What’s Up?
Me, early. As good as Fort DeSoto was on Wednesday, I am heading to do the American White Pelicans in Lakeland. I will be on the road from Gulfport before 5:30am.
A $1399 Discount Offer
I am offering a phenomenal $1399 late registration discount on the first Homer IPT. $1399 is not a typo. 2 slots are open.
The Greatest-ever Bald Eagle Experience IPT
Please e-mail if you would like to cross off Doing the Homer Bald Eagles from your bucket list.
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%. Please understand that e-Bay prices are bogus. And the same is true of the prices of used gear including my dear friends at B&H and the other mega-outfits. They offer you pennies and then try to sell the stuff to ignorant folks for ridiculously high prices. With their huge international exposure, they occasionally find someone …
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 many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the 5Ds and 5Ds R, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, the Canon 200-400 with internal extender, 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. The prices garnered for used Canon gear has tanked completely as demand has dropped tremendously. It is ironic that for decades Canon gear had very strong resale value …
Note: all BAA Used Gear sales include insured ground shipping via UPS to lower 48 US addresses only. Others who live elsewhere are invited to e-mail the seller for shipping surcharge info. Sellers should charge you only the difference between shipping to the farthest US location from their home and the charge to a non-lower-48 address.
Very Recent Sales
Multiple IPT participant Sheldon Goldstein sold his Sigma Contemporary 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG Lens for Canon in like-new condition for $675.00 (was $725.00) in early FEB 2020.
IPT veteran Richard Russ sold his Nikkor 105mm Micro f/2.8G AF-VR lens in near-mint condition for the very low price of $496.95 and a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G Special Edition Lens lens in near-mint condition for the silly low price of $106.95.
Barry McKenzie sold his Canon 2X III TC in excellent plus condition for a very low $219.00 and a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Lens for Canon EF in like-new condition for a very low $449.00, both in early FEB, 2020.
Paul Mckenzie sold his Canon EOS 5DS R dSLR in very good condition for only $799.00 (was $999.00), a Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens in good plus condition for an amazingly low $1,099.00 (was $1,499.00), and a Canon EOS-1D X Mark II dSLR in very good condition with 95,000 actuations for the very low price of $2499.00 (was $2,899.00), all on 9 FEB 2020.
Barry McKenzie sold a Canon 1.4X III TC in very good condition with a single “ding” for a very low $160.00 in early February 2020.
Paul Mckenzie sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens in good plus condition for an amazingly low $1,099.00 and his Canon EF Extenders (teleconverters) 1.4X III and 2X III in excellent condition for $200 each on 6 FEB 2020.
Paul Mckenzie sold his Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II USM Zoom lens in very good plus condition for $999.00 on 5 FEB 2020.
Price Drops
Canon EF Extender 1.4X II
Price Reduced 50.00 on 13 FEB 2020
BPN friend Ravi Hirekatur is also offering a Canon EF Extender 1.4X II (the 1.4X II teleconverter) in excellent condition for the very low price of $120.00 (was $179.00). The sale includes the front and rear caps, the lens pouch, and insured ground shipping via UPS to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Ravi via e-mail or by phone at 1-608-217-9593 central time.
The 1.4X II TC is every bit as sharp when used with older lenses such as the original 100-400 above and the original 500 and 600mm f/4 lenses. The series III TCs provide advantages only when paired with the series II and III lenses. I used this item more than quite often when I was using Canon, often with great success. artie
Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 DG HSM Lens for Canon
Price Reduced 101.00 on 13 FEB 2020
Multiple IPT participant Sheldon Goldstein is offering a Sigma 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 DG HSM lens for Canon in like-new condition for $749.00 (was $850.00). The sale includes the lens cover, the rear cap, the protective carrying case, and insured Fed-Ex Ground shipping to lower 48 US addresses. Your lens will ship after your check clears unless another payment method is used.
Please contact Shelly via e-mail or by phone at 1-646-423-0392 (Eastern time).
This lens is designed for use with full-frame Canon digital cameras; it offers a dramatically ultra-wide coverage with field-of-views ranging from 122° to 84.1° making it ideal for dramatic landscape photography. It is a superb architectural lens that is great for creating images of the tightest of interiors. Using Canon bodies with APS-C sensors (like the 7D Mark II) will give you an effective zoom range of 17-35mm. B&H
An Incredible Buy!
