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SteveLeopard
01-24-2012, 08:36 AM
The Carolina Bird Club members post great pics from time to time. I wish I had the camera to do this. http://photographicmoment.net/p839894127/h3112aa2b#h3b1028c2

simpleman
01-24-2012, 08:55 AM
You and me both Steve. I think its going to be my next minor/major purchase. Birding, along with photography can be lots of fun and very rewarding.

AgentOrange
01-27-2012, 03:40 PM
Sun shine, blue skies - 60 in the shade.
There are at least a hundred birds in the yard. Most are Chipping Sparrows. That is a cute, friendly little bird. I have a coupe all year, but in Winter many more show up. They prefer white millet and I buy it in 50 pound bags at the feed store.

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There is also a Bull Frog guarding the pond where the birds like to wash, so no bathing today.
There is even a Map turtle up on a rock in the turtle pond today.
Some Daffodils are blooming. I believe a cold front will be moving in over the week end, so this might be one of the nicer days until Spring. Here the last freeze is in the first week of April.

Here is a Hermit Thrush I caught sitting 8 feet from me stealing peanuts. He is not much of a "hermit".

139

AgentOrange
01-27-2012, 04:01 PM
You and me both Steve. I think its going to be my next minor/major purchase. Birding, along with photography can be lots of fun and very rewarding.

With a little patience, you can make some good photo buys on ebay, especially this time of year.
A good used one to look for is what I have - Olympus E-620. This might be the last of the reasonable priced 4/3 cameras they make. You can often find a buy on just a camera body there as guys buy, then constantly upgrade, but of course do not sell their lens. There are many better, but in this price range - very good.

The reason I chose this camera is because of affordable lens. For birding, you need to reach out a little, in the range of 400 at least. To do that, built in image stabilization helps a hell of lot with digital cameras. A tripod is not very good as birds don't sit still. For those that do, a better option might be an attachment for your spotting scope.
On most cameras, the stabilization is built into the lens ($$$$$). On Olympus, it is built into the camera. Many lens will fit this camera, but Olympus also has a good line. Lens cost more than low end cameras, especially with built in IS, so take that into consideration as you compare them all.

AgentOrange
01-27-2012, 04:08 PM
The Carolina Bird Club members post great pics from time to time. I wish I had the camera to do this. http://photographicmoment.net/p839894127/h3112aa2b#h3b1028c2

I have taken thousands of bird photos. Sometimes like the blind squirrel, end up with an acorn. It is easy and cheap to sit in the yard or walk through the woods with a digital camera and take a few hundred as unlike the film days, it cost nothing to snap the shutter.

I used to send in a few to CBC, but they never would post mine. I'm not even a member now.

SteveLeopard
01-27-2012, 06:26 PM
Thanks for the photos. Love those chippies. One of my best gets was last year on a beach trip while I was flounder gigging at night, I saw a diamondback terrapin and netted him. Just to have a look. Rare turtle.

AgentOrange
02-01-2012, 01:16 AM
Nikon outs new Coolpix trio: L810 with 26x zoom, waterproof S30 and Intelligent Auto L26 (http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/31/nikon-outs-new-coolpix-trio-l810-with-26x-zoom-waterproof-s30/)


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Looks to be a great deal for birders and at $280 a good buy.

TNRabbit R.I.P.
02-01-2012, 01:51 AM
Cool. Not my bag, but I enjoy your pics and reading your bird blog~

leftinthedust
02-04-2012, 10:45 PM
Spent part of the past week in the panhandle of Florida with my bride celebrating our anniversary. Seeing this was one of the highlights of my week.

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simpleman
02-04-2012, 10:51 PM
Very nice shot. Looks like he's thinking..................WTF ? :)

TNRabbit R.I.P.
02-04-2012, 11:11 PM
Bald Eagles are all over FL....there are a ton of them here in MD, too.

I was driving home from work one afternoon a few years ago & spotted one swooping down on a kill (rabbit!!) in a ploughed field....

leftinthedust
02-05-2012, 01:53 PM
Very nice shot. Looks like he's thinking..................WTF ? :)
I assumed he was thinking, 'if you don't get that camera off me I'll take your nose off.'

simpleman
02-05-2012, 01:58 PM
He surely has you in his sites !

AgentOrange
02-05-2012, 03:22 PM
We have them here at the lake. I worry about my cats. A few years back some were dying. A grad student at Clemson did a study and found the problem was posion water plants. The Grebes were eating the plants and the Eagles were eating the Grebes. GO CLEMSON.

