harry_voutsinas

I suggest the Venice rookery, in the city of Venice,which is just south of Sarasota.It is just off Route 41 in the

southern part of Venice.

It is a small mounded island in a small pond.

The birds nest there in mid to late winter. You will need a fairly long lens(500-900mm).

Go in the morning so that the sun is at your back. Due to the dark vegetation, I underexpose by at least one stop, so

as not to overexpose the light gray and white birds.

You should see Great Blue Egrets, Ibis, and Anhingas., You may also see Egret chicks, in the nests.

A tripod is mandatory for the birds on the island.

Also be prepared to see the birds flying from the main land with branches that they use to build nests.

I saw an ad for this gadget, which fits on the pop up flash of some DSLR's. It is a universal size, but the wab site

does not include any KM's or Sony dslr's.

Has anyone used this product on a KM or Sony?

Thanks

Hi Marianne

Another great place is Corkscrew Sanctuary.

It is about 15 miles east of I75, a little bit north of Naples.

It has 2.25 miles of raised boardwalk in the mangroves.Most of the birds and crocs congragate at at Lettuce Lake(or pond).

Another great place is Venice Rookery. That is about 40 miles north of Sanibel.You take I75 to Jacaranda Blvd exit. Make a left and go to Fla RT 41. Turn right and an imediate left, at the police station. Go past the station and you come to a pond which is whwere the birds nest.Go in Am to get good light.You need about 600MM to get the birds on the island. Good luck

I agree with Eric. I have a Tamron 28-200 AF Aspherical XR (IF) which gives me a range of 42-300mm. It has given me good results both on film and digital SLR's. Keh has one for about $125.

If you buy a used one, look for this model ,which has a 62 mm Filter size. The 72 MM filter sizes are older and heavier.

Does anyone have any input on the Canon 1.5 tele lens for the S2?

I have an off brand(Vision Optics Titanium),but find the pictures very soft.

Thanks

Harry

Hi Roger

I have had 2 of these lenes for my Olympus OM cameras(one broke after alot of hard use), and have had great results. They are metal and weigh about a pound,and take 62mm filters.

I found it to be a great walk around lens.

Harry

I picked up this lens to use when I did not want to carry alot of equipment.

I notice that when I zoom to 200mm, the magnification is not as close as my

Minolta 100-300 mm lens. I have to set the Minolta lens at about 160mm to get

the same Magnification as the Tamron at 200mm. I also compared the Tamron at

28mm with another lens at 28 mm, and the magnifications where the same.

Does anyone have any ideas why this is?

I have shot alot of sports car racing. Thses races allow spectators to walk to differt parts of the track,rather then have to sit in a seat. I recently shot the 12 Hours of Sebring race with a Minolta 5D and a Tamron 28-200mm, and Minolta 100-300mm lenes.

On the fast straights, I pre-focus on the spot that i want the car, and then I wait for the car ,and pan as soon as it appears. I then press the shutter just before the car reaches the pre-focused point.It is important to continue the pan after you press the shutter so as not to jerk the camera.I have gotten sharp pictures as slow as 1/125 sec, with a very blurred background, but this takes practice. You might start at 1/250 sec. I get lots of bad shots, but it's great to see what i got right away, and can erase the bad ones. I used to throw aay a lot of exposed film.

Other folks have allready given you good advice,so i won't repeat it.

Wear good shoes and walk alot to differt parts of the track. I walk about 7 miles at Sebring,but it is a 12 hour race.

I have posted son=me of my racing pictures on Photosig.

Good shooting.

Harry<div></div>

I am considering buying a 5D. Does anyone know if my 5400 flash will

work with this camera?

Thanks

Thanks for feedback. I will use the meter as is for prints and set ISO one stop higher for slides

Harry

The meter on my "used" XA is erratic. I have checked it against my

SLR meters, and it sometimes agrees, but usually registers 1+ stops

under. I used a roll print film,(400 ISO) and the pictures came out

fine. I then used a roll of slide film(100 ISO), and set the ISO at

100, 200 and 400 for the same scenes. The slides set at 200 seemed

the best exposed.

I am guessing that the meter reading may not be reflecting the acual

shutter speed.

Anyone have any this problem with these old cameras?

Thanks

Harry

You should also consider a Minolta Explorer, Olympus Wide 80 or the brand new Olympus 28-100mm. The Oly's are water resistant,which is a big plus while backpacking. I have an Explorer and have found it to be a wonderful little camera.All three have a a wider angle lens(28mm) the the Stylus Epic,and should be more useful for landscapes. Unfortunetely none have as large an aperture as the Epic,although the Minolta is 3.5.

As with everything in photography,there is always a trade off

I have a Minolta Explorer since 1996. It has been a great camera. It has a fast maximum apertureof 3.5 at 28mm(for a P/S) and has a maximum shutter of 8 seconds.Another feature is a continuous drive mode. The new version zooms to 75MM and has a remote control,all for $145 at B&H.

The Yashica has a maximum aperture of 4.5 and cost $200.

The Zeiss has an estimated price of $400.

On a trip to Utah parks, one of my Olympus OM's broke.(I shoot both slide and print film) I used the Explorer for the balance of the trip with print film and was very satisfied with the results.

It may not have as good a lens as the other two(no reviews yet)

but if money matters , this is a good choice.