Split focusing 2nd review- super birding from 300mm to 400mm to 1600mm

[sunnycamera]

just got a Sunny Day for another Camera Day;

this supposes to be the Day 3 run for Splitting Focusing review of big eye type focus screen;

if you just run into this channel, please go and read the Day 1 and Day 2 Night Eye run at this link
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/thre...plit-Screen-Test-Run-on-Kx-not-the-small-hole

www.clubsnap.com/forums/threads/952125-Focus-Screen-Review-Super-Big-Split-Screen-Test-Run-on-Kx-not-the-small-hole

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Finally, Sun is up and Night is Gone, it means time for birding and things on the fly.

just got a new 2x TC, good time for the big gun to run.


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Day 3: 100mm to 300mm to 600mm

Camera: Pentax Kx
Lens: Vivitar 100-300mm f5 manual lens
(constant aperture, internal focus, close focus, built-in hood)

Light condition: haze afternoon sun light
Time: 15:30 SGT
Location: Labrador nature reserve

Test 1: find the target (at 300mm, equiv. 450mm on kx)

spoted a group of dragonfly

Tips on focusing tiny subject;

as the subject gets too small in viewfinder,

there are 2 methods to focus in such bright sun light:

1. center big split the nearby subject
2. micro-prism side blur control focusing

Easy for 1st method, thus as the wood stick under the dragonfly

after turn the focusing ring tiny little bit, to reduce the spliting

For 2nd method, aim the target on the outline circle,
use the blur and sharp to determine the focus

the sharper it turns, the more accurate it focused

the stick on circle sharpen up

[video=youtube;Ckcuntofz30]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckcuntofz30[/video]

video in action from behind the scene view

 

[sunnycamera]

Test 2: Aim the target and Prefixed Focus (stability, flexibility)

as the longer you go, the shakier it gets, not to mention the live view shaking like crazy at that focal length.

tuning the angle at that magnification is a pain and tricky process;

There are 3 things come in handy

1. tripod collar: it balances the heavy weight (1.8 kg as shown below) and avoid the long front dipping when mount directly on camera, the Canon 70-200 f4 tripod collar will do a not-so-bad job for most small telephoto lens
2. a rough terrain tripod: tuning the lens angle is another tricky process, the weight will always dip down the angle you set. so another way to the drag and bend the tripod leg slightly to aim up and aim down the whole rig slightly.
3. pose the camera inside tripod collar, as you can see, the lens is quite loose in the collar, sliding the lens slightly will also help change the center weight position will aim up and down.

A another trip is once you get a good shot in focus, that means it will always in focus at the spot.

advantage of tripod setup than the hand hold setup is that your spot is never changed and your focal distance is never changed; it is good for spotting repeative acting animals.

like this stick, it attracts all the dragonfly to sit on.

people like video in action more than photo nowadays, so here is the live record from behind the scene camera;

[video=youtube;hVTyM_wiYQ8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVTyM_wiYQ8[/video]

and here is what I get at 300mm after a run down.

a sharp stick, 300mm, ISO 800, f8, 1/640

a front view, 300mm, f8, iso 1600, 1/250, a bit over exposed

sharp one, 300mm, f8, iso 800, 1/640

all timer based shutter shot

 

[sunnycamera]

Test 3: 600mm with Mirror Vibration and Timed Shutter

Now it comes in the 600mm setup with vivitar 100-300mm f5 and vivitar MC 2x teleconvertor;

this vivitar family combo seems for a good optical result.

[video=youtube;8W8nePR3Ym0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W8nePR3Ym0[/video]

the Mirror slapping Vibration becomes more obvious as the focal length increases.

at 600mm f5-f8 (effective 900mm f10-f16 on kx) it is really shaky, and a tiny movement on the rig will vibrate for 2-5 seconds;

so a remote wireless shutter release become handy, and the mirror-up timer shutter also will be a inconvinent method to reduce the mirror vibration;


this is one got in 600mm

600mm, f8, iso: 800; 1/640; should have stop down the f stop a bit more for wide depth of field.; timer shot

 

[sunnycamera]

The End of Day 3:

End of the whole afternoon run for vivitar 100-300mm telephoto birding run.

got some good ones out from manual focusing this ancient lens.

300mm at 3 meter distance. iso 1600; 1/400; f8

As you see, 300mm is never long enough for alert birds; manual focusing must be fast to get 5 shots before it runs away.

300mm, iso 400; 1/600; f5

Catching small on the fly thing is even more tricky,

as you need to aim and chase it from that long telephoto view, and manual focusing it in the right spot;

one shot at one time like sniper, not bursting and vibrating the camera like machine gun.

To be continued with even bigger gun.

see you in day 4.

 

[darrrrrrrrrr]

The Gorillapod is hardly an ideal platform for shooting a heavy telephoto lens, and the tripod collar rig is also really inadequate. I think a better tripod set-up is necessary

 

[elavan]

very innovative , but really, u need a sub 3kg tripod + heavy duty head for that kind of focal length..

 

[sunnycamera]

ha ha, standard tripod is too big and bulky to carry for a Sunday casual trip.

as you can see my bag is a small casual bag, the little tripod holds well and sits well on my bag like a little cat, so hardly make my mind to carry a half meter 1 kg tripod out.

hand hold mostly when walking around, and use long range Flash for dark forest shots.

 

[oceanpriest]

was that gorillapod zoom or focus? looks stable enough for your setup

 

[detritus]

ha ha, standard tripod is too big and bulky to carry for a Sunday casual trip.

as you can see my bag is a small casual bag, the little tripod holds well and sits well on my bag like a little cat, so hardly make my mind to carry a half meter 1 kg tripod out.

hand hold mostly when walking around, and use long range Flash for dark forest shots.

i think what u're doing is really cool, showing us what the split focusing screen can do and making the effort to shoot through the VF to demo in detail how the focusing screen works. not easy. :thumbsup: great effort.

but the pictures shows something else and i'm not sure if it is intended - the 2x TC causes significant image degradation - you end up documenting the limitations of the TCs rather than the strength of the focusing screen. you can try stepping down more, but i doubt that it'll get any sharper

 

[CorneliusK]

I think the problem lies in the fact that the OP is wants to achieve too many things at the same time.

The OP wants to shoot with long tele lenses with support, but at the same time he wants to travel light, and he also does not want to spend too much money.

I think the set up he is choosing is sacrificing way too much in terms of stability to make it useful in any way. Why not consider a monopod? It is even smaller and lighter, and when used with proper technique, will probably give you better results. I cannot believe that it can be worse that hanging a camera off a loose tripod collar...

 

[pinholecam]

Again, I must commend you on the good effort to shoot thru the viewfinder to present a 'how it looks like' for the focusing screen.

Just some comments on the setup.
1. Maybe you can wrap so cloths around the lens barrel for a secure fit with the tripod collar.
2. A gorilla pod is not too stable. Maybe a bean bag (of some cloths stuffed into a sock) will be more stable.

Keep it up