Welcome! I'm Kelly, and I love exploration, photography, technology, history, and general geekiness. Here you'll find all of the above! I hope to share my adventures, and help you learn to better capture your own through the lens. In-the-field gear reviews, photographic techniques and tips, post-processing flows, and general thoughts on creating.
Slightly off topic but…. Is your Aodelan remote still working? I have looking at UK reviews on Amazon and quite a few people are saying that it has stopped working . I’m wondering if it’s just down to user error though?
I hadn't used it for a while, but I just gave it a try on the R5II and it works fine! With the R5II it works in any drive mode, but on my other cameras it's had to be in one of the self-timer modes and I'd always forget that--that's my guess for why people can't get it to work.
The people who bitch about 3rd party batteries make me laugh, they refuse to accept the "Canon" batteries are in fact 3rd party and are made by Panasonic. I use 3rd party batteries and will NEVER buy a Panasonic ("Canon") battery because in the UK Panasonic batteries are £119 and other 3rd party batteries are around £25 ish, it's a no brainer for me
I have bought 3rd party batteries for most if not all of my cameras and they work fine. Just fine. Some even are specced higher then the older original design and give you a little longer shooting time. Nothing wrong with 3rd party, as long as they are well put together.
This has been my experience over the years as well--there's just no reason to pay the exorbitant price for the OEM batteries. The issue with the R5II is that it doesn't like any of the 3rd-party batteries that existed when it came out--as I show in the video, it immediately throws an error and won't function at all. I'm glad it didn't take long for the aftermarket battery makers to get around that!
Thanks for this, I'd buy these just to stick one to Canon UK. The 'P's are nowhere to be found here and are double the price that you pay. My R5 Mark II gave me half a morning's shooting in the Kruger NP with the one battery supplied before I had to resort to the R5. I should've learnt my lesson after the EOS R prototype but here I am again. Canon really don't like their early adopters do they?
Is your user name a play on red-eyed vireo? I love it! :) I guess we should have expected some reduction in battery life on the R5II with the stacked sensor, new processor, faster frame rates, etc. Even so, it's definitely a little disappointing--a single battery used to get me through a full day of normal shooting on the R5! It would be nice if they can improve the battery life to some extent via firmware updates, but in the meantime I'm just glad there's a (much!) cheaper option for spare batteries.
Glad someone else from the UK is on here. All the Big on line retailers Have priced fixed the LP-E6P at £119 ripping all of us off Canon's price is £109 funny how all the retailers have stock and canon don't greed is just getting worse
@@snappycanon I am sorry! There's absolutely no reason a simple battery should cost anywhere near that much. It's absolute greed. I hope some 3rd-party options become available there soon!
Chinese ones are always in full stock. no back order needed. As big as Canon, everything is delayed due to the impact of global parts supply. All the parts are sold out to Chinese?
These Kastar batteries are the first 3rd-party LP-E6Ps I've seen--I figure other manufacturers will soon follow. But yes, the Canon batteries remain a bit hard to find! One of my rebuttals to the anti-3rd-party-battery people is that Canon don't make the cells for their batteries; there are really only a few manufacturers for those, and it's quite possible that the 3rd-party makers use the exact same cell manufacturer. Maybe they are indeed being snapped up by the aftermarket makers. Either way, I am thrilled to get four 3rd-party batteries for less than the cost of a single Canon battery!
Thanks Kelly. Did you cover and I missed it that the LP-E6P (both OEM and afternarket) work in the other cameras? Meaning they are backwards compatible with something like the R5 and R7?
I actually hadn't tried that! But I just tried popping both (OEM and Kastar LP-E6P) into my R7, and it powered up and recognized them as LP-E6P, no issues. That's the only other RF camera I have at present, but I would guess the original R5 should be the same!
@@edsmileytube Outstanding, I hope you love it! I need to get around to my R5II setup video, but I already have a backlog, which is actually unusual! Maybe this weekend. :)
@@wanderland_xyz Looking forward to it. Need to get all learned on the eye track autofocus and precapture. Thanks for the battery tip. I ordered 4 for less than the price of 1 Canon OEM one.
