Junko . . .

[RJSorensen]

Got the new Canon 1.4 TC from the UPS man this morning. Well I hate to shoot at a feeder, and it is not a SF-9000 either. However I needed a 'target' to try out. So this little fellow was kind enough to pose this morning. My second setup and try with the TC 1.4 added to my 100-400 IS L. The focus you can blame on me, because with this combo on a 20D the AF does not work. I don't know if I am up to tapping the contacts or not. Not for a while at least. Given enough light I think this will be fine.

20D/100-400 + 1.4 TC

[AFCop]

Once again, a great shot. Hoplefully someone will come along who can tell us exactly what kind of fellow we're looking at.

[gramps]

Good looking pic, I think the focus is good, but I won't agrue it. I think the bird is a Junko.


I just did a google on "junko"................It must be spelled differently.

OK, junco according to a 1959 Sierra Club book I have.

[robertwgross]

Dark-eyed junco (Junco hyemalis), of the sparrow family.

No recipes for it.

---Bob Gross---

[sparker1]

The focus looks good to me, but there is some noise. Would that be due to the TC? Did you have to increase the ISO a lot? Just trying to learn from your experience.

[RJSorensen]

Fair enough Stan, yes I had to bump up the ISO to 200 then 400 to get enough 'speed' to stop the little devils. Now where is the noise? Since I don't have an eye for it . . . teach me in my own photo.

Also there is a new Mallard posting in this section taken with this setup as well. Would you please look at it and see if you can find noise as well? I think it was shot at ISO 800. The manual focus works for me perhaps better than AF . . . go figure. Like old times so to speak, miss the split screen . . . The mallard and this bird are both to show the detail I found I could get, just today. Not that the shots are 'good' but this is how you learn, practice, shoot. and note the good and the bad of them.

Thoughts and suggestions are more than welcome here . . .

[TammieO]

Looks like you've figured out which end of the bird to shoot (kidding). Honestly, I think your pics are getting better each time. Must be all that practice on the abundant wildlife in the backyard.
Did you have to sharpen this one a little more than the Mallard? Maybe that's what Stan is seeing?
Tammie

[cocodel1st]

I liked the first photo, but this has improved it indeed. You do keep me busy just coming back to find out if you posted something new.

[stoneylonesome]

Nice shot, looks like the TC lens combo works good :)

[RJSorensen]

Thank you guys . . . this shot is a tiny part of, or crop of a frame. The Mallard is full frame, no cropping at all. Perhaps this is where the 'noise' is to be found. I am not sure, but I do learn something new here every day. Oh, and Canon Rules!

[sparker1]

I didn't mean to suggest there was a lot of noise, just a little. And your shots normally don't show any. Noise appears most often where the background is a consistent color and texture. With my old camera, every sky that had no/few clouds was a candidate for noise. On this shot, look under the rear end of the bird. There are tiny "spots" of noise, including a little purple. Again, certainly not bad, I was just trying to learn from your experience. I don't remember any noise on the mallard, but I'll have another look.

[robertwgross]

Instead of calling it Noise, if you call it Color Noise, the meaning will be clearer. If you shoot a white wall with the ISO cranked up too high, instead of all white pixels, you will see some pinks, some pale blues, and some pale greens.

Color Noise is easy to process out using a program like Neat Image. However, if you keep your ISO set low enough, it is a non-issue.

On the older generations of Canon EOS digitals, you could only go to about ISO 400 cleanly, and ISO 800 or above would show serious color noise. Since then, each generation of camera has improved that by about one stop. So, some are shooting now with ISO 1600 cleanly, but it still varies with the absolute exposure.

---Bob Gross---

[RJSorensen]

Ok thanks Stan & Bob, I am old school ASA 100 sort of guy, so I like things clean and mostly shoot ISO 100. However the TC has forced my hand on this issue. They are not as good as I like or am used to, but I can understand it now and will try to watch for same and learn the extent to which I may push the lens combo without undue noise. We all just hate noise, lol.

My thanks and Tammie . . . yep its the right end of the bird this time. Good eye.

[robertwgross]

I know your kind, RJ. You probably have a brick of Kodachrome 25 still stashed away in your refrigerator.

This digital stuff is just a passing fad, right?

---Bob Gross---

[RJSorensen]

I have been known to shot a slide or too, as well, lol.

Passing fad . . . I thought that of the change to ISO from ASA, see what do I know. I have a Minolta 101 match needle 'round here somewhere, I think they will come back two.

[robertwgross]

I have been known to shot a slide or too, as well, lol.

Passing fad . . . I thought that of the change to ISO from ASA, see what do I know. I have a Minolta 101 match needle 'round here somewhere, I think they will come back two.

Kodachrome 25, though? Geez, that's terrible.

However, I do (honestly) have a brick of Velvia 50 in the refrigerator. Sometimes I put the digital camera away and pull out the film camera, just for the challenge on landscapes.

However, your recent stuff seems to be in wildlife, and they just don't sit still enough.

---Bob Gross---

[Michaelmjc]

Great shot but I think that a background would make it stand out better. Looks a little too plain.

Mike

[RJSorensen]

Mike . . . I agree. LOL, this was a test shot with my new 1.4 TC and thus I was looking for the first thing I could see out the back door. This little Junko was on the feeder so he was number one taken at 525mm. I just wanted to see what detail I could capture in the feathers. I was pleased thusly.