Canon EOS 7D Mark II and EOS 5D Mark III comparison – Bird Photography in Rainforest

Canon EOS 7D Mark II and EOS 5D Mark III comparison – Bird Photography in Rainforest. I recently took a new Canon 7D Mark II and my old 5D III to Thailand.  After a quick calibration and customization on the Canon EOS 7D Mark II,  I took both cameras into the rainforest to photograph mainly birds. Here is a reflection of how I felt about the two cameras;

Auto focus system for both cameras are quite similar in the field. I find the Canon EOS 7D Mark II seemed more responsive (time taken for camera to focus and fire). It has the toggle button around the joy stick that allow me to change the focusing area from one point to multiple points quickly (In the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, I have to take an extra step to do that and removing my eye from the view finder). The Canon EOS 7D Mark II also has a wider selection of manual focusing points from centre to extreme left or right while the Canon EOS 5D Mark III is only limited to near the centre area.Therefore giving a narrower choice. The difference between 10 fps on the Canon EOS 7D Mark II and 5 fps on Canon EOS 5D Mark III, makes a big difference in getting the right moments especially in action shots.

Layout out and customisation: I find both Canon EOS 7D Mark II and EOS 5D Mark III complement each other for bird photography in the rainforest. They both have very similar buttons and layout and share the same battery. I have set up both cameras in their Customized setting C1,C2,C3 and the continuous autofocus tracking mechanism and focusing points for flight shots. Therefore, I could interchange the cameras to get the best image depending on the situations.

Evaluative Metering. I find the Evaluative Metering on the Canon EOS 7D Mark II more “forgiving” against backlight that I don’t have to compensate a lot .What I would need to compensate for 2.5 stops on the EOS 5D Mark III I only need to put 1.5 stops approximately on the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. EOS 7D II with 1.6X cropped factor The 1.6X cropped factor for the APS-C sensor is especially helpful in bird photography where my 600 mm prime lens effectively becomes 960 mm. Adding a 1.4X tele converter, it has a 1344 mm effective focal length. The cropped factor really helps those far away bird ( or small birds) where you wish you were nearer to the subjects. However, the cropped factor worked against me when I have a very short working distance and cannot move back. This is where I would use the 5DIII to remove the 1.5X cropped factor or use a shorter lens.

EOS 5D III with Full Frame Sensor Battery Life and ISO Noise;  I have the feeling that I am getting shorter battery life for the same battery on the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. On 2 or 3 occasions, my battery drained out very quickly ( another reason could be that I should more images with the 7D ). If I turn on the GPS function, battery will drain out within half day. The Canon EOS 5D Mark III is especially good in very low light condition in the forest canopy even with ISO 6400. While Canon EOS 7D Mark II will start to get noticeable noise around ISO 2000. I will refrain from using higher ISO if I don’t need to. Thankfully with a simple noise reduction on Adobe Lightroom 5 you can minimise the noise.

Macro Photography Workshop Lighting Techniques

Flash as main light

Natural light without flash

Too much flash

Just the correct amount of lighting to give the natural look.

Ipoh Malaysia- Food Tasting and Bird Watching

26-27 April 2011

We are here in Ipoh to have a taste of the authentic local food.

Delicious Ipoh Hor Fun in old town

Mouth watering Ipoh Hor Fun @ Old town.

Rice noodle or the Ipoh Hor Fun @ old town of Ipoh

This is where the Old Town White Coffee is originated in Ipoh

Blue Crowned Hanging Parrot

The Blue-Crowned Hanging Parrot comes to my garden to feed everyday. This is what I got today.

The images were taken with two different cameras.

 ISO 2000 ( Note the blue crown)

ISO 400 with different WB adjusted on Adobe Lightroom 3.

 ISO 400

Large-tailed Nightjar

 May 20,2011.
I was walking in the morning and someone said in front of me " Look, there is a dead bird ". Right away I suspected it was a nightjar. Indeed it was staying motionless on the ground. I asked everyone not to get too close to the bird as it may be nesting. Someone got too close and the bird flew away. There we saw two eggs.

A Large-tailed Nightjar ,Caprimulgus macrurus well camouflage on the forest floor

The two eggs were seen on May 20 and June 4,2011. Eggs have not hatched.

Bird Photography at Cameron Highlands and Maxwell Hill, Malaysia

Black-throated Sunbird

Barred Cuckoo Dove (Female & Male on right)

Male Bared Cuckoo Dove

Large Niltava Female

Orange Bellied Leafbird

Herons at Kinta Nature Park, Perak, Malaysia

Grey Heron shot from the car handheld

Purple Heron in flight handheld

Purple Heron landing from car handheld

Blue-Rock Thrush in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

Blue-Rock Thrush -Female

Blue-Rock Thrush -Male

Blue-Rock Thrush Drinking

Blue-Rock Thrush Feeding the chicks

Blue-winged Pitta in Singapore

April 23,2011. He is back in Orchard Road.

It was 11:45 pm this evening that I took the usual walk with my dog. As I approached a  fruiting palm tree near my apartment, I heard sound of flapping wings . I looked up and saw a bat flying off.  When I return, another flapping sound emerged above me. I said to myself " it must be another hungry bat eating the palm fruit ".  I looked up and saw a flying object perched on a water pipe . To my surprise, it was a Blue-winged Pitta. 

I took my camera and flash. I saw the bird still perching on the pipe but it flew away before I could take a snap. Could it be the same Blue-winged Pitta that came to our apartment last week ? 

Blue-winged Pitta parting shot

Birds of the Low land rainforest

Here is my catch of the day, finally, the Red Bearded Bee-eater of the lowland rainforest of Malaysia. I have travelled to Sarawak and Sabah but never seen so close to the Red Bearded Bee-eater.

