The Toughest Camera Body Quiz Ever Answer. Tons of New Used Gear. And a Lesson I Will Not Soon Forget ...

What’s Up?

Robert Matyas, visiting from Ottawa, and I had a fabulous morning in Lakeland with the tame White Pelicans being the stars of the show. We saw an adult Bald Eagle and a Caspian Tern — both diving for fish. We also had a tame pair of Green-winged Teal including a gorgeous drake, a tame Limpkin, and a zillion tame White Ibises including many coming into full breeding plumage with bright red bills and an enlarged gular sacks. I wound up with 137 keepers after the first edit … I worked all day with the Nikon 500 PF and my back-up D850 (now with the grip), often with the TC-E14. We had a great working lunch at Fred’s Market in Lakeland; after our 6:45am start I did not get on the road until 1pm!

Lakeland White Pelicans In-the-Field Morning Sessions

If you would like to join me in Lakeland Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday morning this week before the pelicans head north, please get in touch via e-mail or call my cell at 863-221-2372. Limit three photographers.

Morning Session — 7-10am: $250.00
Morning Session with working lunch including image review and Photoshop: $350.00

IPT Updates

I still need three folks for the Galapagos trip, and the UK Puffins and Gannets trip is wide open with only a single registrant. Please shoot me an e-mail to learn about the huge late registration discount on the Galapagos trip.

• The 2019 Fort DeSoto Spring IPT/THURS 18 APRIL through the morning session on SUNDAY APRIL 21, 2019: 3 1/2 DAYS: $1549. Limit 8/Openings: 2. Meet and greet at 7PM on the evening of WED 17 APRIL. Free morning session on WED 17 APRIL.
• 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: 13 photographers/Openings: 3. Please e-mail to learn about the huge late registration discount for this trip.

BIRDS AS ART

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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.

Important Used Gear Note

All sales include insured ground shipping via major courier to lower 48 US addresses only.

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

Don Busby is offering Canon 500mm f/4L IS II USM (USA) in near-mint condition for a very low $6799.00. Just cleaned & checked by Canon Professional Services. The sale include both of the original lens feet, the front lens cover, the rear cap, the lens strap, the lens trunk, the original Canon box, and insured ground shipping via FedEx to the 48 contiguous states only. Photos available upon request.
The lens will ship when your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Don via e-mail.

The 500 f/4 super telephoto lenses have long been the world’s most popular for birds,nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. Canon’s Series II version is light, fast, super-sharp, and produces amazing images with both the 1.4X and 2X III TCs. The 500 II is relatively small, easily hand holdable for some folks, and is much easier travel with, focuses closer than, and costs a lot less than the 600 II. Lastly, and you might find this amazing, the magnification for the 500 II is the same as it is for the 600 II: .15X. How is that possible? Magnification is calculated at the minimum focusing distance of the lens — 12.14 feet (3.7 meters) for the 500 II and 14.77 feet (4.5 meters) for the 600 II. Simply put, the 500 II focuses more than two feet closer than the 600 II. The seller for the last one that sold here had five calls the first day; the first four folks quibbled on price. The fifth one jumped right on it … Please do not tarry if you are seriously interested in Don’s lens as it too should sell almost instantly. Or not 🙂 As the 500 II goes for $8999 new you will be getting a near-mint copy and saving $2200.00! I loved my 500 II 🙂 artie

Canon 100-400mm L IS II USM Zoom Lens & original 1.4X TC

Dick Bernard is offering a Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS II USM zoom lens (the new 1-4) in excellent condition and an original 1.4X TC (in excellent condition with the lens pouch) for a BAA record-low-by-far $1,198.00. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the front lens cap, the lens hood, the lens foot, the lens case, the original product box, 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.

Please contact Dick via e-mail.

Y’all know how much I have missed this amazingly versatile lens and its great close focusing ability. With Dick throwing in the original 1.4X TC this is an incredible buy. artie

Canon EOS 5D Mark III Body with extras!

Dick Bernard is also offering a Canon Canon EOS 5D Mark III body in near-mint condition but for a small whitish scrape mark on the bottom rear of the camera for the great low price of $998.00. The sale includes the front body cap, the original product box, the strap, the cables, the Canon EOS digital software instruction manual, three (3) 64 GB UDMA7 1000x Compact flash cards, three (3) third party batteries, the charger, and 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.

Please contact Dick via e-mail.

