Always a Thrill For Me...

What’s Up?

On Saturday we went back to Lake Kussharo for more Whooper Swan photography and more ramen noodles. The morning was superb on all counts. After the success noted below with the 600 II/1D X combo at Akan on Friday, I concentrated on the incoming swans in flight with that same tripod-mounted rig. I am typing in the van on Saturday afternoon as we search for Ural Owls and more and have not seen the images yet, but I am betting that they will be superb.

Coming tomorrow: 600 II/5DS R raptors in flight; is this the sickest blog post ever?

Please shoot me an e-mail if you would like to join me in Japan next year, if you have any questions on the trip, or if you would like to learn about the repeat customer or the couple’s discounts.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks 110 days in a row with a new educational blog post. This post took me about 90 minutes to assemble including the time spent on the image optimization. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.

This image was created at Lake Kussharo on the Japan in Winter IPT with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400: 1/500 sec. at f/11 in Av mode. AWB.

Center AF point (by necessity)/AI Servo Expand/Shutter Button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure; this is a small crop. The center AF point was on the neck right below the base of the bill.

Eastern Spot-billed Duck, drake walking on ice

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Always a Thrill For Me…

Even though I do not keep a Life List or a Japan List it is always a thrill for me to photograph a new species well. I first saw Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha zonorhyncha) at Lake Kussharo last week in really poor photographic conditions: foggy and misty and dark. Yesterday, as you can clearly see above, was much better. My Arctic Pro Muck Boots allowed me to walk into the shallow bit of open water so that I could get closer to the bird and work as closely as possible to light angle; note that with the light from over my left shoulder that a slight head turn toward me was needed to properly light the bird’s face. Thank you Mr. Duck.

I am loving my 5DS R and using two of them pretty much exclusively right now.

Selling Your Used Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin 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. Until they folded E-Bay fees are in the range of 13%. Business is booming here.

The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

John Norris sold his EOS 1D-X in like-new condition for $2999 in mid February 2016.
IPT veteran Carl Zanoni sold his second EOS 1D-X, this one in like-new condition for $2949 in mid-February 2016.
IPT veteran Carl Zanoni sold his Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens in near-mint condition for the record low price of $750 in mid-February 2016.
Doug Bolt’s Canon 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS zoom lens (the old 1-4) in excellent condition sold for $599 on February 12, 2016.
Multiple IPT veteran Carl Zanoni sold a Canon EOS 1D-X Professional dSLR in like-new condition for $3099 in early February 2016.
Saul Pleeter sold his Nikon D600 DSLR camera body in near-new condition for $630 in early February, 2016.

New Listings

Mint Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens

Ned Therrien is offering a used Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens in mint condition for $3899; there are no scratches or dings. This sale includes the lens trunk, the manual, the lens strap, the front cover, the rear lens cap, a Lens Coat, a Really Right Stuff 63A Arca Swiss compatible lens plate, and insured ground shipping via Fed-Ex. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangement are made.

Please contact Ned via e-mail or by phone at 603-524-6274 (Eastern time).

The 500 f/4 lenses have long been the most popular focal lengths for bird, wildlife, and nature photography. I have owned various iterations of this lens for more than 15 years. I loved my old five. For a mint lens, this is an astounding value. Grab it now or it will be gone. artie

Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF ED Lens

Karl Zuzarte is offering a used Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF ED lens

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR lens in excellent condition for the BAA record low price of $2895. The sale includes a LensCoat, the front cover, the rear cap, the original felt lined, padded lens bag, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Karl by e-mail or by phone at 508-873-6081 (Eastern time).

This extremely versatile lens is priced to sell instantly. artie

Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂

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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Gitzo tripods, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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 we are 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 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.