More SONY AF Stuff and Lessons From the Field

What’s Up

What’s up? Patrick Sparkman will be returning the borrowed SONY gear to B&H on Monday. Huge thanks to them for the loan. Both Patrick and I ordered our SONY stuff yesterday and should have it fairly soon. IPT veteran Mike Gotthelf ordered himself a SONY rig using my B&H link thank you very much. Do consider this: Patrick recently forked out a huge amount of money for his Nikon 600mm f/4 VR and decided to switch to SONY after two days of trying it out …

On Saturday and Sunday I enjoyed both morning walks and afternoon swims. I am back to eating well after more than three months of orgiastic eating on the Emperor Penguin trip, the Falklands Land-based IPT, and the San Diego IPT …

Your Favorite?

As you scroll down to view and learn from today’s two featured images, please do consider these questions and leave a comment: which images is your favorite? Why did you make your choice? The blog is designed to be interactive; the more folks who participate the more everyone learns. Including me.

IPT Updates

Unsolicited via e-mail from multiple IPT veteran Donna Bourdon

Thank you Artie for another amazing trip! The setting and the access to such spectacular wildlife was more than we could have hoped for. And you, yourself are remarkable. I am always touched by your selflessness in sharing your professional talent and knowledge. Not many working pros would be willing to share their intellectual property as you do. And the group experience was such fun. It was good to make new friends and enjoy food, fun and fellowship together! I hope to meet up with everyone again soon for another “over the top” adventure. with love, Donna

Unsolicited via e-mail from IPT veteran Eugen Dolan

Arthur, Thank you very much for your overwhelming infectious enthusiasm that helped get me up on some mornings. Also, your ability to express yourself- and explain in great detail why you like or may not like an image – was very helpful in allowing me to better analyze my images. Eugen

I have room for two folks on the spoonbill boat and still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail; no reasonable offer will be refused.

• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

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 old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 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.

Recent Sales

John Wright sold a Canon 500mm f/4 IS USM and a Canon EF Extender 1.4X II, both in very good plus condition for $3399.00 in mid-January.
IPT veteran Mark Overgaard sold hisCanon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1,299.00 in mid-January.
John M Wright sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens in excellent to near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $6,950.00, his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens in near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of 1,299.00, a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L lens in excellent condition for the BAA record-low price of $599.00, his Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS lens in near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $499.00,
and a Canon Extender (teleconverter) EF 2X III in near-mint condition for $265.00, all within days of their being listed.
Ramona Boone sold her Canon 600mm IS II in like-new condition for $7,699.00 (was $8,699.00) while I was in the Falklands
Brooke Miller sold her Canon 5D Mark IV for $2,249.00, her Canon Extender EF 1.4X III and Extender EF 2X III for $299.00 each, her Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro lens in near-mint condition for $599.00, and her Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM in excellent plus condition for $7398.00.

Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with Dual XQD Slots

Arthur Morris is offering a barely used Nikon D5 in excellent to near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $5,496.95. The sale includes the original box and everything in it including the front lens cap, and insured ground shipping via United Parcel Service.

Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 (please leave a message if no answer).

You can save a cool $1000 by grabbing Nikon’s blazingly fast, top of the line professional digital camera body right now. It was the D5 autofocus that switched me from Canon to Nikon in point three seconds … artie

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR Lens

Yours truly is offering a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens in excellent plus condition for only $1799.00. The sale includes the original product box and everything that came it including the front and rear caps along with insured ground shipping via United Parcel Service.

Please contact me via e-mail or on my cell at 863-221-2372.

The 80-400mm VR lens served as my main lens on both the Emperor Penguin and Falklands trip. Focus fine-tuned with both of my D850 bodies it produced some of the sharpest images I have eve seen. artie

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens (with a great and necessary extra)

Price Reduced $100 on January 18, 2019.
Price Reduced another $100 on January 30, 2019.

Still loving and keeping my much more expensive Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens, I am offering my Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens in pretty close to near-mint condition for only $1199.00 (was $1399.00). The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it, the crappy original tripod collar, the RRS Collar Foot Package for Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens (a $250 plus the shipping value), and insured ground shipping via UPS.

Please contact me via e-mail or on my cell at 863-221-2372.

