Duck

[Bobobird]

Went to a nearby pond the other day to see if the osprey and tern would come in for the fish. They did but the pics were terrible.

Mr Duck was on the other hand quite happy to come up close and pose for the camera.

As always, comments/suggestions welcomed and appreciated.





I'm sorry! Will poo somewhere else next time.

[Dave Humphries]

Good series Bobo,

Went to a nearby pond the other day to see if the osprey and tern would come in for the fish. They did but the pics were terrible.

Perhaps you have the same problem I do, getting too excited to get a good picture?

[jupiterlush]

I like #1 and #2. Ducks are always photogenic. Nice pictures Bobo.

[Bobobird]

Thanks Al and Dave.

No was'nt that - 300mm was too short and somehow the camera had been bumped into Auto ISO. Tracking/panning was ok but the pic quality was not too good. Presentable but nothing to rave about.

Here are a few. 1,2 and 4 - would have been better without that busy background. 3 is a bit washed-out. They all lack detail.

Another nit picky thing is that we see tons of great pics of birds with their catch. How often do we see one with a goldfish? Probably never. The fish he caught was a koi.

[JohnC]

Really good detail,Bobo-however, it's Mrs. Duck. Mr Duck has all the colours.

You've also done very well to get the BIF with the fish and the osprey-it's not easy. I travelled 120 miles to get osprey shots and they just weren't up to the mark to post-not least because they were 400 metres away, 300 at the nearest.

[Bobobird]

Thanks John for the gender change. Will remember that - colourful duck = MR.

About BIFs, osprey are not -that- big and would be mere specs at 300-400m, unless you are digiscope or have a 800+TCs.

[JohnC]

Tell me about it. Ugh..

Do you think this one would be ok ? http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2008/02/biggest-canon-t/

[Bobobird]

It might! You should be looking at the Leica one which supposedly takes pin-sharp 1:1 from miles away.

[JohnC]

I'll get one. Whatever it takes

[Bobobird]

Sorry, got my facts wrong - amazing how time can distort perceptions.

It is a Zeiss lens.
http://www.crestock.com/blog/technol...pment-117.aspx

[jeeperman]

Bobo, here's the Mr. to your Mrs. Ducks are fun practice for the tougher foul.

[Peter Ryan]

Lovely series Bobo.

[jamn4ex]

Mr & Mrs. quack

[jamn4ex]

Nice pics bobo I like the duck scratching

[Bobobird]

Thanks Peter, Paul and Mary..oops James.

Nice ones you have posted James and Paul.

Think I caught the Mr today.

[Bobobird]

Maybe we should start a Post your Duck thread?

[jamn4ex]

By the way Bobo, Steve Strong uses that 300 mm with a 1.4 teleconverter to amazing effect, I think all told it can produce up to450mm or so I am not positive about the math.

[Bobobird]

Thanks James.
I am not familiar about Mr Strong - do you have a url?

Mine is the 70-300L, and each pic with a 1.4TC is always a bit soft. Can get better results not using the TC but cropping in a bit tighter.

However, the 300/2.8 prime is an entirely different animal. With a 1.4 it is said that IQ is about equal to the 400/5.6 prime. It can also take a 2xTC which may bring it to the same level as mine without one. BUT... that is a 5 odd thousand us$ lens and heavy.

[JohnC]

Just a note of caution re. the 2 X..In every article I've read it states that the 2X does to some extent degrade the image.

By the way Bobo -I see I forgot to say what struck me first off with your Mallard Photos- that first one is an absolute cracker,tack sharp and a lovely bokeh, a real keeper,makes up for those you felt you lost.

Great first shot of the male,Paul

James..re. the extenders. It works like this,quite straight forward .Using your Steve Strong example of a 300mm lens it depends on the camera.
On a full frame camera-ie. no crop factor eg. the Canon 5D ,5D11 and the 1Ds range then it's the focal length of the lens,in this case 300mm X either 1.4 or 2 depends on which extender you have so the 300mm would give you 300 plus 1.4 X 300 = 420mm and 600mm respectively. However with a Canon 1.6 X camera- the mid-range ie. 500D 600D, 40, 50,60D 7D then you multiply the 300mm.by the 1.6 X camera crop,that's 480mm and add the 1.4 X extender that gives you 672mm. My limited experience has shown that the extenders work very well on prime lenses..ie. 300,400,500 600 (The Canon range) but they do soften the image when used with zooms. Another point is that using an extender you will lose a stop with the 1.4 X and two stops with the 2X so an f5.6 lens with a 1.4 X would go to f8 and with the 2X go to f11. in addition unless the lens if f4 and below ie. f2.8,you will also lose automatic however with the top of the range cameras the Canon 1D range (1.3 X crop factor-full frame for the 1Ds) you will retain automatic above. f4 ie. f4.5, f5.6.

I have a Canon 100-400 f4.5-5.6 and my neighbour has the 400mm f5.6 prime and my lens at 400mm (f5.6) is soft compared to his 400mm prime. Hope this helps.

Each morning we have 10 or 12 mallards land in our garden and pond.They're quite aggressive to each other too.This morning I saw one attack another and a third attacked the aggressor.Just before take-off they all almost come to attention on the lawn and arrange themselves so they don't collide, quack,jerk their heads and then off. It's as if the leader says, "All ready guys ? the others say 'yes,all ready'...Leader says.."ok..we're off" and off they go. lol. I'll get some photos-unfortunately there's usually little decent light as they come not long after sunrise and it's usually cloudy anyway , they are dark, the grass is dark and they move all the time so I just content myself watching them instead of getting frustrated trying to get a decent shot.

[Bobobird]

Nice explanation there on the TCs.

Your duck adventures - you mean something like this ?