I spy...What am "eye"?

twebster · Post by **twebster** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 12:08 pm

The last time I posted one of these bird's eyes, Rik guessed it right off. I decided to make it a bit more challenging this time.

There's no prize if you guess correctly, just the satisfaction of knowing your birds.

I also posted this to show what can be done with a Canon prosumer dSLR and 2, stacked 1.4x teleconverters. I normally shoot a Canon 1D MkII with a 1.3x crop factor for birds. Lately, though, the 1D MkII with 500mm lens and 2x teleconverter has fallen a little short when photographing small birds like warblers. The Canon prosumer dSLRs have a 1.6x crop factor that would work better for the smaller birds but those models (Rebel XT, XTi, 20D and 30D) will not autofocus with the 2x teleconverter. What's a guy to do

Since Canon cameras only report the teleconverter that is attached to the lens, I got the bright idea that I could stack another 1.4x teleconverter with my current 1.4x teleconverter and the 30D dSLR I have should still autofocus. You can't stack 2 Canon 1.4x teleconverters so I bought a Kenko 1.4x Teleplus Pro 300 DG teleconverter and stack it with my Canon 1.4x II tc.

The results have been better than I could have ever expected! The image, above, is a 100% pixel view of a bird who's head just fills the full frame from the 30D. I think the sharpness and contrast is just amazing and will be using this rig for all of my small bird photography.

Enjoy

Bruce Williams · Post by **Bruce Williams** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:47 pm

Tom, I'd have been pretty impressed if you'd said that you'd taken this photo through aviary netting using a 150mm macro lens - it is quite simply stunning!!!

Frankly I'm struggling to find words to say how good I think it is - particularly considering how it was taken. It's not just technically and artistically excellent, but it's just so...so totally...AVIAN! It perfectly captures that unique quality ...that essential "birdness" of....well...birds (told you I was struggling

).

A great achievement!

I have no idea on species but I can't wait to see the full frame.

Bruce

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 3:52 pm

Nycticorax nycticorax.... BCNH

Gordon C. Snelling · Post by **Gordon C. Snelling** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:01 pm

Wonderful shot, and I agree.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:41 pm

Excellent photo Tom. I don`t think they live on the east coast

Love that red eye.

Mike B in OKlahoma · Post by **Mike B in OKlahoma** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 7:09 pm

I recognized the roadrunner immediately, but was clueless on this one!

twebster · Post by **twebster** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:07 pm

Good grief

You guys are good

Charlie nailed it. Black Crowned Night Heron.

Looks like I'll have to make a trip out of the country for the next one

Really, I posted this to show how good stacked 1.4x teleconverters work on the 500mm lens. Pretty impressive...and so are you, Charlie

Best regards as always,

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Tue Apr 24, 2007 10:43 pm

In a word, WOW!

If I understand this correctly, we're looking at a 500mm lens stacked with two 1.4X teleconverters, making a net 1000mm lens, imaging onto a 22.5x15mm sensor. That's about a 37X telephoto, and it's still sharp at the pixel level.

No way would I have predicted that this would actually work. That was a very good bet, Tom! Thanks for sharing the results!

--Rik