But Don’t Get Too, Too Excited!
In today’s post you will see some astounding images made at 1000mm with the hand held Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM lens with the Canon Extender RF 2x and the highly touted 45MP Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Digital camera body.
But don’t get too, too excited:
1- You will likely need fairly fast shutter speeds in order to create sharp images.
2- You will be working at very small apertures — wide open at 1000mm is f/14 — that will require relatively high ISO settings in any lighting conditions other than full sun.
3- As seen by the two screen captures above, framing an image properly when hand holding at 1000mm (20X magnification) is extremely difficult. That is true even when the bird is completely still like the Laughing Gull was when the image on the left (above) was created. If a bird is moving in any way, framing becomes close to impossible; the Whimbrel (above, on the right), walked right in front of me. I was a bit too greedy and as a result, did not make a single image without clipping the bill tip. (I do have a plan for repairing the Whimbrel image; if I succeed you will be seeing the result here on the blog at some point.
What’s Up?
On Tuesday morning, I spotted the last surviving baby crane (of the four hatched this season) in the South Marsh with the two adults. It is apparently doing very well. I made a few nice images of an adult crane ruffling in soft light and then headed home early.
I decided to do a Camtasia video gallery presentation for the BAA Canon R5 Camera User’s e-guide. It took me less than an hour to record it, more than two hours to edit and render it for sharing, and more than three hours to upload it. Though sunset looked somewhat promising I opted to stay home and keep working. There is tons going on.
Multiple-IPT veteran and dear friend Donna Bourdon is flying from Memphis to Orlando today for three days of In-the-Field Instruction and help with her brand new R5 (that is presently sitting on my dining room table). Jim will be picking Donna up after lunch. We are hoping for a decent sunset shoot.
As the baby crane photography has fizzled with the loss of the two colts and the one chick, BAA-friend Clemens Van der Werf is driving up from West Palm with his boat in tow. We plan on meeting him and Lake Blue Cypress on Thursday morning. Donna’s partner Bev Still will meet us at my home on Saturday and the three of use will be heading over to Titusville for the Merritt Island IPT.
In addition to the video gallery, I got more work done on the R5 guide. Bruce Dudek continues to be an amazing help and resource despite that fact that he keeps asking pointed questions and making suggestions that require complete re-writes of major portions of the guide. For that I thank him.
Right now, the battery for my new SONY Alpha a-1 mirrorless camera body is on the charger. A good bit of news is that it takes the same battery as the a9/a7r series bodies. It is 6:29am as I type. If I can get this blog done and posted, I hope to have a few minutes for a cursory set-up of the a1 and head down to the lake for a bit before returning home to work on the R5 guide.
Please do not ask me my opinion of folks who constantly whine, I have nothing to do!
Today is Wednesday 10 March 2021. The forecast for this morning is for partly cloudy skies with gentle winds from the east/northeast. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a great day.
This blog post took a bit more than two hours to prepare and makes seventy-nine days in a row with a new one. Please remember to use my B&H affiliate links or to save money at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout.
The BAA Used Gear Page
The Used Gear page continues to be very active. The BAA Used Gear Page is the place to sell your used photographic equipment. We will help you to get your gear sold quickly for 30 to 70% or more than what the big guys are offering … Doubt me? Check out the Recent Sales list at the bottom of the page.
Canon EF 500 f4/L IS II USM Lens
Kirk Stitt is offering a Canon EF 500 f4/L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for a very low $5349.00. The sale includes a LensCoat, the rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the front lens cover, the lens strap, 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 Kirk Stitt via e-mail or by phone at 1-900-800-9898 (Mountain time zone).
With the success of the Canon EOS R5 and R6 mirrorless bodies, the series II super-teles are in high demand. The 500 f/4 super-telephotos have long been the world’s most popular lenses 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 to travel with, focuses closer than, and costs a lot less than the 600 II or the 600 III!. 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. Please do not tarry if you are seriously interested in Kirk’s lens as it should sell quickly. artie
Canon EOS R5 Camera User’s e-Guide
Eleven days ago, I sent out about a dozen copies of the almost finished Canon EOS R5 Camera User’s e-Guide for review to folks who had previously gotten free copies of the R5/R6 AF e-Guide by using my affiliate links to purchase their Canon mirrorless gear. In the same vein, I contacted everyone who purchased the R5/R6 AF e-Guide last week. More recently, folks who purchased the R5/R6 AF Guide were offered the opportunity to purchase a copy the pre-publication guide for review. Many folks have responded with thoughtful reviews, most recently, IPT veteran Warren Howe.
Because the camera and the Menus are so complex, this guide has required a ton of research, a lot of time, and a lot of effort (and will continue to do so until it is complete). It should be finished by the first week in March. 2021. The final update of the R5/R6 AF e-Guide has become part of the complete Camera User’s e-Guide; it has already been revised and expanded.
