scott_fairbairn

The other day I was confronted with an exposure dilemma. I was photographing a shorebird in late afternoon on dark rocks with waves crashing on them. To complicate matters, there was a brigh blue sky reflection intermixed with a very light reflection from the hill behind. There was nothing that I felt confident in calling middle tone around other than the back of the bird. Normally I would spot meter it , but it would not stay very long. Using matrix and dialing in compensation is useless in cases such as this because everytime a white wave comes in, it changes. So using matrix and dialing compensation in is not always useful. Does anybody use incident light meters for difficult conditions , or is it just another piece of clutter to drag around? It seems an incident meter would be ideal as it is not affected by the reflectance of your subject and you could adjust the exposure according to the tone of your subject?

Probably the best thing to do after reading a good book on exposure is to make field notes on your settings and religiously checking them on the light box afterwards. If you do this long enough you will recognize situations where your meter or system fails and will know by how much to compensate. I find that even when I know where the meter will fail, I still bracket as a 1/3 stop difference will make or break some photos. Even with the best book, each situation will be different enough that it will still be helpfull to bracket. But knowing how to get into the "ballpark" will allow you to fine tune the exposure by 1/3 's versus the ole plus and minus one stop routine.

I find it somewhat worrisome the sample variation with this lens. My lens was sharp at 400mm, but with noticeable degradation with the 1.4x on it. I wouldn't even try a 2x on it. Sadly, my lens was stolen a week ago so who knows what the next one will bring.

Hello,

Just thought I would pass on my findings for my trip to Florida in

case anyone is heading that direction soon.

Shark Valley was very slow. The only birds about were a few Green

Herons(no young), Moorhen, and Purple Gallinule. I did see other

species, but nothing close enough for photography.

Anhinga Trail was pretty good, although I only shot there in the

afternoon. Nesting Anhingas with chicks, Great "White" Heron, Green

Heron, Purple Gallinules(poor plumage as compared to Shark Valley),

Cormorants, Great Blue Herons(dull plumage as well), a few ibis, Red-

shouldered hawk, Palm Warblers and Swallow-tailed kites cruising by.

Wakodahatchee Wetlands(near Loxahatchee NWR). Mottled Duck, Tri-

colored heron, Green Heron , several Least Bitterns, Moorhen, Purple

Gallinules, etc. This was my first trip to this location. The amount

of elderly people walking this boardwalk by 9 o'clock is astounding.

Also the first time I have been asked if my 600,camera and tripod

take "pictures". For those that haven't been there before, the

boardwalk is very high off the water, so the angle for photography is

not very good.

Loxahatchee NWR. Very little activity here as well, just a few of the

usual Herons. Things tend to be much further away from you here so

long lenses are a must. The only thing of interest that I

photographed here was a Limpkin and Loggerhead Shrike(not exactly

uncommon in Florida)

Corkscrew Swamp. I have been here several times and never seen it

this dry. There are only two ponds left and they are about 40% of

there normal size. A few herons(green, little blue), no Wood Storks,

and a couple of Red-shouldered Hawks that were hunting the shallow

water(actually diving in).

Ding Darling. Very slow, didn't even take a photo this year. The

Osprey nest of Dixie Beach road is good.

Venice. Good as usual.

Estero Lagoon. Good as well. There were about 5 Roseate Spoonbills

that were showing up in the late afternoon.

Ft. Myers Burrowing owls. Found several pairs including this little

guy that was enjoying a shower in the much needed rain that fell

while I was there.

I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of the current parking

situation there. Can you park on the road ? Or at the restaurant?

It would be nice to get in there before 8:30 am. Thanks

I will be in New Mexico in a few days to go to Bosque del Apache. I

will be staying for about 8 days and plan to spend most of it at

Bosque. My primary goal is bird photography and I was wondering if

anyone had suggestions for other areas within a couple hours drive of

Bosque for birds. From the state map it seems there are many refuges

and parks, any suggestions or specialities that you know of?

My local camera shop has the 300f4 AFS.(they were expecting the 80-400Vr to come in but the 300 came instead) While playing in and around the store isn't a real evaluation, it does seem very quick. The close focus to about 5 feet is superb. At this range you would have perfect magnification for shooting small birds such as Chickadees.

This will probably be a very dumb question. When shooting with the digital camera I understand the reason that it gives an effective focal length of 1.6 x the lens in use, but does it alter the effective aperture?? I would think it wouldn't as the a 300f2.8 will always be that, but does that mean you get an effective 480mmf2.8 with the D30??(my 600 f4 becomes a 960mmf4!) It must be great for blurring out backgrounds if that is the case.

Corkscrew is one of my favourite locations in Florida. I have had greater success there than in other locations such as Ding Darling. It is dark however, and I would recommend a flash with or without an extender. The last time I was there, I had a Roseate Spoonbill five feet away from me(not very nice when carrying a 600mm lens). I would suggest shooting there in the am, and being there for first light. I usually would head to Ding or Estero for the afternoon(depending on tides). My luck has been poor at Estero the last few times, but that is par for the course. A "hot spot" can be terrible one day and great the next. I usually stay at the "Comfort Inn" in bonita springs. This is about halfway between Ding/Estero and Corkscrew. If it is cloudy, you would be best to pass on Corkscrew as it is unshootable then. It is a boardwalk, so it will be vibrating when people are on it(flash helps here). Make sure to talk to the stafff, as they usually keep an eye out for the residents such as screech and barred owls, and are very eager to help you.

Thank you for your replies, I have decided to go with Wimberly's release.

