Back to Color, Digital, Lumix? Well, Maybe a Little

I've been offline, mostly, working with black and white film in the darkroom. And, enjoying it immensely.

 

But, I decided to give Micro 4/3 a go again, after never being able to quite fall in love with the DMC-GX7 body. The image quality is fine, quite fine, in fact, but the camera feels weird in my hand, and I don't like the electronic viewfinder (EVF) on that particular camera. So, I decided to jump on a Black Friday deal and get the similar but somewhat less full-featured DMC-G7. Much better, for me. I gave up in-body image stabilization (which the GX7 has), but gained a camera that feels right in my hand, with what I feel is a better EVF.

 

Here's a shot I made with the new G7 today, using the Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6 zoom lens, at 800 iso:

Mockingbird in Winter

 

I'm still really having a blast in the darkroom, but this was SO easy, and shooting color again is also fun...

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

So, How Is the Nikon D810?

I'm still getting my feet wet with this camera, but check this out:

 

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodius, by Reed A. George

Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR G Lens

iso 1600, f5, 1/2000 sec.

 

The detail in the print I made of this shot is just stupendous. iso 1600? Not a problem at all.

 

At 6400, I do see image quality start to drop off, but still quite impressive. At 1600, it's lovely.

 

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Kind of Blue - Heron, That Is

 

Kind of Blue, by Reed A. George

Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR G Lens

iso 160, f5, 1/2000 sec.

 

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Today's Eagle Shot - Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

I got out kayaking on the Potomac River again this morning. I saw quite a lot of wildlife, including a muskrat that swam to within a few feet of my kayak, and a giant snapping turtle that nearly touched it. Both were too close for me to focus with the big lens. I also watched a herd of deer grab their morning drink at the river's edge.

 

Here's the best shot I got today, of an immature bald eagle.

Immature Bald Eagle, by Reed A. George

Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

iso 220, f5.6, 1/1250 sec.

 

You can click on this image to see it larger on flickr.

 

Man, am I lucky to have access to such a beautiful place to paddle on weekend mornings at sunrise.

 

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Great Egret - Nikon D810 and Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S G VR Lens

And here's my best bird-in-flight shot from Sunday's paddle trip.

Great Egret (Ardea alba), by Reed A. George

Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S G VR Lens

iso 200, f5, 1/1250 sec.

 

I watched this beauty, and his/her nearly-identical partner, approach me from far way, flying downriver toward my kayak. I was lucky enough to get the focus just right on this shot, and capture the wings spread wide. This camera / lens combination is just astounding. It's what I've been working toward for years in gear for nature photography.

 

I find myself tempted to try the new Nikkor 200-500mm f5.6 (Click Here), a much lower cost and lower weight solution, but it's not going to provide image quality like this. And, that extra stop of light gathering (f4) in my lens really matters.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Back Home, on the River

My long vacation over, I'm back out on the river in my kayak, with my Nikon D810 and 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR lens. Here's a shot from last Sunday on the Potomac.

Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias, by Reed A. George

Nikon D810, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S G VR Lens

iso 1800, f5.6, 1/1250 sec.

 

On this particular outing, I focused on wildlife photography, leaving my fishing rod untouched. Rather than "running and gunning" down the river as I fished, I pulled the kayak quietly to shore in a few places, and was rewarded with more time to observe each creature that I came across, including several bird species, as well as a red fox.

 

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Well, I'm Going For It - Nikon D810

Image Source: http://www.nikonusa.com/en/Nikon-Products/Product/dslr-cameras/D810.html

 

I have long said that my Nikon D700 is the single best-performing camera I've ever owned. Not the highest fun-factor (as I love my rangefinders and old film cameras), but best at getting the shot, and in the most high quality way. So, I have not upgraded it, even after several years. I did add the Nikon Df, which is just a different beast, and brings the fun factor up considerably with its retro design, ability to take non-AI lenses, and smaller size.

