My First Bird in Flight Image

[Matty P]

After seeing all the birds in flight images posted in this section I thought I would give it a go with my camera and lens. :rolleyes:

I spent the a short part of the morning outside with the camera looking out for some imaging subjects. The only real opportunity I had was this Magpie that landed on a light post about 50 metres away from where I was standing. I quicking focused the camera and snapped two images one with him on the light post and one with him in flight.

I am fairly limited to what I can do with this lens (18-55mm) but I guess you have got to start somewhere. All in all it was a fun morning. :whistle:

Canon 450D + 18-55mm lens @ 55mm. Both images were very heavy crops.

:thumbsup:

[petal666]

As you have already guessed, you need a longer lens :)

[RB]

Put the C8 to work Matty ! ;)

It's all fun though isn't it?

:thumbsup:

[Matty P]

Yeah, a longer lens would be nice. :doh:

Andrew, I would need to hit the gym if I wanted to hold the C8 with one hand. Although you are giving me ideas. :rolleyes:

Even with the short lens it was good fun. :)

[RB]

Get a nice sturdy monopod ! ;) :whistle:

[Dennis]

Well done on making the effort Matt – you learn by doing, so the time spent is never wasted. I found that even my 70-200mm wasn’t long enough so I got the 400mm. I suspect that soon, I’ll want the 500mm, then no doubt the 600mm. Are you sure you want to go down this slippery slope!:whistle:

Cheers

Dennis

[AlexN]

Dennis, Go ya halves in an 800mm F8L :D

Yeah, longer lenses are all the go... especially quality ones. then you can mount them up on your EQ6 and have a bunch mini-ultra-flat-field APO's..

70-200 F/4L is a great starting 'long' lens, priced well, good focal range for a wide variety of shots, sharp as hell..

Once you look at the 300 prime's and bigger your starting to look at rather specialized lenses, that are only good for a few subjects... birds/sports/astronomy... but lets face it... Everyone.. I mean EVERYONE!! wants a 600mm F/4L

[jjjnettie]

Uh oh, another one has joined the fray.

[AlexN]

OH.... How very rude of me....

Matt, Nice shots mate.... As for strapping the C8 on a monopod.. uhhh... Dont do that.

[Striker]

Nice start Matt, its a bit addictive because it's hard to get a sharp bird shot in flight...well I find it hard and thats what drives me to get a better shot.
Keep them coming.

We might have to change this Forum to Birds-in-space....come on Mike....lol

[Matty P]

Thanks for the comments,

I'm looking to upgrade to the 70-200mm F/4L lens so that will be a good starting for this type of photography. I know that the way I am now heading is towards a very slippery slope but it will definitely be worth. :D

[AlexN]

:) Matt, Thats another thing I'll have with me at IISAC08, so you can have a play with that and get a feel for it.. ;) will also have my 300F/2.8 400F/5.6L - one (or both) of which you'll be wanting soon after buying a 70-200F/4L - About the 70-200F/4L, The 2 models differ very slightly, the IS enabled one isn't quite as sharp.. In order of sharpness over the 70-200 L series : 70-200 F/4L, 70-200 F/2.8L IS, 70-200F/4 IS, 70-200F/2.8

[Matty P]

Thanks for the information Alex, I will have to look into it. :)

Awesome, I would love that to have a look your 70-200mm L lens at IISAC. Looking forward to it. I might also have a look at your 300mm and 400mm lens as well. ;)

:thumbsup:

[ving]

you could use the 70mm guidescope :)

[AlexN]

or buy a ZS66 :D they would make a nice little bird lens provided you dont mind manual focus. :D

[telemarker]

If you're considering using a scope for birding have a look at this thread (it runs to 22 pages) and has some interesting info. Average pics to begin with but they improved markedly. I think they're out to over 5m in 35mm equivalent glass now using a skywatcher ED80 .:eyepop: Extreme digiscoping!!!

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=100519

Now, where can I get me some macro tubes and an AF confirm chip :whistle:

[AlexN]

You can get AF confirm T-rings off ebay.. last time I saw them they were expensive (ie. 20GPB from europe) but apparently they work for astronomy too... which could be a helpful thing to have at times.