Pat, I tried something like this once about 20 years ago with an ME Super + winder, a 135/2.8 (not Pentax), tripod and a great long air release. The objective was to photograph siskins (Carduelis pinus, about the size of a fat sparrow) on a feeder whilst I was hiding in the house.
Although technically fine, the results weren't very pretty, maybe because judging the 'decisive moment' from 30 feet away behind glass was bloody hard. Also, even with a 135mm the click of the shutter and/or whirr of the winder scared the birds away EVERY time, so it took about 2 hours to get 1/2 doz pictures. I think this also contributed to the birds looking a bit freaked out in the photos too :-) I'm afraid I haven't repeated the experiment since. The 15mm might be a fun idea right up close (a 'birds-eye view', hah!), but I suspect it will be very hit and miss and you'll get a lot of waste shots. It may be possible to desensitize the birds to the camera by placing a similar box it the same position and piping 'click-whirr' sounds through it. Other than that it's almost certainly going to scare them off each shot. Good luck with it though and you'll have to let us see any good pics? Chris On Wed, 1 Dec 2004, Pat Curran wrote: > I plan an attempt at bird table photography during the holidays using one of > my Super A bodies / Motor Drive A and a 15mm f3.5 A lens. > > The plan is to bait a pre-focused area for song birds and then fire the > tripod mounted Super A via a newly acquired infrared trigger from the > comfort of the kitchen window. > > Anyone any experience of this type of bird photography? > > My other lenses are a 50mm f1.4 A and a 200mm f4 A. (- also ordered a used > 28mm f2.8 A from KEH tonight so I will have a choice of four lenses - ) Any > suggestions on the best lens to use on this project or other tips would be > very much appreciated. > > Thanks, > > Pat >