@@edsmileytube For the eye control, definitely make sure you calibrate and refine several times, preferably in different lighting and in both landscape/portrait orientation. I find it's usually pretty accurate, but does drift now and then as conditions change. Even then I can usually use my eye as a controller to move the focus point, even if it isn't quite where I'm looking. I wish those batteries had become available before I dropped the $80 on a second Canon battery! Part of the price of being an early adopter, I suppose. I like the Llano charger you see in the video too, handy for charging two batteries at once, with the bonus of also working on the go--I can plug it into the car or a power bank. The only niggle I've found about it is that it will indicate 100% charged, but when I put the battery in the camera it says 98% instead. Close enough, I guess!
That is excellent news. I totally agree with you about batteries and have always bought 3rd party batteries for all my Canon cameras and never had any issues. The last ones I bought were for my 7D Mk2 and I can still use those in my R7 if need be.
I can't say I'm a big fan of Canon trying to lock out aftermarket lenses and now batteries too--it's definitely not what I'd call consumer friendly. Thank goodness for aftermarket manufacturers, because US$80 for a simple battery is completely ridiculous to me! Now I just hope Canon don't manage to disable them with a firmware update down the line.
@@wanderland_xyzIndeed - blatant profiteering from Canon in regards to accessories and lenses. The prices are even worse in the UK so we get ripped off more in my opinion. At least they are now allowing Sigma to produce lenses for the crop sensors but I wonder if they will ever allow 3rd party lenses for the full frame cameras?
@@666JGNotts I'm glad they did finally open the RF mount up to 3rd-party autofocus lenses (there have been a number of fully-manual options, like the TTArtisan 50mm f/0.95 I use from time to time). I definitely hope the full-frame Sigma Art series lenses come to RF before long--I have an EF-mount Sigma 50mm f/1.4 that's quite good, and Canon doesn't currently have a 50mm f/1.4 for RF (though I think one is finally coming soon).
Pulled the trigger on the R5ii. Would love to see a dedicated video on how you have it set up. I thought I read that you can now export configurations. Actually, I think I saw someone was selling their setup.
Yes, it can export and import settings, which is nice! I should export mine for backup, if nothing else. I'm definitely planning a setup video--not an exhaustive one, menu by menu, but at least the major tweaks I've made to get it where I like it! I think you'll be pleased! Don't expect a jump in image quality compared to the original R5--the new sensor is about speed rather than lower noise or higher dynamic range. But I am definitely finding it more flexible and powerful than the R5.
Thanks for the comparison Kelly. I currently have an R5 and an R7. I just spent a bit of time using the R7 while my daughter used the R5. We were in North Carolina looking for some warblers and my daughter loves the R5. I just can't get used to the button layout so my plan is to sell the R7 and get the R5ii. The only real advantage I see is the crop factor, but since I really need 2 of them for myself and my daughter, I am having a tough time getting rid of the R5. So if anyone is looking for an R7 with a transferrable Canon CarePak warranty, hit me up. :-)
They definitely made some different control choices on the R7, I know what you mean! I'm hanging on to mine because the crop factor does come in handy sometimes, and it's a nice small and light choice for quick trips sometimes. I'm very interested in seeing what the R7II might offer, whenever Canon get around to that refresh.
I realized I should have added a section to cover my final thoughts on the R5II vs R7 on this outing, so I filmed that and spliced it in. RU-vid sadly doesn't have a way to simply replace an existing video, so I had to re-upload as a new one. So this is the same video, with a couple extra minutes of Future Kelly added in near the end. :)
@@wanderland_xyzThanks for the confirmation, I did think that you’d added the extra bit in at the end and posted another comment but deleted it as I didn’t know if that what the case!! You managed to get some spectacular bird photos and a lot of these birds are alien to me as they do not appear in the UK so very interesting to see them as well. I can see you using the R5 mk2 more and more and the R7 only being used on the odd occasion at this rate, I suspect the image quality combined with the sharper AF is quite adictive 😊
@@666JGNotts The R7 definitely still has a place for me, the crop factor is often very useful. Just trying to get comfortable with the new bells and whistles of the R5II--but yes, the upgraded autofocus is pretty awesome! I'll be watching closely for the R7 Mark II, if it adds the improved AF and pre-capture it's going to be amazing too.