I am not concerned with the plate that attaches to the lense. From what I understand you buy the tripod head, then you must buy the "Swiss mounting rail" or whatever you call it, which is screwed onto the tripod head. THEN, your lens plates slide into this mounting hardware. Sorry for not being more explicit, I realize the difference in plates to attach individual lenses is minimal. I am just wondering if the rail that holds the plates is of better quality from one supplier to another. thanks

I am going to pick up this tripod head in the near future and I was

wondering if anyone had a suggestion as to which manufacturer of Arca

Swiss quick release mounting hardware you would recommend? Wimberly

offer an adapting plate, as do Kirk Enterprises and LL Rue, is there

any difference in terms of quality, etc.??

thanks

I have made one trip to florida in mid december and would avoid it if you have the option to return in feb-apr for a couple of reasons. Florida , if you have not been there before is an amazing place to visit no matter what time of year you go but, I think december is less attractive compared to other months. The plumages will not be full breeding plumage, so they tend to ba a little drab. The other main reason , is that the days are too short. You are very close to the shortest day of the year(dec 21) and if you like to shoot a lot, it is frustrating with only 8 hours of daylight(or so). If you have never been to florida however, you will enjoy yourself no matter what time of year you go.

On the subject of IS/VR, I recently read in a British photo mag that they had been told that Nikon plans to release a 500mmf4 AFS VR lens this fall.

I owned the 5oof4 p lens and used it mainly for birds. You will definitely be using a TC(1.4x) with it for birds. I used the tc14B which works just fine. I wouldn't think that a 2x tc with the 400 would yield as good results, especially since 4oo is too short most of the time so you would basically always be using the doubler. The TC 14C I believe was made to mate with a discontinued lens, the 300mmf2.0. Good luck finding it, I can say that the 14b works well.

In response to a previous answer regarding differences in performance of Kenko vs Canon tubes.............do the Canon and Kenko tubes have the same number of contacts?? If they do, should not they perform the same since they are merely just a tube with wires from one side to the other? Unless, of course the construction is poor and there is a lot of "play", I can't understand why they would perform differently?

Correct me if I am wrong, but the AFPS is ALWAYS from the 45 points I believe. The 11 or 9 points is basically a limiter that you select so that it doesn't take forever to scroll through when you are manually selecting a point. By selecting 11 or 9, you don't affect the number of points that the automatic mode chooses.

I don't know about the f6.9, but i used the 200-500 for a few years before moving to a nikkor 500f4m manual lens. the tamron is not even close to the Nikkor, but it is still a pretty good lens. The only thing I really disliked about it was that the focus creeps when tipped. But for a f5.6 , as far as I know, no other lens is this fast without getting into big bucks. Email me if you need for info.

Just to muddy the water. I have the FX-1, Sb25 and SB26. The extender is not wide enough for these flashes. The "lip" does not sit on the top and bottom of the flash head. However, the elastic loop holds it on the flash just fine so I never replaced it. It looks a little cock-eyed sometimes, but it makes no difference as far as I can see. So I would go with what Arthur Morris says.

Here's my two cents worth. If I was to do it all over again, i would go with Canon simply for the IS. But seeing as I own a 600f4 AFS, I am not about to lose all that money for a small extra percent of keepers. Most of my sharpness problems are with subject movement since i use the slowest film possible so IS will not be of benefit in those situations.

With the big lenses you will not be hand holding so that is not an issue. The main issue will be stabilization using TC's, windy conditions , etc. If sharpness is paramount, then you will not want to use TC's unless necessary. I would think the difference optically between N and C to be trivial for these caliber of lenses. Someone posted about using the 100-400 with 2x and getting sharp images. "Sharpness" is very subjective, and I doubt that his definition is the same as yours especially since you enlarge to large prints.

If you have the dough, then go for it, because it is a worthwhile tool, and you will be old and gray by the time Nikon puts it into their lenses.

The flash reads 85mm because the head will automatically zoom to the longest position when using a lens 85mm or greater. If you are shooting TTL, just put the extender on and shoot. The difference between the flash set at 50mm or 85mm is neglible compared to the effect of the extender. I have used it this way, plus and minus tubes with no problems. Flash will TTL as per usual.

I have been reading the messages on Shark Valley. According to my

Bird guide, Shark Valley is a 15 mile paved loop ending at an

observation tower. It says access is by a tram? Where do you shoot

along it? Do you go to the end or just hike in from the entrance?

(carrying a 600f4 ?)Any info would be appreciated as i am going to

Floriday tomorrow and i have never been at Shark Valley before.

I recently moved from the 500f4 P lens to the 600AFS Nikkor using an F5. My primary goal is bird photography. I would definitely recommend getting the autofocus , even if it means you have to wait to get the funds together. I basically use the AF constantly even for perched birds. Btw, I also had the Gitzo 340 and Arca B1. I found that for me the 340 just wasn't up to it.You have to remember the 600AFs is ~15lbs, add more for and F5, plus flash bracket , plus flash,etc. and the whole thing is damn heavy. The B1 is fine if your not moving around much, but you really have to crank it if you are moving as the lens will flop. I use the Foba now, which is satisfactory. The 600 plus 1.4x is a good combo, and I do not regret the move. (except when carrying it)Think very seriously about the AF. One other small, but important point, Nikon does not make AF extension tubes, and that is a serious flaw if you plan on shooting small birds. For birds like warblers or chickadee size, you will have to shoot at the MF to get a decent frame size. Nikon's extension tubes are manual, so you lose your matrix metering as well as AF. Whether they will fill this gap is unknown. (Kenko makes tubes that AF with the F90x, but they vignette) Hope this helps.

Orginally i was concerned with Nebraska.. Does anybody know of any

state, etc. privately owned or otherwise where i can use a blind to

photograph grouse on leks?

I am interested in photographing grouse on leks. I have heard that

there is a state park in Nebraska that provides blinds for people to

observe from? Has anybody been there, and if so, what are your

opinions for photography? thanks