Markus Maurer wrote:
Hi Christian - the real bird man
I hoped to get an answer from you and I understand your recommendations and
conclusion very well.
But frankly, I not convinced that I am really into bird or wildlife (in
Switzerland ;-) photography in the longer run
but more into landscape and people shooting. That's why I first want to
experiment a bit in this field and not invest
any money.
A very good idea. I started out with a REALLY crappy 60-300 Kalimar
zoom and got soooo frustrated with it that I ended up spending more
money on better gear. But I WANTED to photograph nature (and birds in
particular) so I knew I was going to upgrade.
So, for the first trials, I will go with the M200/4 + converter and the
mirror lens
I had both the M and A 200/4 lenses and liked them very much. I used a
2x converter with them with OK results.
and better only on *big* birds ;-)
See, here's the deal, small birds (songbirds, shorebirds, etc) tend to
be less skittish and are easier to approach... but you need a BIG lens
to make a full frame shot of them even at relatively close distances.
Big birds like hawks and eagles and cormorants, tend to be extremely
skittish and hard to approach so you STILL need that big lens to get a
good frame-filling shot! :-)
Learn good field craft. Learn to stalk the birds, use blinds, feed
them, whatever. Just don't get discouraged and have fun! I'm looking
forward to seeing some results.
And just to make Mike Wilson cringe:
http://photography.skofteland.net/displayimage.php?pos=-2
--
Christian
http://photography.skofteland.net
