[Leica] IMG: tiny birdies

[Douglas Herr]

Yesterday morning I took the a1 & 600 GM to a nearby floodplain & found a spot with a couple of semi-cooperative birds, a Bewick's Wren and a Bushtit.  These are both very small birds, denizens of dense brush and practically the definition of hyperactive.  A good test of bird eye AF.

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/troglodytidae/thryomanes/bewickii/thrbew16.html
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/troglodytidae/thryomanes/bewickii/thrbew17.html
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/troglodytidae/thryomanes/bewickii/thrbew19.html

http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/aegithalidae/psaltriparus/minimus/psamin10.html
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/aegithalidae/psaltriparus/minimus/psamin11.html
http://www.wildlightphoto.com/birds/aegithalidae/psaltriparus/minimus/psamin12.html

Even when the bird was partly obscured by leaves & twigs and in deep shadow the camera had little trouble locking onto the bird and as long as the eye wasn't obscured it locked onto the eye.  Distant birds occupying a very small part of the image area were likewise no problem.  The AF locked onto the bird's head, if not the eye.  The Bird Eye AF's response: "nice warmup, but is that all you've got?"


Doug Herr
Birdman of Sacramento
http://www.wildlightphoto.com