More time in the Bog...

Just took my new macro lens for a test drive. I have to say first impressions are very positive. The colour and contrasts are a considerable improvement on the previous lens. This being said I found the old lens to be really good under most circumstances - however, it didn't seem very responsive to auto focus of the 1D. Anyway, I took the new lens and 1D to the bog and I found the experience to be most encouraging.

Puffins Puffins and Puffins...

Best laid plans etc. I didn't expect to get round to working on the Skomer photographs for a day or so. However, the sorting out of the Landscape Photographer of the Year submission was a lot easier than I thought - the reason for this that I broke the short list down into individual shortlists for the categories. Once I did this the selection seemed to fall into place. I am leaving it a day or so to see if I want to change anything.

So back to puffins. They are a wonderful and charming bird - perhaps the most photogenic creature there is? Maybe, maybe not. However if you want to up close and personal then Skomer is one of the best places for this. The birds are so unconcerned by the people they walk quite happily amongst the crowds on their way to feeding their chicks. Click here to see the latest photographs.

I had set myself two aims for the shoot on Skomer. The first was take some really close portrait shots - not difficult given the birds behaviour. However the second proved much more difficult. I wanted to capture the birds in flight. This was proving unsuccessful until I walked back to the landing site on the harbour at South Haven. Here the birds just zip past you but without their nervousness they have at the Wick. Only later did I discover that this too didn't work out. After a lot of head scratching and reading the manual I found that the 1D's focusing only works really well with lenses with an aperture of f2.8 or larger. The 100/400 zoom has an max aperture of f4.5 - this clear contributed to the high failure rate. Big lesson. Fortunately I had sufficient images to satisfy me. However it was a painful lesson.

Whilst on the island there was a camera from the welsh language channel S4C. It was fascinating to hear the Welsh language spoken as a first language. It is strange and very beautiful language to listen to. I latter spoke to the presenters about the welsh language and the fact that there were so many common English nouns. They reassured me that when specking welsh they didn't use the common English noun but rather the welsh. This was rather undercut when a young volunteer spoke to them and very quickly it was clear that she certainly didn't appear to have difficultly using English nouns in the welsh language. Of course this is no scientific sample, and also o reflection on the girl in question, but I still have difficulty believing that common English nouns would be replaced by welsh ones. You only have to examine the development of the french language to see how English creeps in even when officially frowned on. This doesn't get away from the fact that the welsh langauge, when spoken in a relaxed manner, is a beutiful, poetic langauge of rythms and harmonies that english simply cannot approach.

One final thing. I watched the programme they were making the other day and I say my tripod leg on the screen. Fame at last!

So much for the plan....

House Sparrow in the Rain

Starling on a feeder

Dunnock

Female Blackbird

So I was going to go out and takes some landscape images.   It was going to be a nice change of pace, something different, something fresh.   Well it didn't happen.   instead I decided to test the 1D with the 2 x converter to see what sort of images it may produce.  Well I was blown away.  Period.   I used to think that the 40D worked well with the 2x converter.  Not anymore, the 1D is simply a brilliant camera.

All these photographs were captured in my garden around about lunch time this morning.  As you can see it was raining and the light was patchy.  I had to shoot at 640 ISO, something I don't like doing with the 40D as the results can get very soft but with the 1D there was not a trace of softness.  The images were sharp and well saturated and are able to deal with cropping very well.  In short they are outstanding.

This does make the question of the 40D a whole more complicated.   With the 40D you do get an extra amount of magnification (I know this is not strictly true but it will suffice for this post) which might be useful at places such as Bempton.  However, the final image is nothing like the quality of the 1D, not surprising since one is about 3 times the price as the other and the fast FPS can be really useful when taking nature shots.  In short do I go the whole hog and get another 1D?   I think I know the answer and I suspect reading you may too.

Goldfinch

Starlings

Bempton - some reflections

Puffin - Farne Island's not Bempton

Well I have had a good nights sleep, still feel knackered but that is another story, and time to reflect on yesterday's shoot at Bempton.  I have written in the past about the sea bird colony and that is still stunning.   Yesterday was a really windy day on top of the 300 foot cliffs and it was amazing to watch how the birds effortlessly exploited this resourse.  The lasting image for me was the way that Fulmar's backed into their nests.  They really are true masters of the air.   

Another thing that struck me about the people that went to Bempton was that they all seemed transfixed about the puffins.   Now you do get good views of the puffins but, and it is a huge but, they really are fleeting.  The birds dash out from their perch and are gone.  Perhaps the best way to describe this is that it is similar to the view you have a of kingfishers.  A brilliant turquoise blue flash and that is that.  So it is with the puffins.  They launch themselves into the air and all you are left with is a flash of orange.  That is it.   I am sure there will be better views once the birds have started nesting but at the moment it is very transient.

Tree Sparrow

Perhaps one of the less known but equally wonderful part of the Bempton experience is the large numbers of non sea birds.   From tree sparrows to kestrels the reserve is teaming with them and from a photographers perspective you can get some really close views.  It takes a while to get your eye in for these other birds given the frantic show on and around the cliffs but once you do it is really rewarding.  Considering that much of the reserve is no more than 100 metres in depth there is a wonderful variety of birds.  I even saw a deer, I think it was a roe, in the distance yesterday.  It is an amazing place to visit.

