stephen.schwartz

The Canon drop-in polarizer has a tiny thumb screw on the external part of the filter to rotate the circular polarizer, so it is not much of a pain to rotate it.

Beware that the currently available PLC-52 does not fit the older 600mm/f4.0 lens (the previous version without IS). I now have a new filter unused which doesn't fit my lens to prove it. If anyone wants to buy it before I return it to B&H which will cost me shipping and a 15% restocking fee please speak up now. call me at 604-818-2251

I recently had the chance to photograph wild grizzlies who were eating salmon along a river in Northern B.C. I primarily used a 600mm f/4 Canon with and without a 1.4 teleconverter. However at the end of the second day as we were packing the gear into the truck a large adult male grizzly left the river and came up in the bush along the road. The bears were generally wary but somewhat habituated to people because they share the river with some rather cavalier fishermen.

The large male came abreast of us at the side of the road, obviously wanting to cross it. He clearly did not want to leave the bush while we were there but was to full of salmon to wander further up the road so he just lay down with his head on his paws and watched us from behind the brush. I switched to a 100-400 zoom and took photos from about 20 feet away. The light wasn't great so I used the pop-up flash on my 30D and then switched to the Canon 580 EX with a Better Beamer for one or two shots.

The bear was relatively oblivious to the camera-mounted flash but flinched when I fired the 580 EX with the Beamer.

I confess that I was probably pushing the envelope throughout this and especially when I fired the flash. I have some basic familiarity with bears from having spent a number of years in Canada's national parks but that does not translate to any expertise. Bears, and especially grizzlies are unpredictable.

This one was showing absolutely no signs of aggression. While we were not in the vehicles we were in a group of 5 photographers which gave some minor comfort. In retrospect, I crossed the line.

Anyway the end of the story is that a truck came along the road which spooked the bear - and he dashed into the bush and then crossed the road a couple hundred feet farther along.

Some of the photos, including one of this bear are posted at

http://www.photo.net/photos/Stephen.Schwartz

The photo of this bear is also posted below

For what it is worth, I have met Stephen Herrero and can say he is a great authority on the subject.