Location: Sungai Congkak, Hulu Langat, Selangor
Date: 28th July 2024
29 July 2024
28 July 2024
22 July 2024
20 July 2024
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9 July 2024
PYGMY CUPWING aka PYGMY WREN-BABBLER
Location: Frasers Hill
Date: 8th July 2024
Pygmy Cupwing or Pygmy Wren-Babbler is a vey tiny bird from a family of Pnoepygidae that lives in moist tropical lowland and mountain forests. On Frasers Hill you can find them among thick undergrowth along the roads where there is a water source nearby like a small stream. They are found in a small number of a pair or two. I have been trying to photograph them during so many trips. Sometimes i heard their calling but could not locate them in the thick undergrowth due to their tiny size and feather color which camouflage them very good among the branches and leaves. Sometimes when i saw them i could not photograph them, due to the poor lighting in the undergrowth. Yesterday (8/7/24) my luck changed for the better when a single Pygmy Cupwing decided to come out during noon, long enough for me to get a few shots and a clip of video. I must admit that it was quite a challenge to focus on the eye handheld, my video came out shaky wihout a tripod. I will post the video later.
I would like to share the Pygmy Cupwings photos here with for your viewing.
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Thanks. Till next time happy birding.
5 July 2024
GOING MIRRORLESS FOR BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY
I have been doing bird photography since 2010, and all this while my main gears have always been the Canon DSLRs paired with various lenses. Based on my experience throughout those years i have experienced a few issues which made the photographing birds very challenging. Some issues could be solved by changing the way i shoot with the gear i have, but some issues cannot be solved due to the limit of the gears that i used.
As you know, the most important features for bird photography are the auto-focus, frame rate per second and ISO capability of the camera body. As i am primary a still shooter, the video capability of a camera body is not that important to me as long as it can shoot 1080HD30P for occasional record videos. It is too much work for me to edit a video compared to editing still photos, not to mention the amount of storage i have to keep.
The most potent body that i have currently is 7DMk 2 with 10 frames per second continuous shooting rate, 20MP and ISO 100-16000 native can expand to ISO 25600. Now, this camera performs very good in good lighting condition but not so good in low light. I usually limit the maximum auto ISO at 6400. Beyond ISO 6400 the noise becomes very visible and i need a lot of post processing to reduce the noise. Of course there are a lot of softwares out there you can buy like the Lightroom, Topaz and DXO PureRaw but they are expensive. 7DMk2 auto-focus is very good with customizable settings for different cases of shooting. I can set it to stick the focus to the bird regardless of the obstacles around the bird.
My second body i use equally as much as 7DMk2 is 5DMk3, which performs better than the 7D2 in low light because it is a full frame camera with bigger image sensor that can collect more light. Yet, i will not shoot with 5DMk3 pass ISO 6400 also,unless in rare occasions i increased it to ISO 12800 because i know i will never get an opportunity again to shoot that particular bird. However, 5DMk3 can only shoot at 6 frame per second continuous shooting. The auto-focus of 5DMK3 is the same as 7DMk2.
My third body Canon 80D was purchased before 90D came out, was really meant for video shooting with flip touch screen, dual pixel auto-focus face tracking and 24MP features. it does a better job for video shooting than 7DMk2 and 5DMk3 because of its dual pixel auto-focus face tracking. However, for still and bird in-flight photography it can only shoot 7 frames per second continuous shooting. The auto-focus of 80D is not as customizable as 7DMk2 and 5DMk3.
So i have three Canon DSLR bodies that can excel in frame rate shooting and auto-focus, low light and video shooting for my bird photography. I always have this problem of what to bring before doing a trip for bird photography. Do i bring a set for video or just bring a set for still shoot only or bring both.As i grow older, the weight of the gears start to have an affect on my shoulders and back a day or two after ciming back home. Carrying two sets of camera(one for video and one for still) set up on my shoulders is crazy as the total weigh can be almost 5Kg!(80D + 400f5.6 + 5DMk3 + Sigma 150-500f6.3). I still have to carry a tripod for video or monopod with gimbal head which will add to the total weight to carry for the whole day. That is why most of the time i shoot handheld which is not so good for my arms at the end of the day.
