Such a different setting than the woodland environment that I’ve grown up with! I’ve had a few chances to shoot in the more arid environs, once in Arizona and another time out in southern Washington state; the sights, smells, and color of the west is so amazing, I’m more inclined to take my next family/birding somewhere out there. With the more wide open spaces, it’s easy to see why more reach is necessary.
My yearly Birding/Camping trip: gear report
- Thread starter MatthewK
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dwm55
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Thank you for your report. I grew up an hour's drive from here. My father took us on trips to Effigy Mounds State Park on the other side of the river. As a kid stuffed in the back seat of a car with three other siblings, I can't say I fully appreciated the experience, but I do remember how beautiful it was. I'm a bit further away these days, but still within driving distance. I'll have to add Wyalusing/Effigy Mounds as a Spring destination.
I'm somewhere between curious and amazed on the amount of equipment you carried. How did you balance the weight and orchestration of cameras and lenses, and still get these great images? I have a 180-600mm and have thought on occasion of purchasing the 400mm and 600mm primes, but always come back to wondering how I would juggle all of it.
Dave
I'm somewhere between curious and amazed on the amount of equipment you carried. How did you balance the weight and orchestration of cameras and lenses, and still get these great images? I have a 180-600mm and have thought on occasion of purchasing the 400mm and 600mm primes, but always come back to wondering how I would juggle all of it.
Dave
Great shots I assume you mean "single point AF area" since spot is a metering mode not an auto focus area mode. Single point does not use subject detection and is quite useful if subject detection gets in the way. Just clarification so those with less experience do not get confused . I have FN 1 set to wide area custom 1x1 and FN3 set up for recall shooting functions that has only one item selected subject detection off which allows me to toggle subject detection on and off. I have video record button set to cycle through the AF Area modes I use and it is so fast for me now that I can go to single point af area mode very quickly.Long post ahead...
I've just returned from my annual birding/camping trip at Wyalusing State Park, a birding hotspot here in Wisconsin that is tucked away in the western part of the state at the confluence of the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers. Due to the topography of the area, being situated on the large hills/bluffs along the Mississippi Flyway, and the fact that the area is legacy old growth forest (i.e. never logged, so natural habitat is intact), this park is a major birding hotspot during Spring Migration. You have access to riparian, woodland, and prairie habitats that are teaming with bird activity, more than enough to keep you overwhelmingly occupied.
I was non-stop birding from sunrise to sunset, 12 hours each day. The spot is so saturated with birds that they served as my morning alarm clock (Robins and Cardinals... 4AM, seriously?), and nightly serenades from Barred Owls saw me to sleep. Along with that, you get glorious Wisconsin Spring weather (no humidity, few bugs, perfect temps), it's paradise, our well deserved payoff for enduring 7 months of winter misery, dontcha' know?
It should have been three full days, but did you know that hobby burnout is a thing?I left the night before I was supposed to check out because I literally clocked 24 hours of time behind the camera, and the idea of staying another day... I just didn't feel like it.
Anyway, onto what you fiends are really interested in hearing about: the gearThis yearly trip basically serves as my acid test, granting me insights as to what sounds good in theory on forums/YouTube/reviews vs. what works in real world application. As those who've been on any extended photo trip (safari, Costa Rica, etc) can attest, when you're shooting non-stop to the exclusion of everything else, you really get to discover and experience the strengths/weaknesses about the gear we constantly internet-obsess over that you can't possible glean from an hour or two on a weekend.
Here's what I took:
Z8
400 4.5 (repurchased the week before this trip)
600PF (received back from Nikon Repair right as I was fixing to leave)
800PF
180-600
The "gear goal" with this trip was to see which of these lenses met the mark in terms of usability, daily livability, and which setup would prove to offer the most versatile+effective combination. It was between the "heavy weights" 800PF+186, vs. the "feather weights" 400 4.5+600PF. Since the 600PF/186 debuted last fall, I've had a sea change about my preferred FL and how I like to approach birding, and it's been no secret that I no longer favor 800mm. Last year, the 800PF was my #1 used lens by a large margin, so would that trend continue? Would having the 180-600 obviate the need to juggle primes? Well, here are my shooting stats:
Total Photos: 3979
600PF - 2828 (71%)
400 4.5 - 695 (17%)
800PF - 229 (~6%)
180-600 - 215 (~5%)
400 4.5 + 1.4 TC - 12 (insignificant %)
800PF: leading up to the trip, it hasn't been a secret that my relationship with the 800PF has been on the rocks. We've been doing counseling, but I think we're growing further apart, as evidenced by the numbers. It's just too much lens for how I shoot, too long MFD, too narrow FOV, and the AF is unreliable at the distances I want to be shooting at. I can make the lens work, have been for the last year and some, but it's not comfortable for me, akin to using a 50mm when 35mm is your preferred normal FL.
