Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/02/28
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Haven't even mounted them yet Doug. I'll let you know when the two good ones have been scanned. Rick . On 01/03/2005, at 12:43 AM, Doug Herr wrote: > My experience exactly. The automated tools help you produce the goods > quickly and easily but the really special pictures come from doing it > manually, requiring a tool optimized for manual use. > > Have you posted these pictures yet? > > Doug Herr > Birdman of Sacramento > http://www.wildlightphoto.com > > > > on 2/28/05 2:48 AM, Rick Dykstra at rdcb37@dodo.com.au wrote: > >> Having discovered this magical puddle on the boulder out in the >> forest, >> and the incredible variety of birds that are attracted to it if I top >> it up with water, I spent the weekend standing on a stool behind Leica >> and Nikon lenses. On the Saturday I was in an Ameristep Outhouse >> blind >> with my head jammed up in the attic - bit hot it got, when it was >> sunny. So on Sunday I tried without the blind - and most of the birds >> were happy to play regardless - at a distance of only 2.5 to 3 meters. >> >> I started with the apo telyt 560/5.6 and R8 and found trying to focus >> on birds doing spins in the puddle nearly enough to give me a cerebral >> hemorrhage. I didn't feel like I was getting many keepers so on >> Sunday >> I dragged out a F5 and 300 AFS, hardly used since my soccer >> photography >> days. It was very good for that so maybe I should give it a go with >> 'da boyds'. >> >> That Nikon made me feel like the God of Photography, on steroids. >> Damn >> this is easy. The 300 plus a 1.4 converter - faster than my 560 so >> more wriggle room in the changeable light. I machine gunned a pair of >> little thornbills as they splashed water over each other. Great fun. >> >> So I got four rolls processed today, two from the Leica gear and two >> from the Nikon. With the Leica I got about 5 keepers from each roll, >> vs about 8 with the Nikon, which had felt better than that. I'd been >> using the F5 on focus priority mode and so it only fired when it was >> happy, as I was with each shot. And it did achieve focus with each >> shot, but not necessarily on what I would have liked - the bird's eye. >> When it missed, it didn't miss by much, usually picking up the >> feathers >> just in front of the eye. Whereas my misses with the Leica gear were >> usually by more. But a miss is a miss is a miss. >> >> Two shots stood out head and shoulders above the rest, of a White >> Eared >> Honeyeater and a Scarlet Robin (boy did I get a surprise when when >> that >> guy jumped into the viewfinder!). And, both were taken with the >> Leica. >> It was the ease of focussing anywhere on the screen that made the >> difference. No dicking around trying to get the sensor in the right >> place. Complete freedom with composition. Neither shot would have >> worked with the Nikon as the sensors were not where I needed them. >> >> So, I have a good number of very engaging and useable photos from the >> Nikon, and a couple of absolute crackers from the Leica. Those two >> shots did feel good as I took them - I remember saying 'Yes!' under my >> breath. >> >> The moral? Autofocus maketh one a God - not! :-) >> >> Rick. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >