Best Of
Solar Eclipse - April 8, 2024
I didn't see a thread here, so let me be the first! We went up to Fishers, Indiana, just northeast of Indianapolis, for the eclipse. That's an 8-hour drive from home, drove up Sunday - I'm not an astrophysicist, but we did stay at a Holiday Inn Express! We watched from the hotel parking lot with a couple dozen other folks. We had some high, thin cirrus clouds that really didn't affect our shots. This is the second eclipse that I've experienced totality - I was out for the 2017 show as well - and it is an absolutely amazing sight to see!
Please feel free to add your photos to this thread; I look forward to seeing what everyone was able to capture!
moose135
Small Birds with the Canon R3 and the EF 100-400 IS V2 and a couple 1.6 Crop Factor Images
In my previous thread - https://dgrin.com/discussion/268132/a-few-birds-and-other-critters-from-south-texas#latest - I mentioned that I had ordered the Canon R3 body last October 2021. It finally arrived in late April of this year, and I have spent the last 4 weeks chasing small birds in west central Indiana with the R3 body, and an EF 100-400 IS v2 + a version III 1.4 tele-converter that I already owned. This gave me a 560mm f 8 lens for my R3 body. I wanted to see how the AF faired at f8, and how the IBIS worked with the non-RF lens. I own and use an RF 100-500 on my R5, but this post is about the R3.
The lighter weight of the R3, compared to my 1DX Mk II, is appreciated, the inbody IBIS allows me to hand hold lenses that I would otherwise need a tripod with a standard DSLR. The larger LP-E19 battery means I don't usually need to carry a couple extra batteries for an afternoon of shooting, like I might with the R5. The viewfinder in the R3 is a joy to use with no apparent blackouts which are so disturbing if you are shooting birds in flight.
A catbird in front of rhododendron bush 560mm, f8, 1/800th, ISO 2500. This image, like most of these posted here, are significant crops, barely 1/4 of the full frame image. The R3 is 4000 x 6000 pixels, or 24 Mbts in size which is 25% bigger than the files from my 1DX Mk II
I have several frames of blue jays, here is one in the rhododendron bush with a peanut 560mm, f8, 1/800th, ISO 8000
This frame of a blue jay flying directly toward me at 1/800th second shows how well the AF system can be at f8 in the shade, 560mm, ISO 1600 - the eye seems pretty sharp
This cardinal was captured at 560mm, f8, 1/800th, at ISO 3200
I know a shutter speed of 1/800th is too low for birds in flight, but in deep shade with an f8 lens, what are you gonna do? The fact is that the combination of 1/800th and IBIS works pretty well for this body - better than I would have thought.
Now I am eager to see what Canon reveals in a couple weeks with the announcement of the APS-C R7 - A 32 MPxl mirrorless body with, hopefully, the AF and IBIS of the R3. We'll know more pretty soon
Any comments or questions about the images I have posted are heartily encouraged.
Two in black and white
An agave:
Strathcona Provincial Park, BC:
The first shot is recent but the second shot is from 2009. I thought I'd lost all the photos from that era when a drive crashed a few years back but it turned out that, unknown to me, Google Drive saved a few of the RAW files.