AgentOrange
02-16-2019, 04:56 PM
Photos of a couple hundred pixels like we post here are no where near what the original megapixel photos are.

These days people's smart phones can take very good photos.
To do OK with birds, the deal is more about the lens, which of course a camera phone does not have room for.

I would like to get up the Football Contest again this year, not just the Final Four one but a weekly one like we used to do here on YC.

Maybe one prize could be an excellent camera and lens I rarely use now. Any have use for an excellent camera?

Bumping up this old post by Steve.
It has some as to the E-620 camera that may go on the list for this years CFB Contest prizes.
I have learned a lot since these posts back in 2012. I can't say my photos are better, but I have learned why.

Back when cameras used film, and now that cameras are computers, the deal for a good photo is still the basics (which I am not up to speed on).
Basically it is using and adjusting to light. Lighting is always off on my photos as I shoot toward the Sun because my chair looks in that direction.
Cameras can be adjusted to help out, but proper lighting is the big deal.

Olden cameras had many settings to adjust using light meters, etc and today's computer cameras are just silly with possible adjustments. A college course or many is needed.
On the plus is most cameras have "auto" settings where the camera decides.
I do a mix of auto and picking.

AgentOrange
02-16-2019, 05:53 PM
I got into cameras beyond some excellent "point and shoot" with the Olympus e-620.
The deal for a normal guy not a PRO is $$.
For birding, the deal is a lens that can reach out. Cameras are expensive, but lens are just silly $$$$$.

Olympus got into the 4/3 market, and in my opinion they have crushed it and have no equal as to the common man.
A 4/3 lens doubles, so a 300mm lens is the equal of a 600mm lens. Olympus puts great emphasis on camera image stabilization as common guys don't often use a tripod.
Serious birders use a spotting scope or a camera on a tripod. I ain't that serious, but am a lot more mobile.

Major camera makers like Cannon and Nikon make excellent gear.
A full frame 600mm Cannon lens with built in stabilization is only $12,999, and weighs 7 pounds.
A 300mm Olympus 4/3 (so 600mm) is $2499 and weighs just 3.2 pounds.
I am not saying any common guy needs either of these lens, but it is the same through out the lines.


Holding the Cannon 600mm in your hands even with the image stabilization is seldom what is done even by Pros due to weight.
The Olympus can obtain very good photos hand held.

As to camera bodies, most of the top brands are very similar and all produce great results even on complete auto. The deal is the lens available.
Oympus like others has a 2X converter that doubles. It was $500 and can still be found on ebay for much less. That means that for just one f stop a lens is doubled.
The lens in the contest (15-54mm zoom) is a 28-108 on this 4/3 camera.

AgentOrange
02-16-2019, 06:15 PM
I now use a Olympus Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II I got used.
https://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Mirrorless-Camera-Megapixels-5-Axis/dp/B01M4MB3DK/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1550354172&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=Olympus+OM-D+E-M1&psc=1
6513
(https://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Mirrorless-Camera-Megapixels-5-Axis/dp/B01M4MB3DK/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1550354172&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=Olympus+OM-D+E-M1&psc=1)
How does it compare to the E-620?
Both take excellent photos, and the newer model is a plus to an idiot like me as the camera can do more work. To a Pro who understands photography, it is exceptional. I am not that and mostly use auto things. I change things and learn with trial and error. Lately I have been playing with HDR (High Dynamic Range) and not sure if that will be of help to me with the my bird friends.
Here is one today using that:
6514
A few different takes are made and combined to make one. As can be seen, I was not steady.

The big difference for me is it has better stabilization and more points for auto focus.
For a guy like me hunting birds on the go or drinking beer in my chair, manual focus and tripods are not a possibility. Better stabilization is -- better.
Both bodies take equally excellent photos. The deal is neither camera, but the idiot pushing the button.

AgentOrange
02-16-2019, 06:37 PM
I have acquired a few lens over many years.
Lens are the gorilla in the room.
This one for that and --?

Most of mine don't get used, just the three below.

Now invested in those, kinda locked into cameras that can use them. I am happy as to that.
I made a couple silly choices early on and have some never used.
I always buy used on ebay.
I now have a few that are useful to me and much better than me.

My hobby is a Chickadee up close or a Hawk at a mile off.
I can also show and do your your wedding, reunion or WTF. My price is just an open bar.

My main 3 lens are:

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-100mm f4.0
6515

Olympus Zuiko 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5
6516

Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 300mm f4.0
6517