The birds they mock me
Discussion
mikef said:
It would be great to read what lenses and settings were used for many of the magnificent pics in this thread, for those of us who are still learning
Hi Mike. I'm a bit different to the others in that I use a Sony RX10iv 'bridge' camera with a fixed 24-600mm (equivalent) f4 lens. It's relatively light and can achieve decent results in good light - it suits me as a casual walkabout shooter but obviously won't match the full frame shooters in many respects but especially if high iso is needed.I shoot at max aperture and use automatic iso with a maximum of 1600 (it gets very mushy above that) to try and maintain a shutter speed of at least 1/500 (this isn't always enough but it's a trade off against needing higher iso).
Happy to answer any questions
Thanks all for the info, folks
I would love to upgrade to a Canon R5, but the total cost of switching from my 5DIII looks like a hefty chunk of change…
In terms of lens, I don’t have anything longer than my 70-200 IS Mk2, which has always been my go-to lens for equestrian photography. I do have a Canon 2x Extender, but that can result in a fair amount of vignetting with the 70-200 especially shooting into the sky. I imagine alternatives to those long lenses are sneaking up closer or choosing larger birds to photograph
Having recently retired from a career in big data and AI, I am reasonably well provided for in terms of computing power and storage - 16-core AMD 5950X, dual 6-core Xeon Mac Pro, 10-core Mac Mini M2 Pro and 8-core Mac Air M2; RTX 3090 GPU and 16 terabytes of high-speed SSD NVMe storage as well as tens of terabytes of SATA storage, much of it SSD
Interesting to hear about DxO; I have Luminar Neo, which I think is more or less equivalent; I must check out DxO again. Also the Adobe Lightroom + Photoshop subscription
I would love to upgrade to a Canon R5, but the total cost of switching from my 5DIII looks like a hefty chunk of change…
In terms of lens, I don’t have anything longer than my 70-200 IS Mk2, which has always been my go-to lens for equestrian photography. I do have a Canon 2x Extender, but that can result in a fair amount of vignetting with the 70-200 especially shooting into the sky. I imagine alternatives to those long lenses are sneaking up closer or choosing larger birds to photograph
Having recently retired from a career in big data and AI, I am reasonably well provided for in terms of computing power and storage - 16-core AMD 5950X, dual 6-core Xeon Mac Pro, 10-core Mac Mini M2 Pro and 8-core Mac Air M2; RTX 3090 GPU and 16 terabytes of high-speed SSD NVMe storage as well as tens of terabytes of SATA storage, much of it SSD
Interesting to hear about DxO; I have Luminar Neo, which I think is more or less equivalent; I must check out DxO again. Also the Adobe Lightroom + Photoshop subscription
mikef said:
Thanks all for the info, folks
I would love to upgrade to a Canon R5, but the total cost of switching from my 5DIII looks like a hefty chunk of change…
In terms of lens, I don’t have anything longer than my 70-200 IS Mk2, which has always been my go-to lens for equestrian photography. I do have a Canon 2x Extender, but that can result in a fair amount of vignetting with the 70-200 especially shooting into the sky. I imagine alternatives to those long lenses are sneaking up closer or choosing larger birds to photograph
Having recently retired from a career in big data and AI, I am reasonably well provided for in terms of computing power and storage - 16-core AMD 5950X, dual 6-core Xeon Mac Pro, 10-core Mac Mini M2 Pro and 8-core Mac Air M2; RTX 3090 GPU and 16 terabytes of high-speed SSD NVMe storage as well as tens of terabytes of SATA storage, much of it SSD
Interesting to hear about DxO; I have Luminar Neo, which I think is more or less equivalent; I must check out DxO again. Also the Adobe Lightroom + Photoshop subscription
I bought my 100-500 in the Black Friday sales last year, list price £3100, usually on sale at a couple of hundred less, I paid just under £2k at Wex.I would love to upgrade to a Canon R5, but the total cost of switching from my 5DIII looks like a hefty chunk of change…
In terms of lens, I don’t have anything longer than my 70-200 IS Mk2, which has always been my go-to lens for equestrian photography. I do have a Canon 2x Extender, but that can result in a fair amount of vignetting with the 70-200 especially shooting into the sky. I imagine alternatives to those long lenses are sneaking up closer or choosing larger birds to photograph
Having recently retired from a career in big data and AI, I am reasonably well provided for in terms of computing power and storage - 16-core AMD 5950X, dual 6-core Xeon Mac Pro, 10-core Mac Mini M2 Pro and 8-core Mac Air M2; RTX 3090 GPU and 16 terabytes of high-speed SSD NVMe storage as well as tens of terabytes of SATA storage, much of it SSD
Interesting to hear about DxO; I have Luminar Neo, which I think is more or less equivalent; I must check out DxO again. Also the Adobe Lightroom + Photoshop subscription
My R3 I bought at MPB nearly a year ago, way way under list. I'm pretty sure it was a brand new grey import. Keep your eyes open, look around.
If bird photography was my main or only pursuit, I'd go for an APS-C sensor mirrorless.
I have a MkI EF 70-200 f2.8 IS as a legacy from 2008. It's bloody awful in comparison with these latest RF lenses. So soft, and with an EF 1.4x it was even softer. I wouldn't use an EF 2x with anything!
Seriously, save up and buy whatever is the greatest new thing at the time. Subject tracking and eye controlled focussing have changed everything.
I STILL need to learn how to get closer to those feathered gits... getting close is a real benefit to IQ.
Just wanted to post up some pics and a huge note of thanks to DibblyDobbler who kindly replied to a query I had in another thread that pushed me towards the RX10 mk4 used here on a couple of alpine swifts that flew by while I was in Barcelona recently. The autofocus really is awfully good for what the camera is (as he did say!) and far better than the mk 3 that I was replacing it with. Have to say I'm slightly staggered by the difference phase detection autofocus makes compared to contrast. Although the mk 4 gives up something in picture quality compared to a full frame setup but given the 1 inch sensor and much greater packability as a result for similar reach, it's a bloody neat package.
isaldiri said:
Just wanted to post up some pics and a huge note of thanks to DibblyDobbler who kindly replied to a query I had in another thread that pushed me towards the RX10 mk4 used here on a couple of alpine swifts that flew by while I was in Barcelona recently. The autofocus really is awfully good for what the camera is (as he did say!) and far better than the mk 3 that I was replacing it with. Have to say I'm slightly staggered by the difference phase detection autofocus makes compared to contrast. Although the mk 4 gives up something in picture quality compared to a full frame setup but given the 1 inch sensor and much greater packability as a result for similar reach, it's a bloody neat package.
Good work - glad you are enjoying the RX10 Mk4 
mikef said:
It would be great to read what lenses and settings were used for many of the magnificent pics in this thread, for those of us who are still learning
For any of mine (and most others that link images in from Flickr), clicking the image will take you to it in Flickr where it shows details of camera, lens, shutter and aperture etc.Most of my bird shots are with a Nikon D7200 and Tamron 150-600 or Sigma 100-300 f4 lens, some are with a Fuji XT3 and Fuji XC 50-230 lens. All hand-held, though sometimes leaning against something solid like a tree or fence.
Most of my lenses I've bought second-hand for a fraction of their new cost.
Quail by Ben, on FlickrIf you click through to Flickr on this one you can see it was taken with the Fuji XT3 and 50-230.
Edited by GravelBen on Tuesday 23 April 12:15
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