A serious Birding workout challenge for the V2 + 70-300CX

I took the V2 + 70-300CX for my first visit to Blashford Lakes (a local wildlife reserve) this year and the conditions were challenging which gave me the chance to really test the system.

Most of the time I was shooting in the Woodland Hide which added to the problems of a grey day with only intermittent sun, so I was working with ISO 800 (and still not achieving the 1/1000th + shutter speed that I like when shooting small birds).

Add to that the fact that the distance from the hide to the birds was such at even at "800mm" I was still not able to anywhere near full the frame with the subject, which meant that large crops were required

The poor light meant that focus lock was also difficult to achieve so I frequently had to "tweak" the focus to help it grab the bird (once it got lock it held on well) and it became a very interesting session

I really enjoyed using the system and it was fun being sat by a chap of about my age handling a 1d mk4 + 300 f2.8 and listening to him complaining about the weight (even more so when he had a peek at my LCD and saw some of the results )

I've put a flikr gallery together containing some early processed images here




A few of my favourite pics so far (as much for the species as for the quality of the image)




Coal tit




goldfinch




LTT




Nuthatch




Redpoll




Siskin

Once I got to the better light on the large lake outside the Tern Hide the AF performed brilliantly (as I would have expected and I was able to get some long distance shots of a small group of Pintail ducks flying off (more large crops needed )











I love using this system





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So much to learn, so little time left to do it!

A great set Brian. Some of the hides at Blashford can be a bit gloomy. The tern hide is good in spring and summer with nesting waders and chicks outside. Have you ever visited Radipole or Lodmoor?

Wonderful pictures Brian. Your European Goldfinch is much different in appearance than our American Goldfinch - beautiful markings. Thanks for posting.
-Scott

Take a pocket full of bird seed and some peanuts for the Jays!

Very nice. Wish I had the 70-300 with me in Costa Rica. Did not get many birds with my Sony FE 70-300 but did get some nice pics.

JPEGS no, pp










1 meg crop









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Canon A2E, Sony R1, NEX C3 & 5R + Zeiss 24mm & 16-70 E Lenses, Nikon V1 + 10-30 & 30-110 lenses.

Nice images!

I can understand the reasoning behind the high shutter speed if you really don't any of your images ruined by motion blur.

But I tend to use a lower shutter speed to keep the ISO down. Sure you get some images with motion blur but I shoot in bursts and I usually get a couple of sharp images in each burst when using 1/320.

mansod said:

Nice images!

I can understand the reasoning behind the high shutter speed if you really don't any of your images ruined by motion blur.

But I tend to use a lower shutter speed to keep the ISO down. Sure you get some images with motion blur but I shoot in bursts and I usually get a couple of sharp images in each burst when using 1/320.

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Thanks, the high speed is as much to cope with my own shake as it is with the rapid and jerky movement of these small birds. Its a style of shooting I have had to develop over the years and I do admire those of you who can work with the lower ISO / shutter speed but for me I just can't get the keeper rate

I was shooting these with 5fps as the little devils were hyper-active during this session

Jerry R said:

Very nice. Wish I had the 70-300 with me in Costa Rica. Did not get many birds with my Sony FE 70-300 but did get some nice pics.

JPEGS no, pp




1 meg crop



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Canon A2E, Sony R1, NEX C3 & 5R + Zeiss 24mm & 16-70 E Lenses, Nikon V1 + 10-30 & 30-110 lenses.

Click to expand...

an interesting set Jerry and what a great location for a shoot!

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So much to learn, so little time left to do it!

Great shots Brian. Thanks for posting these.

Really excellent days work Brian.

I love that even in poor conditions this combo produces pleasing pictures without the weight.

Great Shots! The lens 70-300CX looks fantastic for Birding!

Brian,

How are you as far as focus settings with the 70-300mm on your V2? Thanks

Vincent Aquilino said:

Brian,

How are you as far as focus settings with the 70-300mm on your V2? Thanks

Click to expand...

With the static birds I was using the small, central focus point in Aperture priority, Spot metering. for the flight shots, all points active and centre weighted metering in aperture priority