Much appreciated, thanks! And me too--Milton thankfully turned out to be not too big a deal for Orlando, but still would have been no fun to sit out. More to come!
I had an R6 (which I sold to get an R5 instead, which I sold to get the R5 Mark II!), but I don't have an R6II. A friend of mine does, though--maybe we can collaborate on an upcoming excursion. :)
Hopefully you have made it out and back home before Milton hits! Would love to hear more about the R5ii’s pre-shooting if you have used it. A separate video on your total setup of your R5ii including the focus setup would be great as well. I am curious about the eye focus as I have heard about it not being great on the R3. Just waiting on pulling the trigger on one. Every time I see a video like this it makes me want to click buy now. 😊
Yes, I was in Orlando when Helene passed by, but that just made for one rainy/windy night. Glad to not be there for Milton's visit! I have tried the pre-capture a bit! It is definitely handy. I'll cover in more detail, but the basics are that it starts buffering when you half-press the shutter, and then when you go to full press it saves the 15 frames prior to that point (plus whatever you shoot with the shutter button held down). So the amount of pre-capture time you get depends on the frame rate: at 30fps, 15 frames is 0.5 seconds, but at 5fps, 15 frames is 3 seconds. I'm hoping Canon will make that more adjustable with a firmware update--I'd like to be able to define the pre-capture time regardless of frame rate, to reduce the number of extra frames saved. You just don't always need 15 frames! The eye-control focus has been impressive to me! I've never touched an R3, but I gather the R5II does it better, and for me it definitely works pretty well. Sometimes it's a little off and doesn't quite put the dot on what I'm looking at, but even then I can use my eye as a controller to move the spot to where I want it, if that makes sense. Definitely handy in certain situations. More content to come, of course! So far my opinion is that the Mark II is a worthy successor, with the main drawback being that its image quality isn't really any better than the R5 (and is sometimes marginally worse, though it cleans up well in post). So the question is whether the extra/updated features make it worth the price of admission, and that's a tough question to answer. No regrets for me so far, at least!
Thanks for the video Kelly. Love the pics! Highly debating on whether I sell the R5 or the R7 to get the R5ii. My daughter usually uses the R7 and I recently let her use my r5 and she says it is night and day. Have you done any comparisons with the R7? Maybe in Florida?
For me the decision was a no-brainer--I really don't need two 45MP full-frame bodies, especially when one fixes pretty much all the weaknesses and quirks of the other. The R7 is still respectable at 30MP, and the crop sensor's extra apparent reach is great for wildlife and macro. Add in that I could get at least twice as much for the used R5 than I would for the R7, and that took a good chunk out of the upgrade cost for me. I am considering passing my R7 on to my daughter at some point, maybe when the R7II comes out. :) I actually hadn't planned to bring my R7 along on this trip, but now that you mention it I think it's a good idea! I definitely want to revisit the wetlands park I loved on my last trip, that would make for a good comparison video. :)
Some good photos there. I've seen the odd report claiming that the mk2 can be slightly more noisy at high ISOs than the mk1, have you noticed anything like that?
Thanks sir! Lab tests I've seen show the R5II does have slightly lower dynamic range than the original R5--apparently that's the trade-off for the stacked sensor with a faster readout speed. In practice, it does seem a bit noisier to me at high ISOs, depending on the other circumstances (lighting, shutter speed, etc.). But the noise does clean up pretty well in post-processing, especially now that DxO Pure RAW 4 (finally!) supports the R5II. Otherwise I'm loving the camera so far--the AF is definitely more snappy and accurate even in low light, eye-control AF works well when I want it, and the pre-capture should step up my bird photography for action shots. I'm driving down to Florida tomorrow, definitely going to test it out thoroughly over the next week!
