Its getting expensive and complicated

Since getting the D7000 i seem to hear nothing but people complaining it being disappointed by unsharp images or rather that they can get sharper images from the older cameras, I see this in Canon forums as well with bodies like the 60D (Both the D7000 and D60 being consumer cameras so in a lot of cases are somebodies first Dslr), I think there are various reasons for this, These days cameras have adjustment for lens calibration and i think its now going to be crucial for all lenses to be properly calibrated if you wish to get critically sharp images, Higher and higher megapixels mean higher pixel density and this again will show up like camera shake and mean technique will be all important and then we come to lenses, At some point the sensor will out resolve the lens and we will start to see more and more new kit lenses coming out to help compensate this like Canons recent announcement of the 55-200, This will be offered as a package with the standard kit 18-55 type lens, Now of you have just bought a 16-18 MP camera and are using your older type kit lens you may not be getting the best results that is possible, Some people have asked how i am getting such nice sharp images out of the D7000 and saying that i must be lucky to get a good one when i think in all honesty that the reason is that i calibrated ALL my lenses using the Lensalign system, I use only Pro lenses and i am 99% of the time shooting using a big sturdy tripod and still keep up a health shutter speed-lots of things that all added together will give a sharp image, I see images put up shot indoor ,handheld and too low a shutter speed and wonder why the image is not sharp, There are many elements in getting a nice sharp well exposed and well composed image and i try to make sure i cover all of the elements as best that i can, The hobby is getting expensive for everybody but especially beginners who just want a nice sharp image and would be better off buying an 8-12mp camera and then working up, Unfortunately that means buying a camera a couple of years old and most people buying electronics like myself prefer new, Its a double edged sword, We want the latest technology which means more pixels and then struggle to get the best out of it, I hope that soon camera manufactures will realize that somebody new to photography does not want to have to buy expensive lenses, does not want to have to calibrate lenses and does not want to have to buy big CF/SD cards due to the fact that a base camera has 20 mp, May be time to sit down and re-evaluate todays wants and needs, Maybe the new range of mirrorless cameras will change things and be a stepping stone up to a Dslr

Strange Spring in the UK this year

Well after a cracking April when I got lots of work done in the garden in hot summer temperatures that resulted in a good 'Builders Tan, it all went a bit AWOL in May.  Cold, easterly winds, constantly blowy  and really very poor for macro photography.

The rush of life from butterflies and pond insects just seem to vanish throughout May in the garden.

Just one Speckled Wood a week ago and two Painted Ladies on Saturday just gone, and hardly any damsels after the first flush and just a single Hawker dragonfly that was prey for one of the many Blackbirds that come into the garden.

After a huge amount of rain yesterday here, after the driest period on record, I am hoping that the wildlife starts to get back to normal now.

In the pond, the tadpoles are now starting to get their back legs, and I will go on a hunt for Newt babies soon.

On the bird front, I think we have seen more freshly fledged youngsters this year than in any previous year here, with the first Robins and Blackbirds about three weeks ago, and now we have Starlings, more Blackbirds, Wood Pigeon, Thrush, Blue and Great Tits and plenty of House Sparrows.  In fact the latter are eating me out of house and home on the fat balls.

With a very busy work schedule at the moment getting out with the camera as much as I want is proving challenging.

Martin

Field Guides

A good field guide is invaluable for the nature photographer, Especially somebody like me who is in a new country, Its impossible to know every bird,animal and insect and if you shoot for agencies then you will need not only the common name but also the scientific names, I prefer field guides with photographs rather than drawings, Here are my 3 favorite and most useful American field guides

1.For birds
2.For Insects and Spiders
3.For Reptiles and Amphibians

Dave

Sigma repair and redemption

i sent the Nikon D7000 at the same time as the Sigma 180mm macro, The Nikon D7000 was repaired and delivered back to me and yet i still had heard nothing from Sigma, Friday i was a little pissed by this so i called them, I was told that the guy dealing with it was out and then he appeared and i was put on hold for a few minutes whilst i waited for him, I was then told that he had gone out and to call back-now i was really pissed and barked back at the woman that I am the customer and he could call me back,, Whilst i waited for the call back i thought that i may get it back and sell it, Either get a Nikon macro or a 300F4 and use that with the extension tubes, It did not take too long before i got the call back, I was told that Sigma Japan was working on a firmware update, I asked why i had not been told this before i sent the lens in, So although they are working on a firmware update there was no date-could be months, So i was told that i had 3 options
1, They keep the lens and wait for the update
2, They send the lens back and i wait for the update and send it back
I was just going to explode when he said
3, We send you a 150mm macro and keep it until the firmware update appears
Instant redemption, So i said i would go for option 3 and they are working on getting me a lens until mine is sorted
The 150mm has an excellent reputation and i am looking forward to putting one through its paces

Dave

Saturday Butterfly Walk

One of the useful things about joining the Butterfly Conservation is that you can get access to some sites that are not open to the public as part of the visit/event programme.

