Ofer Levy
May 29th, 2009, 11:48 PM
Clip – Lesser Kestrel hovering Lesser Kestrel, Sony PMW EX3, Nikon 600 f5.6 on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/4910420)
Hi all,
I do wildlife filming and use the EX3 with a few Nikon SLR lenses – mostly the Nikon 200-400 f4 AF VR, Nikon 80-200 f2.8 and the Nikon 600 f5.6 MF. The lenses are mounted on the camera via Mike Tapa’s adaptors. ( Mounts and Adaptors (http://www.mtfservices.com/mtf-products-list/mounts-and-adaptors.html) )
Finding the subject when using long telephoto lenses can be a bit tricky. Keep in mind that a 600mm SLR lens behaves like a 3200mm lens on the EX3 due to the crop factor. It becomes almost impossible when shooting flying or hovering birds against the sky with no other object to use as a reference.
I use two methods in order to find the subject in the viewfinder:
1. For a static object I use the two hot shoe mounts. When looking trough the two mounts I place the target in the centre, then looking through the viewfinder I move the lens up till I see the target.
This is a good way for static objects but it is not very useful for moving ones like birds in flight.
2. For a moving object I use the viewfinder. First I have to “calibrate” the viewfinder with the lens using a static object. The way to do that is to find a static object which is small enough in the frame – place it in the middle of the frame in the viewfinder and lock the fluid head. Once the object is in the middle of the frame I find it looking at it with my left eye outside the viewfinder and by moving the viewfinder up and down and to the sides I try to get the picture I see through the viewfinder with my right eye to unite with what I see outside the viewfinder with my LEFT eye. Once this was achieved I lock the viewfinder and ready to go.
Now when following a moving target like a bird in flight I first use my left eye looking at it outside the viewfinder and then my right eye through the viewfinder to get the two images unite.
I am terribly sorry for the far from elegant description – this is the best I can do with my limited English.
Please feel free to ask questions – I promise you that both techniques really work as you can see in the attached clip. I will upload another clip of a hovering Pied Kingfisher soon.
Please note that no processing was applied to the clip and it looks on Vimeo quite different than what it looks on my Mac – a bit washed out and considerably softer.
Cheers,
Ofer Levy
Ofer Levy Photography (http://www.oferlevyphotography.com)
Hi all,
I do wildlife filming and use the EX3 with a few Nikon SLR lenses – mostly the Nikon 200-400 f4 AF VR, Nikon 80-200 f2.8 and the Nikon 600 f5.6 MF. The lenses are mounted on the camera via Mike Tapa’s adaptors. ( Mounts and Adaptors (http://www.mtfservices.com/mtf-products-list/mounts-and-adaptors.html) )
Finding the subject when using long telephoto lenses can be a bit tricky. Keep in mind that a 600mm SLR lens behaves like a 3200mm lens on the EX3 due to the crop factor. It becomes almost impossible when shooting flying or hovering birds against the sky with no other object to use as a reference.
I use two methods in order to find the subject in the viewfinder:
1. For a static object I use the two hot shoe mounts. When looking trough the two mounts I place the target in the centre, then looking through the viewfinder I move the lens up till I see the target.
This is a good way for static objects but it is not very useful for moving ones like birds in flight.
2. For a moving object I use the viewfinder. First I have to “calibrate” the viewfinder with the lens using a static object. The way to do that is to find a static object which is small enough in the frame – place it in the middle of the frame in the viewfinder and lock the fluid head. Once the object is in the middle of the frame I find it looking at it with my left eye outside the viewfinder and by moving the viewfinder up and down and to the sides I try to get the picture I see through the viewfinder with my right eye to unite with what I see outside the viewfinder with my LEFT eye. Once this was achieved I lock the viewfinder and ready to go.
Now when following a moving target like a bird in flight I first use my left eye looking at it outside the viewfinder and then my right eye through the viewfinder to get the two images unite.
I am terribly sorry for the far from elegant description – this is the best I can do with my limited English.
Please feel free to ask questions – I promise you that both techniques really work as you can see in the attached clip. I will upload another clip of a hovering Pied Kingfisher soon.
Please note that no processing was applied to the clip and it looks on Vimeo quite different than what it looks on my Mac – a bit washed out and considerably softer.
Cheers,
Ofer Levy
Ofer Levy Photography (http://www.oferlevyphotography.com)