At 7:30 PM -0700 6/17/02, Jim Brokaw wrote:
on 6/17/02 6:09 PM, Wayne Culberson at waynecul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I was playing with a setup trying to get shots of a hummingbird this
evening. I set up some lilacs and green branches for a background behind the
feeder, put the 2s on the tripod with 50/1.8 and screw on Oly close-up lens,
so the lens was about 12 or a little more from the bird. I ran an air
release cord back through the living room window to trip the shutter when
the bird had his beak into the feeder.
Problem: Every time when the hummimgbird heard the click of the
mirror/shutter, it would flit backwards, I suspect out of the picture. I
doubt I was catching it, even though it was set to fire at 1/1000 or
thereabouts. Anyone have any advice for overcoming this? Is the Om1 faster
than the 2s? The problem with it is it doesn't compensate for changing light
while you're waiting for the bird to arrive.
Also, I've never had a winder, but might "need" one. I guess a winder might
work in this kind of setup so I wouldn't have to run out to advance by hand
between shots. Email off list if you have one you want to sell.
Wayne
Wayne - You need to use a winder, then you also should use a telephoto lens
to move the camera back away from the feeder. A 135 or 200 will move the
camera back enough that the shutter click won't spook the hummingbird.
I shot some hummingbird pictures at my folks through the kitchen window (the
feeder is on their patio wall) using a 300... The effort yielded about three
usable pictures, because I was too slow getting to the camera and releasing
the shutter by hand... a remote cord and winder would have probably cured
that. The camera/tripod was about 10 feet from the feeder, and encompassed
an area about 1 x 1.5 feet. I'd estimate the depth of field at about 3-4
inches, the lens was a 300/5.6 mirror on a OM-2s with 400 speed film, I
think the shutter speeds were probably 1/500 or faster, the wings were still
a blur.
Consider setting the camera up on a tripod with a cloth (green?) over it, so
it looks like an odd tree or bush to a bird. You could even use a flash to
freeze the bird, as the distance is known. That would freeze the wings
better than even 1/2000 shutter could. (cue fill-flash thread again... <g>)
I'm going to try this again sometime, with a better setup. I even though
about an electric-eye trigger, so the birds would trigger the camera
themselves, but I don't have that equipment...
I worked on this last summer with an 85/2 and an extension tube from
the far side of a window. Maybe this year something a little longer
for more depth of field, but I still like the idea of a
tightly-cropped picture.
My experience seems to be that the winder spooks the birds, but not
substantially -- they do have very good vision tho, and the mere act
of me reaching for the remote extension cord was sometimes enough to
make them go away. (I rolled my own with a subminiature plug and a
pushbutton from radio shack)
Even at high speeds you're going to get some kind of blur -- single
flash is the only way to go to freeze action. As the shutter slit
travels across the film plane, it will capture the wing in a
different position at each point, leading to some kind of
anatomically impossible distortion... Also, if you're on the other
side of a window it's crucial to control reflections
paul
--
Paul Wallich pw@xxxxxxxxx
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