January 22nd, 2018 Used Canon Gear at Below Fire Sale Prices
Please see the list of items sold cheap below
Please note today’s date. It is not April 1.
As many have surmised, I am — after 34 1/2 years of using Canon gear, after about 18 years as a Canon Explorer of Light (not many know that I was fired from that role about four years ago), and after 17 years of using Canon digital gear, switching to Nikon. If you do lots of flight photography, you should switch too. If not, I far prefer my Canon gear. Some of the AF stuff with Nikon — such as switching the AF patterns — is horrifically designed. But if you want sharp images of birds in flight then you should/will switch to Nikon. The funny thing is that I recently figured out — with help from Arash Hazeghi — how to make the most of the AF systems of my 5D Mark IV bodies and especially with my newly replaced EOS-1DX II. But for birds in flight Nikon is light years ahead. After 30 seconds of working with the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots), I was pretty sure that I was gonna switch even before I saw the images. To make sure that I not was crazy, I had Patrick Sparkman try out the Nikon rig. After one bird flew by he said, “I am switching.”
More on the plusses and minuses of both systems will follow in future blog posts. The Nikon stuff is not all positive.
Here is the important stuff: I am selling all of my Canon gear now. I have three 5D Mark IV bodies for sale I have an almost new 1DX II that does not have oil spatter on the sensor problems. I am selling my 600 II, my 500 II, my 400 DO II, my relatively new 100-400 II, my my 24-105, my like-new circle lens, the 8-15mm, the 180 macro, a like-new 100mm L IS Macro, and a like new 16-35mm. I have likely forgotten a few items. Several Series III teleconverters for starters.
I use my gear hard. Some of it shows signs of wear. The 600 II has a ding on the proximal lens barrel. The great news is that it all works perfectly. I price it to sell quickly. If anyone is interested in a long lens and one of the camera bodies I can likely sell them a micro-adjusted match set. I am at the Ramada San Diego North Hotel & Conference Center in San Diego (5550 Kearny Mesa Road, Kearny Mesa) and am free for the next few days. I can of course ship the stuff anywhere when I get home.
The prices will be so low that I will not publish them. If you are seriously interested in buying something please shoot me an e-mail or call my cell at 863-221-2372.
If you switch to Nikon based on the above please be sure to use my generic B&H affiliate link on the right side of each blog post page. I will have lots more to say on both Nikon and Canon, especially when and if I ever get a Nikon D-850. Right now I am vouching for the D5 and would stake my life on the D-850 as well. They both have the same AF system.
Sold at Fire Sale Prices/Just In
The newer of my Canon 100-400 II lenses sold for $1399.
One Canon 1.4X III TCs sold for $229.
Another 1.4X III TC and a 2X III TC sold for $229 each.
$3500 for the almost new Canon 1DX II with < 11,000 actuations and $229 for the other 2X III TC.
The older Canon 24-105 sold for $299.
The Canon 600 II sold for $7500. With shipping to US. In very good to excellent condition with one serious ding near the red dot at the near end of the lens barrel, a less than 1/8 by 3/16 inch dent. It affects nothing. And a few other scuffs. The glass is immaculate and as seen on the blog every day it is in perfect working condition.
The Canon 500mm f/4l IS II lens sold for the fire-sale price of $6799.
One Canon 5D Mark IV in very good condition sold/fire sale priced at $1899.
Another 5D Mark IV sold for $2099 and the almost-new one for $2349.
Canon 16-35mm f/4 L IS for $549.
Canon 8-15mm given away for $799!
Canon 100 macro IS fire-sale sold for $449.
January 22nd, 2018 Stuff
On Sunday I spent another morning with the borrowed Nikon gear. With a nice east wind it was a great morning for pelican flight photography: I had 40 pelican flight keepers. What a pleasure it is to edit a series of flight images and simply look for the best poses without having to pray that this one or that one might be sharp …
The afternoon was spent at Patrick and Robin’s house watched the NFL playoffs on the tube and eating too much. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I was asleep at 7:30pm, woke at 2:30am, and edited about 10,000 images from my Phoenix and San Diego trips. I am all caught up.
There are only two slots left on the Spoonbill Boat IPT. The Master Classes will be announced soon.
The Streak
Today makes one hundred seventy-five days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 90 minutes to prepare including the time spent optimizing the images. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Used Gear Page New Listings
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
With Extras!
NANPA President Don Carter is offering a Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition for $849.00. The sale includes the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip (a $209 value), a Kirk L bracket, an extra battery, the front lens cap, one battery charger, and insured ground shipping to US addresses via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Don via e-mail or by phone at (630) 390-0909 (Mountain time).
Both Patrick Sparkman and I used and loved the 7D Mark II until about two years ago when we both committed to using full frame Canon bodies. We both made some truly great images with it. Two of my three 2016 Nature’s Best honored entries were created with the 7D II, one still, and one video. One thing is for sure: the 7D Mark II is the greatest value ever in a digital camera body. With a new one alone going for $1499 you can grab Don’s 7D II along with some great extras. artie
Canon EOS-1DX Professional Digital Camera Body
BAA Record-low Price!
NANPA President Don Carter is also offering a Canon EOS-1DX in near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $2298.00, The sale includes the front cap, a Kirk L-bracket, an extra battery, 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 Don via e-mail or by phone at (630) 390-0909 (Mountain time).