Today was such a day and I went to some of the old limestone quarries in part of Warwickshire.  These areas are some of the few strongholds of some of Warwickshires rarer butterflies and wildlife.

At the first location today, there were few butterflies, but we did have some cracking views of 4 Spot Chasers.  This is the first time I had seen them in Warwickshire so it was  great to see them

Also there were a few Blue Damselflies which makes a change from the Azure ones we get in the garden at home.

Moving on to another site, it was great to see plenty of Bee Orchids and a few Small Blue Butterflies.  These are only found in a small handful of locations and are very tiny, making them difficult to locate in the first instance.

 Male Common Blue

 Tatty Small Blue on Kidney Vetch

 Small Blues mating

Small Heath

Kidney vetch is an important plant for the evolution of some of these species and it is the availability of that plant throughout the county that limits the availability of these species.

Martin

Nikon D7000-The return

I received the D7000 back from Nikon a couple of days ago, The list that came back with it was strange showing that within the service they replaced the LCD, Its doesnt look like it and i have no reason why they would do that bit still it showed that they upgraded the firmware and that was already done by me-who knows, What i do know is that it is back to full health and they even gave the sensor a clean-well done Nikon
Yesterday i popped the battery back in along with a SD card, attached the battery grip and put the custom functions back as i like them then decided to go and give it a try, The rear dial now works how it should which was the main problem, I put the 600 vr lens on and attached it to the tripod with a SB900 flash on a remote arm and went into the garden and set up by my hummingbird feeder, I set the ISO to 800 so as to get a fast shutter speed, It was mid dayish so the sun was high and it was over 90 degrees, The shutter speed set to 1/2500 along with the flash set at -1.7 i knew that i would not freeze the wings totally but it should be pretty good, It did not take long before one of the 4 hummingbirds that use the feeder came along and had a drink, The females take their time and take multiple drinks whereas the males dash in drink and go in a split second, I was there about an hour and ended up with the 1.4x on to fill the frame, The images came out pretty good and all were sharp

This is full frame and i have cloned the feeder that was just poking in the frame at the bottom left, The background is a distant bush, You can see that the light was harsh but the full flash has softened the shadows, A few hours later and the temperature is now 97 and i am tucked behind a bush near to the pond, I start with the 600 with tubes and then change to the 200-400 with a 1.4x and tubes just to allow for better framing, The other day i wedged a stick up against the pond and instantly the dragonflies started to perch on it, Its become a favorite place for the blue dasher and the common white tail who buzz each other and try to dominate the stick, The background is all important in images like this and i had to jiggle around abit to get the distant trees in the image rather than grass to tall weeds that surround the pond

Blue Dasher

 Common White tail

The dragonflies were in shade and the shutter speeds were very low, 1/40 along with the long focal length meant that the images would more than likely be blurred or soft, The fill in flash has helped freeze any movement and i ended up with plenty of keepers
So pretty good test and so far so good, If you read certain forums you would think that the D7000 is a troublesome camera with oil spots on the sensor, front or back focus problems blah blah blah, Lots of people returning their cameras because of a speck of dust on the sensor, Well my experience with the D7000 has been great, OK its just come back for repair but i have probably put more images on it then most people would in years, Remember its not a pro body, The sensor is great, The images above are all at ISO 800 with no noise reduction, Bang for your buck its a bargain

Dave

Make Nature Count

The RSPB are running a public participation survey until 12th June.  It is called 'Make Nature Count' and it can be found here on this link.

Unlike the Big Garden Bird Watch, this survey is interested in all types of wildlife in your garden.

So why not give it a go, you have still got a few days left, including this weekend.

Let us know what you score.

Martin

Bandits at 8 o'clock

Yesterday evening i was sitting on my patio with my wife and a neighbour when i looked over to the tree where i put some food down, The raccoon was there and right next to the fence was my dog, The dog and raccoon were less than 20 feet from each other but both were calm, Alfie my dog was laying down and trying to take in what this strange creature was, The raccoon visited the 3 areas where food is put down, The last area was very close to Alfie and when the raccoon had finished and began to move off Alfie let out a loud bark and the raccoon lept up into the nearest tree, Halfway up stopped and looked around-it would have made a great shot, and then continued up into the tree foliage, I grabbed the camera/lens/tripod that was already set up and told Alfie to back off, About 10 minutes later the raccoon started to descend and stopped to have a look

It carried on descending and i gave a small whistle and it stopped for a split second

Then Alfie barked again and it turned around

And finally it came down the back of the tree-took a final peek around the base of the tree

Then decided to call it a night
In all about 10 minutes start to finish but very enjoyable, Its great that the raccoon is coming out in the light although these were taken with ISO 6400 and the last one at ISO 3200, I have used a small amount of NR on all the images except the last one, The grain/noise at ISO 3200 is minimal on the D3s which is an incredible statement in itself when you think about it, The shutter speed on the last image is 1/40 yet beautifully sharp considering i was using a 600mm lens, Fantastic kit and anybody who asks why the kit costs so much more than basic kit only have to look at these, there is not another camera currently around that could give results like this

Dave