Mythmaker's Nature Learning Journey...

[Turbonetics]

1. I can only say practice makes perfect. Sometimes I have problem locating the birds too. Some of them mount a "sniper" like system on the hotshoe to help for easier tracking. 2. If it is not tight then it means time to change. If u asked me, ofcourse the best is Wimberley. Jobu I had used before too is also good. At least get the BW. 3. 1/2000sec is usually enough for this bird but the distant also plays a part. For your case on the image being soft looks like backlighting issue. Hope these helps.

 

[Mythmaker]

Good luck. I am very much still a novice so there's plenty for us to learn

Please PM me if there's anything else you may need help with. Id try my best to help.

Thank you very much for your offer, I will certainly take it up if I encounter more vexing issues haha.

1. I can only say practice makes perfect. Sometimes I have problem locating the birds too. Some of them mount a "sniper" like system on the hotshoe to help for easier tracking.

2. If it is not tight then it means time to change. If u asked me, ofcourse the best is Wimberley. Jobu I had used before too is also good. At least get the BW.

3. 1/2000sec is usually enough for this bird but the distant also plays a part. For your case on the image being soft looks like backlighting issue. Hope these helps.

The rangefinder idea is actually quite brillant. I will definitely check that out, hopefully it's not too expensive. Perhaps a 150mm or 300mm focal length rangefinder.

I was reading reviews and everyone is raving about the Wimberley WH-200 Wimberley Head II. Is it really that good? Forgive me, but I'm skeptical because it looks actually the same as the neewer one that I have Thanks for the recommendation! I will take a look at the Jobu BWG-J3K also (that's the one right?).

Ok, I'll take note of the sun's position the next time I do BIF.

Thanks for your comment!

 

[Turbonetics]

Thank you very much for your offer, I will certainly take it up if I encounter more vexing issues haha. The rangefinder idea is actually quite brillant. I will definitely check that out, hopefully it's not too expensive. Perhaps a 150mm or 300mm focal length rangefinder. I was reading reviews and everyone is raving about the Wimberley WH-200 Wimberley Head II. Is it really that good? Forgive me, but I'm skeptical because it looks actually the same as the neewer one that I have Thanks for the recommendation! I will take a look at the Jobu BWG-J3K also (that's the one right?). Ok, I'll take note of the sun's position the next time I do BIF. Thanks for your comment!

To be frank gimbal head looks and works the same but quality are not the same.
The bearings on the Wimberley are very good comparing it to Jobu and Benro which I tested. Jobu is actually good enough. Yes BWG model which is bigger than the JR3.

 

[sjackal]

Bro, I also newbird to the bird shoot thing, you have way better shots than me. My focus other than shooting bird is also enjoy nature and walk walk a bit. I am happy to shoot squirrels and lizards and monkeys other than birds. My setup now is 300mm with 2X teleconvertor on DX body, gives me around 900mm. Because its prime, I cant do the zoom in zoom out thing. But I learned a few tricks from hunters; to find birds, I usually be patient and try to detect movements in the leaves or branches. Or if its far, I use a light weight binocular hang around the neck, I use Nikon Aculon 8X21, very small and lightweight, yet cheap and clear optics. (only I wear specs so the eye relief not so good). Then work the binos in a grid system, left to right, top to down, to find creatures. It is more comfortable to spot using binos than thru the camera viewfinder (tiring and heavy), with binos you can view for a long time like birders do. Hunters call it 'glassing'.

Then once you find the bird, very important here: Keep your eyes on the bird, do not take your eyes elsewhere to fumble with gear or settings, or you may easily loss it to nature's camouflage again. While my eyes are on the bird, I use my hands to align my lens like a rifle to my eyes (think like the front sight rear sight thing) and usually can find the bird this way.

I have a Jobu Jr Deluxe bought off another bro here on CS, it works great. But I use a Manfrotto monopod with tilt head most of the time for better mobility, as mentioned, I like to hike around and one leg monopod easy to move than shouldering a 3 leg tripod. I think photographically better results are gotten from the gimbal due to the stability and ease of use. Maybe I should use the gimbal more. The oldbird bros here, what you all use? Free hand or monopod or tripod with gimbal?

 

[Turbonetics]

I have to add that i used to use Jobu JR3 when i started birding.
one flaw about Jobu to me is that their 2 knobs are on different side whereas Wimberley both knobs are on the same side which to me is easier and faster to manoeuvre.
and also one thing i do not like about the JR3 is that the lever height can only be adjusted using allen key(2 screws) and in 3 height position whereas the BWG is just a twist of knob and u can adjust it at any height,this can be useful especially if u are shooting birds at a high angle upwards to downwards.

 

[Turbonetics]

Bro, I also newbird to the bird shoot thing, you have way better shots than me. My focus other than shooting bird is also enjoy nature and walk walk a bit. I am happy to shoot squirrels and lizards and monkeys other than birds. My setup now is 300mm with 2X teleconvertor on DX body, gives me around 900mm. Because its prime, I cant do the zoom in zoom out thing. But I learned a few tricks from hunters; to find birds, I usually be patient and try to detect movements in the leaves or branches. Or if its far, I use a light weight binocular hang around the neck, I use Nikon Aculon 8X21, very small and lightweight, yet cheap and clear optics. (only I wear specs so the eye relief not so good). Then work the binos in a grid system, left to right, top to down, to find creatures. It is more comfortable to spot using binos than thru the camera viewfinder (tiring and heavy), with binos you can view for a long time like birders do. Hunters call it 'glassing'.

