Your Call
Which of today’s featured images is your favorite? (It’s OK to mention several). Why did you make your choice(s)? Note: all but Bob’s images were optimized by yours truly using the techniques detailed in DB II and in the DB III Video Series, Volume I.
Please note: you will be seeing some of Colleen O’Connor’s images here soon. She is staying nearby with her husband.
What’s Up?
San Diego is fantastic. The photo opps have been fantastic. The group is fantastic. Six of us are staying in a large AirBnB place and everyone has been getting along fantastically. We have been having our fantastic brunches at Cafe Vahik where we are routinely teased and insulted by the fantastic owner and chef, Vahik himself — No bagel for you! Everyone in the group has been enjoyed the fantastic dinners prepared by Bob Eastman and me.
Today is Sunday 12 January 2025. We are headed early back to Santee Lakes to try for some fire-in-the-mist and some Wood Ducks. And yes, we all hope that you too choose to have a fantastic day.
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.
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
I will be purchasing a second a-1 ii quite soon.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 ii sells new for $6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but surely not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSEa1ii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
Sony a-9 iii Mirrorless Camera Body
The First Buyer Changed Their Mind
Yours truly, Arthur Morris, AKA artie, is offering a Sony a9 iii Mirrorless camera body (Firmware v1.00), this one in excellent plus plus condition for a ridiculously low $3998.00. The sale includes the original product box, the body cap, the battery charger, one battery, the strap, 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.
Your purchase will also include my latest a9 iii Set-up e-mail, the new Buttons and Dials Guide, and the new INFO Sheet. This body already has my latest settings on it so you will be good to head out and start making great images as soon as you review the e-mailed materials.
Please contact artie via e-mail.
This camera’s incredible frame rate, an unheard of 120fps, gives you at least four times as many wing positions and flight poses as the other top-of-the-line mirrorless camera bodies. With the incredible AF system that is even better than the AF system of the a-1 with Firmware v2.02, most every single image will be sharp on the bird’s eye. And the raw files can stand up to decent crops. A new one sells at B&H for $5,998.00. B&H has two used a9 iii bodies list right now, one for $5,217.95 and another for $55217.95! And KEH is offering a used like-new a9iii for $5823.00! Used Gear Page regular Karen McCormick sold a used a9 iii for $4298.00 last month. If you have been thinking of an a9 iii, grab my lightly used a9 iii right now and save a sweet $2,000.00. artie
ps: You can see some of my a9 iii images in the blog post here.
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This image was created on 10 January 2025 by Bob Eastman on the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, he used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 467mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:56:50am. Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Image #1: Pacific race Brown Pelican head throw |
Bob Eastman and His Trusty 200-600
Head throw images are challenging and difficult. After coming to La Jolla for more than 30 years, I have only a very few that I am proud of. So, what does bob do? He makes a great one while I am standing next to him helping Judy Stepenaskie with her framing of the same bird. To make matters worse; I had called the head throw one minute before it happened. Man, you gotta love it.
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This image was created at La Jolla, CA on 10 January 2025 by multiple IPT veteran Warren Robb on the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT. Standing at full height, he used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel: ISO 1250. 1/3200 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:20:39am. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Image #2: Pacific race Brown Pelican adult preening |
Warren Robb, USN Retired Fighter Jet Pilot
One our pre-IPT morning I signaled Bob to bring Warren and Judy to me because I had a lovely sub adult pelican teed up and isolated. The first three images here are of that same bird. Though it was the BAS (best available shot), only one of the other 15 photographers made their way to our spot. You gotta love it. Warren nailed this over-the-back preening shot.
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This image was created by multiple IPT veteran Judy Stepenaskie at La Jolla, CA on 10 January 2025 by multiple IPT veteran Warren Robb on the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT. Standing at full height, she used the hand held Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens (at 500mm) and the impressive Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using the in-viewfinder histogram and confirmed after evaluation of blinkies on the JPEG. AWB at 11:52:22am on a sunny morning. ISO 1000: 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #3: Pacific race Brown Pelican sub-adult
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Judy’s Beauty!
Judy joined me at Nickerson Beach last summer and learned to use her Canon gear. You can read the whole story and see some of her fantastic images from that trip here. As she has not had many chances to practice bird photography since then, she needed a bit of extra help on our first morning. I am super-impressed by the clean, bright colors of the R6 ii images.
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This image was created on 10 January 2025 by (Yo) Adrian Whitchelo-Scott on the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT at Santee Lakes Perverse in Santee California. Seated on the bank, he used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 467mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority -0.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 320: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 3:58:40pm. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Image #4: Ring-necked Duck drake swimming
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AWS
My first contact with Adrian was this past Wednesday when he left a question on a YouTube Video. That afternoon he purchased a new Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens from Bedfords using my discount code. I sent him the Firmware 2.02 settings for his a-1 and he loaded them right up. He got his new lens on Friday morning, got into his car, and drove down from LA for the entire San Diego IPT. He made it in time for a complimentary afternoon session at Santee Lakes. You will be hard put to find a nicer human being.
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This image was created by multiple IPT veteran Dietmar Haenchen on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Standing at full height he used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 214mm) with the Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R and the Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via the histogram and blinkies review. Aperture Priority +1.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 6400: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6. (wide open). AWB at 9:04:57am with the cliff in the shade on a sunny day. Image #5: Brandt’s Cormorants on nesting wall.
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14 Years Ago!
Dietmar attended a San Diego IPT 14 years ago. He joined me on a Galapagos trip in 2017. I was thrilled when I learned that he would be joining me in San Diego. Dietmar is to be commended for the creativity he employed to come up with this delightful almost whimsical image. I am impressed with the raw files from his relatively inexpensive Canon body.
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This image was created ON 11 January 2025 by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART while leading the 2025 San Diego IPT at La Jolla, CA. Seated on the bank, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 4:06:44pm on a sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Image #6: Cinnamon Teal drake braking to land surrounded by three perfectly placed, out-of-focus Ruddy Ducks |
Your Truly
I was thrilled yesterday afternoon to have a chance on a drake Cinnamon Teal in flight. I was so excited that I did not look at the sequence on the back of the camera in the field. I wanted to first see them on the laptop. When I finally did, I was thrilled. We had some great flight photography chances as a result of thrilled scratch (duck food) throwing by yours truly. Everyone in the group helped by yelling on command as I tossed a load of grain and seeds into the pond. Feeding the ducks is encouraged at Santee where they are glad to sell you the scratch for $2 bucks a bag!
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Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Art: I love #3, the nice clean shot of a sub-adult brown pelican. I sure wish I could be there with you but, as you know, my daughter is arriving today for a two week stay.