In this part i want to show the results when used with a prime lens that i have, and when used with a 1.4X teleconverter. The only long prime lens that i have is the Canon EF400 f5.6 which will give an equivalent focal length of 640mm. I will get a 896mm focal length at f8.0 when combined it with Kenko 1.4X DGX Teleplus Pro 300 teleconverter on Canon EOS 80D.
Here comes the interesting part when using this combination on my EOS 80D. My EOS 80D would freeze completely when i put the lens combo on! It does not freeze my EOS 5D3 but i could not use my autofocus, only manual focus which not so good for moving birds. A search on the net gave me a tip to solve this issue by turning off the AF Micro-adjustment feature on the camera before putting the combo on. Amazingly it did work and the combo registered as 560mm lens f8.0, however, occassionally it did freeze, or after i changed the lens on the body and put it on again.
Last week i took two days off from work and went to Port Dickson hoping to photograph whatever migrating raptors left around Tanjung Tuan Lighthouse. I missed the annual Raptor Watch on 10 & 11th March 2018 by a week due to work and family. So, i arrived on the 19th March and checked into the Grand Beach Resort just a couple of kilometers from Tanjung Tuan. The weather was really hot. On the first day i noticed a few Brahminy Kites circling the beach area, not surprising since raptors hunting ground is quite large. Those could be coming from the Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve where they could be nesting there. Brahminy Kites are quite common in Malaysia. I could not quite get a good shot from my balcony, however i managed to get one the next day using EOS80D and Canon 400mm f5.6 lens.
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| EOS80D + Canon 400mm f5.6 |
The EOS80D performed better with a prime lens and on a bright day, but you will not see fine details of the feathers like if you used 1DX and 600mm f4 lens. The photo above was taken around 12.00 noon shot at 1/1000 sec f5.6. It needed a bit of processing in Digital Photo Professional 4 and Lightroom to get the best image possible. The original image was soft and noisy
On the second day (20/3/18) i went to the Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve hoping to see more raptors to test the EOS80D + Canon 400mm f5.6 + Kenko 1.4x DGX Teleplus Pro teleconverter combination. I arrived a bit late before 1.00 p.m which was not a good idea as the sun was high and the temperature was hot. Birds are like human they hide in the shade when the temperature gets hot. I was not sure the raptors prefer hot weather or not, but i know they love to glide in the vortex of hot air, it saves them energy while they are hunting.
The walk up the hill took about 30 minutes for me as i was lugging a backpack of equipments - tripod, extra body, 150 - 500mm Sigma lens, gimbal head, flash, extra batteries, mineral water and the main gear combination. As the day was really hot i had to stop twice along the way. I managed to take a photo of a Racket-tailed Drongo along the way below.
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| Racket-tailed Drongo |
I have to say the EOS80D low light performance is not very good, as the image taken was noisy at ISO12800. I had to use high ISO to get a fast shutter speed of 1/800sec as the combo lens and 1.4x was only f8.0, to match an equivalent focal range of 896mm to prevent blur. I could have used my 600 EX-RT flash but there was no time at all to put it on! The good thing was the combo managed to lock on the bird in the shade of the forest, albeit a bit hunting though.
Here comes the anti-climax though, as i reached the lighthouse the terraces around the lighthouse was closed to public! I was hoping to set up my tripod and camera there to take photos of the raptors flying above the tree canopy and surrounding. Maybe they just open that area to the public during the annual Raptor Watch event. The only places i could sit and wait for the raptors were on the main steps, the grass slope and the path around the lighthouse.
I missed an opportunity to photograph a Yellow-tailed Robin because the EOS80D focusing was too slow to lock on it before it flew away, damn! I walked along the path surrounding the lighthouse and met a group of elderly birders taking refuge under the trees from the hot sun. We had a chit chat and sharing sightings of birds. They were also saying the raptors probably had flown back to Siberia and not many are left around. That was a bummer to hear after the effort i put in to climb the hill.
I told them i would give a shot anyway and went around the lighthouse path. I could see the rocky shore at least a hundred feet below and the blue sea. I saw a Bulbul eating the fruits of a large tree but i was not interested in Bulbuls on that day. The sun was too hot and there were no trees along the path to give me shade. I finished up whatever left of the water i brought with me while waiting for the raptors to show up. Finally, at the end of the path which connects back to the grassy slope in front of the lighthouse, i saw three raptors flying in cycle high above the tree canopy. I was saying to my self the adage "good things happen to those who wait", ha ha ha.
I raised my camera, lined up the nine focus square and pressed the shutter....pressed the shutter....pressed the shutter....huh?? no sound?? no slapping of the mirror in burst?? Huh?? wtf!! I pressed again and again and again...aaarrrgghhh!!! The camera froze! jammed! hang! whatever you want to call it..because it was too hot under the sun? Really? It never happened to my 5D3 under the hot sun or on top of Mount Titlis in Switzerland in -5 degrees celsius! Are you kidding me Canon?? I was scrambling through the buttons trying to make it come alive but to no avail. Was it the hot sun? Was it the lens combo again? Aaaarrrgghhh!! I ran and sat under a palm tree nearby, took off the lens, took off the battery and let the camera body cool off. By then i could the see the raptors disappeared. I was really disappointed. After a good ten minutes i put back the battery inside the body, turned it on and i could see the LCD came back to life. I put back the lens combo on after disable the AF Micro-adjustment feature and it worked fine, but the birds were already gone!
Has anybody experienced this before, the camera froze because of hot weather? I have not, even with my EOS60D, a predecessor of 80D. Is the EOS80D that sensitive to heat? Was it the hardware inside or the software issue? Was it the combo lens screwing up something inside? I have no answers. But, i do know i need to do some more testing in the field before i could recommend EOS80D to be the main body for serious birding. Maybe it is good enough as a back up body only to my trustful EOS5D3. Maybe i just should have bought the EOS7D2 instead.
For the next Part 3, i will go to a cooler place for a few days to test whether the EOS80D still got what it takes to be a camera for serious birding. I will see how it will perform in cooler misty weather of Frasers Hill. I will post my findings in the next Part 3 here for your reading. Until then, happy birding.
Thanks.
