robus RC-5558-3 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod)/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1600. 1/2500 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect. AWB at 6:24:50pm on a windy, cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird/Face-Eye detection enabled performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Atlantic Puffin in flight in high wind |
Bad Wind Direction?
When I got to the cliff edge, a strong wind was quartering into my face from the right. The birds were attempting to fly into the wind away from the cliff, but the wind was so strong that they were simply flying but not going anywhere. Some were backing into the cliff to land. I started working with the tripod-mounted 600mm f/4 lens. The trick to making a successful image was to wait until the birds looked to their right.
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This image was also created on 30 July 2023 at Grimsey Island, Iceland. Seated on the grass at the edge of a tall cliff, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1600. 1/2500 sec. at f2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 6:58:40pm on a windy, cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Atlantic puffin in flight turning right in the high wind |
Switching to the 400mm f/2.8 Lens
Tracking the birds in the high wind with my longest lens was very difficult so after 45 minutes I switched out the 600m f/4 for the 400mm f/2.8. With the wind from my right, it was very important to remove the lens hood to prevent the wind from buffeting the lens and making things even more difficult. I had done that with the 600 and then again with the 400.
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This image was also created on 30 July 2023 at Grimsey Island, Iceland. Again, seated on the grass at the edge of a tall cliff, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500. 1/2500 sec. at f2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 7:07:14pm on a windy, cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #3: Atlantic Puffin in flight in high wind with sandeels for chicks– TIGHT! |
Out of the Box Crop
The bird in this image was so close that I could not fit it into the frame at 400mm.But it was so sharp that I did not want to delete it. With a healthy crop from below and the right and a tiny crop from below and left, I came up with an out-of-the-box image design for Image #3.
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This image was also created on 30 July 2023 at Grimsey Island, Iceland. Again, seated on the grass at the edge of a tall cliff, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2000. 1/2500 sec. at f2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect (ho hum). AWB at 7:11:19pm on a windy, cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #4: Atlantic Puffin in flight in high wind |
Similar But Different
Images #2 and #4 are quite similar. In #2, the puffin was holding it position in the wind without much effort at all, sort of standing still while flying. In #4, the bird was actually backing toward the cliff. The key to the success in all of today’s featured images was to press the shutter button when the bird was looking back toward the cliff.
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This image was also created on 30 July 2023 at Grimsey Island, Iceland. Seated on the grass at the edge of a tall cliff, I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (at 200mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. ISO 2000: 1/2500 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:34:04pm on a dark, dingy morning. Tracking: Spot S AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #5: Atlantic Puffin top shot |
Switching to the 70-200 f/2.8
After another 45 minutes with the 400mm f/2.8, I was placed on the physically unable to continue list. I could no longer lift the lens and my framing was getting worse and worse, so I switched to the 70-200mm f/2.8 II lens; it is so small and so light that it seems that I could photograph flight forever with it. And some of the puffins seemed so close that you felt as if you could reach out and grab one. Image #5 was my favorite still with that lens. The sea appears much darker as I was shooting almost straight down.
The Tally
On Sunday afternoon, I created 2970 images in the high winds. After a second edit of the flight photographs, I wound up keeping only 34. Though my keeper rate was a lowest-ever 1.14%, I was quite happy with the results. Though the conditions were beyond difficult, the good images depicting unusual flight poses made me very happy.
Your Call?
Which of today’s featured images do you like best? All are invited to leave a comment and let us know why they made their choice. I have a very clear favorite that I will share with you here on Thursday.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
#3 TIGHT is RIGHT!
Image #3 for sure, only in part because of the fish! It’s wonderful.
All 5 images of Atlantic Puffin in flight are good and cute and well made! Image #3 of Atlantic Puffin with sand eels for chicks is very interesting and good with a mouth full! Image #2 and #4 are about to be the same things and still interesting.
Image #3 for me. It is so out of the ordinary, and so sharp, and so interesting. What more can I say!
I have always been a fan of somewhat darker images. I’d go with #5 for that reason, and the fact that a great shot can be made with a relatively short lens. I like the feather texture / detail, the wing position and the head angle, as well. I’d be happy if I had taken any of them. Have a safe trip home. All the best.
Tanks! My mot valuable rig with the 70-200 with the 1.4X TC.
with love, a
Harsh conditions, but a dream situation none the less! The OOTB crop takes it for me. If I were to pick something more traditional I’d lean towards #4.
Though all images are great (of course!), number three image is my favorite. It is intimate, with great detail. I like the gesture of the eel that is curving over the beak. The negative space is just right.
One of the benefits of the a1 is the ability to crop in. I find that I am better off with a smaller lens or moving a zoom lens out to make sure I get the shot when conditions are chaotic.
I know some have problems with cropping but I find that I am much more comfortable with a little wiggle room. In Grimsey this proved to be especially helpful.
Absolutely stunning capture. The background color is perfect.
#3 with the unique, creative crop is my pick. Another learning experience for me. I don’t think of trying crops often enough.