Everything is Just Ducky. Used Gear Price Drops

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Everything is Just Ducky

Yes, today is June 14, 2024. Early this morning I turned seventy-eight. And happy Flag Day to you.

Everything here is just ducky. I have much to be thankful for. I am relatively healthy and am working hard to stay that way. I can get up and down off the ground to photograph my beloved shorebirds. I can photograph most every day that I want to. And travel anywhere I’d like, always to photograph birds (like Colorado, this Wednesday for two weeks). My home and car are paid off and I have no financial worries at all. I love everything about my job (if you can call it a job). And I have lots of friends. And best of all, I am relatively at peace. Technical malfunctions and corporate/governmental/health-medical BS still pisses me off off too much.

In lieu of sending an birthday expensive gift, consider joining a BIRDS AS ART IPT 🙂

Used Gear Price Drops

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (with Battery Grip)

Price reduced $100.00 on 12 June 2024

Mark Harrington is offering a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (57,314 shutter actuations) in excellent plus condition for $949.00 (was $1049.00). The sale includes the front cap, the original product box, the manual and software, the Canon BG-E20 battery grip (a $299.00 value), one battery, the battery charger, the cable, 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 Mark via e-mail at e-mail or by phone at 1-612-308-5776 MST.

What can I say? The 5D IV was my favorite-ever Canon digital dSLR. I owned and used three of them while my 1DX II and a 1DX III sat on the shelf in my garage. A new 5D Mark IV, with its 30.4MP full-frame CMOS sensor, is still in productions and sells new for $$2,299 at B&H. If you have been dreaming of a 5D IV, grab this one save $1,250.00. artie

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Price reduced $100.00 on 12 June 2024

Mark Harrington is offering a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (30269 shutter actuations ) in excellent plus condition for $899.00 (was $999.00). The sale includes the front cap, the strap, one battery, the battery charger, the cable, the manual, the original 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 Mark via e-mail at e-mail or by phone at 1-612-308-5776 MST.

What can I say? The 5D IV was my favorite-ever Canon digital dSLR. I owned and used three of them while my 1DX II and a 1DX III sat on the shelf in my garage. A new 5D Mark IV, with its 30.4MP full-frame CMOS sensor, is still in productions and sells new for $$2,299 at B&H. If you have been dreaming of a 5D IV, grab this one save $1,250.00. artie

Nikon D800

Price reduced $100.00 on 12 June 2024

Mark Harrington is offering a Nikon D800 (7043 shutter actuations) camera body in excellent + condition for a BAA record low $349.00 (was $449.00). The sale includes the front cap, the manual, &software, one battery, the battery charger, the cable, the original 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 Mark via e-mail at e-mail or by phone at 1-612-308-5776 MST.

The D800 is a 36.3MP Full Frame FX-Format entry level dSLR that performs amazingly well with any of the Nikon PF lenses.

Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 LUSM Lens

Price reduced $100.00 on 12 June 2024

Mark Harrington is offering a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 LUSM lens in excellent plus condition for a BAA record low $423.00 ( was $523.00). The glass is perfect. The sale includes the front and rear caps, the instructions, the soft case (worn and soiled from use), the original 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 Mark via e-mail at e-mail or by phone at 1-612-308-5776 MST.

One of the very first Canon autofocus lenses, I put this lens on the map more than three decades ago. It was and still is a great flight lens and would be ideal when paired with any Canon mirrorless body today by way of an EF/RF adapter. artie

Mark Harrington is offering a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for a BAA record low $949.00. The glass is perfect. The sale includes the front and rear caps, the soft case (LZ1326), the lens hood (ET-83D), the original 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 Mark via e-mail at e-mail or by phone at 1-612-308-5776 MST.

This incredibly versatile zoom lens — with its amazing .98-meter close focus — was my favorite Canon telephoto zoom lens ever. By far. It is easy to hand hold, great for tight portraits, for birds in flight, for quasi-macro stuff, and lots more. For flight, it is deadly with an EOS R, R3, R5, R6, or R7! This lens sells new for $2099.00 so you can save a handsome $1150.00 by grabbing Mark’s lens right now. artie

This image was created on 11 June 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Standing at full height, I used the Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2000. 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 8:18:38am on a mostly sunny morning. Zone/AF-C with Bird Face-eye AF enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Mottled Duck drake stretching near wing

The Situation

The forecast for Tuesday morning was for 100% rain. I glanced out back at about 7:15am and saw that it had quit raining and that the eastern sky was brightening. So you guessed it, I headed down to the lake and had a pretty darned good morning.

What I’ve Learned About the ILE Ducks

For years I stayed in my vehicle and always used the 600 with the 2X on the BLUBB. Doing flight and action was a huge challenge. With so many ducks this year, I tried getting out of my vehicle and working off the tripod. As the days went by, the ducks in the water became more comfortable with my presence so I began approaching them slowly by walking into the shallow water, holding my tripod as low as possible, and trying not to get stuck (or fall down!) as I traversed the soft muck.

Much to my surprise, I was able to get fairly close to the birds so I was able to drop down to the 1.4X teleconverter and shoot at 840mm (rather than 1200mm with the 2X). At times, I’ve wished that I had the 300mm f/2.8 lens(with the 1.4X TC and my second a9 iii) on a shoulder strap.

Early summer bird photography here has been unexpectedly productive.

This is a simply different version of Image #1. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Mottled Duck drake stretching near wing

Spot the Difference

Image #1 and Image #2 are the same photograph. There are a few small differences. In what way or ways is Image #2 different from Image #1? Which one do you like best? Why?

Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Face-eye AF enabled performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #3: A7 INFO screen capture for the Mottled Duck drake stretching near wing image

a9iii AF versus a1 AF

Sony a9 iii autofocus is significantly better than a1 AF. In what ways? Initial focusing acquisition is faster and eye tracking is far stickier. And with the few settings changes that I made significantly improved the autofocus system for flying birds. Why? In large part because of the improved stacked CMOS sensor.

Anyhoo, on Thursday morning, working from my SUV at 840mm on the BLUBB with my a1, I was working a very wet adult killdeer, one of the three now fledged chick’s parents. I framed the perfect shot with the bird square to the imaging sensor and a lovely, all-green background. I half-pressed the shutter but the AF system missed. I could not help but think that the a9 iii would have nailed the focus instantly.

a9 iii E-mail Set-up and Info Guide

a9 iii E-mail Set-up and Info Guide

For those who think that my comments on the a9 iii are pure hype, know that I sold the second of my three a1 bodies last week. And on June 5th, I purchased a second a9 iii body! Lots more on the switch coming soon.

If you plan on purchasing a Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera (or anything else for that matter), please remember to use or write for either my Bedfords discount code or my B&H affiliate link. Folks who use one of my two affiliate links to purchase the a9 III will receive my .DAT settings (the complete camera set-up), a Buttons and Dials Guide, and my a9 iii INFO Sheet, all for free.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.