Tern fly by

[mistral105]

Hi All
Terns are popular at the moment - just finished going through the shots from earlier in the week (see other posts) and found this.

1DX+600mm f4 MKII

John


Terns@Titchfield Haven 4-8931 by mistral105, on Flickr

[Hereford_EOS]

Re: Tern fly by

Nicely captured John

[AndyMackie]

Re: Tern fly by

That's lovely, John.
Are you hand holding that beast for shots like this? If not, what's your preference - monopod, tripod with ballhead, or with gimbal?
Andy

[mistral105]

Re: Tern fly by

Thanks Stephen and Andy
Andy I was hand holding the 600mm MKII - I did get arm ache after 3 hours or so at the beach and started to miss shots! I did try hand holding the mark 1 600mm when I tested it and found it too heavy. I tested the 500mm Mark II and this was much easier to hold as it is lighter than the mark1 as is the 600mmMKII compared to the 600MKI.

I find handheld is much better for me for inflight shots of birds and aircraft - I can track the movement more easily.

I often hand hold the 600 + 1.4x for in flight as well. Best advice is practise, practise, practise.

For more other subjects such as birds at rest I use a monopod or in in a hide a bean bag to support the lens - see Snipe thread and Turnstones threads

For action at a race track I use a monopod - see Goodwood thread in Transport

I do use a ball head and tripod for landscape pics - see Bluebell woods thread in Landscape

Hope that helps - if you any other questions please comeback to me.

Regards John

[AndyMackie]

Re: Tern fly by

Thanks for the reply, John

I was just saying in another thread that I prefer to pan with a tripod and good ballhead or gimbal, although I have had some good results hand held with the 70-200.

Frankly, I don't know how you do it with such a big lens, though. I've just taken delivery of a 400mm f2.8 ISii (wow, can't believe I actually did that but really thrilled with it!) and although the IS is better and it's a much lighter lens than its predecessor, relatively easy to handhold, the "wobble" when handheld at 400mm, never mind 560mm and 800mm, is too much in my opinion for the IS to fully compensate for still subjects unless the subject is near or the light very good. As you suggest, a monopod or tripod will definitely be required for such shots, at least for me.

I've yet to try panning with it but as you appear to be in the majority on the subject, I will certainly try it hand held with IS on mode II.

Andy

[mistral105]

Re: Tern fly by

Hi Andy

Thanks for the response - the 400mm is a fantastic lens - I have tried IS mode 2 both on and off - doesn't appear to make much difference if shooting at 1/2000 or faster - I do find having mode 2 IS on for small BIF makes it easier to track them in the viewfinder.

I haven't used a gimbal - make try one out before I purchase.

Regards John

[tesarver]

Re: Tern fly by

Very nicely done.

Tom

[mistral105]

Re: Tern fly by

Many thanks Tom - also thanks for the the answer to my question about finding time to look at the posts.
regards John

[tesarver]

Re: Tern fly by

No problem

Tom

[DP the Snapper]

Re: Tern fly by

Cracking shot John .... well worth any arm ache

Dave

[Nathaniel]

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I thought one should switch off IS when panning, with a high TV. Good clear shot of a difficult bird.

[John_Caswell]

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Cracking image John,or shall i call you "Arnie" after holding that 600 for 3 hours

[MicroWyred]

Re: Tern fly by

Excellent shot and well captured. You must of practiced a lot holding aheavy object at arms lengh to get such great images hand held I''ll never moan again about holding my camera again.

Dave

[mistral105]

Re: Tern fly by

Thanks Nat, John and Dave for your kind comments.

Re IS - I discussed this with one of the Canon reps this week when I saw the new 200-400 f4 zoom. I asked them to explain the various IS modes and also whether it was worth using IS for fast shutter speeds. They said yes.

I have found mode 2 helps to see the image in the viewfinder when panning - as I said earlier I haven't seen any obvious difference in the captured image.

My left arm is definitely a lot stronger now!

Regards John