The males of most bird species seem to get all the attention. Not a surprise, of course, considering that they usually have the bright multi-coloured plumage. Female birds, though, can also be quite beautiful and worthy of notice.
This is all too true with Bufflehead ducks (Bucephala albeola). The males are so striking few photographers seem to bother with the females.
Here are a couple of females:
However, let’s not totally ignore the males. Here’s one about to take off:
Nikkor D300 DSLR with 300mm f/2.8 lens + 1.7x teleconverter on a tripod
Common Mergansers (Mergus merganser) are not rare in my area (extreme west end of Lake Ontario’s north shore), but neither are these ducks plentiful at this time of year. I always try to get a shot even when—as they often are—they’re out of range for my lens. Sometimes I get lucky and can get a decent image with some heavy cropping.
These were among the first pictures I have taken with my Black Widow Gimbal (BWG) tripod head manufactured by Jobu Design here in Ontario—see earlier post. I doubt I’d have gotten an acceptable shot at that distance if I’d tried to hand-hold the camera—8lbs+ for Nikon D300 DSLR and 300mm f/2.8 lens.
It takes about ten minutes, if that, to get up to speed with this gear—I couldn’t be more pleased with the BWG. Birds in flight (BIF) shots are still a real challenge though; I’ll need plenty of practice.
Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 lens + 1.7x teleconverter = 500mm
1/500 sec at f/4.8. ISO 220
When I bought my Nikkor 300mm f/2.8 prime lens, I realized that I would probably need a gimbal tripod head to use instead of the ball head style I’ve been using for the past few years.
And, after hefting my Nikon D300 DSLR and lens combo around for a bit (8+ lbs), I knew for sure I’d need a gimbal head, which works well for large lenses because of the way it balances the weight of the equipment.
With a gimbal mount, the entire weight of your gear hangs rather than sitting atop a ball head; therefore, it remains stable during operation. You can pan and tilt a 10-15lb camera/lens combination with a single finger. And, because the horizontal and vertical axis are separate, they can be locked independently. This gives a gimbal head a huge advantage when it comes to safety. The lens is not going to tip over the tripod even if you take your hands away without having tightened down the head to secure your gear.
So my research began. As many would, I looked first at the heads made by the popular tripod maker, Manfrotto. Then I researched the acknowledged leader in the field, Wimberley, and the relatively new Canadian-made Black Widow by Jobu Design. And to make sure I’d covered the bases, I looked at Kirk Enterprises and Ries Industries, makers of the King Cobra Action Head and the DPNP Action Head 2000 respectively.
I also took a quick look at a new gimbal head being developed by Chicago-based photographer, Darek Katana.
By all indications, any of these products would have done the trick. However, my objections to most of them were the high prices, and in some cases, a design that lacked a horizontal arm and required the lens to be side mounted. A horizontal arm allows you to top-mount the camera/lens combo making installation easier—one hand remains free to balance the lens, while the other tightens the clamp.
Eventually, I chose the Jobu Design Black Widow Heavy Duty Mark 2 that is pictured above. This is a beautiful piece of gear. It allows smooth, near effortless operation at almost any angle. Set atop a sturdy tripod, it provide the perfect combination of price and performance for photographers using lenses that are 300mm f/2.8 or heavier.
I’ll have more to say after I have had some time in the field with the Black Widow.
Here’s another Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) taken at the extreme west end of the north shore of Lake Ontario. Hopefully his arrival is a sign of good things to come this winter. I’ve also seen a few Goldeneye, a close relative of the Bufflehead. So far, though, no scaup.
I’m still waiting for delivery of a Gimbal head and new tripod so am taking all my photos handheld—a challenge when the lens and camera combination weighs over eight pounds.
The Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) is Canada’s smallest diving duck. Patterned in black and white, with purple/green on the head, this little duck is constantly active, attracting attention out of proportion to its relatively small numbers.
Dozens of these cute little fellows spend their winters at the west end of Lake Ontario’s north shore, where they mingle among the widgeons, mallards, coots, scaup, goldeneyes, mergansers, American Black ducks, mute and trumpeter swans, Canadian geese and other assorted waterfowl that also spend their winters there.
The Mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is the most common wild duck in my area—having forced out most of the American Black Ducks in recent years. The male is a beautiful bird, and no less so because it is so frequently seen.
Mallards are year-round residents at the western end of Lake Ontario and are very tolerant of photographers there. I never tire of photographing these birds.
Male (top) and female mallard soaking in some vitamin D on a chilly overcast day.
It wasn’t a great day for photos—the water was rough and sky was gray—but I got a few “savers” anyway. I have not yet received my new tripod and Gimbal head, so I had to get used to hand-holding the 8+ lbs camera/lens combination.
Lens is a “beast” considering its fairly modest focal length, but it is so well balanced I quickly got the hang of it. Up until now, I’ve been using an 80-400mm zoom and a 300mm f/4, which each weigh half as much as the 300mm f/2.8. A six-pound lens does take getting used to, but the VR really helps.
Unfortunately, I’m so used to f/4 being my fastest setting, I never did try shooting wide open at f/2.8 … have to watch that in the future. On my next outing, I’ll try it with a 1.7x teleconverter.
The Nikkor 300mm f/2.8G AF-S ED-IF VR lens is a real gem. Among the sharpest, fastest lenses Nikon makes, this lens has the potential to elevate my photography to a new level—here’s hoping my technique will live up to it.
Everything about photography is relative. That’s why I can safely say that at 6.3lbs and about $5,400 CAD this is a light-weight, inexpensive lens. I am, of course, comparing it to others in the Nikon professional long-lens lineup, which includes legends like the 200-400mm f/4 (7+lbs, $6,800+ CAD), the 400mm f/2.8 (10+lbs, $9,700+ CAD) and the 500mm (8+lbs, $9,300+ CAD) and 600mm (11+lbs, $11,200+ CAD) f/4s.
For me, the 300mm f/2.8 is the perfect compromise. My other choice of lens to improve my nature and sport photography was the AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED. All other Nikon professional long-lenses were out of my reach financially.
At 6.3lbs and with Nikon’s excellent vibration reduction (VR) system, I can hand-hold the 300mm f/2.8, and the superfast f/2.8 maximum aperture allows fast shutter speeds even on dull days—characteristics I rate highly. Don’t underestimate the difference between f/4 and f/2.8: one stop of light increases the aperture by 100 per cent. That’s huge in low-light situations when I’m shooting birds and need high shutter speeds.
The 300mm f/2.8 is well balanced and handles like a dream. When I have enough light, I can add my 1.4x or 1.7x teleconverter to get 420mm and 510mm respectively. With the 1.7x teleconverter, for example, I have a 500mm f/4.8 VR lens weighing about 6.5lbs (750mm with my D300 camera’s crop factor). How sweet is that?
I have ten “test” shots I took in the field yesterday. I’ll start posting these later today so you can see the lens in action.
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