It is exciting, especially with autumn just around the corner! I figure they usually try to underpromise and overdeliver--tell people 6 months and then deliver in 3, you know? Still, definitely glad I pre-ordered on day 1. I just wish I'd had the foresight to add a spare battery--I didn't know my 3rd-party batteries wouldn't work at all!
@@wanderland_xyz I think it was only very recently announced that the 3rd party batteries wouldn't work - probably when the first people started getting this camera and trying them. It's a bit naughty of Canon not to announce this sooner and it's not good that they are blocking the 3rd party batteries. I could have understood it more if they'd make the 3rd party batteries have limited usage like your R7 battery.
@@666JGNotts When people were first getting their cameras I saw a couple say the camera wouldn't power up at all with 3rd-party batteries. Mine does power up, but then immediately gives an error that you can't dismiss without shutting the camera off. Definitely a bummer, especially given the price difference between Canon batteries and aftermarket batteries! I was hoping the same as you, that the 3rd-party batteries would at least give the limited functionality, but nope.
Do you think 800mm f11 on a apsc camera without ibis like canon r50 can take some great pictures in normal day light than 100-500mm crop in as 800mm. i want to try 800mm f11 on canon r50.
Very peaceful 😊 I’m impressed by the quality of the photos you got from that 100-400 lens… it seems like a decent performer for the price. Will it also work with the 1.4x converter?
Yes, I really need to get out on the water more. It's always a different experience! As I mentioned, I've only had the 100-400mm for a few months, but it is definitely a winner, especially for the price. The f/8 at the long end isn't great, of course, but the tradeoffs are worth it: the lens is relatively small and lightweight, and still quite sharp. The stabilization is good and it's USM focusing, which is nice and snappy. I still adore my 100-500mm L lens, of course, but for excursions like this where I'd rather travel light, I'm glad I picked this one up! Haven't tried it with the 1.4x TC yet, but it does fit (and fits properly, unlike the 100-500mm where it restricts the zoom range)--I will make sure to do that and let you know!
I use the R7 with the RF 800 F/11. 2 pros: light weight and reach. Since the R7 is a cropped sensor at 1.6, it is effectively >1200mm so great reach when there is enough light for F/11 fstop. Lightweight as I am often hiking up the mountains for hours to my favorite Montana big game photo spots.
Hi, Nice to meet you. I have seen the videos on your channel(Wanderland - Travel.Photography.Geekery). Your video is excellent but video optimization is very poor and no SEO score. Moreover, the logo, and banner are not pretty enough, and no eye-catching thumbnails. No rank tags and there are many problems. Your RU-vid channel immediately needs to be SEO-friendly. I am a Digital Marketer and SEO Specialist. If you want you can discuss. Thank you. Masum❤❤💥
Looks like a great place to visit. What are your opinions of the 100-400? I currently don’t own a long RF Lens but do have the 1st generation EF 100-400L which I can use with the adaptor but wondered how this lens compares?
It is definitely an amazing place! I believe it has a lot more actual aircraft than the better-known location on the National Mall in DC. I've only had the RF 100-400mm for a month or two, and it's been too hot around here to get out with it much. It certainly served me well on this excursion, even though an indoor museum isn't really its best use case with the f/5.6-8. This morning I took it out kayaking, watch for that video soon (assuming the photos came out well, that is)! I had the Mk II of the EF 100-400mm L lens, and it was a great lens indeed! I doubt the RF 100-400mm is quite as sharp (that's what the RF 100-500mm L is for), but so far I think it's very solid optically, and in terms of size/weight/cost it's definitely a winner. Like I said in the video, that's what I got it for: hikes where the 100-500mm is a bit too much weight to carry, and things like museums/concerts/theme parks where it will easily fit in my shoulder bag. More to come on that one, don't worry!
Hello Adam! I'm using Lightroom Classic via the Creative Cloud (Photography Plan), so currently version 13.4. If it could do focus and exposure stacking I don't think I'd need any other editing software (though I do prefer DxO PureRAW for noise reduction)!