The complete Camera User’s guide will sell for $75.00. Folks who purchased their Canon gear using my links will receive a $65.00 discount; the guide will cost them a nominal $10.00. Folks who spent more than $7500.00 on Canon mirrorless gear using either of my affiliate links (B&H or Bedfords), will receive the Camera User’s e-Guide for free. Folks who purchased the R5/R6 AF e-Guide will receive a $10.00 discount on the User’s e-Guide. The best news is that the end is in sight.
New and Better Bedfords Discount Policy!
You can now save 3% on all of your Bedfords photo gear purchases by entering the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout. Your discount will be applied to your pre-tax total. In addition, by using the code you will get 2nd day air shipping via Fed Ex.
Grab a Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III and save $14.99. Purchase a Canon EOS R5 and your discount will be $116.97. Purchase a Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and save a remarkable $389.94! Your Bedford’s purchase no longer needs to be greater than $1,000.00 for you to receive a discount. The more you spend, the more you save.
Money Saving Reminder
Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would enjoy free second-day air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order to save 3% and enjoy free 2nd-day air shipping. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The wait lists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard to get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a9 ii, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs (remember those?) 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 on 28 February 2021 at Fort DeSoto Park, Tierra Verde, FL. Using the knee-pod technique while seated on the wet sand, I worked with the the handheld Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM lens with the Canon Extender RF 2x (at 1000mm) and the highly touted 45MP Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 800. Exposure determined by test exposure & histogram and blinkies evaluation: 1/800 second at f/18 (stopped down 2/3-stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed this one to be less than 1/3 stop under-exposed. AWB at 8:35am on a sunny morning.
Face Detection plus Tracking grabbed and tracked the gull’s eye perfectly.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #1: Laughing Gull just beginning to molt into breeding plumage/head portrait
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Thanks Steve King!
On the last day of my recent Fort DeSoto busman’s holiday, Steve King joined me for a morning of In-the-Field Instruction. We had a great day. When he mentioned that he was bringing along his Canon Extender RF 2x, I thought, Now that seems quite impractical. None-the-less, when the sun came out at about 8:15am, I asked to borrow his RF 2X and Steve kindly went to his pack and handed it over. Long story short: I ordered one from Steve Elkins the next day. Like everything R5-related, it is hard to get your hands on the RF doubler. Mine should be here Friday just before I leave for the Merritt Island IPT.
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Face Detection plus Tracking grabbed and tracked the gull’s eye perfectly.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #1A: DPP 4 screen capture for the Laughing Gull just beginning to molt into breeding plumage/head portrait image
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Somewhat Amazingly
Somewhat amazingly, Face Detection plus Tracking AF performed superbly at f/14 even at 1000mm. With the camera set up as detailed in the nearly finished BAA Canon EOS R5 Camera User’s e-Guide, the performance of the AF system left me slack-jawed. As noted above, the huge problem was with framing the images properly. I worked with the 2X for about 30 minutes and created about 700 images. Well more than 400 of those were insta-deletes because they were horribly framed.
Note the red AF box squarely on the eye of the gull. Even in the mis-framed images that opened this blog post, the AF system nailed the eye.
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Image #1B: Topaz DeNoise on the Laughing Gull just beginning to molt into breeding plumage/head portrait image
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Topaz DeNoise AI on DeNoise on Auto
Be sure to click on the image to see the phenomenal job that DeNoise AI did on the background noise and the noise in the shadows as well. With either DeNoise or Low Light, smooth-as-a-baby’s tush results are par for the course. It will be interesting to see what happens when I try the Canon rig at 1000mm in low light conditions …
Great Topaz News!
Folks who use the BAA Topaz link to purchase Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, or the Utility Bundle (or any other Topaz plug-ins) will receive a 15% discount by entering the ARTHUR15 code at checkout. If the stuff is on sale (as it usually is), you save 15% off of the sale price! To get the discount you must use my link and you must enter the discount code. Be sure to start with this link.
Those who purchase Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, or any other Topaz plug-ins using my link and then entering the ARTHUR15 code at checkout can e-mail to request a short Getting Started with Topaz e-Guide. Please include a copy of your Topaz receipt that shows the discount. Aside from the basics, the guide explains how to install the plug-ins so that they appear in the Photoshop Filter Menu.
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This image was also created on 28 February 2021 at Fort DeSoto Park, Tierra Verde, FL. Again, using the knee-pod technique while seated on the wet sand, I worked with the the handheld Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM lens with the Canon Extender RF 2x (at 1000mm) and the highly touted 45MP Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 800. Exposure determined by test exposure & histogram and blinkies evaluation: 1/640 second at f/20 (stopped down one-stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed this one to be less than 1/3 stop under-exposed. AWB at 8:28am on a sunny morning.
