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Information on my photography gear

DSLR

After much deliberation, I finally took the plunge in May 2006 and invested in some DSLR equipment. I chose the entry-level lightweight Canon EOS 350D in preference to the more expensive and substantially heavier 20D or 30D, to which I have added the fixed focal length EF 400 mm F5.6 lens, with a 1.4 X converter.

My DSLR and related gear now comprises:

• Canon EOS 350D camera body
• Canon EF400 mm/f5.6 prime lens
• Canon x1.4 converter
• Jessop extension tubes (3 tube set up to 65 mm).
• Canon RC-1 remote control
• 4 Gb total of fast CF cards [2 x 1 Gb Lexar (x80 speed) + 1 x 2 Gb Sandisk Extreme III]
• Jobo GIGAone portable hard drive (40 Gb capacity)

The DSLR & long lens combination is much easier to use than digiscoping. There is no fiddling around with cable releases and adaptor tubes, by which time the bird has probably gone. With a DSLR you just point and fire, and finding the bird in the first place is much easier too. Also, the DSLR auto-focus usually works very well and quickly. And of course with a DSLR, there are no annoying delays after pressing the shutter - it takes straight away.

Experience to date shows the EOS 350/EF400 mm combination is capable of getting superb pictures (higher quality than the very best digiscoping results), but only in favourable circumstances when you can get VERY close to the bird. Sunlight also helps a lot, and is pretty much essential for any hand held shots. In cases when it is not possible to get close enough, digiscoping can win hands down, which can create the need to carry loads of gear around all the time, if you want to maximise your chances of success!

Flight shots are where the DSLR/400 mm hand held combination really comes into its own, as these are a virtual impossibility with digiscoping. Even so, tracking fast, erratically moving small flying birds close up is a difficult trick to master. The closer they are the more difficult it is - auto-focus seems hopeless in the cases. You seem to have to just use manual focus, hope for the best, and expect >95% reject rate! Larger birds, such as sea birds, which are tend to be further away, and are moving more predictably are easier, if you can get close enough (e.g. boat trips).

For more static targets, I prefer to still use a tripod for extra stability. On my Scottish day trip in spring 2006, using the car as a hide worked well in a couple of places, but this has limited potential in Oxon.

All in all, I would currently agree with those who say that digiscoping is an excellent medium for the person who considers themself to be primarily a birder, with photography as an interesting extra. With a DSLR, things get more serious, and it is more suitable for those whose main interest is bird photography, and are prepared to go to considerable efforts to get close enough their subjects.

Camera Settings
Here is a summary of the main camera settings I usually use for bird pics:

Canon x1.4 converter or extender
I purchased the x1.4 converter at the same time as the EF400mm lens, and when used together the result is a 560 mm focal length lens with a max aperture of about f8. The upside is clearly the increase in magnification, but the downside is the loss of a stop of aperture, which doubles the required exposure times. Also, even having done the pin taping trick, the auto-focus often 'hunts' and takes a long time to get to the right focus.

There can be occasions when the converter is useful (e.g. small birds), but I'm increasingly of the opinion it is often more trouble than its worth. If only you can get a bit closer, then the results with EF 400 on its own will be of better quality than putting on the converter.

Jobo GIGAone portable hard drive
I purchased one of these in summer 2007, ahead of my Algarve and Texas trips, to free up my 4 Gb of memory cards for more pics, when away from a computer for more than a day or so. The GIGAone is so small and light, that it can also easily be used in the field or car as well, but I've yet to need more than 4 Gb of memory card capacity in a single day! It is also useful as a backup, when on trips with access to a computer (e.g. my visit to Texas in Nov 2007).

This unit has worked well so far, and is simple and easy to use. The only drawback is that when used on its own, without a computer, there is no verification that, once the transfer is complete, the memory card's contents are actually present on the hard drive. No problems so far, though.

Dragonfly pics and extension tubes
During the 2006 summer I found that the DSLR with the EF 400 mm lens can be quite good for dragonfly pics. The telephoto is good for those wary species which don't allow close approach. However the 3.5 m close focus distance is too long for preference. Quite late in the 2006 season, I found that, to my surprise, the x1.4 converter is actually quite useful in that it gives extra magnification, without seeming to extend the close focus distance, but it is still not enough for good close ups of damselflies.

During the 2007 so-called summer, I tried extension tubes to get the camera closer to those few dragonflies that have survived the elements. I purchased a 3-tube set from Jessops, which are a good deal cheaper than the Canon ones, and work well. With all 3 tubes stacked together, there is 65 mm of extension, which brings the close focus distance down from 3.5 m to around 1.7 m.

At 1.7 m distance, the horizontal field of view is then down to just over 70 mm, and the true magnification (on to the sensor) is about 0.3. This probably doesn't compare that well with true macro lenses, which will give magnifications as high as 1.0, but x0.3 is not bad, and does allow pretty good pics of even the smallest damselflies.