Then once you find the bird, very important here: Keep your eyes on the bird, do not take your eyes elsewhere to fumble with gear or settings, or you may easily loss it to nature's camouflage again. While my eyes are on the bird, I use my hands to align my lens like a rifle to my eyes (think like the front sight rear sight thing) and usually can find the bird this way.

I have a Jobu Jr Deluxe bought off another bro here on CS, it works great. But I use a Manfrotto monopod with tilt head most of the time for better mobility, as mentioned, I like to hike around and one leg monopod easy to move than shouldering a 3 leg tripod. I think photographically better results are gotten from the gimbal due to the stability and ease of use. Maybe I should use the gimbal more. The oldbird bros here, what you all use? Free hand or monopod or tripod with gimbal?

most serious birders prefer to use tripod be it Gimbal or video head.

 

[sjackal]

most serious birders prefer to use tripod be it Gimbal or video head.

Ok bro, next trip I bring tripod. Already buy the Jobu, no money to upgrade yet.

 

[Mythmaker]

Thanks bro sjackal for your input!

We currently have a binoculars (it's actually pretty good as well, the effective focal length is 500mm on a 35mm), and I shall inform my gf on the glassing method; she is my spotter :bsmilie:

I completely took apart my 65 USD gimbal, studied it, and did some modifications on it. I found out that one of the plastic gasket is completely oversized by 2mm. So I filed it down to size, greased it and it's alot more stable now. But it's still not able to fully lock the swing arm completely (Can swing arms actually be completely locked in the first place?). I will test my newly modified gimbal in the next shoot, but in the case it doesn't work I have currently narrowed down my choices to the following gimbals (sorted by price. I put the neewer in for comparison.):

Neewer BK-45 ($91)
- Max load 8kg
- 1115g
- *Disadvantage* action isn't silky smooth
- *Disadvantage* Unable to fully lock swing arm

Jobu JR3 Deluxe ($469)
- Max load 4.53kg
- 680g
- *Disadvantage* Panning knob on the right

Jobu BWG-J3K ($505)
- Max load 5.4kg
- 771g
- *Disadvantage* Panning knob on the right

Benro GH2 ($535)
- Max load 23kg
- 1.4kg

Induro GHB-2 ($640)
- Max load 25kg
- 1.5kg
- It's a knock off from the Wimberley WH-200 II. But it's as good as the original or even better.

Sirui PH-20 ($785)
- Max load 20kg
- 1.09kg
- Carbon Fibre
- Twist Knob
- *Disadvantage* User reviews inconsistent, some reporting panning is not smooth at times

Jobu DMG-HD4 ($850)
- Max load 11.3kg
- 1kg
- *Disadvantage* Panning knob on the right

Wimberley WH-200 II ($880)
- Max load 68kg
- 1.4kg

I'm also looking at tripods vs monopod. Shall try with my monopod the next shoot and see how it feels.

EDIT:
Just tried with my monopod at home and it feels really good. So I went ahead and ordered a Sirui EN-2004 My current Sirui T-1205X is a little short and unstable with a heavy setup...

 

[Mythmaker]

#26

​

Couldn't resist giving an artistic touch to this photo, looks like a chinese painting no? ;p

No idea what bird is this though... yellow vented bulbul?

 

[Mythmaker]

#27

Asian Koel (Female)​

Looks like Canon 7D2's ISO 3200 is pretty good!

 

[Mythmaker]

#28

Asian Koel (Male)​

 

[Mythmaker]

#29

Collared Kingfisher​

 

[Mythmaker]

#30

Family of Collared Kingfisher​

 

[Mythmaker]

#31

Common Iora​

I actually processed this before the kingfishers... but didn't want to post it because it's not very well done. Just wanted to chunk it in the folder and let it go cold storage in my NAS. But in the end decided to upload because I wanted to say something about it.

This is probably my toughest shot of that day, because it's yellow leaves with a hyperactive small yellow bird. In fact, I have no idea how it even ended up in the frame, much less nicely focused. This is the shot that gave me question #1; how to find a bird in a messy background of the same colour at 960mm. I zoomed out to 240mm, spot it, finally zoomed back in and the bird was gone. I was basically reduced to hunting with a 960mm, hence was wondering how the prime lens users does it. Hopefully with the tips given in this forum, I would be able to do a better job next time

 

[Light Machinery]

Practice & a sharp eye for me .

Another way is to attach a simple strip sticker to the lens hood & line it up to the hot shoe, this aids in acquiring / lining up the target quickly. I use this method too.

Some users mount a low power optical sight / scope adopted from firearms / paintball guns to the camera hot shoe. The low power scope with a wider field of view aid in target acquiring quickly & for bird in flight shots.

 

[Mythmaker]

Practice & a sharp eye for me .

Another way is to attach a simple strip sticker to the lens hood & line it up to the hot shoe, this aids in acquiring / lining up the target quickly. I use this method too.

Some users mount a low power optical sight / scope adopted from firearms / paintball guns to the camera hot shoe. The low power scope with a wider field of view aid in target acquiring quickly & for bird in flight shots.

The sticker idea... that.is.ingenius! Reminds me of the M203 actually.

Will definitely try it since it's basically free, thanks!

 

[Mythmaker]

#32

A Tale of Two Friends

Friend 1: Hey look there!
Friend 2: There?​

No idea what birds are these though... :bsmilie:

 

[Light Machinery]

Nice shot. Swift.

 

[Mythmaker]

Nice shot. Swift.

heh thanks!

Any idea what birds are those, so I can put it down somewhere? Haha

 

[sjackal]

Got people selling Jobu Jr Deluxe liao: http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1550735

Cheap cheap and works well.