Face Detection plus Tracking grabbed and tracked the gull’s eye perfectly.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #2: Laughing Gull molting into breeding plumage/head portrait
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Further Along
The bird in this image is a a bit further along in its molt to breeding plumage. Even when the bird began calling, the AF system had zero problems tracking the eye. Perhaps even more astoundingly, the images at 1000mm were incredibly sharp and featured the crispy eye skins that I love. And the fine-feather-detail (FFD) was off the charts.
Stopping Down?
Some might ask, Why stop down to f/18 and f20 when wide open at 1000mm is f/14? . Folks need to remember that the need for additional depth of field is greatest when you are working with long focal lengths at point blank range. At six feet at 1000mm wide open the total depth of field is 0.0 feet. At f/20 it increases to 0.01 feet. Not much but better than nothing.
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This image was also created on 28 February 2021 at Fort DeSoto Park, Tierra Verde, FL. Again, using the knee-pod technique while seated on the wet sand, I worked with the the handheld Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS USM lens with the Canon Extender RF 2x (at 902mm) and the highly touted 45MP Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 800. Exposure determined by test exposure & histogram and blinkies evaluation: 1/640 second at f/20 (stopped down one-stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed this one to be less than 1/3 stop under-exposed. AWB at 8:24am on a sunny morning.
Face Detection plus Tracking grabbed and tracked the gull’s eye perfectly.
Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #3: Laughing Gull molting into breeding plumage/head portrait
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The Whole Nine Yards
This bird is pretty much in full breeding plumage with the complete jet-black cap, wine-red bill, and white eye crescents. With blue water backgrounds, they are a sight to see. Most of the Laughing Gulls will be in full breeding plumage in April. They and the Royal and Sandwich Terns will be exhibiting a variety of breeding behaviors on both IPTs. Those include courtship displays and feeding, copulatory stands, and copulations.
Summing Up
The addition of the RF 2X teleconverter to the R5/RF 100-500/RF 1.4X teleconverter greatly expands the versatility of the already great Canon mirrorless rig. As with the RF 1.4X TC, you cannot zoom wider than the 300mm mark. That gives you a hand holdable 600-1000mm lens that is super-sharp and offers incredible AF (albeit with small apertures with correspondingly high ISOs.
Do note that you mount the TC you must be at the 300mm setting (or longer).
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All of the images were created at Fort DeSoto in April or early May. Click on the card to enjoy a larger version.
Fort DeSoto IPT card A
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Fort DeSoto Spring IPT #1
Fort DeSoto Spring IPT #1. 3 1/2 DAYS. SAT 10 APR thru the morning session on TEUS 13 APR 2021. $1499 includes three lunches. Limit: 6. Openings 5.
While DeSoto is one of the rare photo hotspots with the potential to be great any day of the year, it absolutely shines in spring. Many of the wading birds and shorebirds are in full breeding plumage. The terns and gulls are courting and copulating. We will have lots of flight photography opportunities. Did I mention that many of the birds are silly tame?
A $499 deposit is required to hold your spot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “BIRDS AS ART) to us here: BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due immediately after you sign up. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail. If you cancel due to COVID 19 concerns, all of your payments will be refunded.
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All of the images were created at Fort DeSoto in April or early May. Click on the card to enjoy a larger version.
Fort DeSoto IPT card B
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Fort DeSoto Spring IPT #2
Fort DeSoto Spring IPT #2. 3 1/2 DAYS. MON 26 APR thru the morning session on THURS 29 APR 2021. $1499 includes three lunches. Limit: 6/Openings: 5.
Not only am I conversant in all three major camera systems used in the US — Nikon, Canon, and SONY (sorry Andy Rouse …), I have used all three within the past four years. Those include both SONY and Canon mirrorless. On both of these IPTs you will learn how to get the best exposure, how to get the most out of your AF system, and how to get close to free and wild birds. And tons more.
A $499 deposit is required to hold your spot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “BIRDS AS ART) to us here: BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due immediately after you sign up. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail. If you cancel due to COVID 19 concerns, all of your payments will be refunded.
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All of the images were created at Fort DeSoto in April or early May. Click on the card to enjoy a larger version.
Fort DeSoto IPT card C
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Fort DeSoto Spring IPTs Expected Species
With any luck, we should get to photograph the following species: Laughing, Ring-billed, Herring, and Lesser Black-backed Gull; Royal, Sandwich, and Forster’s Tern: Great, Snowy, and white and dark morph Reddish Egret and Great Blue, Little Blue, and Tricolored Heron; Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Wood Stork, Roseate Spoonbill, and Brown Pelican. We will see and photograph lots of shorebirds including American Oystercatcher, Black-bellied, Wilson’s, Semipalmated, Snowy, and Piping Plover, Marbled Godwit, Willet, Dunlin, Red Knot, Sanderling, and Western and possibly White-rumped Sandpiper.
Sign up for both IPTs and enjoy a $200 discount. Most of us will be staying in nearby Gulfport.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
