Canon EF 400mm f/4L IS DO II USM

Shot at 800mm for the first time today! Crap weather for birds though (windy and intermittent clouds), so really am looking forward to some longer days and more light!

MatthewK wrote in post #18256349
Shot at 800mm for the first time today! Crap weather for birds though (windy and intermittent clouds), so really am looking forward to some longer days and more light!

Hosted photo: posted by MatthewK in
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forum: Lens Sample Photo Archive

Excellent capture.

I'm officially smitten by the results that this lens achieves when paired with the 80D. I actually think the photos look sharper than from the 5D4.

Today I went to shoot Bald Eagles at Conowingo Damn. Of course, as has been the case lately, the light was simply terrible for shooting. Flat, dull, boring... and, as my luck goes, the sun came out as I was driving home.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/R4BL​tu

I'm with you on loving the DOii.
In short time I will begin divesting of all my Canon kit
Age and weight just don't mix.
But the 400DOii will be the last lens I sell and I hope that time
is way down the road.

Some more from today.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/R4BL​39

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/RDaK​z8

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #18258205
I'm with you on loving the DOii.
In short time I will begin divesting of all my Canon kit
Age and weight just don't mix.
But the 400DOii will be the last lens I sell and I hope that time
is way down the road.

That's a sad thing to hear, MedicineMan, sir. How short of time are we talking here?

MatthewK wrote in post #18258309
Some more from today.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/R4BL​39 Bald Eagle at Conowingo by M K, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/RDaK​z8 Cormorant by M K, on Flickr

That's a sad thing to hear, MedicineMan, sir. How short of time are we talking here?

Mat kind of you to say and honestly not anytime real soon. Maybe 2 more years of hefting the heavies.
My reality is mFT and Sony a-mount as the interim....but I've got two venues in the next 4-5 months where I can
wield the 1DXii.
Hey, you never know about medicine and advances eh? Who knows what a little pill might bring down the road.
Now in the big scheme I won't be sad. I've shot a lot of critters of the years--just thankful for what I've seen and imaged

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #18258313
Mat kind of you to say and honestly not anytime real soon. Maybe 2 more years of hefting the heavies.
My reality is mFT and Sony a-mount as the interim....but I've got two venues in the next 4-5 months where I can
wield the 1DXii.
Hey, you never know about medicine and advances eh? Who knows what a little pill might bring down the road.
Now in the big scheme I won't be sad. I've shot a lot of critters of the years--just thankful for what I've seen and imaged

No doubt, you are definitely one of the people here that inspire myself, and I'm certain others, to pursue more travel and exploring, so here's hoping you can stick around for a bit longer! At some point though, we all will have to come to terms with the eventualities that we encounter in life, and be thankful for the great times which we've experienced.

I'm still curious: did you ever share photos of that pidgin-like bird in South America that had talons? I remember reading about you searching for it, but never saw any shots of the beast

Haha! since you asked.
Yes after 4 days in a dugout canoe and a long long walk-

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/PkPv​pQ

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #18259394
Haha! since you asked.
Yes after 4 days in a dugout canoe and a long long walk-

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/PkPv​pQ 3 foot tall pigeon with 5 inch talons by MedicineMan4040, on Flickr

That is a goblin, not a pigeon. Those talons!!!!

MatthewK wrote in post #18260643
That is a goblin, not a pigeon. Those talons!!!!

Goblin for sure.
At least he moved giving me the high 5, but that's all he did in 2 hours
It was a panic on the hike, will one be there? or all that time and effort for no bird near the nest.
Then there he was but approx 120 feet up the high canopy and a thick forest of lower canopy trees 40 feet tall
in between, more panic trying to find an opening between leaves and branches....and as you see suck backlighting.
Worth it? I'm not a birder so it's not a little checkbox on my sheet. I guess we can say we saw one of the largest
eagles but much easier just going to a zoo.
Now I'm a bit jaded looking back. that day in the dugout canoe I had a very high temperature and had been sick
the two days prior. If I hadn't been dog sick I might have more pleasant recollection

MedicineMan4040 wrote in post #18261157
Goblin for sure.
At least he moved giving me the high 5, but that's all he did in 2 hours
It was a panic on the hike, will one be there? or all that time and effort for no bird near the nest.
Then there he was but approx 120 feet up the high canopy and a thick forest of lower canopy trees 40 feet tall
in between, more panic trying to find an opening between leaves and branches....and as you see suck backlighting.
Worth it? I'm not a birder so it's not a little checkbox on my sheet. I guess we can say we saw one of the largest
eagles but much easier just going to a zoo.
Now I'm a bit jaded looking back. that day in the dugout canoe I had a very high temperature and had been sick
the two days prior. If I hadn't been dog sick I might have more pleasant recollection

Just to be out on an exotic adventure like that is one of my photographer dreams. Sorry that you were so sick though, it must have been simply miserable in the heat, bugs, cramped uncomfortable boat! The shot is classic, you'll always have that for story time for sure!

Not as exciting as the Goblin Pigeon, just a Tufted Titmouse on a briar

I am not sure how these will look, hosted by the forum server, but we'll see. I am very happy with this lens for my birding. Last night I noticed the crescent moon and thought I would give it a try, even though the sky was partly cloudy. As I have posted before, my new 400DOii is sharper wide open than my old 400DO was, stopped down by 2/3 f stop. The IS is also much more effective. These are handheld, as are all my images.

This is the entire sensor, straight out of DPP and Neat Image:

Matt the story is way better (but true) than the image that's for sure.
We saw something else in Panama. Maybe politically incorrect to tell you what we saw but
at my age I don't give a s&h_i$t
First three days we worked rivers basically running east-west.
Each day we'd visit a village, pop. 150-200. We'd walk through the little town, shake hands
buy trinkets.
Each village had a little school and a little church.
All were clean as were the villagers. NO grafitti, pride of ownership.
Also each had a satellite dish
On day four, the day we got the Harpie the river ran kinda north-south.
Our guide told us early in the morning we'd see something different in the village....thousands of of people.
Sure enough that afternoon post Harpie and coming up on the first/only village of that day we could see thousands
1/4 mile away down the rive.
I ask the guide 'Domi' what was up.
He said 'they aren't from Panama.
I asked from where?
He said 'the middle-east, Africa, and Pakistan'
Moments later we landed the dugouts on the bank.
I could immediately feel the hate/ire,,,,well I was old whitey with a big honking camera.
We visited the village, just like the others a place where the indigenous still hunted monkey for meat.
You could feel the tension in the air.
Poof (my she-boss) noted there were no women and no children amonst the thousands we saw.
Then I saw the police.
I asked Domi, he said it's cool they're here to keep them moving.
I said 'moving to where?'
Domi replied 'your country'.
Eventually we got back in the canoes. I asked Domi who lives in the Darien Province how many
were moving through the area.
He told me 10,000 a week.
I asked where they came from. He said Columbia.
I asked how they are moving. He said same as us, canoe, but with lots of walking and busing.
Poof noted the 'tent-city' and the name of the company making the tarps/tents.
Two weeks later in Panama City she googled the name. George Soros has his name all over them.

So take it for what it is.
I felt like a Confederate soldier on Spy Rock watching the northern army moving south through the
Shenandoah Valley, well except this invading army is moving north

Like I said, I'm old and don't give a frak; in fact I haven't voted since Reagan. All I can tell the youth
of the U.S. is that soon enough their world will change.

A shot from the hip from that village-

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Ry4x​Lh

I'm going to share this in a discreet way, among people who should know.

I generally avoid tainting my photography experience with political talk, but that's definitely an eye opening account at a pivotal point in our history. Thank you for sharing.