 

ISO 1600 with TTL flash on tripod.

Kaeng Krachan National Park Thailand

Last month, we spent the afternoon driving in the rain and mud for 30 KM in the mountain gravel road to the Karen Village in the Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand. Deep in the forest near the border of Thailand and Myanmar is where the Karen Tribe reside today.

That same afternoon, I went to the river to look for wildlife and spotted two young boys catching fish with a small boat in the tranquil river. Life is simple back to nature.

Blue-winged Pitta, Singapore

Blue-winged Pitta parting shot in Singapore
 ISO 1600 Handheld with IS

He finally flew off after the R & R at our home. We are glad to see him off. Here is his parting shot.

The Blue-winged Pitta stayed at the Pitta Suite with swimming pool in my make shift aviary made of my photography hide. I was very happy to see him bathing and drinking from the pool in the morning.

Blue-winged Pitta Singapore. ISO 1600 speed 1/30 handheld natural light.

A Blue-winged Pitta, one of the birds that I wish I could photograph in the wild, checked in at my home on 9th April 2011.

Blue-eared Kingfisher in Singapore

This afternoon, I took the Blue-eared Kingfisher in Singapore. Both male and female were there. ISO 1250. Speed 1/60 on tripod and cable release. The RAW image was processed in Adobe Lightroom.

6D 5N Borneo Nature Photography Workshop. 17-22 April 2011.

Photographing in the rainforest is not easy because there is very little light and subjects are elusive. The tropical rainforest is one of the most diversified environments with more than 50 % of the world species. Unlike the normal wild life in the open area in Australia or Africa, light in the rainforest is very dim and subjects are not exposed. Good knowledge and skill are the key ingredients in locating and photographing the subjects

This is no ordinary trip to Borneo, it covers terrains from low land rainforest to coastal and montain forest to photograph nature. During the trip, John will guide participants on how to capture and create powerful images. When time allowed, dinner photo critique will be conducted among the participants to gain further insight and knowledge into the image, the subject and the environment. The 6 day workshop will be packed with daily & nightly outing plus invaluable learning experience.

The ideal group will be a small group of photographers who have the basic photography knowledge and keenest in learning how to shoot in the rainforest.

Macro Photography Workshop Singapore

Macro Photography Workshop Singapore
Today we learned free style natural light macro photography with low level of magnification  in Singapore. It was a typical Singapore afternoon weather with patchy cloud and sun shine from time to time. Butterflies were in full swing. Despite the strong wind, we were able to freeze the actions and explore the beauty of nature in Singapore.

 

Adobe Lightroom 3 workshop Singapore

On 18 January 2011 we conducted the Adobe Lightroom 3 workshop in Singapore.
 I had fun. We discussed questions like;

1) How different is Lightroom from Photoshop ?
2) Is Lightroom easier to use ?
3) How to combine Lightroom with Photoshop ?
4) How to edit images in Lightroom ?

The next Lightroom class will in March 2011. Check the web site www.johnarifin.com for details.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

It has been an eventful year in 2010; meeting new friends, seeing new things and learning new stuffs.

Life is a journey. Being at the right place and the right time is critical in order to capture the right moments. Here is something that we treasure when we were in Borneo during the Borneo Photography Workshop that I led this year in April 2010.

We woke up in the early morning at the Borneo Highland Resort overlooking the Kalimantan Rainforest of Indonesia from the top of hill. As the first gleam of the dawn shined over the valley of the moist tropical rainforest,  the magical moment began to unfold in front of us.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps 
(Proverb 16:9).

Wishing you and family a very Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

May the new year brings more beautiful moments.

Amorphophallus, The Incredible Plant of Sumatra

Amorphophallus

Amorphophallus Titanum is remarkable flower structure found in Sumatra Indonesia. In 1889, it was the first time that people in Europe witnessed the Amorphophallus when the tuber of 2 m in circumference which had been growing in London’s Kew’s Gardens for some years, finally produced a bloom 2 m tall. The tallest bloom recorded was 3.3 m for the Amorphophallus Titanum. 

During our photo expeditions to Borneo, we thought we smelled a dead rat in the forest. It was actually a few blooms of the Amorphophallus just by the trail in  Kubah National Park, Sarawak,Malaysian Borneo. We also saw similar flower at the Mulu National Park in northern Sarawak.

The foul smell of the flower lures insect to pollinate the plant as you can see from the bee hovering inside the flower.

Today, as I was at the Singapore Botanical Gardens, I chanced upon this rare plant at the information counter near the taxi stand next to the Tanglin Gate.

If you are in Singapore this week, don't miss this rare opportunity to see this amazing plant in the visitor information counter at the Tanglin Gate of the Singapore Botanical Gardens.

 (See image above taken on 23 Nov 2010).

Kingfishers of Borneo

Here are two Kingfishers I took in Borneo recently. Both images were taken at very low shutter speed of about 1/20 or 1/10 second on mirror lockup and delay shutter to prevent vibration on tripod with IR release trigger. ISO about 800 to 1000 on Olympus E3 with 2X converter. Raw image processed on Adobe Lightroom 3. No flash was used on both images.

Dxo Noise Analysis on DSLR and Medium Format Camera

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/Camera-Sensor/Sensor-rankings/%28metrics%29/

Here is an interesting chart and rank of all the popular cameras with their different noise levels. Note that the bigger the frame the lower the noise level (in general). If you camera has a high noise level, lower the ISO and use post processing software like Adobe Lightroom 3 to reduce the noise level.