I owned and used this superb, full frame, 22mp digital body for several years. It was always my first choice for scenic, Urbex (urban exploration), and flower photography until I fell in love for a while with the 5DS R (for a lot more money!). Then I switched to the 5D IV body. In addition, I loved my 5D III body for birds with my big lenses and both TCs. I used mine to create many dozens of high quality images. Then I switched to Nikon. John’s body can be yours for a bargain price. artie

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4D ED-IF Lens

Jamie Baker is offering a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 500mm f/4D ED-IF lens in excellent condition for $2750.00). The sale includes the rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the leather front element cover, the lens strap, the original foot, a Really Right Stuff LCF-16 foot, a Real Tree LensCoat, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower 48 US addresses only. Note, this lens is the version before VR. It is extremely sharp; detailed photos are available upon request. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Jamie Baker e-mail or by phone at (502) 403-9845 (Eastern time).

The 500 f/4 super telephoto lenses have long been the world’s most popular for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. artie

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

Price Reduced $400.00 on March 1, 2019.

Brian Anderson is offering a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for only $7299.00 (was $7,699.00). There is not a single mark on the lens, the glass, or the paint. The sale includes the accessories that came with the lens: the lens trunk with keys, the hood, both feet, the front lens cover, the rear lens cap, the lens strap, the product box, an Aquatech silicone front lens cover, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Brian via e-mail or by phone at 1-715-278-3223 (Central time zone).

The 500 f/4 super telephoto lenses have long been the world’s most popular for birds,nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. Canon’s Series II version is light, fast, super-sharp, and produces amazing images with both the 1.4X and 2X III TCs. The 500 II is relatively small, easily hand holdable for some folks, and is much easier travel with, focuses closer than, and costs a lot less than the 600 II. Lastly, and you might find this amazing, the magnification for the 500 II is the same as it is for the 600 II: .15X. How is that possible? Magnification is calculated at the minimum focusing distance of the lens — 12.14 feet (3.7 meters) for the 500 II and 14.77 feet (4.5 meters) for the 600 II. Simply put, the 500 II focuses more than two feet closer than the 600 II. The seller for the last one that sold here had five calls the first day; the first four folks quibbled on price. The fifth one jumped right on it … Please do not tarry if you are seriously interested in Brian’s lens as it too should sell almost instantly. Or not 🙂 As the 500 II goes for $8999 new you will be getting a pretty much new lens while saving $1700.00. I loved my 500 II 🙂 artie

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.

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 handheld image was created by yours truly on the Falklands Land-based IPT. Image #1: Black-browed Albatross nesting cliff, Rookery Cabin, Saunders Island, The Falklands

A Lesson I Will Not Soon Forget …

On our third morning at Volunteer Point on the Falklands Land-based IPT I was working a group of King Penguins at the bathing beach — theirs not ours. 🙂 It started to drizzle and moments later the sun came out. And guess what else came out? A huge double rainbow right over the birds. I was sick because my Nikon 24-120 was in my vest that was a in the shelter shack about 400 yards away. I did not even think about trying to get it. The rainbows at their brightest lasted about 5 full minutes before starting to fade. Big time bummer. It was not until I started the long walk home that I realized that I had the perfect rig in my pocket the whole time. My I-Phone 8+. It will be the last time that I make that mistake.

This handheld image was also created by yours truly on the Falklands Land-based IPT. Image #2: King Shags on rocky shelf, Sea Lion Island, The Falklands

The Answer to the Toughest Camera Body Quiz Ever

Yes Virginia, both images in the blog post here were created with my Apple iPhone 8+. Surprisingly, the 8+ handles high contrast scenes better than any camera body I have ever used. The shags on the shelf were in dark shade and the water was at least ten stops brighter yet the iPhone did a great job right out of camera … In the future I just need to remember that I always have it in my pocket. As I carry big lenses most of the time it is great to have a lightweight wide angle at hand.

Kudos to Phil Thatch the first to come up with iPhone 8+ as the answer!

Everything I know about using my iPhone I learned from my good friend, Dr. Cliff Oliver. You can learn more about the iPhone Photography guide below and more about the guide and Cliff in the blog post here.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide please click here. The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.

Hard to Believe

Yes, Cliff has a great eye and wonderfully creative vision. Yet it is still hard for me to believe that he can make so many great images with “just“ an i-phone. Almost more amazingly Cliff captures with his iPhone and does all of his post-processing on the phone! In this great new e-Guide written for BIRDS AS ART you will learn to use set up you iPhone quickly and efficiently and how to to use it. In addition, there are dozens and dozens of tips on Cliff’s favorite apps and his favorite gear. Scroll down to the bottom to see the Table of Contents.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide: $20.00.

To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide please click here.

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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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 :).