Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/12/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I agree with Doug. Have you been there to see these parrots? I have, many times on birding expeditions, and you get only a fleeting glimpse of most parrots. (the only birds harder to see are hummingbirds, antbirds, and most ground birds) Parrots screech loudly as you disturb them from their perches. Then they fly away from the top of the 150' tree that they were in very fast across the field, or across the top of the forest, or across the valley to another 150' tall tree. You barely have time to get binoculars on them to get a field mark or two and try to narrow down the identification possibilities before they're gone. These birds usually feed and roost high up in the trees. And they're green; good camoflouge in a rain forest. Oh, and you're looking at the birds backlit most of the time. Exceptions? You're at the mineral cliffs in Manu, Peru. This, and a few other secretive locations, are where many parrots come to scrape off and ingest mineral-rich clay to aide in digestion. Fabulous opportunities there. See Fritz Lansing's stuff. The minimum decent bird lens is usually a 500mm unless you're shooting from a blind. And the telephoto flash is a big help, as Doug mentions. Good luck. Skip - ----Original Message Follows---- From: Doug Herr <telyt@earthlink.net> Reply-To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us To: leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us Subject: Re: [Leica] New M6 Titanium & suitability of M& for wildlife photography Date: 19 Dec 2001 09:17:19 -0800 On Wed, 19 December 2001, "fs" wrote: > > I_m interested in the M6 only because of my interest in > photographing parrots in the rainforests of South America. > I wonder if 135mm is enough telephoto - is there nothing more powerful from > a third party? - perhaps I would be better off with a Hassie, except for the > size and possibly the build quality of the Hassie body which is not, I've > heard, in the same league as the M6. > > frank > Unless the birds are captive or habituated to humans, 135mm isn't going to be enough lens. Rain forests are a particularly difficult environment for wildlife photography because the dense foliage keeps most natural light from reaching the forest floor, many of the critters are high in the trees, and the rain & humidity add their own unique problems. TTL flash with a Better Beamer-like flash extender, with at least 300mm or so of lens will probably work better, and your chances of problems from the rain and humidity are reduced with mechanical cameras. Among Leica equipment, the R6.2 & a fast APO-Telyt seems like the best bet. Doug Herr Birdman of Sacramento http://www.wildlightphoto.com ___________________________________________________ The ALL NEW CS2000 from CompuServe Better! Faster! More Powerful! 250 FREE hours! Sign-on Now! http://www.compuserve.com/trycsrv/cs2000/webmail/ - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html