Hi David,

That's a great shotof a in-flight Heron. I love the bluish colour cast over the estate of the photo frame.

Thanks for sharing.


Hi Mark,

An other 4 great shots. : ) Can't prefer one over the other but I love the Goldfinch in the third where I can't decide which is upside down, the Goldfinch or the tree. : )) Fun shot.

Thanks for sharing,

Yildiz

Mark, frankly, were you shooting the tit or the tick?...
Nice shots everyone.
Pat, you really have to switch to a77.

Are you offering to buy me one Our priorities at the moment are studio lighting and equipment. I can wait - but I know I have outgrown my camera.

Pat

Not much from me today, I had a trial run with some little Brown Honeyeaters that were cooling off in the birdbath, I reckon you have about a quarter of a second after you noticed the bird appear in the view too press the shutter, then look at the screen to see what you ended up with. They can dive in and out so fast they actually fly back up through the splash they made. I’ll have to think about how to improve and refine my method of capture.
Greg
A700 KM100-300apo + F56

Hi Greg, : )

Though hard to identify from the shots, whichever the species is, this bird is definitely having the ultimate fun! : )) I like the fanning of the wings....

Maybe you can place a camera on a tripod where it points toward the birdbath, quite permonantly and carry a remote control in your pocket to trigger the shutter from wherever you are away from the camera; there's a good chance you can get a train of good shots with all the eccentricity of these little birds continiously.

Just a thought. I did that once to shoot the sparrows that hung around the wheat grains I placed on the window sill. I was in luck then and it can work for you too. : )


Yildiz

Hi Yildiz
You took the words out of my mouth, I’ve got both the long and short cable release so really all I need to do is put the camera on a tripod and aim it at the spot in the bird bath where they dive in….but that’s where the plan starts too unravel, how to get them in focus….maybe if I got a sign with an arrow pointing to the spot where they should jump in, (the birdbath is big and the birds are tiny) or put a shiny X in the bottom of the birdbath that’ll attract em into the predetermined focus point.
There isn’t the slightest chance of expecting focus to actually focus on something that fast and small, they are basically a blur if you watch them with the naked eye, but anyway I’ll give the tripod and remote release a try and see what happens, (actually I was just doing it to break the boredom at that time of the day), but I do appreciate your interest and helpful suggestions, I might take the whole thing a bit more seriously now.
Greg

How about 'no autofocus'+seeds as X spot and a wireless remote? I have a wireless remote and I use it with success. When I wake up early and shoot the sun rise, I have to trigger every other instance to get the sequence of the whole sunrise in progress and sometimes I depart to the kitchen to get a warm drink and I can still trigger the shutter from the distance with walls in between. I don't see what the camera shot until I download them to the computer.

And I usually am rewarded with the outcome. Manual focus on a predesigned spot should do the trick in my humble opinion. : ) And you can enjoy a nice cool beer while catching the little ones in teir most impossible ways of playing with water.


Yildiz

If Sony would add live view AND tethered capture, would that solve the problem? My A700 has tethered capture and my NEX 5n has live view but neither has both.
Could Sony add tethered capture as a firmware update to their NEX and SLT cameras?
John

Greg, you need 12 fps. Now, if only we knew a camera with that rate of fire .

Ha ha Birma I think I get your message, it's concerning one of those new fangled SLT thingies I believe, I'm not certain I'm ready for an SLT experience just yet...
I went and set up the tripod near the bird bath (not too close) yesterday and the birds stayed away in the droves, didn't like the look of that tackle one bit.
Greg

Can anyone identify this finch-like bird? I am amazed by the unbelievable sharpness produced by the combination of the 'old' (brand new purchase) Sigma APO Macro 70-300mm f/4-5.6 DG lens, the one which famously strips its AF gears, and the A77. I shot a lot on this lens a week ago, and the accuracy of AF plus the stunning level of detail sharpness is something I simply have never achieved from any other 70-300mm including the Sony G (the Sigma 70-300mm OS comes close - but not close enough, in the literal sense, I prefer the macro's close-up ability). Shot after shot is turning in results like this where 1mm depth of field error in focus is a killer.



Please view the original at 100%. Look at the tiny feather-hair lower right on the bird's eye, over the beak. This lens agrees so well with the A77, I am so pleased I decided to risk buying one before they are discontinued.

http://www.pbase.com/davidkilpatrick/image/141387432

To save you time here is a 100% crop:

David

I’m not overly familiar with European Finches David, but it could be a female Trumpeter Finch ….maybe, and yes I remember Don (Sonolta) with his Sigma 70-300APO and the exceptional image quality that he used to get with his.
Greg
http://www.google.com.au/search?q=trumpeter+finch&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-au:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ADFA_en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=BDQzT8jaKsrFmQXCw-3xAQ&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1578&bih=1062

Right Greg - it was on Lanzarote. It's a wild bird which had found its way into a large aviary - great source of free food, but also putting it right next to people coming through. This place on Lanzarote (Parque Tropicale) is like so many of the very best zoo parks entirely neglected. People pile into the really quite awful Rancho Texas theme park, leaving this out-of-the-way oasis of calm and quality virtually empty. The aviary is one of the best places we have ever found to photograph birds with natural backgrounds and without barriers.

David

David,

I think that some sharpening must be applied to image before the less sophisticated public (like you encounter at the other forum getting funny replies) gets a chance to assess it.

The matter is that there is some very considerable softening coming from the AA filter and from the demosaicing as well. So to readily evaluate the lens specific sharpness, the camera/developer inherent softening must be equalised out off the image. And then that general public is too lazy to do that themselves.

@Greg: Like the splashing around in your images Greg!
@David: Beautiful bird! Never seen one before anywhere! I agree about the Gregs identification, the Trumpeter Finch seems to be the right bird. Has been spotted in Lanzarote before. Love the name, as I'm a trumpeter too



Thank you Yildiz!



Well, in my mind, the tit was my main subject, although in the end, your focus is locked on the tick

Mark