Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC

liquidstone · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

This Green Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula aenea) was perched high in the canopy at Subic rainforest yesterday, just before sunset. It was about 40 meters away from me, so I snapped on a doubler to make it a bit bigger in the frame. Both pics were taken with the 20D + Sigmonster + Sigma 2x in manual exposure and manual focus.

1294 mm, f/18, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, no MLU

1600 mm, f/18, 1/60 sec, ISO 400, using MLU

And here are 100% crops of the second shot (with USM):

For the second shot, I manually focused, finalized the composition, then raised the mirror. I monitored the bird through my binoculars (VF is blacked out), and when it turned its head, I tripped the shutter with a remote switch. Too bad I couldn't reposition to avoid the foreground branch.

Regards,

Romy

RonnF · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Very nice shots, Romy. This is definately not the type of pigeon most of us are familiar with. You really provide a treat for those of us that will probably never see these birds, even in a zoo. Your shots are always so sharp and detailed. And thanks for describing what you do to get them. It's a great help to those of us that are trying to improve our photography skills.

Ron

dancinec · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Well done Romy again, thank for sharing.

Kraig C · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Nice technique and preperation, it's amazingly sharp for 1/60th with such a long focal length. What tripod?

Stephen Stephen · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Great shots Romy. I must get to the Philippines some day to see your beautiful birds in real life.

CyberDyneSystems · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Top shots Romy!

Now who would ever think that anyome would need 1200mm for a "pidgeon"

You make it look easy...

liquidstone · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kraig C

Nice technique and preperation, it's amazingly sharp for 1/60th with such a long focal length. What tripod?

Thanks guys for the comments.

Kraig, I use a cheapo Manfrotto 475B tripod.... very heavy but stable. My gimbal head is the equally cheap Manfrotto 3421. When there's no wind and the subject is still, I can shoot at super slow shutter speeds using this support system.

Romy

liquidstone · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Quote:

Originally Posted by CyberDyneSystems

Top shots Romy!

Now who would ever think that anyome would need 1200mm for a "pidgeon"

You make it look easy...

Thank, CDS. BTW, I'm wondering if you ever did a shoot-out under controlled conditions between your Sigmonster and 500 f4 L IS.

I'm planning to get the 500 to complement my system, and the first thing I'll do is to shoot it side by side with my Sigmonster to know the strengths of each tool.

Romy

Airedale1 · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Great job! Thanks for sharing the details.

racketman · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

amazing detail with that set up. Beautiful bird - never even heard of them before.

clivingston · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Amazing shots !!!!! You have superb techniques to get such results at that focal length.

reewik · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Romy show us you are human.. show us a bad shot you have taken...LOL

liquidstone · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

Quote:

Originally Posted by reewik

Romy show us you are human.. show us a bad shot you have taken...LOL

Lol..... Eric...... For every decent shot I post, I probably have a hundred discarded....

The good thing about digital is we need not scrimp on "film" and we can shoot to our heart's content and just erase later the not so good ones. This is even better now that CF costs have fallen.

Here's a shot of a Scale-feathered Malkoha, a difficult to find Philippine endemic that skulks in the rainforest undergrowth. I got close to one in Mt. Makiling and for some reason, my DG Super failed to fire at the decisive moment.... a very rare photo ops ruined by equipment failure...

I was shooting JPEG at ISO 800 then (20D) and had to push the exposure in PS CS2 by 4 stops (effectively ISO 12,800) to make the bird recognizable, despite the resulting banding.

Looks bad, but I doubt if there's any better pic of this species posted in the web...

Regards,

Romy

ZipDude66 · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

I wish I would have given this lens more consideration before I went shopping. Excellent!!