 

What I did upgrade was my telephoto lens choice. Selling the spectacular 500mm f4 AiP manual focus lens, I invested in the first version AF-S 200-400mm f4 VR lens. Having fast autofocus significantly improves my chances of capturing great nature photographs. On the D700, the 200-400 really sings.

 

So why upgrade to the D810? Well, really for one reason, and one reason only - resolution. I will be able to shoot the D810 in DX crop mode and still produce 15.4 megapixel images. That is higher than the D700 at full frame, and turns my 200-400 telephoto into the equivalent of 300-600mm, without the 1.4X tele-extender! That's powerful. Or, I can shoot in full-frame (36 megapixel) mode, and crop in post-processing. That's really going to increase the number of bird-in-flight images that will be useful and printable at large sizes.

 

Resolution is the only reason that I know now. I have a feeling I'll find other reasons to love the D810.

 

I bought mine refurbished by Nikon. The cost savings was significant - I paid $2,550 at Adorama, including a third party "drops and spills" 3 year extended warranty. The camera lists for almost $3,300.

 

I don't expect the D810 to become my most-used camera; I love the Df and know the D810 won't replace it. I do expect the D810 to be my go-to nature and wildlife camera.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Great Blue Heron (GBH)

My birding friends refer to the great blue heron as a GBH. Very common in this region, they are really interesting birds. It's great fun to watch them feed. In the first shot below, you can see a fish scale hanging from this guy's beak; he had just dropped a big fish.

GBH Sitting, by Reed A. George

GBH Flying, by Reed A. George

 

I shot both of these images on a recent kayaking trip to Mason Neck State Park in Virginia, with my Nikon D700 and Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR G lens.

 

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More of a Story in Wildlife - Nikon D700 and 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

I wrote recently about a personal challenge to myself, to move my wildlife photography from mere "find the animal and shoot it" to telling at least part of a story. In photography, the story doesn't have to be complete. In fact, sometimes, if the story presents more questions than answers, that can be a good thing. That's kind of the case here.

 

At the end of a kayaking trip, as I shoved my boat up to the shore, I saw a clump of feathers bouncing around on the bank. Not sure what I was looking at, maybe an injured bird?, I decided to look closer, and shoot. Here's what I saw.

 

 

Now, the camera saw it much more clearly than I did at the time. What you're looking at is two birds (Carolina wrens?), fighting it out. And I don't mean play fighting. These two were not only using their sharp beaks against each other, they were actually clawing at each other's eyes! As they continued, and even ended up in the water, here's how it looked.

 

Crazy, right? And here's the final, and crowning shot. Bird rage!

 

Bird Rage, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR Lens

 

As they finally split up and ended the fight, with one bird chasing the other off into the bushes, I just couldn't keep up with the big lens. I missed a couple of other interesting shots, but do feel that these show the event pretty well.

 

Does anyone know if I have the species correct, or what these vicious little birds were doing to each other?

 

I'm happy to have caught some very interesting behavior in this sequence.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Nikon 200-400mm f4 AF-S G VR Lens for Birds - The Warbler

My friend and I have just invested together in a very expensive lens - the Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S G VR (version 1). Last weekend, I took it out in my kayak along with my super-sturdy Gitzo tripod and gimbal head.

 

While I was waiting for large birds to fly by where I'd set up the tripod, this colorful little guy showed up.

Prothonotary Warbler, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S G VR Lens

iso 720, f5, 1/1000 sec.

 

I had the D700 set to auto-ISO, so that I could set a fast (1/1000) shutter speed and the f-stop I wanted, letting the camera adjust ISO. As you can see, the warbler has an insect in his beak, a nice additional feature for the image.

 

Here's another shot of the same warbler.

 

Prothonotary Warbler, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 AF-S G VR Lens

iso 1600, f5, 1/1000 sec.

 

We also purchased the Nikon TCIIE 1.4X teleconverter with our lens. I could have used it here. Both of these shots are cropped from larger compositions (hey, he's a pretty small bird!). I did get a chance to try the lens and converter together. I'll post some of those shots in the coming days.