Not really related to this video, except it relates to the R7 so I thought I'd ask here... Currently I just have the one SD Card and it's a 64GB V90 card, so it's the fastest card as far as the R7 is concerned I believe. I was looking at some V60 cards from the same manufacturer (Kingston) and they are far cheaper - I can get a 256GB card for the same price as the 64GB V90 card. So I wondered if you'd done any experimentation with different speed cards in the R7? I don't do video so the only thing that might be an issue is if I'm in high speed shooting mode and the buffers fill up and need to clear to the card.
Hello sir! I can't say I've done any testing per se.. just took a look at my SD cards, and all are labeled V30/Class 10, though the 32GB cards indicate 95MB/sec while the 128GB cards indicate 170MB/sec, so that's weird. They're all Sandisk Extreme Pro (as are my CFExpress cards for the R5), which is a brand I've never had trouble with. The only difference I can see other than capacity is that the 32GB cards say SDHC, while the 128GB cards say SDXC, but that makes sense given that SDHC maxes out at 32GB. Speed-wise, I don't do a whole lot of burst shooting, and my video is usually 1080p, so I haven't run into buffer issues or anything but probably wouldn't anyway. :) And a sidenote: Generally speaking, even though I've rarely experienced any sort of card failure, I'm still of the mindset that I never want too many eggs in one basket. So I tend to use 32GB cards for photos, and 64GB or 128GB for video. I'd rather need to swap cards more often than risk losing more data than that on a single card, if that makes sense!
@@wanderland_xyz Thanks. I will probably buy one of the “slower”cards and use that mainly for landscape and flower photography and use the faster one mainly for bird shooting. I feel like I do need 2 cards minimum.
Just order me the 1.4 at the Canon outlet. My search took me here to this video, LOL. I got the RF800 at Canon outlet too for $500. Not too bad. I shall see.
Hello Philip! I honestly didn't expect this particular combo to do as well as it did--with good light and a stable shooting platform it's not bad at all. Good luck! :)
I've already seen 2nd hand R6's for sale at my local camera shop . As for the R5mrk2 .... Many just wanna boast that Golf club mentality . I have 4 Canon's a 35mm vintage and 3 DSLR's a 850D,90D , 5DSR . I haven't seen any need to buy into Mirrorless mainly because of the prices . When folks on youtube blatently live a bubble ignoring the ever increasing Cost of living !! And when i take pics for a hobby i see no point goin into debt . Most of the gear i've bought is 2nd hand
No offense intended, but if you haven't tried mirrorless cameras you literally have no idea what you're missing out on. Can great photos be made with 35mm gear and dSLRs? Of course, and I did the same for years--I still have my AE-1P, Rebel G, 50D and 7D. But technology marches on, and I absolutely think mirrorless has been a game-changer in terms of usability and creativity. Maybe it's just because I suck and needed crutches all along, but I can regularly do things with my mirrorless cameras that I could never (or very rarely) accomplish with older tech. That said, I certainly understand the price concern, especially where Canon is concerned--the RF cameras are generally not cheap, nor are Canon lenses, and only now are the 3rd-party lensmakers like Sigma and Tamron coming into the picture. I do recognize that I'm lucky to be able to blow the cash on Gear Acquisition Syndrome, and many can't. So hey, here's hoping I get the R5II and am greatly disappointed!
Good to hear your thoughts about this and I’m in agreement with most of what you have said. I really like the idea of being able to configure the max fps in various modes and I wish that was available on the R7. It would be nice to be able to tell it to just to 10fps for example and therefore you’d get a longer burst before the buffer gets full. I suspected that the R5 Mk2 would be way out of my price range and I was right 😅 It’s £4,449 here in the UK which converts to about $5,800 so once again the UK pays more. If I was still working and not retired, I would definitely get this R5 Mk2 to accompany my R7, but now I have to lower expectations and look towards the R6 Mk2. The price of the R6 Mk2 has dropped recently and there are rumours that there may be a Mk3 at the end of the year or the beginning of next year. I will wait until then and see how things develop. I look forward to watching your videos with the new camera 😊
Keep the original R5 in mind too--it's still a perfectly good camera, of course, and will be for years to come. Despite my looking forward to the advanced AF of the MkII, that doesn't mean the R5's AF stinks. And of course its image quality is still fantastic, which is the most important thing anyway!
