Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What’s Up?

What’s up is that I have so, so much to share right now that I wish that I could do three blog posts every day for at least the next two weeks. But alas, the Spoonbill Boat IPT calls. We had a relatively slow start but had some great chances with breeding plumage Roseate Spoonbill, breeding plumage Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, and Turkey Vulture.

On Sunday I will reveal the answer to the SONY or Nikon? Can you judge the Image Quality? question from the blog post here.

And soon I will have lots to say about flight photography with the SONY 100-400 and the 2X TC; I was quite surprised by what I learned.

Canon & Nikon State of the Art Gear Price Reductions

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens/with Extras!

$300.00 Price Drop! New BAA Record-low Price
$200.00 Price Drop! FEB 16, 2019 — New BAA Record-low Price

Multiple IPT veteran and good friend Paul Reinstein is offering a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM in excellent plus condition — it would be near-mint but for a few small paint chips on the bottom of the lens foot — for the BAA record-low price of $6,599.00. (was $7099.00). The sale includes the rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the original tough front lens cover, the lens strap, the instruction manual, the original product box, a LensCoat,a LensCoat Hoodie that has been modified to make it easier to install over the LensCoat, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Photos are available upon request. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Paul e-mail or by phone or text message at 1-310-946-9031 (Pacific time zone).

The 500 f/4 super telephoto lenses have long been the world’s most popular for birds,nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. Canon’s Series II version is light, fast, super-sharp, and produces amazing images with both the 1.4X and 2X III TCs. The 500 II is relatively small, easily hand holdable for some folks, and is much easier travel with, focuses closer than, and costs a lot less than the 600 II. Lastly, and you might find this amazing, the magnification for the 500 II is the same as it is for the 600 II: .15X. How is that possible? Magnification is calculated at the minimum focusing distance of the lens — 12.14 feet (3.7 meters) for the 500 II and 14.77 feet (4.5 meters) for the 600 II. Simply put, the 500 II focuses more than two feet closer than the 600 II. The seller for the last one that sold here had five calls the first day; the first four folks quibbled on price. The fifth one jumped right on it … Please do not tarry if you are seriously interested in Paul’s lens as it should sell almost instantly. Or not 🙂 As the 500 II goes for $8999 new you will be getting an almost new lens while saving an amazing $2400.00. I loved my 500 II 🙂 artie

Nikon Price Drops

Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with Dual XQD Slots

Price Reduced $500 on 7 FEB 2019

Price Reduced Another $300 on 7 FEB 2019

Arthur Morris is offering a barely used (shutter count 16,263) Nikon D5 in excellent to near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $4,696.95 (was $5,496.95). The sale includes the original box and everything in it including the front lens cap, and insured ground shipping via United Parcel Service.

Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 (please leave a message if no answer).

You can save a cool $1800.00 by grabbing Nikon’s blazingly fast, top of the line professional digital camera body right now. It was the D5 autofocus that switched me from Canon to Nikon in point three seconds … artie

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR Lens

Price Reduced $100 on February 7, 2019.
Price Reduced another $100 on February 7, 2019.

Yours truly is offering a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens in excellent plus condition for only $1,599.00 (was $1799.00). The sale includes the original product box and everything that came it including the front and rear caps along with insured ground shipping via United Parcel Service.

Please contact me via e-mail or on my cell at 863-221-2372.

The 80-400mm VR lens served as my main lens on both the Emperor Penguin and Falklands trip. Focus fine-tuned with both of my D850 bodies this body produced some of the sharpest images I have eve seen. artie

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens (with a great and necessary extra)

Price Reduced $100 on January 18, 2019.
Price Reduced another $100 on January 30, 2019.
Price Reduced another $100 on February 16, 2019.

Still loving and keeping my much more expensive Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens, I am offering my Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens in pretty close to near-mint condition for only $1099.00 (was $1399.00). The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it, the crappy original tripod collar, the RRS Collar Foot Package for Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens (a $250 plus the shipping value), and insured ground shipping via UPS.

Please contact me via e-mail or on my cell at 863-221-2372.

This is the lens that hooked me on Nikon and its great AF system. It is sharp and versatile and though AF is a bit sluggish away from the center AF point with a teleconverter, I made some great images with the TC-E14. This lens sells new right now for $1,396.95 with only the crappy original tripod collar … artie

Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E III

Price Reduced $50 on January 18, 2019.