 

This is one amazing lens.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Practicing my Telephoto Technique - Nikon 70-300mm AF-S VR and the Ducklings

I am anxiously awaiting delivery of a used Nikkor 200-400mm f4 zoom lens that a friend and I have decided to co-own. It's an expensive lens, so this made it possible for both of us to have access to it.

 

Most of my lenses, especially telephotos, are older technology. Starting with the Ai-P 500mm f4, which is my longest lens, it's manual focus. It's a true beauty, and makes wonderful photos, but clearly doesn't have the latest AF-S focusing. Then there's my 300mm f4 AF-I, which does have autofocus, but not the blazing fast AF-S.

 

In fact, the only long lens I have with AF-S is the 70-400mm f4.5-5.6 G VR zoom lens. So, I decided to take that lens out for a quick shoot before work yesterday, to practice my focusing technique. Based on the video by Steve Perry that I posted yesterday, I set up my D700 for back button focusing and gave it a try.

 

Not an action shot, but here's the best shot I made in that fifteen or twenty minutes of shooting yesterday.

 

Spring Ducklings, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G AF-S Lens

iso 800, f8, 1/500 sec

 

I wanted to test out the back button method, in which you leave your camera set to continuous AF, and use the button on the rear of the camera to decide when to freeze the focus, if at all. When photographing action (e.g. birds in flight), you just keep the button pressed, and the camera will focus through the entire shooting sequence. For static objects (e.g. these ducklings), you get the focus point you want, then release the rear button, locking the focus at that point. This worked very well for me here.

 

This 70-300mm lens is very good. It's not as sharp as I expect the 200-400mm to be, which should be obvious when you compare the specs and prices. But, I think it did a pretty good job for me in this case. And, it's very light and fast.

 

I can't wait to see what the 200-400 can do!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

Use Nikon Autofocus? You MUST Watch this Video by Steve Perry

I have been shooting some wildlife recently with my Nikon cameras. With the spring weather finally here, I love to get out in my kayak and photograph birds and other wildlife.

 

My current telephoto lenses are a 300mm f4 AF-I (very old autofocus lens) and a 500mm f4 Ai-P (manual focus). Both are excellent optics, but are a bit dated. I have worked on my manual focus technique with the 500mm, and can even catch the occasional sharp image of a bird in flight.

Bald Eagle in Flight, by Reed A. George

Nikon D700, Nikkor Ai-P 500mm f4 Manual Focus Lens + 1.4X Teleconverter

iso 1600, f5.6, 1/1000 sec.

 

Of course, things get easier with autofocus, especially Nikon's modern AF-S lenses. I'm about to get my hands on a lovely 200-400mm f4 AF-S VR lens, so I'm reading up on autofocus technique.

 

Here's an outstanding 12 minute video by Steve Perry, showing some of the key concepts for successful autofocus with Nikon DSLRs:

 

If you have problem with getting to the video, (Click Here).

 

One of the techniques that Perry practices is "back button" AF. This means using only the back AF-on button to focus, and not the typical half-press of the shutter release. With the camera set to continuous AF (AF-C), you simply let your finger off of the back button when you want to lock in focus, or keep pressing to follow and focus on a moving subject. Really helpful.

 

Just to try it out, I took my D700 and 70-300mm AF-S VR lens out tonight and gave it a shot with some flying geese. It worked really well. I literally can't wait to get my hands on that 200-400!

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

End of the Winter Season

 

End of Winter, by Reed A. George

Nikon F2SB, Nikkor Non-AI 135mm f3.5 Lens, Yellow Filter

Ilford HP5+ Film

 

I hope this will be one of the last images I take this season that includes ice. I like the layers in this composition, most notably the dark layer at the top, with its ordered rows of trees and shadows they cast.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Playing With An Old Image - Pigeonholed

It's fun to go back and see what you were shooting several years ago, and with what gear.