Now for the camera report.   Well the 1D didn't disappoint.  However there are a few things that I have to sort out.   The first is the focusing.  I still haven't mastered the way the 1D focusing works - not surprising has I still haven't read the manual - a common problem with me!   The second problem is that you burn through memory cards.  At 10 fps it doesn't take long to a 4GB card.  You also need to have really fast cards otherwise it can take what feels like an eternity for the buffer to clear.  Fortunately this is easy to fix and I have just ordered some new cards.   The combination of the 1D and the 100x400mm zoom is, for me, a winning formula.   The two work well together, well balanced and the results can be superb.

As for the 40D this is really good as a static camera on the tripod.   Here the lack of 10 fps is not an issue as I am not that good at panning with a long lens on the tripod.  The quality of the images, given certain constraints, are excellent.  As thing stand at the moment there is no need to change this.  Just to demonstrate this both of the photographs were taken by the 40D.

One final thought.   I have culled the 2700 images down to a more manageable 322.  It has been grueling but worth while process.  I have found that images that I would have kept in the past were jettisoned as the quality has risen.  One final final thought.  How much would this have cost if I had been shouting film!

Canon 5D

One of the knock effects of having a new camera is that you start to examine the current cameras that you have.  Now this is a particular problem for a digital photographer as there are always improvements in the sensor and software to make the image quality just that little better.   Just as an aside I have a Canon A1 circa 1978 that still works and the only thing that has changed over the year has been the film - which can still be used in the camera.

However, this is irrelevant.  I am a digital photographer and so you have to accept that camera replacement is part of the deal with the devil.  So back to the 5D.  Over the past few days I have been comparing the 1D with the 40D and found that each have their strengths & weaknesses given my overall set up.  The 5D is now getting a bit long in the tooth, nearly 3 years old and a lot of shutter releases.   So do I replace it?   The biggest argument for replacement is the 1D.  This has the latest DIGIC chips and these certainly produce a superior image.  Would this be worth the cost of replacement of my 5D?   At this stage I have no answer to this question but it is something I need to consider.

Spot the difference

I know that its is very difficult to notice any difference between the photographs but there is a significant one.  The one at the top was taken with my new 1D with the 100 -400mm zoom.  The bottom one was taken with a 300mm + 2x converter.   Nothing wrong there but the thing I have noticed when using the 1D with the 300mm + 2x converter is that the resultant image does not have the same sharpness of the same set up and my 40D.  What does this mean?   Well I think that the 1D is able to resolve images much better than the 40D and so pick up the imperfections of the  2x converter.  What does this mean for me?  Well it means I either invest in a very long, and very expensive, lens to work with my 1D or I use my 40D which seems not to pick up the imperfections.   I think I will stay with the later option.

Of course there may be a fault with the 1D's focusing - it has been known.  However I have discounted this as the 1D has made the 100 x 400mm zoom much sharper which indicates that it is the converter that is the problem.   I can live with this problem as it saves me about £7k.

It just gets better

Sparring Mute Swans

I have spent the day catching up with my processing of photographs.   I have to say the more I work with the 1D the more I like it.  Now I know I am a big chap and so size is not an issue for me but I find the camera just so well balanced, even when using a long lens.   I have just been out and took some more dandelion seed head shots.  I used the 1D and it suddenly became a much better experience.  Not only is the image processing first rate but I found using my macros lens so much better as well.   Another tick in the positive box.

Anyone for a bath?

End of a long day

Its been a long day today. I am at last nearly rebuilt my system and also learnt a great deal about my new camera. The camera first. The photograph above perhaps summarises the experiences I have had with the camera today. This is from a series of shots of these mallards coming into land. I picked them up some way away and the camera focused in on them and as I panned the focus stayed locked on. I was able to utilise the 10 fps at the same time and everything worked out really well. This boads well for my next encounter with the Fulmars - I know have the equipment to be able to cope with their attempts at frustrating me.

Seriously through the lessons I have learnt today about the camera are these:
Always use the high setting on the motor drive (I know it is not really a motor drive but the name has stuck with me). I tried it on the low speed setting and found that when I needed a fast burst it wasn't there;
You can keep the ISO on a higher setting. On the 40D I always found that the results above 400 ISO were a bit woolly - this is not the case with the 1D and so I will keep the minimum ISO at 400;
The focus points are very accurate. The focus points need a little getting used to but once you have got the hang they are significantly better than the 40D. You have a load more to choose from and they are razor sharp. Its just a little more fiddly but it is worth it.

Overall it has been a tiring but rewarding day. Now for some well earned rest.

A few more tests

Just a few more examples of the testing I have done with the 1D mkIII

The first results of testing the 1D mk III

Mute Swan

I went out to Watermead park this morning to get some experience with the new camera. I have to say I wasn't disappointed. As with any new piece of kit there are new buttons to get used to and I can't say I am proficient yet but the early results are looking good. It seems that the camera and the 100 - 400mm zoom lens were made for one another.

Greylag/Domestic Goose Gosling

My new toy

Well I have gone and done it.  I have bought myself a new camera and these are the first efforts with my beautiful new 1D Mark III.   None of them would win any prizes and were all taken in my back garden.   However, like most photographers the first place I try out any new equipment is in my own garden.  Watch this space for more information.