Sony 200-600 – Rons life through the lens

Brilliant Catch

I know the little fish got eaten but to capture a shot like this with the 20 frames a second means you don’t miss any action.

Yes to see the Barn Owl from the front with the big eyes and beautiful face is such a joy. As a photographer I feel its so important to see the bird from all angles, as many people are not that lucky to see one flying never mind film one so close hunting.

I would say yesterday was the closest the pair came to me. It’s very tempting to walk after them as they hunt in fields around me. But I have learned what you miss and maybe it will come up with a vole would be great to capture, staying in the same place has its rewards. The feeling that they are used to me is stronger and as I pose no threat and wear the same cloths everytime I do think they can see me but are at ease with me filming them.

Looking at the Female from the back really shoes off the amazing feater structure, colours and detail. Tail feathers Primary Flight feathers and Secondary feathers can be seen in this image.

I really hope by passing my knowledge on in a simply put way gives the individual a insight into the life of the Barn Owl.

Get to know your gear

After reading many articles on the A7r4 I new this camera was the one for me and you have to balance the positive with the negative when reading reviews. So why is it so good.

If you concentrate on one subject then like I do which is birds in flight and take that camera out 5 to 6 times a week over a 12 month period then you get to know what it can do and there is not a lot it can’t.

I hear things all the time about A9 and A9ll about tracking but it’s fine having lightning tracking and 20 frames a second but its using it. You could say its like giving a Racing Car to a learner driver, he or she would not be able to handle it without hours and hours of practice.

The problem today is that we are told the camera will do this and that but its only the user that can make that camera work to its best. Picture the scene, you look outside and see the Sun shining, so you pick the camera up and fit the 200-600 with the 1.4 extender on. Drive a short distance to a lake where there is lots of flying birds.

You park up and using the camera handheld having the equivalent of 840mm Full frame reach, you see a Male and Female Mallard flying right to left. Your settings are Jpeg Extra Fine f9 Shutter 1/2500 ISO 1600 Zone Focus Multi Metering.

You fire of a burst of 10 shots and every single one is in focus, would you be a happy bunny. Yes I have written about the A7R4 200-600 before and will keep on writing about it because its a great camera for me and my wildlife photography.

So it’s fine saying that and I bet your reading this and saying we’ll its OK saying that there all in focus but where are they. Below are the original images from the Camera.

It’s not just the fact that the camera kept focus but the fact that I can now crop in with 51mp Jpeg and still come away with a very good printable image any photographer would be proud of.

Below is a quick edited image of one of the set.

Sunny day With 1.4 Ext

I was never a fan of extenders on camera and lens after wasting money on Canon Extenders and suffering with image quality. But the Sony 1.4is just amazing with the focus speed and image quality being just as good at f9.

Today was nothing special and I went out quickly to test the 200with the ext fitted. The ducks were flying and it was very windy. Anyway look at the results from this carking combination.

Even birds in-flight is amazing and I had no problems with tracking as this image of two mallards flying fast left to right.

Little Birds From My Static Van

Last year was our last year at the Statcic van we have in Bentham Lancaster. The wonderful species of bird are amazing and i filmed birds i have never seen before so the opportunity to photograph them was one of the best i will have. The van was situated between Silver Birch and the birds had so much cover to use before coming into feed.

Greebfinch
Bullfinch
Goldfinch
Chaffinch
Treecreeper
Coal Tit
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Willow Tit
Willow Warbler
Nuthatch
Robin
Wren
Dunnock
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Lessor Redpoll
Redstart
Grey Wagtail
Long Tailed Tit
Blackbird
Songthrush
Mistle Thrush

All the birds in the list are not in the gallery but the ones that are just show the lovely species of bird we have here in the UK. All images were taken with the Sony A7r4 200-600.

When the sun shines

So the sun comes out and the camera is ready for action. Off to where the Grey Heron nests evey February. The area is not that good for the field of view as the trees are not managed and branches obstruct your coverage. So you have to watch fir a while what the Heron does from bringing its twigs for the nest.

With that said I arrived and found the area closed off but as there was no body about I jumped over the fence and took some images of the Heron flying in with twigs it had broken off the trees nearby. When I spotted a Swan coming towards me so I got down as close to the water as possible.

So with light nice inside my go to flight settings for Large Birds in flight. F 7.1 Shutter 1/1600 ISO 800 Zones Focus Mode Multi Metering. High Speed + Frame rate.

What is beautiful about the Sony A7r4 200-600 is the image quality and only having to Crop in Post Process. Then you get results like this. Stunning if I say so myself.

My Little Pond in the garden

Last summer when we were in lockdown i decided to make a small pond or should i say bath for the birds to drink from and have a bath from time to time. It was a hot April and May so the bath got plenty of use. Getting down to the same level as the water gave me some lovely images of a few species of bird including the Starling, Blackbird and the House sparrow.

being able to sit on the other side of the garden in my chair kept me out of sight from the birds and it paid dividends as they came in very regular. Making the bath from cement and placing shells from the beach in the cement before it set gave it a nice feel and soft colours for the background. Later we planted a nice Purple shrub that flowers from late summer throught to October.

The Blackbird drinking is interesting as the small droplets the A7r4 captured are lovely and clear and also the water in between the beak can be seen.