 

Here's a shot I made ten years ago with my Nikon D70 (my first DSLR) and Nikkor 70-300mm ED lens:

 

Pigeonholed, by Reed A. George, 2004

 

I decided to play around with it a little in Snapseed on my iPad. Here's what I came up with:

 

Pigeonholed, Ten Years After

 

I understand that many will prefer the straight, original shot. For me, it depends on my mood. Tonight, I like the dark, slightly ominous version.

 

That old D70 was really a decent camera. Nothing to compare to my new Nikon Df, but still quite a camera. And the 70-300 ED lens was a pretty good zoom, too. Now I have replaced it with the VR version, which is even better.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Winter and Feeding the Birds

I love birds. I love photographing birds, though 2014 didn't see me out in the field or kayak chasing them very often. I also love feeding them in the winter. It's like a free show every day, seeing all the different species that show up to get a little free energy to make it through the cold.

 

In fact, just last week I filled my simple, single-block suet feeder for the first time this winter. I've already had lots of visitors.

 

I saw this incredible post on "Draw and Shoot," where writer/photographer Karen McRae is feeding chickadees from her hand.

 

Image Source: https://drawandshoot.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/afinefrenzy6.jpg

 

(Click Here) to read Karen's post and see the other pictures. Really cool.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

A Morning Out Birding as Winter Approaches

Yesterday, I joined a bird watching walk at my nearest wildlife preserve, which is called Banshee Reeks. The walk happens monthly, and is sponsored by the Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy. (Click Here) to read about the organization. They host quite a number of interesting events.

 

I realized that the walk was happening at 7:35 AM; it started at 8:00 AM. I quickly grabbed my Lumix GX7 and 100-300mm f4-5.6 OIS lens and headed out the door. A quick stop at Peets for my Saturday morning coffee, and away I went. I arrived just in time to join the group.

 

 

I really am a telephoto guy at heart. Though I've expanded my skills to include normal and wide angle lenses, from the start I've loved shooting long lenses. The 100-300 Lumix lens is a fantastic combination of long reach (600mm equivalent) and compact size. Because of the OIS vibration isolation, it's even more reasonable to use handheld.

 

Considering that it's winter, and the majority of migratory birds have already gone, we saw quite a range of birds: white throated sparrow, bluebird, fish crow, American crow, flicker, hawk (didn't get a good identification, but probably either red tailed or red shouldered), an immature bald eagle, mockingbird, plenty of robins. It's always great to go with someone like our tour leader Joe and his sidekick Del, who can spot and identify birds well beyond my capabilities.

 

Knowing that I had to get back home, after about an hour with the group I just wandered off into the forest and sat down. After a few minutes, I heard a single bird call. Then, I heard a different bird answer, much closer to where I was sitting. Within a few minutes, a small group of tufted titmouse had been drawn to an old hay bale, rolled off into the woods next to me.

 

I sat and enjoyed watching them for another ten minutes or so, and then got up, got the blood back into my legs, and began the walk back to the car.

 

I shot a few more pictures on the way back.

 

I think that telephoto lenses get underrated for their use in landscape photography.

 

Finally, coming around a corner in the trail, I got a quick shot off of this Mockingbird, against the blue autumn sky.

 

 

It was a very nice way to spend just a couple of hours on an autumn Saturday morning.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Combining Systems - Micro 4/3 (Lumix GX7) and Nikkor Super Telephoto 500mm f4 AiP Lens

Just for fun, I decided to take out my enormously heavy Nikkor AiP 500mm f4 lens, and mount my Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 body to it, for some bird photography. That's right, the body mounts to the lens in my mind, as it's tiny in size compared to the big telephoto.

 

I put the combination on my even heavier Gitzo tripod with Manfrotto gimbal mount, and commenced to photographing wading birds at my local nature walk. I set the GX7's in-body image stabilizer to 500mm, but left it on. You would usually turn it off when using a tripod.

 

Here's an example shot of a great blue heron.

 

Portrait of a GBH, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Nikkor AiP 500mm f4 Lens (Manual Focus)

iso 1600, f8, 1/1000 sec.