Thanks for the video, was looking forward to it. I am surprised at the number of folks saying they were signed up for preorder and saying that they are going to cancel. Quite a few were due to the increased release price ($4299 vs $3999). I guess I just think already putting $4k out, what is another couple hundred dollars. My assumption is that it will be quite a while before the price drops at any point. I have an R5 and I am holding off mostly just due to I assume that the market might be flooded with used R5's and drive down the price. On a side note, I always hate selling used camera gear. Sometimes I even go the MPB/KEH route for a bit less just to not have to deal with folks who don't understand they are buying a used camera. How are you/did you sell your R5?
Thanks for watching! Putting the video together I was like jeez, how did I blather about all this for 20 minutes?! But I hoped someone might find it useful, anyway. Yeah, I was bummed that the price was higher than what had been rumored, like you said, in for a penny, etc. I figure I'll get some good content out of it if I get my hands on the R5II early, so that helps to justify the cost for me. :) I usually start with FB Marketplace to sell gear, if I think the profit is worth the hassle. It's a step above Craigslist, at least--when I get an inquiry I can check the person's profile to see if they're an actual human (and local--too many scams with shipping, so I insist on local cash deals). Hopefully that works out, the used gear shops will probably be flooded in short order!
I t was a useful video. I have a request if you make one with a 2.8 Lens from Canon. R7 I will buy. I am a Nikon Shooter but Canon is innovating faster.
Hello Sir, I saw your RU-vid channel. Your channel has many videos but not enough views and subscribers. Your channel should be optimized, and your videos are very good but your video optimization is very bad Example: The SEO score is very low; there is no perfect title or description; no SEO-friendly tags added; no social media sharing platform; and There are some problems with the settings on your RU-vid channel. Because of this, your video is not reaching the people who are interested and you are not getting enough views, likes, and subscriptions There are many problems for which your video views and subscribers are not good. As a result, your video views are not affected. You need SEO for your RU-vid channel immediately. As a video SEO expert, I look forward to your response. I can help you grow your RU-vid channel. I hope you understand. Have a nice day. Regards Repon Howlader.
Another interesting wander. As a matter of interest, how long does it take to drive to the first place Ragged Island? I followed it on Google Maps but it's difficult to get an idea of time involved
I live a little southwest of Richmond, so for points east I usually head up into the city to connect with interstate 64, which is the quickest route to places like Williamsburg and what's called the Hampton Roads area (Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia Beach). For Ragged Island I took 64 to Newport News and then crossed the James River Bridge to Ragged Island, which was a little over an hour and a half. Then I stayed on that side of the river and made my way back up towards home, mostly along route 10. I felt like the trip was kind of a dud photographically, but it was fun anyway!
Some great photos there. I am thinking that this lens won't be ideal for me in the UK given that there tends to be less sunny days here and a lot of my shooting tends to be in more shaded areas. Having said that, if I was to start going to to RSPB reserves again, then using this whilst sitting in a hide would probably be very useful.
Thanks sir! The 800mm tends to surprise me, as I'm sure I've said. It definitely has its quirks and limitations, but when the light is decent and the focus is right on, it really does produce some fine results. I wouldn't even say it needs a properly sunny day, and in fact overcast is always helpful to keep harsh shadows down. It definitely struggles under forest canopy, though!
Hello, I hope you are well. I saw your RU-vid channel. Your channel and video content is very good. Also the thumbnail design is very attractive. But here are some problems: 1. SEO score is very low 2. No title - description - tags are SEO friendly 3. Not sharing on social media platforms and your RU-vid channel is a lot of trouble. As a result views, likes and subscribers are not increasing. Benefits of 100% SEO Score: 1/ Views will increase 2/ Likes will increase 3/ Customers will increase 4/ Viewing time will increase 5/ Business will increase 6/ Audience will increase. 7/ Sales will increase. So, if you want your channel to increase subscribers, views, likes and comments with proper video SEO, Google ads and monetization. It will be your right decision. Do you want to increase your SEO score? I am waiting for your response. Thank you.
