Bird Watch

P

Paul

Member
Starting taking photos of birds right outside my home office where there are a clump of trees where I get some little visitors. ; I'm contemplating buying some feeders to try and attract some other bird types.

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Looks like some kind of wren, Paul. ; Just remember when you put out birdseed, squirrels will soon follow.
 
"Scottwdw" said:
Looks like some kind of wren, Paul. ; Just remember when you put out birdseed, squirrels will soon follow.
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That's why I love my squirrel resistive feeder. ; It's lightbulb shaped and the wire hangs through the lid, so even when they try to hold on to the hanging wire, they can't reach around over the top to the base....and if they try and hold on to just the feeder the center of gravity changes and throws them off.

If they somehow make it to the feeding station, it's on a spring so too much weight closes it off. ; So it's not as fun as the baffles (watching them for the first time realize what is going to happen), it's more effective, since the squirrels figured out how to get past the baffle by jumping to the feeder from the side (lots of branches on my live oak)
 
thanks for the tips guys, I'll look for a squirrel resistive feeder if possible. ; I'm just hoping to get some more colorful birds around. ; A cardinal shows up once in awhile, but I haven;t had the camera ready when that has occurred.
 
neat
thats Moose Peterson style. I think he leaves his camera and 600 on a tripod next to his desk and shoots at his bird feeders while sitting at his desk.
 
Great shot Paul. I have 3 Bird houses that I am about to mount onto a pole in my back yar as there aren't many trees (New neighborhood) & I plan to put a feeder as well. The birds often come to bathe in the fountain on my patio. Great phot ops.
 
Nice work Paul!

"Craig" said:
thats Moose Peterson style. I think he leaves his camera and 600 on a tripod next to his desk and shoots at his bird feeders while sitting at his desk.
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Yep, he just leaves the window open and shoots when something interesting lands on the branch. ; He even does that in the winter... ; Poor Sharon...
 
I don't have a 600, but I am happy with the 70-200mm, of course now I'm thinking about a 1.4x teleconverter. ; I haven;t setup a tripod like Moose, but that might be worth a try. ; I scared away a Cardinal today before I could get the camera ready.
 
The tripod thing may not work for you like it does for Moose. ; He has the 600 on a Wimberly Tripod Head which is a gimbal head. ; The lens is balanced on the head so that when you let go of the camera, it will hold its position without locking the head. ; Without a gimbal head, it would probably be easier to keep the camera on the desk, with the lens cap off so you just have to grab it.
 
Paul, I too am considering a teleconverter. I just can''t decide between the 1.4x & the 2x. What are your thoughts.
 
Haven't done a lot of research on either, but I would imagine the 2x would impact sharpness and autofocus speed more than the 1.4x obviously. ; Its hard for me to relate that to actual performance on the 70-200mm f2.8. I believe the 1.4x reduces the F2.8 to F4 and the 2x reduces it to f5.6.

I might have to rent one and try it out first to seem how it works out.
 
You should definitely try the TC-20E II before you buy one. ; I have one and am not happy with the images it produces with the 70-200VR. ; With the lens wide open, I found the images to be very soft. ;

In fact, my 80-400VR zoomed to 400mm at its maximum aperture of F5.6 is sharper than the 70-200VR at F2.8 with the TC-20E II (F5.6 equivalent). ;
 
I was out during one of our snow storms this winter with the dog taking pictures. I happened to catch a Cardinal sitting in a tree. I didn't zoom in enough because I wanted to catch it before it flew away but I really do like this picture.

 
"Paul" said:
Haven't done a lot of research on either, but I would imagine the 2x would impact sharpness and autofocus speed more than the 1.4x obviously. ; Its hard for me to relate that to actual performance on the 70-200mm f2.8. I believe the 1.4x reduces the F2.8 to F4 and the 2x reduces it to f5.6.

I might have to rent one and try it out first to seem how it works out.
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It's not that bad with the 1.4 attached. ;

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Now this was with a 30D, and the 1.4 attached so it's at 280mm before crop factor. ; Granted, I know that my copy of the lens with my body weren't calibrated properly, so fine tune focus would have been useful in my case back then.


And psst.. ; mSummers...wrong brand.
 
"mSummers" said:
You should definitely try the TC-20E II before you buy one. ; I have one and am not happy with the images it produces with the 70-200VR. ; With the lens wide open, I found the images to be very soft. ;

In fact, my 80-400VR zoomed to 400mm at its maximum aperture of F5.6 is sharper than the 70-200VR at F2.8 with the TC-20E II (F5.6 equivalent).
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I, too, have read that the TC-20E is not very sharp. ; I am considering a 1.7x and have read very good reports of it's use with the 70-200VR.
 
Nice Capture Stryker. Great info Roger. Looks like the 1.4x would be the smart route as opposed to stepping all the way to the 2x. Thanks for Sharing this info.

On a separate note. I have never done a calibration with any of my lenses to my body. Is this something I should consider doing. I had someone mention it before, but I never explored it any further. Anyone have any suggestions, tips, techniques on the best way to go about doing this.
 
Thanks Roger. I will try to do this over the weekend. I have a pretty busy schedule right now, but hopefully I can fit this in.
 
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