 

With an equivalent field of view to a 1000mm lens on full-frame 35mm, it's obviously a challenge to manually focus this big lens, and hold it steady enough to get a decent shot, even at 1/1000 second exposure. The manual focus magnifier and focus peaking helped immensely, especially the magnifier. The peaking seems to be a little too forgiving, overestimating the depth of field at this long focal length.

 

This bird actually was a little too close for me to get the shot I wanted, not your normal situation in bird photography.

 

Even at iso 1600, the noise levels are quite reasonable with the GX7.

 

So, rather than worry about carrying a tele-converter to get just a little more reach from my 500mm lens, I can just carry the GX7 body! It probably weighs less than a converter, and you don't lose an f-stop of light gathering. Pretty cool.

 

Now that I know it technically works okay, I need to go back and see if I can get some more interesting images with this combination.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Great Egret - Super Telephoto on Micro 4/3

Yesterday, I posted an image of a green heron, shot with my GX7 and modern Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6 OIS lens.

 

Just for fun, I decided to try shooting at the same place with my very old (Nikon Pre-AI mount) Sigma 400mm f5.6 lens, adapted to fit the GX7. Here's a great egret shot with that combination.

 

 

Great Egret, Ardea alba, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Sigma 400mm f5.6 Manual Focus Lens (Pre-AI Nikon mount)

iso 1600, f11, 1/1000 sec.

 

Not bad for an old lens, huh? By the way, this is the lens that I won at the Film Photography Project's Walking Workshop in May. (Click Here) to read more about that.

 

I know that most of you can't click and zoom on this image, due to the way I post from flickr. Here's a ~100% crop from the image above:

 

You can see that he's just caught a minnow. While the results from this 30-40 year old lens don't match the modern Lumix 100-300mm zoom, they're pretty good, in my opinion. This is an extremely low-cost 800mm equivalent field of view combination for someone who has the patience to shoot nature with a manual focus lens. The GX7's manual focus magnifier really helps out, but is obviously only useful for static subjects. The Nikon-to-Micro 4/3 adapter is also very inexpensive, and available on Amazon (please buy yours from the link below and support my blog!).

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

 

 

Green Heron - Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7 and Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6 Lens

 

 

Green Heron, Butorides virescens, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX7, Lumix 100-300mm f4-5.6 Zoom Lens at 300mm

iso 1600, f6.3, 1/800 sec.

 

In our neighborhood suburban "nature preserve," I've been noticing a pair of green herons on our occasional evening walks. I took out a telephoto lens at sunrise last weekend, but they were nowhere to be found. Having seen them again last night, when I didn't have a long lens along, I decided that was it. I was coming back today with a long lens and tripod.

 

Well, I was rewarded with the presence of this little guy. I wasn't able to catch him feeding, so there's reason to try again (and again, I'm sure).

 

I'm pretty pleased with the result, especially given that I was shooting the GX7 at iso 1600. Not bad. Not bad at all...

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

Belize - Fisherman and Frigate Birds at the Docks

At the dock in San Pedro, Belize, I came across this gentleman, cleaning the morning catch of snappers at the docks. These enormous frigate birds had gathered, much as you'd see seagulls and sometimes pelicans do in the US.

Sharing the Catch, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

iso 200, f5.6, 1/1600 sec.

 

In the shot below, I really like how the birds form a curve leading to the food source. To me, it looks like the image is a composite of several shots of the birds; it's not. Just good timing.

 

Frigate Birds Lining Up, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

iso 200, f5.6, 1/1000 sec.

And finally, a look at the barracuda that was lying at the fisherman's feet

 

Barracuda, by Reed A. George

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7

iso 200, f5.6, 1/800 sec.

 

On the Belize trip, as in the past, I found the LX7 camera to be so capable. I sure hope Panasonic continues to market and develop the LX line of cameras. The LX7 represents a very powerful combination of compact size, full manual control, lots of imaging features, and overall image quality. If I'm going on a trip where I have to pack light, carrying just the LX7 lets me have confidence that I can capture high quality images with a very small, lightweight camera.

 

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