Buff Rumped Thornbill

[avkomp]

got this guy just after he had bathed. all fluffed up due to the cold
d5 600f4 tc17(1000MM) 1/1250 F8 ISO 1600 +2/3 EV added in camera due to light background
cropped to 70 percent of frame. shutter noise seemed to be scaring them off, so had to go back a bit

[Toddyh]

Nice capture Stephen. Super sharp. Especially for 1000mm.

[avkomp]

thanks mate. I use 1000 on small birds a lot of the time.
the killer for me is that the 600f4 focuses down to 4.7 metres and you cant get small birds full frame at that range.
you have to use an extension tube to reduce the min focus distance, or use the TC.
the TC allows you to get full frame on small birds at a cost of 1.7 f stops.
I try to get as close as possible with my nature pix cos it will give you the best details.
most of these small birds and stuff are shot with my tripod and full wimberley head. very easy to handle the big heavy lenses on that.
you have to use proper long lens technique and keep shutter release smooth also but other than that, it just works. unless there is wind or something, you normally not need VR/IS either on that setup.

[Toddyh]

Awesome detailed explanation. How far down can you get the min focus distance?

[Grumpy John]

Just googled Wimberley Head, wow, not cheap. But quality never is.

[avkomp]

how close can you get? well I guess it depends on the length of the extension tubes you use ( you can generally stack them)
have got a few mil away with the macro lens.
the 300 f2.8 I have used it at under a metre on some obliging lorikeets. got some mind blowing portraits of them too. ( you do with full frame stuff anyhow, but lorikeets are very textured birds, so just look better somehow.
never tubed the 600 though but theoretically damn close too.
at point blank (4.7m you are generally plenty close enough, except for small birds and with the tc on you are still 4.7m away but @1000mm.) if you get much closer than that you going to be inside the flight radius of the little birds anyhow and they gonna clear off.

[Toddyh]

I've never used an extension tube but in saying that I've never used a 600mm lens either. Certainly sounds interesting.

[avkomp]

quite a few years ago we all got a set of kenko brand extension tubes. they were cheap at the time
and at least on the nikon mount versions AF worked. I believe that the nikon ones needed manual focus.
having said that, in macro stuff you are doing it manually anyhow,
all comes back to me being a lazy man

[Toddyh]

Nothing wrong with being efficient.

[Grumpy John]

thanks mate. I use 1000 on small birds a lot of the time.
the killer for me is that the 600f4 focuses down to 4.7 metres and you cant get small birds full frame at that range.
you have to use an extension tube to reduce the min focus distance, or use the TC.
the TC allows you to get full frame on small birds at a cost of 1.7 f stops.
I try to get as close as possible with my nature pix cos it will give you the best details.
most of these small birds and stuff are shot with my tripod and full wimberley head. very easy to handle the big heavy lenses on that.
you have to use proper long lens technique and keep shutter release smooth also but other than that, it just works. unless there is wind or something, you normally not need VR/IS either on that setup.

I'm following this thread with some interest. I was totally unaware that you could use extension tubes for normal photography, I thought they were a macro only accessory. Lucky me I have a set of 3 extension tubes, 13mm, 21mm, and 31mm and they autofocus. I also have a Sigma APO 2x teleconverter, this will autofocus with my 70-200, but I will have to manually focus when/if I use it with the 150-600. My 7DII is of course a crop sensor body so i don't have the same limitation as a full frame body.

[avkomp]

The trade off with using a tube is the whilst you can focus closer, you lose ability to focus further out. I turn off is/vr cos I didn't like the noises it was making.

[Grumpy John]

There's always a trade off isn't there. No free rides in this life.

[Isac]

A lovely shot of a contented bird Stephen and I'm enjoying the banter about your technique and equipment that you use. TFS.

[avkomp]

the good thing about a tube is that there is no glass involved, so you have no loss of image quality also. I just googled the wimberley head too. wow, gone up over the years. I have had mine for over 20 years. the original supplier is tripodhead.com everywhere else seems to put a markup on them.
without question the wimberley is the best tripod head I have ever used for long lens work. tried a few clones etc and they work after a fashion but the wimberley has no creep, no binding force to overcome to pan it etc etc. if you balance it right it just stays where it is pointed too. 600mm or whatever absolutely weightless all day. great for old guys with puny muscles like me.

[Gaz]

Interesting read above, Stephen. Thanks.
The image shows all that extra care and attention you put into your craft really pays off. Catching him all ruffled like that is an added bonus. Very nice.

Just a thought; With your subject looking down like that, perhaps a bit more room at the bottom for him to look into? Like I said, just a thought.

Cheers...

[avkomp]

Thanks Gaz. Sadly all I have below there was the oof stuff in foreground

[Gaz]

I suspected as much. You do tend to get far closer than the average Tog. Cheers...

[avkomp]

Gaz, I dont think you can get close to birds. if you go towards them, they sense a threat and leave. the big key with smaller stuff is to be where they are going to be.
in the case of the thornbills and stuff, they seem to patrol the whole territory and move thru a spot and return later. but this pool of water is mostly there and I know they like to drink and bathe in it,
so when you see them, you go where you could get a shot and wait. a long lens means you can be out of the fly away radius too, so sure helps.
at the duckpond etc, the birds probably used to people and even a handout so you may be able to approach them but non urbanised stuff pretty wary.

[Gaz]

Thanks for that, Stephen. I'd say most my wildlife/birding (95%?) is done along the Murray River with very very few humans around so I've started to adopt a similar approach to yours, especially with the little mistletoes, setup and wait works well. Just a matter of learning their routines.

Twice now while waiting for the mistletoes, a small group of Variegated fairywrens have moved through which is keeping me interested but I'm not holding my breath, those little buggers move far too quick!

Cheers...