One important limitation with extension tubes is the reduced far focus distance. With all 65 mm of extension, the far focus distance is reduced from infinity right down to about 2.9 m (i.e. less than the normal near focus distance of the lens without the tubes on!). Of course using only 1 or 2 of the extension tubes improves the far focus distance, and can be better for the larger dragonflies (e.g. hawkers). All this leads to quite a lot of changing of tubes, with the added risk of getting more dust on the sensor - so learning how to clean the sensor gets more important.

Another issue with close-up work with this long lens is the very restricted depth of focus especially with wider apertures. Stopping down to to f11 or even f22 improves things a bit, but then the resulting slower shutter speeds mean a tripod is pretty much essential, together with the RC-1 remote control unit to avoid camera shake. I've even been experimenting with mirror lock-up to further reduce shake on the longer exposures, but I'm not sure yet whether it's useful or not.

All in all, given the fact I already had the 400 mm lens, the extension tubes are a pretty cost effective route to a reasonable macro capability.

Digiscoping

The equipment I use for digiscoping is as follows:

• Nikon Coolpix 995 (summer 2003 to March 2005).
• Nikon Coolpix 4500 (March 2005 onwards).
• Swarovski AT 80HD 'scope with 20-60 zoom eyepiece
• London Camera Exchange camera adaptor
• Manual cable release and pillar which connects to camera mounting thread (from Jessops, I think).
• Manfrotto Carbon 443 Tripod with 128RC head
• "Slider bar" from Focus Optics between the scope and the tripod
• Home made sighting aids on 'scope and camera body - see below for more info.

Mechanical
I find the "slider bar" (see above list) useful to enable the 'scope balance point to be adjusted, so that with the camera and cable etc attached, the whole assembly is balanced, and doesn't tilt wildly upwards when the tripod head bolt is loosened. Keeping the head bolts untightened greatly helps in the fine adjustments needed to centre the bird in the field of view, especially if the bird is moving.

I find the cable release essential, as my fingers are far too shaky to make contact with the camera when the shutter is pressed. At high magnifications, remember that any slightest movement is amplified. How others manage without this, I don't understand! There are much more expensive electronic cable releases, but they don't seem worth the extra £100 or so to me.

Camera Options
There are numerous camera options, and for those interested in this subject, I always use the camera on the aperture priority setting, so I can get the fastest shutter time which is always a critical factor. I used to use the ISO 200 setting to get that extra factor of two on shutter speed, but I am now doubtful its worth the resulting slight but definite loss of picture quality. Hence I now usually stick to ISO 100.

I always use the camera on manual, not auto, as the extra flexibility is important in two main areas. Firstly, focus where I use the manual AF option which allows you to select which of 5 areas is used for focussing. This can be used to advantage to focus on exactly the point in the picture you are most interested in (ideally the bird's head), but of course in practice it doesnt always work out like that, and the head often won't coincide with any of the 5 focus areas. Secondly, on exposure, I like to use the manual override which allows up to 2 stops either way adjustment on the auto shutter speed (most useful for effectively dark birds against a light background, or very bright birds such as white gulls/herons in sunlight).

Increasingly, I use the shutter on continuous, to get as many shots as possible in a short space of time. Having recently purchased a 1 Gb memory card, there is no real downside to taking as many pictures as possible. I just download them all, and then delete the ones that are not worth keeping. I can sometimes take over 100 exposures of a bird to try to get one or two reasonable ones! In one morning, I filled a 512 Mb card with over 400 shots of just 2 or 3 subjects. Using a program that shows the pictures in slide show mode is then useful to look though them to find the best ones.

(No so) fast memory card
I paid extra for the 1 Gb memory card to get a super fast one, hoping that the continuous shutter mode would work better, and keep going for longer before filling up the memory buffer. I was disappointed that the new card seems no better than my old "standard" speed one. The limitation must be in the camera, not the card. Note that these fast cards do work well in DSLR's though.

Comments on the Nikon 4500: I purchased this in haste in April 2005 when I heard that the model was no longer being made by Nikon. At the time, there didn't appear to be a direct replacement which seemed to leave a big hole in the available cameras for digiscoping. However, I'm now told there are various current models which work well.

My first impressions of the CP4500 were that it was certainly smaller and lighter than my trusty 995, and slightly more "user friendly" to operate. There is also a slight increase in the number of pixels, but not enough to be very significant. Performance wise it is a bit early to tell, but focusing and getting pin sharp images continue to be the main area of difficulty. Also, the small size of the viewing screen is a drawback.

Having used the CP4500 for some time, I now definitely believe it has an edge over the old CP 995, especially in terms of size and weight. It is easier to use, apart from the smaller viewing screen, and may produce slightly better results in general.

Pointing aids
Another matter I have been thinking about is some form of sighting/pointing aid. As I generally keep the camera on the 'scope, it can be very difficult to find the bird, given the limited field of view of the scope/camera combination.

I have tried something made with my sons Meccano kit - at the front of the 'scope - stuck on with Bluetack and a piece of Bluetack on the camera at the other end! See pics below. This can produce surprisingly good results - much quicker to get on the birds! But there is extra hassle taking it off and then putting it back on everytime I move on, so it is only worthwhile if the bird is difficult to locate (e.g. in the middle of a hedge, bush or tree). A more permanent attachment would be useful, but I will be making do with this for the time being!

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