Zip

reewik · 23rd of March 2006 (Thu)

You are the man Romy... Mine is usually not equipment faliure it is Photographer error...LOL

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#1
liquidstone insane Bird photographer Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 1,057	Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC This Green Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula aenea) was perched high in the canopy at Subic rainforest yesterday, just before sunset. It was about 40 meters away from me, so I snapped on a doubler to make it a bit bigger in the frame. Both pics were taken with the 20D + Sigmonster + Sigma 2x in manual exposure and manual focus. 1294 mm, f/18, 1/100 sec, ISO 400, no MLU 1600 mm, f/18, 1/60 sec, ISO 400, using MLU And here are 100% crops of the second shot (with USM): For the second shot, I manually focused, finalized the composition, then raised the mirror. I monitored the bird through my binoculars (VF is blacked out), and when it turned its head, I tripped the shutter with a remote switch. Too bad I couldn't reposition to avoid the foreground branch. Regards, Romy __________________ Romy Ocon, Philippine Wild Birds Over 260 species captured in habitat, and counting. Looooong Lens Imaging (1000 mm and beyond)

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#2
RonnF Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Los Altos, Ca Posts: 749 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC Very nice shots, Romy. This is definately not the type of pigeon most of us are familiar with. You really provide a treat for those of us that will probably never see these birds, even in a zoo. Your shots are always so sharp and detailed. And thanks for describing what you do to get them. It's a great help to those of us that are trying to improve our photography skills. Ron __________________ Canon 7D, Canon 30D, Canon 50mm f/1.4, Canon 17-40 f/4 L, Canon 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM, Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L, Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM, Canon 100-400mm 4.5/5.6 IS L, Canon 400mm F5.6L, Set of Kenko Extension Tubes, Canon 580EX Galleries at: http://www.pbase.com/rfredrick Last edited by RonnF : 23rd of March 2006 (Thu) at 09:39.

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#3
dancinec Cream of the Crop Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Carlsbad, California Posts: 8,035 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC Well done Romy again, thank for sharing. __________________ Dennis Canon 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, Canon 100 mm Macro, Canon 100-400mm, Canon 400mm 5.6L, Canon TC 1.4X, Tamron 28-75 mm, Bogen 3221 Tripod, Kirk BH-1 ballhead, Sigma EF-500 DG Super Flash, Canon 580 II Flash, Better Beamers, Whimberly Plamp. My galleries

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#4
Kraig C Goldmember Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 2,205	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC Nice technique and preperation, it's amazingly sharp for 1/60th with such a long focal length. What tripod?

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#5
Stephen Stephen Cream of the Crop Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Nepean, ON, Canada Posts: 6,220 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC Great shots Romy. I must get to the Philippines some day to see your beautiful birds in real life. __________________ Stephen Please check out my website www.stephenjstephen.com My Gear List

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#6
CyberDyneSystems Wait, all that time and all I get is "Cream of the Damn Crop" ?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Providence RI Posts: 37,764 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC Top shots Romy! Now who would ever think that anyome would need 1200mm for a "pidgeon" You make it look easy... __________________ GEAR LIST CDS' HOT LINKS My POTN Share Threads Jake Hegnauer Photography

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#9
Airedale1 Cream of the Crop Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Laconia, NH USA Posts: 5,644 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC Great job! Thanks for sharing the details. __________________ Airedale1Photography EOS 7D EOS 40D EF-400 f/5.6L EF 70-200 f/4.0L IS EF 50 f/1.4 EF 17-40 f/4.0L IS EF-1.4x II 430EX II Speedlite Paul Merritt

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#10
racketman Cream of the Crop Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Richmond Surrey Posts: 18,525 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC amazing detail with that set up. Beautiful bird - never even heard of them before. __________________ Toby Flickr collections ipernity gallery Gear

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#11
clivingston Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Chelmsford MA Posts: 1,878 IMAGE EDITING OK	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC Amazing shots !!!!! You have superb techniques to get such results at that focal length. __________________ Chris " Somedays your the windshield, somedays your the bug " Canon 40D ,120-300 f2.8 sigma,1.4x tc ,2.0x tc

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#12
reewik Goldmember Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Lavergne, TN Posts: 2,657	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC Romy show us you are human.. show us a bad shot you have taken...LOL __________________ Eric: www.avianart.net Canon 1D MKIII, 600 f4 IS, 85 1.2L Canon 1D (Classic),50 2.5 Macro, 1x lifesize

23rd of March 2006 (Thu)	#14
ZipDude66 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Finger Lakes Region of N.Y. Posts: 1,794	Re: Forest pigeon with Sigmonster + 2x TC I wish I would have given this lens more consideration before I went shopping. Excellent!! Zip

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