Herons and lens tests

[Tronhard]

Well I have been trying to get to know my 100-400MkII, but in the process have been testing it against my two other telephoto zooms: 70-200 f2.8IIL, and the 70-300L. I was also shifting between bodies since I had a feeling that some lenses performed better on some bodies than others - I'm still investigating that...

ANYWAY... sitting in the park about 300m from home I was enjoying the spring sunshine and watching the world go by, so it was all very soothing. These are a couple of photos I took - all hand held (part of the test!) of the park and the herons.

Beacon Hill park is a city park but has lots of old-growth trees that form the homes for Herons and the occasional eagle (not this year though). The birds share the park with a fairly eclectic range of other wildlife including (but not limited to) ducks, swans, geese, turtles and humans - the latter being a mix of itinerants, visitors to Victoria, and locals like myself. There is even the odd deer and cougar on occasion...

First a couple of views of part of the landscape:






Canon 60D, 70-200 2.8MkII, f14, 1/160, ISO 500, spot metering


Canon 60d, 70-200 2.8, f10, 1/400, ISO 160


Canon 60d, 70-200 2.8, f10, 1/320, ISO 160
In this last shot the heron in the foreground was apparently supposed to be guarding the nest (but was really zenned-out), while the one in the background was busy shuttling back and forth between his tree and the one in the shot. It was late when our guardian realized that his nest was providing the building materials for the one behind. When his mate came back there was the sound of a serious domestic, which alas I could not see, but we could all hear...

I could not let go without a shot of the turtles sunning themselves on a log in the park lake...

Canon 650D, 70-300L, f13, 1/60, ISO 200

[rtbaum]

So....outa curiousity......How did the 100-400 perform?

[Shadowman]

Nice series.

[Tronhard]

So....outa curiousity......How did the 100-400 perform?

FUNNY you should mention that... I didn't want to add too many shots to one post, so here are a couple of shots with the 100-400, cropped. I DID try with the 2x teleconverter and the results were disappointing. For these shots I was about 120m away from the subjects, and the light was a bit awkward. There was limited scope for movement because the trees were on the other side of a lake, so these images are cropped form the original. They are all hand-held, with spot metering.

So here we are with the 100-400 MkII:

Canon 7D, 400mm, f10, 1/250, ISO 250


Canon 7D, 400mm f10, 1/1000, ISO 250


Canon 7D, 400mm, f10, 1/250, ISO 250


Canon 7D, 400mm, f10, 1/250, ISO 250


Canon 7D, 400mm, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 250
This last one is not great for composition, but it does show the lens resolution pretty well...

[NorthernFocus]

Nice set, Trev. I really like the first heron shot and the turtles. The turtles could use some PP.

I'm surprised to hear one of our northern(actually southern to AK) neighbors use the term "itinerant". I assume you are referring to the financially disadvantaged? I thought you guys were even more PC than in the USA.

[Tronhard]

Nice set, Trev. I really like the first heron shot and the turtles. The turtles could use some PP.

I'm surprised to hear one of our northern(actually southern to AK) neighbors use the term "itinerant". I assume you are referring to the financially disadvantaged? I thought you guys were even more PC than in the USA.

The turtles were really hard to get a decent shot from Yep there is almost no PP work done, because the object was to show the performance of the lens and apart from cropping, I thought it unfair to screw around with the images afterwards.

You may not realize that I am also a Kiwi, so we are a not inclined to be as "PC" as Canadians. However, as regards the word "Itinerant", according to the Oxford dictionary, simply means: "Travelling from place to place", and from my point of view the term is not meant to imply more than that state of homelessness: some of them are what I might describe as freedom campers or budget travelers - what term would you use?

Victoria has a lot of transient people here, especially in the spring, possibly because we get more temperate weather here, being on the west coast and an island to boot. They tend to sleep where they can, and the parks are an obvious refuge for them. They camp overnight but have to strike their shelters each morning. Right now there is a major camp of homeless on the lawns of the courthouse, there to express their frustration with the current housing situation.



Like NZ, Canada has an increasing population of people who might normally be housed in care facilities but who are on the street as budget constraints see the facilities closing. It is both sad and disturbing to see them in such conditions, and the local businesses don't appreciate the gauntlet of panhandling that tourists have to endure. The police want some kind of intervention, as one report indicated that 70% of their calls are to do with people with mental or social issues rather than letting them concentrate on crime prevention and resolution.

[rtbaum]

To my eye, it seems to hold its own

[Tronhard]

To my eye, it seems to hold its own

I reckon...

[NorthernFocus]

...what term would you use? ...

I'm an old fart and am pretty well stuck on "homeless". Getting too old and caring too little to keep up with whatever is trendy.

[Tronhard]

I'm an old fart and am pretty well stuck on "homeless". Getting too old and caring too little to keep up with whatever is trendy.