Mike Dale

Rascal the Goldeneye

This should bring you up to speed on the C1 options.

All these Pileated Woodpeckers. I’m jealous, I’ve seen them in the yard twice in 18 years. I’d love to get a nice picture of one.

Here's an old one from 2008 with the D300.

The problem with the Auto Area AF is that it locks on to the nearest object. That may be a wingtip when you really want the head and eye to be in focus. I know Dynamic is harder but that’s the way to go, it just takes a lot of practice.

Male Downy Woodpecker. D3

Thanks Shun, that looks very comprehensive. I've saved it as aPDF for review later. Did you see where it suggests Dynamic Area AF for Wildlife and Birds.

These look like Black-capped Chickadee's but it all depends where they were taken? You replied while I was writing. These are most certainly Black-capped Chickadee's. The bold white wing panel is good field mark for them.

I live in Southern PA, this is where the Southern Carolina Chickadees meet the Northern Black-capped Chickadee’s and they hybridize. I gave up trying to identify them years ago. They can look like a Carolina but sing and call like a Black-capped and vice versa. Apparently even DNA testing is no longer reliable to distinguish between the hybrids.

A lot of new digital cameras now include a leveling feature, unfortunately I haven’t found that option on my Hasselblad 503CX. Instead I reach in my pocket and pull out my cell phone which does have a very accurate level.

Nutkin the kitten..... Z7

Perhaps you need to up your dose of medication.

Excellent Shun. I’m going to have get down to Costa Rica sometime.

and you're making good use of it too! :) I remember when a Little Egret in the UK was an extreme rarity. Global Warming even back then.

You’re putting your new toy to good use. :)

If you carry a smartphone there’s apps that are pretty accurate such as this one for the iPhone. Bubble Level for iPhone by Lemondo Entertainment ‎Bubble Level for iPhone

Looking forward to Spring.

You haven’t seen me hostile. Ever heard of a little known search engine called “Google”?

Google Image Result for http://www.birdingpictures.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/006.jpg Waiting for the Eagles at Conowingo Dam. These people use tripods.

My workflow now is 90% Capture One, if necessary I'll export to Topaz Studio to use their AI Clear which I like, if I need any object removal I'll export to Affinity Photo which I find to be excellent. As Luminar 3 was a free upgrade I tried it but ditched it as it kept locking up on me, hence my warning after finding out other people were having a variety of problems with it.

I typically used the D850 for anything involving wildlife and near to the car. For anything involving walking I used the Sony. I've had the A7R, the A7RII and the A7RIII so I have a lot of experience with them. When the Nikon Z series was announced it peeked my interest because traveling with 2 sets of lenses, batteries, battery chargers, cables, flashes, memory cards, card readers was a real pain. Now I'm back to being all Nikon, one set of battery's, XQD cards and a reader, same menu structure, familiar controls, compatible lenses, for me it's win win because I sold all my Sony gear except the IR converted A7R and 16-35 f/4 which I might sell soon. The S 35mm f/1.8 is an awesome lens, sharp corner to corner so makes a great lightweight general purpose walk around lens. I bet with a bit of practice and the right settings the Z BIF will become much better. I've yet to try BIF with the Z7 and 500PF but first chance I get I'll report back.

I have to disagree with some of your post. Have you actually used a Z7/Z6 yourself for an extended period? I have and I prefer it my Sony A7RIII (now sold). If there is any difference in image quality between a D850 and a Z7 I cant see it. In my opinion it’s better than the III especially if you shoot at ISO64. Construction and handling is far superior to Sony. Battery life is not quite as good as the III but certainly comparable to the II and far, far better than the the I. Menu structure is much more familiar to Nikon users and although I got used the Sony it’s not as intuitive. Yes it doesn’t have eye focus like the Sony. It has face detection which apparently is pretty good. I never photograph people so I don’t know. I gave up trying to photograph BIF with the Sony using the excellent 100-400GM preferring the D850, this is also the case with the Z7, static birds are fine with the Z7. Never use video so I can’t comment other than it’s reported to be the best. Upgrading from D800/D800e for anything involving fast movers a D850, anything else a Z7.

Luminar has been around for a few years now. As I used various Macphun products I bought Luminar at a reduced price when it was launched. I used it very occasional then upgraded to Luminar 2018. Macphun is now renamed Skylum. Luminar3 is the latest incarnation which includes a DAM and other improvements. As it is a free upgrade I gave it go, I uninstalled it after a short trial as it has too many bugs.

Err..... it doesn’t work. Tell you what. Download it, try it and see what fails. Then do a bit of research and see what you come up with. You might try here. Luminar 3 Update From Support Team

Schoodic Peninsula, part of Acadia NP. I took a lot of crashing waves that day.