M43 Musings

Jim Salvas wrote:

Birders are a special breed in photography, as they are always attempting the near-impossible and thus are always pushing the technical envelope of photography. Thankfully, they buy a LOT of the most expensive gear, so the manufacturers pay attention to them and try to keep up with the demands.

The very idea of shooting small and fast BIFs was unheard of until just a few years ago. Almost nobody could do this with anything other than the grainiest film and early DSLRs were incompetent at the task. But, better sensors came along, with longer, faster AF lenses.

so now, the rest of us can actually shoot our non moving subjects in near darkness, while the birders complain that their images are just a tad grainy if they use crop sensors under overcast skies. Boo hoo, but it won't be long until they get their wish for a 1000mm lens on a teeny body which can do the job.

At that point, I suspect we will see a demand for a camera which can shoot BIFANs (bats in flight at night).

Thank you, birders.

No matter what is offered there is always another boundary. As someone who photographically grew up in the Kodachrome 25 era and knew going to Ektachrome 64 was risky stuff and the Ekta 160 was stratospheric, I often fall about laughing reading the comments of people on these forums who complain that when they shot their black cat in the coal cellar it came out, well, black (who's a thunk it?).

What gets me, though, is time and again I see terrific BIFs taken in such prima facie light unfriendly places as the UK but the EXIF tells me the ISO was modest and the shutter speeds high. And I sit here in the tropics, just 4 degrees south of the equator, with the sun burning down, and I can't understand how I can't get a higher shutter speed!

Have you noticed vass's recent small bird posts from Australia? Gawd. Impressive. I have difficulty photographing something as big as a pelican.