200/400 With Internal 1.4X Extender/5D Mark III for Birds in Flight???

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New friend Jim Weerts (say wurtz) and old friend and multiple IPT veteran Peter Hawrylyshyn (say Hah-ver-LISH-in spent long and great day at Gatorland yesterday.

Getting Lazy?

In response to yesterday’s Coming Clean blog post here, only a single readers chose to note any of the many changes that I made during the image optimization process. You are invited to click here and leave a comment if you spot any of the many changes.

This Osprey image was created at 8:10am in soft early morning light on Jim Neiger’s pontoon boat on Lake Blue Cypress on Friday morning past with the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (hand held with the internal extender in place at 560mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops off the sky was a bit of an over-exposure: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB. Central Sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF just caught the top of the bird’s head and was of course active at the moment of exposure. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The Question

Recently Brad Smith contacted me via e-mail and wrote in part:

I wanted to buy the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4X, but have heard from a couple of respected users that the lens is sluggish for use with birds in flight on the 5D Mark III (much better on the 1D X, but I do not own that body).

This Osprey image was also created on Jim Neiger’s pontoon boat on Lake Blue Cypress on Friday morning past at 8:46am in full sun with the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (hand held with the internal extender in place at 467mm–I needed to zoom in a bit more) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop off the blue sky 30 degrees up from the horizon: 1/3200 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode. AWB. Central Sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF just caught the top of the bird’s head and was of course active at the moment of exposure. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

My Response

Initial AF acquisition with a 5D III will always be a bit slower than with the 1D X because of differences in the power of the camera batteries. (Even with the Canon BG-E11 Battery Grip for 5D Mark III cmera with the extra Canon LP-E6 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery (7.2V, 1800mAh), the camera only uses one battery at a time. But in all other respects the AF system of the 5D III is superb right on par with the AF system of the 1D X in terms of AF tracking accuracy. In addition, all lenses are a bit slower in initial AF acquisition with a TC in place as compared to using the lens alone….

That said I am positive that the 5D III/200-400 combo would acquire focus almost instantaneously at 400mm and be just fine at 560mm. Just be sure to have the limit range switch set to far (rather than full). Pre-focusing manually so that bird is roughly in focus eliminates all problems with the speed of initial focusing acquisition whether the TC is in place or not….. In addition, I have found the 200-400 amazing for flight–the ability to zoom out as a bird approaches is extremely wonderful when doing flight photography.

Now don’t get me wrong here, the 1D X kills the 5D III for flight because of its faster initial focusing acquisition and its blazingly fast frame rate. My two main points here are that the 5D Mark III is a more than adequate body for flight photography and that it would do just fine with the 200-400 even with the internal TC in place.

During a follow-up phone conversation I promised that when I went our with Jim Neiger on Friday past that I would do all of my flight photography with the 200-400 with the internal TC in place. So I did. That rig, as you can see here, did just fine as I had predicted with the Ospreys. I did have some trouble with Barred Owls flying at high speed right down the lens barrel. I am not positive that the 1D X would have done better but I suspect that it would have been able to re-acquire focus faster than the 5D III in this difficult and specialized situation. Come to think of it I have never been very good with birds flying right at me…. Jim Neiger is so skilled in this area that it would make most folks sick to watch him in action….

BTW

After our phone conversation Brad Smith kindly use one of our affiliate links to order a 200-400. Thanks a stack Brad. If you have any gear questions please feel free to shoot me an e-mail.

This Osprey image was also created on Jim Neiger’s pontoon boat on Lake Blue Cypress on Friday morning past at 8:20am in full but still soft sunlight with the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (hand held with the internal extender in place at 436mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop off the blue sky 30 degrees up from the horizon: 1/3200 sec. at f/8 in Manual mode. AWB. 61-point/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF on the base of the far wing that was on the same plane as the bird’s eye was active at the moment of exposure. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Operator Error

When you have a great flight situation, have a zoom lens in your hand, fail to get the bird centered in the frame, catch the perfect, fully lit wingspread, and wind up clipping the wingtips, there is only one place to look: in the mirror.

This is the optimized version of the image immediately above.

APTATS I to the Rescue

Using the techniques detailed in the 4th tutorial in APTATS I, “Clipped Feather Tip Repair,” it took me only ten minutes to more than salvage the Osprey image with the 3 clipped primaries. I used the tip of the 5th primary to replace the missing tip of the 4th primary. And I used the tip of the first primary to replace the missing tips of the 2nd and 3rd primaries. I did work both large and carefully. The advanced knowledge of Layer Masking that I picked up from APTATS II was of course quite helpful in fine-tuning the various wingtip layers.

APTATS I & II

Learn the details of advanced Quick Masking techniques in APTATS I. Mention this blog post and apply a $5 discount with phone orders only. Learn advanced Layer Masking Techniques in APTATS II. Mention this blog post and apply a $5 discount with phone orders only. Buy the pair, APTATS I and APTATS II and we will be glad to apply at $15 discount with phone orders only.

Digital Basics

Are you tired of making your images look worse in Photoshop? Do you have no clue as to how I optimized the images above? Everything above plus tons more is detailed in my Digital Basics File, an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes my complete digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, my killer image clean-up techniques, Digital Eye Doctor, creating time-saving actions, and lots more.

The DPP RAW Conversion Guide

After seeing the accurate colors that I get from my DPP RAW conversions, Japan in Winter co-leader Paul McKenzie switched to DPP conversions and Denise Ippolito is considering doing the same. Now that is amazing…. To learn why I use Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) to convert every image that I work on, click here.

If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

Yet Another Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop

Saturday March 29, 2014. 7:15am till 10:15am & 4:00pm till dusk. Lunch, image review, and Photoshop session included. Limit 6. A very small group is again likely: $399.

The cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s Pass is not included.

Gatorland is so good right now that I am going back next Saturday (March 29). Enticement tomorrow. Head portraits of Great Egrets are pretty much guaranteed even with an intermediate zoom lens. Nest building and flight likely. Here’s the story: last week there were about two dozen photographers at Gatorland on Saturday past. Aside from two photographers nobody had a clue as to how to make a good image…. Yesterday it was even worse; pretty much no one had a clue… Most folks just stand in one spot and point and shoot. Without regard for light angle or background. Join me on this, the 3rd Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop and you will learn to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. A big part of the above is that you will learn how and why you must work in Manual mode 90% of the time at Gatorland. That is exactly what Jim Weertz learned yesterday.

At lunch we will review my images, take a look at five of your best images from the morning session (for those who opt to bring their laptops), and process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time. Last Saturday all 3 folks had a great time and learned a ton. And the weather for this coming Saturday is looking good.

Payment in full via credit card is due upon registering. Please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register. Ask for me if you have any questions.

Lake Blue Cypress with Jim Neiger

Over the next two weeks Jim Neiger and I will be offering full day Osprey Heaven In-the-Field Workshops. Rates and potential dates will be announced soon. If you are interested please shoot me an e-mail; group size will be strictly limited to four hand holding photographers.

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