SNIPER MODE

Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird --- 

I spent a little time with the birds in our front yard this evening. In about 45 days the hummingbirds will head south, taking the long journey to the south of Mexico and beyond. It is not difficult to take the picture if the bird is perched on a branch. The story lies (at least for me) in the gestures that can be captured and using all the technical means that are at my disposal while shooting is essential.

All images: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, Induro GHB2 gimbal head, Nikon SB 800 speed light, Better Beamer flash extender

I shoot in “sniper mode”, means one picture at a time, because I want to use flash fill to bring out the colors in the bird and still maintain the environmental aspect by not making the background totally black. Another way to make the click would be to utilize the high speed capabilities of the camera, the NIKON D750 can do 6.5 frames per second, but these days 12 fps is what the most sophisticated bodies can deliver. However, a higher speed and shorter exposure time would have rendered the background totally black with today’s ambient light. So where is the challenge? The pictures were made with the SIGMA APO 1.4x EX DG teleconverter attached to the SIGMA 150-600 mm Sports lens, giving it a total focal length of 850 mmm. I used 1/60 s for both images and this is of course not shot from your hip…😉

SIGMA 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM SPORTS LENS, FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

The Weihnachtsmann was very nice this year and placed a new lens under the Christmas tree. The Sigma 150-600 mm / f5-6.3 DG HSM OS Sports lens will replace my “workhorse”, the Sigma 50-500 mm / f4-6.3 APO DG HSM. It has served me very well during the last six years and it was a perfect match for the Nikon D200, and later the Nikon D300s cameras. Its optics are very good and if focus can be obtained, it always delivered sharp images.

Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

So what were the reasons to buy the new lens? The additional 100 mm focal length are a big one. On the D300s the 500 mm maximum focal length delivered the angle of view of a 750 mm lens. After changing to a full frame FX sensor, with the Nikon D750 camera, well, 500 mm are just 500 mm. This can make a big difference in wildlife photography. In a critical situation, when it might be impossible to get closer to the subject, changing the camera settings to “quick crop mode” will provide the equivalent of a 900 mm lens. This can make the difference between coming home with “the shot” or nothing.

You have not seen many of my photos here in the blog when I wasn’t able to obtain focus because of shutter speed was too slow, but there were more than you may think. Optical stabilization (OS) will hopefully help me to have more keepers on the memory card after a shooting session. This was another big reason for getting the new Sigma lens.

The old lens isn’t splash and dust proof and as you know, it isn’t always easy to keep water and dirt away in the field. The new one has a weatherproof construction. Big deal for me.

The snow storm that just came through here didn’t leave me much time to do a lot of testing with the new lens yet, but I show you a couple photos and here are my first impressions.

  1. The Sigma 150-600 Sports lens is very well built and has a really nice design. Nothing looks and feels cheap and the lens gives you a professional feeling with its ergonomic features (more about this probably in a later blog post).
  2. It is able to deliver sharp, very sharp images!
  3. I love the bokeh. OMG, much better than with the old lens.
  4. The darn thing is heavy, and I mean heavy. The old 50-500 was called the “Bigma” because of its weight but the 150-600 Sports lens brings 900 grams (2 lb.) more to the scale. I read a lot of reviews about this lens before I asked Santa Claus to bring it this Christmas. Some of the reviewers talked about sharpness by just handholding the lens. Sure, this is possible, and I will for sure handhold the lens, but posting a verdict about sharpness doesn’t seem to be the right way of making an evaluation. Bottom line, this lens needs good support (tripod) whenever possible!
  5. Price. I thought it was a little overpriced in the past. I had this lens on my wish list since it came out over a year ago, but when Sigma lowered the price by $200 and B&H threw in the USB dock for adjusting the lens via computer ($60), I felt the time was right to pull the trigger... 😊. 

I’m sure I will give those of you, who like to read more about this lens, some more thoughts as soon I can do some real field testing beyond my first backyard experience.

As always, equipment plays an important role but it is the person behind the camera that makes the photo. I still believe that…

P.S.: I have added more thoughts about this lens on April 4, 2016. Feel free to click HERE for this new post.

THE CHIPMUNK WITH THE D750

Eastern Chipmunk

The Eastern Chipmunks that call our yard and the surrounding timber home are a great subject for testing and learning everything about the new Nikon D750. They are used to my presence and as long as I move slowly they stick around and do what they want to do (mostly eating sunflower seeds dropped from the bird feeders ;-)  ). 