Arthur Morris is offering a rarely used Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E II in near-mint condition for a money saving of $299.00 (was $349.00). The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it including the front and rear caps, and insured ground shipping via United Parcel Service.

Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 (please leave a message if no answer).

I successfully used this 2X TC with the 600 VR. It sells new for $ $ 496.95 artie

Nikon D-850 dSLR (with extras!)

Price Reduced $200 on February 16, 2019.

Multiple IPT veteran, dear friend, and BAA technical advisor Patrick Sparkman is offering a one-year old Nikon D850 DSLR camera body in excellent to like-new condition for $2699.00 (was $2899.00). The sale includes the original battery, the original battery charger, the MB-D18 Battery Grip, a Sony 120GB G Series XQD Memory Card, the following off-brand items: battery chamber cover, lithium battery, and battery charger — these work like the Nikon versions and raise the frame rate to 9 fps, the original product box, the front body cover, and insured shipping via Fed Ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Patrick via e-mail.

The D850 is my favorite Nikon body by miles. With a slightly slower frame rate than the D5, the far superior D850 image quality and its superb AF system found me leaving my D5 on the shelf nearly all the time … With the D850 you can shoot wider and crop while still getting large, high quality image files. artie

Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art Lens for Nikon F

Price Reduced $100 on February 16, 2019.

Multiple IPT veteran, dear friend, and BAA technical advisor Patrick Sparkman is offering a Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art Lens for Nikon F in like-new condition for $699.00 (was $799.00). The lens is 2 months old, and was barely used. The glass is perfect. The sale includes the lens hood, the original box, the soft case that came with the lens, the front cover, the rear lens cap, and insured shipping via Fed Ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Patrick via e-mail.

The 14-24 Sigma Art lens is as sharp or sharper than similar Nikon lenses for a lot less money. It is a landscape photographer’s dream wide angle and a superb night sky lens. It sells new for $1,299.00. artie

What’s Up?

I am heading over to Circle Bar B Ranch in Lakeland for a morning photography session. Then I meet multiple IPT veterans Mike Gotthelf and Morris Herstein for a lunch session on setting up their SONY A9 bodies for bird photography. That will be followed by an afternoon shooting session at Fort DeSoto and a morning session on Friday. If you are an A9 shooter and would like to join us at the Neptune Grill in Gulfport today at 1pm please call me cell at 863-221-2372.

IPT Updates

I still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip, and the UK Puffins and Gannets trip is wide open with only a single registrant. Please shoot me an e-mail to learn about the huge late registration discount on the Galapagos trip.

• The 2019 Fort DeSoto Spring IPT/THURS 18 APRIL through the morning session on SUNDAY APRIL 21, 2019: 3 1/2 DAYS: $1549. Limit 8/Openings: 4. Meet and greet at 7PM on the evening of WED 17 APRIL.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4. Please e-mail to learn about the huge late registration discount for this trip.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. Most recently the price of used Canon 600mm f/L IS II lenses have been dropping like a rock with the introduction of the 600 III. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

This image was created after the conclusion of the 2019 San Diego IPT. ISO 400: 1/800 at f/6.3 was an underexposure. Image #1: Pacific race Brown Pelican on rock

The Playing Field

Both of today’s featured images were created within minutes of each other. One was made with my new Sony gear, one was made with my Nikon gear. Both were converted in Capture One. There was no selective sharpening, no NIK, and no sharpening at applied to the resulting JPEGs.

I have tried many times to create identical images with different camera bodies for comparative purposes. I have always failed miserably even when I photographed a sign with the gear on a tripod! With a bird, it is pretty much impossible. But I tried.

This image was created after the conclusion of the 2019 San Diego IPT. ISO 400: 1/500 at f/5.6 was perfect. Image #2: Pacific race Brown Pelican on rock

SONY or Nikon?

Please enlarge each image to view a larger, inexplicably sharper version. I ask that you judge only the fine feather detail on the breast, the folded wings, the back, and the head. Do note that when created Image #1 the sun was a bit brighter than when I created Image #2. Please therefore do not concern yourself with differences in color or contrast. Both of those in large part are more a function of the photographer’s personal tastes and their choices both during the RAW conversion and later in Photoshop. Similarly, do not choose the “best” image based on your favorite pose. As above, my only concern here is to see if anyone can note image quality differences in an unsharpened 1200 pixel wide JPEG.

If you need some help, you can check out my very similar BPN post here.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

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Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).