Hello, I hope you are well. I saw your RU-vid channel. . Your channel and video content is very good. Also the thumbnail design is very attractive. But here are some problems: 1. SEO score is very low 2. No title - description - tags are SEO friendly 3. Not sharing on social media platforms and your RU-vid channel is a lot of trouble. As a result views, likes and subscribers are not increasing. Benefits of 100% SEO Score: 1/ Views will increase 2/ Likes will increase 3/ Customers will increase 4/ Viewing time will increase 5/ Business will increase 6/ Audience will increase. 7/ Sales will increase. So, if you want your channel to increase subscribers, views, likes and comments with proper video SEO, Google ads and monetization. It will be your right decision. Do you want to increase your SEO score? I am waiting for your response. Thank you.
Excellent shots! I opted the 600/11 for the R7 but I don’t get to take it out as much as I should. The new toy atm is the 100-400ii adapted with a 0.71x or 1.4x. Pity the lens didn’t come with the tripod foot. I got the normal shape from ishoot as they have been great over the years
Thanks very much! I actually bought the RF 600mm first, but then I got the RF 100-500mm and 1.4x TC, giving me 700mm f/10 and making the 600mm a bit redundant. So I sold that and got the 800mm instead. Not a huge leap over that 700mm combo, but it also works with the TC, making it 1120mm--as I mentioned, I did an earlier video with that setup on the R7 (1792mm effective!), and was actually pretty pleased with the results! I think I'll pick up the handle-shaped foot as well, that would be a lot more comfortable when I'm handholding the beast. :)
Great video Kelly. My daughter has been itching out to get some pics of warblers. We have a Cape May Warbler that has returned to our pine tree for about 3 years in a row. We are hearing a few new ones. Something you might be interested that we picked up was something called Bird Weather. It is an always on, always recording device that ID's birds based on sounds. We have found many birds that we never knew hung around as well as hearing many migrating birds overnight. You should check it out.
I never used to pay much attention to the little birds, because they were always too tough to photograph or identify. Modern gear makes that a lot easier, and some of them are just gorgeous. Loved the Hooded and Canada warblers I saw on this outing! BirdWeather looks neat! Do you have their PUC device? Might have to splurge, though--a Raspberry Pi DIY version would be cheaper, but I imagine also a lot more touchy and unreliable.
@@wanderland_xyz I do. I sent you a link on your facebook site to it. I just don't have the time to nerd out on a Raspberry Pi anymore, so this was a nice, convenient option. We are impressed so far and like that it is portable so we can take it on hikes and as we travel.
looks like you have a low car, not 4x4 was it a safe drive for that size car? Are you able to turn around if it was impassable before getting stuck? Was thinking to try as far as possible with a Toyota Rav 4 next week 13 May...thanks for recent advice...is the road best taken by starting at boat ramp (one way? trouble passing cars on dirt road?)?
Great questions, Marcy! My Audi Q5 is all-wheel-drive, but honestly we didn't come across anything even remotely iffy. The roads start out paved, then turn to crushed gravel. Didn't come across any major ruts, no stream crossings to speak of, really nothing of note at all. I imagine there are side roads that could get dicey, but if you stick with Forest Roads 59, 768, and 812 you'll be fine. The mountain roads are definitely pretty narrow as roads go, so you want to watch the blind curves, but we found plenty of wider spots to pull off to the side as needed. On a Friday traffic was very light--we played leapfrog with a couple other vehicles going the same direction as us, but actually never encountered anyone coming the other way. That said, you can take it from either end, starting at either the Arcadia boat launch or the Sunset Field overlook. I read beforehand (and would agree!) that it's better to start at the Arcadia end, as early as you can manage. That's the lowest point, so the birds there are active early along the river, and then as you climb into the mountains the temperatures are cooler and the birds stay more active as you go. I think I'll write up a blog post on my website with the overview and some more tips--I'll reply with a link once I get that posted!
