Sony Lens Testing for Wildlife Shooting
 

I'm in the early stages of producing a "How to Shoot Wildlife Video" master class, and last month I asked Sony if they would lend me four of their most popular telephoto lenses that I could test and evaluate. Those lenses were the 200-600, 100-400, 70-200, and 70-300. I only had the lenses for a couple of weeks -- and it was the rainiest July on record in Massachusetts -- but nevertheless, I was able to put each of the lenses through it's paces check their suitability for wildlife shooting. I'll have a more complete review of the pros and cons of the various lenses later, but in the meantime I thought I'd post some footage I shot using the lenses and my Sony FX6 camera.

This one was shot with the 70-300 ($1200) and 200-600 ($2000) -- with and without Sony's excellent 2x teleconverter ($550). BTW, the teleconverter is not compatible with the 70-300.

Re: Sony Lens Testing for Wildlife Shooting
 

Doug, I believe I could hand you any camcorder ever made and you would return with stunning visuals. Thanks for posting such beautiful clips. Bob

Re: Sony Lens Testing for Wildlife Shooting
 

In addition to all the technical stuff, Doug is also a master of animal choreography. At 0:35 you see the butterfly take off and then the bird comes around for a fly buy. Magical stuff.

Truly, Walt Disney would have been proud to have those skills and not have to settle for drawing the action.

Andrew

Re: Sony Lens Testing for Wildlife Shooting
 

Thank you for the compliments, but when I watch great wildlife films, such as the Our Planet series, I'm reminded I'm just a hobbyist. Speaking of getting animals to move on cue, many people have asked me how I got the alligator to start swimming @ 1:30 in this video AFTER I started panning the camera. As much as I'd like to say I trained him, the truth is sometimes you just get lucky. That's what keeps it interesting.

Re: Sony Lens Testing for Wildlife Shooting
 

I am sure it helped that he was using the $3,400 Sachtler aktiv8 system to support the camera and lens.

Re: Sony Lens Testing for Wildlife Shooting
 

Obviously a professional tripod is required if professional results are expected. But $3400 is not expensive at all for a tripod of this caliber.