So, how do i combine my three bodies into one that can give me all the most important features for my bird photography? Well, whether i like it or not the answer may lie in the mirror-less camera bodies available in the market right now. The technology for camera gears nowadays never stop advancing and most big brands like Nikon, Sony and Canon have concentrated their effort into the mirror-less bodies. Some say the era of DSLR has come to an end, maybe in the form of the new products there are no more new DSLRs launched.The mirror-less bodies come with a lot of features but the most noticeable is the reduced size and weight compared to DSLR for mobility. The other feature is the very high frame rate per second mechanically at 10 -15fps and electronically 20-40fps with people and animal eye-tracking autofocus. Image sensors nowadays come with back illuminated sensor for better image quality or stack sensors which can double the data transfer for fast shooting. Even the video quality has shot up to 4K 120fps for super slow motion videos. All these features can solve some if not all my current issues for bird photography.
Since i am a Canon shooter. naturally the easy path to take is to upgrade to Canon mirror-less line up so that i can still use some of my Canon lenses like my EF70-300mm f4.5-5.6L IS and EF400mm f5.6L lens albeit with an adapter to RF mount. Canon has released to the market many mirror-less bodies, but the ones commonly accepted to be good for bird and wildlife photography are the single digit R series like R3, R5, R6, R6Mk2, R7 and maybe R8. Each of these R bodies has its pros and cons. Of all these only R7 is an APSC sensor mirror-less body with a 1.6 crop factor, the rest are full frame sensor bodies.There are rumors that Canon will release R5Mk2, R6Mk3 and R7Mk2 in 2024, however only R1 body is confirmed right now.
When choosing a mirrorless body i am faced with the choice of going full frame or APSC with 1.6 crop factor for reach. The R7 is almost like an equivalent to my Canon 7DMk2 as both are APSC bodies. However, the R7 is better in many ways like image size 32.5MP vs 20MP with more pixel when i crop 100%, 15fps mechanical shutter vs 10fps in 7DMk2, In Body Image Stabilization(IBIS) in R7 vs none in 7DMk2, 4K60P video vs none in 7DMk2, ISO range up to 32000 native vs 16000 in 7DMk2 , Dual pixel CMOS AF ll, flip touch screen, people and animal eye-tracking focus and DIGIC X processor. The storage has 2 slots for SD card types vs 1 slot for SD card and 1 for CF card in 7DMk2. The body weight with card and battery is only 612gram compared to 910gram for 7DMk2 Currently i am very interested in this R7 body as it has all i need for good bird photography. The crop factor will turn my EF400mm f5.6 non-is lens into an effective focal range of 640mm, and hopefully the IBIS will help to stabilize this non-is lens somewhat.
As this R7 has been released a few years back in June 2022 the price in Malaysia is from RM4800 to RM5600 brand new for the body only which is quite reasonable. I still have to spend another RM500 for the RF adapter. Of course i can opt for the second hand body which is around RM4300 but with no warranty. Price aside, my biggest concern is the image quality of the APSC sensor at ISO 6400 or higher, the rolling shutter effect in electronic shutter mode and the burst buffer size. Various reviews have highlighted these issues.I feel some issues could be caused by the photographer themselves due to their shooting techniques, however the burst buffer size is the hardware limitation set by Canon. The only way to overcome is to shoot short burst using CRAW or medium RAW or JPEGS only. The rolling shutter effect only happens when using electronic shutter at 30fps while panning for birds in flight shooting. You can bypass this issue by using mechanical shutter at 15fps. The image quality of an APSC sensor will be less than a full frame sensor at any ISO beyond 3200. This led me to think twice whether to get an R7 for the reach or go for the next best thing which is R6Mk2 with a full frame sensor.
The R6MK2 is a 24MP full frame mirror-less body with almost twice the R7 price in Malaysia brand new. The price varies from RM9200 to RM12,000 for body only. It does not have the crop factor like R7 but the image quality is better with lower noise performance. It has a less mechanical frame per second at 12fps but a higher electronic shutter speed at 40fps with less rolling shutter effect than R7. If i choose the R6MK2 i most probably have to crop extensively(no crop factor) to get the right subject size, and with only 24MP compared to 32.5MP in R7, the noise might start to be visible. Still. the R6MK2 is still strongly under consideration especially for a second hand body which can be bought for around RM6000.
The R5 with a 45MP sensor and in body 1.6 crop mode is too expensive to be considered at around RM15,000 brand new. Not to mention is the image size will force me to upgrade my storage and PC. The R3 is beyond my reach. I will update again with what i end up buying.
Thanks for reading. Till then happy birding.
3 July 2024
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