All of the birds you managed to photograph are all new to me as we don’t have those in the UK. The exception is the Redstart which we do have albeit slightly different to yours but not by much. It’s great to be able to see all these exotic species (to me they are), so keep them coming 😊 Also I forgot to say, some great scenery there as well.
Most of what we saw was quite new to me as well! Definitely can't recall having seen a Cerulean or Canada warbler before. Most of the rest I've seen, but only rarely, like the Hooded and Black-and-White warblers. And the Cliff swallows were a real bonus, don't think I've seen those before either, let alone been close enough to their nests to get them peeking out like that. Quite a day!
Very nice walk. I’ve been on a few that were similar, plenty of birds around but not much photo opportunity. Are those tress deciduous? If so you might be able to see more before all the leaves start developing - I’ve had success in a couple of areas like that when I’ve gone a little earlier in the year. Did you you see the rumours about Canon possibly making 2 announcements this month? I assume one of them is the long awaited R5 Mark2 😊
Oh yes, and it seems one announcement may be as early as this week! Definitely have my fingers crossed for the R5II, I plan to order that bad boy as soon as possible! :)
Very nice shots. I wonder what's the focusing area on the R5 with the 800mm/11 lens? In my R7, it's approximately half the sensor area, which is large enough (of course, being APS-C, following a bird in flight is...a little challenging compared to a full frame sensor)
Thanks very much! I just did a quick comparison. On the R7 I'd call the square focusing area about 60% of the frame. On the R5 it's more like 40%, as you might expect--a bit more unavailable space at the top and bottom, but moreso on the sides. Still quite useable, but I wonder if it might look different (and better!) on the upcoming R5 Mark II!
Superb photos, thanks for sharing 😊 Do I remember you saying that you don’t usually crop photos and you like to use the full photo that was taken? That is something I never seem to be able to achieve as I always end up having to crop things out or crop to get a tighter composition.
Thank you sir! In a few years you might have a similar opportunity--Universal recently purchased land near Bedford in the UK and are in the early stages of planning a park there. Nothing certain yet, but I hope it works out! As for cropping, for the most part I only crop a little--usually just a slight rotation to level the horizon or otherwise make sure my verticals are vertical, and sometimes to remove distractions around the edges. For some compositions I'll crop to make my Rule of Thirds framing more accurate. Wildlife photos I often crop more heavily, to get my subject to fill more of the frame. I'm sure I've said that I don't generally like to throw data away, which is why I only do monochrome once in a while. My cropping philosophy is similar, I suppose!
Have never been to Universal. Kids are finally getting to the age where they will probably really enjoy it. We have been to Dinsey World several times. In the effort to get the most bang for our (very many) buck(s), we have never dedicated a day to just taking pictures. Maybe one day when the kids are no longer interested. 😂
Yes, I have to say one of the benefits of living in Orlando for me was the opportunity to wander the theme parks with no real pressure. We'd get annual passes and just go out to Disney or Universal or SeaWorld for a morning or an evening, ride whatever had short lines, and spend the rest of the time just checking out the sights. That's the way to do it--trying to plan it out and cram everything into a day or two sucks a lot of the fun out of it! I am glad for the opportunity to go back and visit a couple times a year, though, and really looking forward to the new Universal park that opens next year!
And yes, I think it's a great exercise to limit yourself to just a lens or two, and/or gear you don't typically bring along. It really makes you look at scenes differently, which is a great way to stretch the composition muscles! I need to do more along those lines.
@@wanderland_xyz I will be waiting 🤗 Actually I wanted to buy this combo for bird photography, mainly videography I know this lens has its limitations but still it is a great lens🤗 Do a detailed video please
Yes indeed! We got about 83% coverage here, which was still pretty good. I briefly considered driving the 6 hours or so to get to the path of totality, but couldn't really make the timing work. And I considered making a video, but I can't claim to know much about what I'm doing when it comes to stuff like that. I did get some neat shots though, maybe I'll throw some into a future video as an aside. :)