During the first two weeks since I bought the camera I pressed the shutter release button more than 3,000 times already. No, this camera is not more complicated than my beloved Nikon D300s, in fact many functions are identical or very similar, but I like to implement some of the new features into my shooting habits. One of the reasons I chose the D750 is its professional controls. Unfortunately it has some features a pro would probably never use, and neither will I, but it is easy to ignore them. However, this camera allows to control and change all the important settings, like aperture, exposure, exposure compensation, ISO, white balance, focus mode, focus sensors, flash compensation, virtual horizon, and others without taking the eye away from the viewfinder. It lets you customize the way many of the controls and buttons act, and this is where the “fun” starts. It is ok if I miss a shot of a chipmunk or one of the birds that we have here all year long. But how about if you see a bird or critter that is here only once a year and your chance to nail the shot lasts less than two seconds (like with the Scarlet Tanager from yesterday’s blog post)? Well, this is the moment when you don’t want to fiddle with your settings. The technical aspects have to become secondary because composition and background is what matters at this brief moment. If you know and understand the settings you have dialed in while waiting for a shot, it is easy to make a quick adjustment at the camera if the situation requires it. And that’s why I try to practice on a daily base, and it doesn’t matter to me if it is an “ordinary” critter like our chipmunks or squirrels

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head, SB 800 speed light

The first image is my favorite photo of an Eastern Chipmunk so far. It has everything I wanted. It tells the story about the critter eating in the grass below a bird feeder (nothing exciting but that’s what they do in spring after a long winter). The eye is tack sharp and the settings (1/125 s, f/8, ISO 100, FX mode, no crop) would allow for a large print without any compromise.

The second picture is the result of a situation which unfolded very quickly. While focussing on a bird I suddenly saw the chipmunk climbing up this stick in our flower bed. The flowers were obviously the dessert, because in the following photo one of the blossoms is missing. Turning the camera on tripod into a different direction, refocus, and make an adjustment to flash compensation was all necessary to make the click. The photo was cropped in post on the right hand side, not because I wasn’t close enough, but on the left hand side is a bush that would have knocked off the balance of the composition. Taking out some empty space on the right is a good compromise in my books.

WILDLIFE AND A LARGER SENSOR

Nikon D750, Sigma 50-500mm / f4.5-6.3 APO DG HSM, tripod, gimbal head

A filled travel schedule and business meetings in between prevented me from doing serious shooting during the last couple days again. Feels like torture when you have a new camera and no time to work with it… ;-)

This shot of the Great Horned Owl juvenile is from last Friday and pretty much straight out of camera, except for the usual sharpening process. By using the full size of the 24 MP sensor in FX-mode on the NIKON D750 a 500 mm focal length is just what it is, 500 mm, like in the days of film photography. However, the camera can be used in two different crop modes and the DX-mode with a crop factor of 1.5 provides the same angle of view for a particular lens as it is on my NIKON 300s DX camera. With other words you have, kind of, the equivalent of 750 mm focal length. And here lies the big challenge that comes with the change to a full frame camera. You have to get physically closer to your subject in order to use the full potential of the sensor. As mentioned before this is not always possible, like with the owl high up in the nest, but for shooting many other critters I just have to get better. That means to learn more about their biology and behavior and invest more patience and time so that finally the wildlife comes to you. Long way to go… :-)

GOING FULL FRAME

I haven’t talked about photography gear in quite some time but today I’m just excited to tell you that a new camera was added to the gear bag. Nikon finally dropped the price of its FX-format camera D750 and my order went out immediately. I had planned to add a full frame DSLR to my bag of tools since a while, with the clear goal in mind to bring my photography to the next level. I don’t buy photography equipment for just the sake of being ”up to date” and I still love my DX-format NIKON D300s. I know that I have pushed its limits, for instance in low light situations. It has produced some results over the years that I’m very happy with, and it will still remain in the shooting bag as a second body that I can quickly use with a different lens.

Although I had a busy travel schedule during the weekend and today (I’m writing this post in a hotel room in Minneapolis) but I had some time last Friday and Sunday to do quite a bit of testing, studying the manual, and just having fun learning everything about the D750.

Today I won’t babble much about what I found so far. After the first six hundred shots on the meter I just think it is an amazing camera and it may take a little time to unleash its full potential. 

Part of my regular job is teaching people how to use new machines and software that comes with them. And therefor it’s no wonder that I’m a strong believer that actually reading and studying the manual is essential to understand the equipment and get the most out of it. Well I have more than 400 pages left… ;-)

All images: NIKON D750