180-600: I was expecting this lens to get the bird's share of the usage, because last year I was incessantly, frustratingly switching lenses. Yet, it didn't play out that way this year, I just never reached for it, instead preferring the 400 4.5 if I needed some closer or wider shots. Add to that, I think I've figured out that I'm just not a zoom guy: too much fiddling around interrupts my work flow, much prefer the simplicity of primes.
400 4.5: a recent re-additon to the kit, I've found a new love for this little Bantam Weight bruiser, putting it to use for wider environmentals and the 4.5 Av in the lower light of deep forest/valley canopy. It was also the lens of choice when I knew I'd have some birds coming in close (when I was hiding), such as the Prothonotary Warblers, and American Redstarts that were everywhere. My mistake in letting it go last year was because I wasn't impressed by its performance with the 1.4TC as my main birding lens, and the gap between 400 and 800 had me always changing lenses/TC. Well, the 400's role is different now, and it has a spot in my kit going forward.
600PF: I looooove this lens. I think I love it more than I did the 500PF, and those were some massive shoes to fill. It's one of the few times in my photography where, when I have a photo in mind and bring the camera to my eye, this lens gives me what I was seeing. The MFD was rarely a problem, the AF is fast and snappy, the controls perfectly placed (despite what a certain, recent reviewer claims). It's effortless to carry all day... last year, I came back from this trip with a case of tennis elbow from supporting the Z9/800PF for days on end; not so with the Z8/600PF. Honestly could have used just this lens the entire trip and come home satisfied.
Z8: so, yeah, battery life and juggling batteries on the charger is a thing when you're on the go for 12 straight hours. I brought 6 batteries, and never came close to running out of juice, but I was constantly rotating batteries onto the powerbank/charger. This is the only thing I miss about the Z9, last year I had to charge two batteries the entire trip. Any longer than 2 full days, and the Z8 battery life becomes a liability.
Z8's AF: shooting small birds in lower light, leafy/tangled environs, Spot AF was king. Subject Detect AF missed me a few key moments, but only a few because I have Spot set to one of the front Fn buttons for just such situations.
I'm still going through my photos, it'll take a while to fully digest and pick out the jewels, but here's my favorites so far:
Kentucky Warbler: this was the star attraction for all of the birders, often times drawing crowds alongside the road while they waited for a glimpse through their spotting scopes. I found one in another part of the park, and told no one about it
Kentucky Warbler by M K, on Flickr
Kentucky Warbler by M K, on Flickr
Kentucky Warbler by M K, on Flickr
Prothonotary Warbler: probably my all time favorite warbler. A majority of my 4000 shots were taken of this bird.
Prothonotary Warbler by M K, on Flickr
Prothonotary Warbler (and a spider) by M K, on Flickr
Canada Warbler: this has been near the top of my short list of birds I've been wanting to photograph well, and was STOKED to finally see on in decent conditions!
Canada Warbler by M K, on Flickr
Canada Warbler by M K, on Flickr
Cerulean Warbler: these are the marquis bird at Wyalusing, and I've never seen one outside of the park. I'm still picking out my faves of this bird. Getting the blue to look right in post is extremely difficult, especially if the light wasn't good (which most times, it wasn't).
Cerulean Warbler by M K, on Flickr
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Your wife and I are in the same boat
I’m 43, mostly fit, and over the last few years have just come to hate being encumbered with excessive weight. It’s not that I can’t handle it, it’s just that I don’t want to, and since there’s options available that allow for a substantial weight decrease in exchange for some aperture, heck yeah, sign me up!First time I visited was on my Senior Class Camping Trip back in high school, and similarly, I didn’t fully appreciate the place either!
So, back in my normal life, I rarely bring this much gear on an outing, preferring to sling one lens for a day or trip, but since the camping trip to Wyalusing is “car camping”, I can afford to bring all my gear at once. Most of the birding sessions are seeing you pulled off to the side of the main road, meaning I can quickly switch a lens out at the car if the situation demands. Additionally, I also wanted to evaluate all of my kit in order to see what to keep and what to sell, and no better place to do that than on a 3 day, uninterrupted photography trip.
As of now, I’m sitting at three prime lenses, but am considering going down to two (400, 600).
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A couple more to post, and a conclusion: I have many more shots I'm happy with this year compared to last year, but I have fewer species recorded. I think the main reason for that is that this was my second year going so I sort of knew better what to expect and where to find the exact birds I wanted, but also using that knowledge ahead of time to determine exactly what I wanted to shoot more of (Cerulean, Kentucky, Prothonotary) and spend less time wandering around hoping to get lucky "shooting from the hip". Next year, I'm not sure if I'll return to Wyalusing because I want to try some new spots up in the northern part of the state where these warblers prefer to spend their summers. In particular, Golden-winged Warblers
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