Two 1DX bodies severed admirably as my workhorse digital camera bodies for several years. The original 1DX has a superb AF system and produces high quality image files. It is fabulous for photographing birds in flight and in action. Some folks wish that they had kept there 1DX bodies and not upgraded to the 1DX Mark II … artie
The Blue-eyed Chocolate Covered Cherry
We saw the beautiful bird featured in today’s blog post flying around early in the day as many pelicans left and returned to the cliffs after visiting an offshore feeding spree. At one point, it landed close to us in a big crowd of birds. I added the 1.4X TCE, got on the ground, and slowly inched closer. As the pelicans shifted position, the chocolate-covered cherry bird finally came completely clear for a vertical head and bill portrait.
Tight Horizontal Head Portrait
I zoomed in tight to create image #2 when the object of my desire was surrounded by several other pelicans. The sharpness of the Nikon 2-5 with the TC-E 14 is astounding.
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This image was created on January 21 at La Jolla, CA by Patrick Sparkman with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). ISO 500. Matrix metering probably +1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB at 8:40am on a clear sunny day.
Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Image #3:Brown Pelican, Pacific race, 2nd year, in flight
Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Patrick Sparkman
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Potty Break
When I needed to visit the outdoor mens’ room-in-a-crevice, I took two out of focus images of the dirt and handed the rig to Patrick who was anxious to try it out. When I got back I took two more images of dirt so that we could easily locate Patrick’s images. As I was yesterday, he was quite amazed by the AF system of the D5. When I downloaded the shared XQD card, I saw that Patrick had had a good flight chance with our special bird. I was wishing that I could have held it a bit longer … Patrick, a long time Canon shooter, also had big problems with the “wrong direction zoom twist.”
Your Favorite?
Which of today’s three images is your favorite? Why?
Help Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) 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.
Facebook
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 :).
January 21st, 2018 Stuff
I spent the day with my borrowed Nikon gear. For now, I am withholding my overall comments until I get to know the camera and lens better. If it were not for the help I received from IPT veteran and blog regular Krishna Prasad Kotti, I would not have been able to make a single good image on Saturday. He kindly and generously helped me set up the D5 during a long FaceTime session on Friday evening.
There are only two slots left on the Spoonbill Boat IPT. The Master Classes will be announced soon.
The Streak
Today makes one hundred seventy-four days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about two hours to prepare including the time spent optimizing the images. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
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This image was created on January 20 at La Jolla, CA with Canon gear by BAA friend Ivan Turpin.
Yours truly with his Nikon gear
Photo courtesy of and copyright 2018: Ivan Turpin
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Say It Ain’t So!
It was nice running into Ivan Turpin at La Jolla. It was a cold morning with a strong west wind. A fair amount of clouds made photography possible. More than a few years ago Ivan kindly helped me with medical advice when my hand became infected after trigger finger surgery.
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This image was created on January 20 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). ISO 1600. Matrix metering probably -2/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB at 8:19am in the shade on a cloudy morning.
Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Brown Pelican, Pacific race landing
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The Nikon D5 — the good
Working though the menus was easier than I had feared. Krishna was a great help. The AF system is quite excellent. The body seems lighter than the Canon 1DX II.
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This image was created on January 20 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 330mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). ISO 2000. Matrix metering probably +2/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB at 8:30am on a mostly cloudy morning.
Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Brown Pelican, Pacific race, top shot
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The Nikon D5 — the bad
To switch from Group AF to d9 AF you need to press a tiny button on the front left bottom of the camera and then turn the index finger dial. It is manageable when you are working horizontally but is ergonomically almost impossible when hand holding a relatively heavy telephoto lens … The engineers might coulda shoulda thought of something simpler 🙂
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This image was created on January 20 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). ISO 2000. Matrix metering probably +2/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB at 8:30am on a mostly cloudy morning.
Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Brown Pelican, Pacific race, top shot
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The 200-500 Lens — the good
The extra 100mm of reach is a godsend (as compared to the Canon 100-400mm II) and the constant f/5.6 aperture is another plus.
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This image was created on January 20 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). ISO 1250. Matrix metering probably +2 stops: 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB at 8:36am on a mostly cloudy morning.
Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Brown Pelican, Pacific race, landing gear down
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The 200-500 Lens — the bad
The lens zooms backwards as compared to the Canon 100-400mm; that will take some getting used to. And the zoom is stiffer. The lens is relatively heavy and a bit on the clunky side.
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This image was created on January 20 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). ISO 800. Matrix metering probably -1 1/3 stops: 1/3200 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB at 8:57am on with the sun peeking out.
Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Brown Pelican, Pacific race, incoming backlit
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Exposure Question
Why did this image need so much negative EC?
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This image was created on January 20 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). ISO 800. Matrix metering probably +2 stops: 1/5000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB at 9:57am with the sun out.
Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Brandt’s Cormorant with nesting material/strong>
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Getting the Right Exposure With a New System
Getting the right exposure with a new system was a snap. Make a test image. Check the histogram. Adjust as needed. Just like always. Experience and a working knowledge of exposure theory helps with your initial settings. The brand of camera does not make one bit of difference.
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This image was created on January 20 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). ISO 400. Matrix metering probably -1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB at 4:09pm on a sunny afternoon.
Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Western Gull, late afternoon light/strong>
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How Did I Do?
Considering that I was using brand new gear for the first time, how do you think that I did?
Which of the seven images is your favorite? Why?
Help Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) 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.
Facebook
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 :).
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