This is the lens that hooked me on Nikon and its great AF system. It is sharp and versatile and though AF is a bit sluggish away from the center AF point with a teleconverter, I made some great images with the TC-E14. This lens sells new right now for $1,396.95 with only the crappy original tripod collar … artie

Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II

Arthur Morris is offering a rarely used Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II in near-mint condition for a BAA record low price of $299.00. The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it including the front and rear caps, and insured ground shipping via United Parcel Service.

Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 (please leave a message if no answer).

I successfully used this 1.7X TC with both my 500 PF and with the 600 VR. It sells new for $ 396.95 artie

Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E III

Arthur Morris is offering a rarely used Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E II in near-mint condition for a money saving of $349.00. The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it including the front and rear caps, and insured ground shipping via United Parcel Service.

Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 (please leave a message if no answer).

I successfully used this 2X TC with the 600 VR. It sells new for $ $ 496.95 artie

Orlando Camera Club Program Sponsored By Bedford Camera

On February 25, 2019, I will be presenting “Lessons from the Field – BIRDS AS ART Style” for the Orlando Camera Club. They told me that they did not want to see beautiful images as they would rather learn. I told them that I would need to show them lots of beautiful images during the course of the lessons. 🙂 I will be working hard on this brand new program for the next three weeks. The program is scheduled for 6:15 – 8:00pm at the Marks Senior Center, 99 E Marks Street, Orlando, FL 32803. The meeting is free and open to the public. If you learned about the program through the blog be sure to come up for a hug.

Huge thanks to Steve Elkins at Bedford Camera for sponsoring my appearance and to Holly Manus for the invitation. Click on the logo-link above or check out the Money Saving Reminder feature immediately below to get acquainted with Bedford.

From the OCC website here:

Arthur Morris will present “Lessons from the Field – BIRDS AS ART Style”. This slide-illustrated lecture will feature hundred’s of Artie’s spectacular photographs. As he shares images from his favorite locations around the globe he will be telling us about the birds and other creatures that he photographs and about the equipment and techniques that he uses to create his images. Topics to be covered include getting close to free and wild birds, flight photography, getting the right exposure, and image design. A selection of books and CDs will be available.

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, 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 currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

SONY A9 On Sale!

The SONY A9 went on sale at both B&H and Bedford yesterday with a $500 instant rebate. Please consider purchasing your A9 from a BAA affiliate.

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 28, 2019, day 3 with the SONY gear. I used the hand held Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter (at 449mm), and the beyond remarkable Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Digital Camera. ISO 400: 1/2000 sec. at f/8 in Manual mode. AWB at 9:21am on a clear day. Image #1: Second-winter California Gull — near-classic field guide portrait

One Huge Advantage of 93% AF Coverage …

What a luxury it is to have AF available for 93% of the frame. Actually, it seems like a lot more than that … To make this image (presented full frame) with either Canon or Nikon dSLRs you would need to focus and re-compose using either rear button focus or focus lock. With the A9 you can simply choose an AF point and put it right on the eye of a stationary subject. As I did here.

Best of all — as I have noted here previously — is that AF with either teleconverter is fast and accurate anywhere in the frame. Canon consistently out-performed Nikon in this area but both feature AF array coverage that is very limiting as compared to the A9.

First-winter & Second-winter Plumage

Some young shorebirds, terns, and gulls begin to molt into first-winter plumage a few months after they fledge. When this molt is complete the birds often feature a grey saddle of feathers; with California Gull, the gray saddle is not evident until the bird molts into second winter plumage. Keep your eyes open when you get to the beach and you will soon find that picking out birds in first- and second-winter plumage is a snap.

Field Guide Portraits

Why did I call Image #1 a “near-classic field guide portrait” rather than a “classic field guide portrait.” There are two reasons in the perfect answer.

This image was created on January 28, 2019, day 3 with the SONY gear. I used the hand held Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter (at 284mm), and the beyond remarkable Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Digital Camera. ISO 400: 1/1600 sec. at f/8 in Manual mode. AWB at 8:35am on a clear day. Image #2: Brown Pelican leaving the scene

Winging It!

Several of us were on this bird hoping and praying for a head throw when the bird suddenly turned and took flight. I had my AF set up for the head throw and without thinking I followed my own advice: when un-expected action happens just fire the shutter button; you just might get lucky. If you try to change any settings, you will miss the action. In this case, I was thrilled with the result.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If 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 New 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 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 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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Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).