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM Lens
Price dropped $600 on 11 FEB 2020!
Paul Mckenzie is offering a Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM lens in mint condition (but for a very few minor blemishes on the lens hood) for the BAA record-low-by-far price of 10,399.00 (was $10,999.00). The sale includes the lens hood, the front lens cover, the rear cap, the original product box, the instruction manual, the warranty card, the strap, and insured shipping via FedEx. The sale does not include the LS600 soft case. Your item will ship upon receipt of your wire transfer. All sales are subject to the restrictions noted above.
Please contact Paul via e-mail.
The 600 III is the latest Canon version of my favorite weapon of mass destruction for bird photography. With its super balance, light weight, incredible sharpness, and a five-stop Image Stabilization system, the 600 III is a technological marvel. The lens tips the scale at a relatively svelte 6.71 lb — about one ounce heavier than the SONY 600mm f/4GM OSS lens. It is a fraction under two pounds lighter than the Canon 600 II. Thus, it is eminently hand-holdable for many folks. As this lens sells new for $12,999.00, you can save a neat $2600.00 by being the one to grab Paul’s pretty much new lens. This lens is super-sharp with either TC, one of the great advantages of Canon over Nikon … artie
BIRDS AS ART
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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 over $1000.00, 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 has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H. Those include the SONY a7r IV, the SONY 200-600, the SONY 600mm f/4 GM, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is eager to please.
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.
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This image was created 11 FEB at Fort DeSoto, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) with the 61-MP monster, the Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 800. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2000 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode. AWB at 4:36pm on a sunny afternoon. Flexible Spot (M) Tracking — Continuous (C) AF was active at the moment of exposure. Click to enlarge and enjoy a larger version. Great Egret — face detail of young bird |
Should Have Been a Vertical!
Thanks to multiple IPT-veteran Larry Master for suggesting during our working brunch that I should have cropped yesterday’s featured image to a vertical … With 61 million pixels in the RAW file, he was right, but only 100%.
If In Doubt …
If you are 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 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 or Bedfords, 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 or Bedfords 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 regularly visit 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 :).
I’m impressed that you could get the a7riv to track with the 200-600 in tracking mode. It simply doesn’t stick in my hands and jumps off the face onto the body or something more contrasty. Was using the combination the other day for pelagic birds and was impressed that in wide (non tracking) mode it worked extremely well. Occasionally, it would jump off on the bird to the surf but if one “pumped” the af, it quickly grabbed the bird again. Very high percentage of keepers on osprey and brown boobys.
This was a far more difficult situation than it would seem. The bird would quickly lower its head to clean its bill on the metal railing of the pier. I checked the focus location with Raw Digger and it was way down near the bottom of the frame — fortunately on the same plane as the eye.
Which. Tracking mode?
Animal Eye on or off?
with. love, artie
Generally, I don’t use tracking mode with the a7riv for BIF or perched birds for the reasons I mentioned; the tracking box doesn’t stay on the intended target location. Say for example, I am 30’ away from a large bird such as a preening sandhill crane and use small/medium flexible spot in tracking mode. If I lock the af on the bird’s face/eyes, it quickly jumps to the bird’s body. This occurs with an af sensitivity of 1 (locked on). Instead, I am forced to use small flexible spot, non-tracking and do mY best to move it around.
For BIF, I’ve tried wide, zone, center tracking and while the box generally followed the subject, the af hit rate was poor. Consequently, I found wide (non-tracking) was best for BIF whereas small spot was best for perched subjects. It seems to me that the af is more accurate in animal mode with eye detect on though the tracking modes are disabled with these settings in the a7riv unlike the a9. I suspect this is due to the comparatively slower read rate and processing speed of the a7riv. Have your observations been different?
Patrick and I have done well with Tracking Flexible Spot M with the 7r iv … So yes, different.
I should get some good chances with eagles on the ground hopefully in fresh snow 🙂
We are close on the guide.
with love, a
Artie, We see horizontally not vertically. This is a great image but it could be improved by being horizontal.
Hi, Jack, See yesterday’s blog post :). It sounds as if you are saying that we should never shoot vertical images. If that is what you mean, it is absurd 🙂
with love, artie
Artie: I really don’t like this image, however you crop it. It makes me dizzy…. 🙁
He was cleaning his bill on the metal railing of a pier. He was probably dizzy too.
with love, artie
I think you meant to say 1/2000 sec, not 12000 sec.