Black-capped Chickadee in Flight a la Sony a9 Mark III at ISO 25,600

Sony a9 mark III Initial thoughts

Since receiving a preproduction model, I have intensely tested the new Sony a9 mark III. I had hoped to write a mini-review by now, but it simply wouldn’t be objective, fair or accurate this early on. There is a new level of menu item adjustments (yes, even more choices to make), with too many combinations to test everything thoroughly. I received my production models early last week, and I will write a full review and let you know the best settings once I get home from my Alaska Eagles Galore Workshops in mid-March (Two spots have opened up due to cancellations). Until then, stay tuned for tidbits (bits & bobs).

I wanted to test the camera as much as freeze the wingtips, so I adjusted my ISO to 25,600 (Which happens to be the camera’s maximum native sensitivity), shutter speed to 1/5,000s and shot wide open at f/8 (600 f/4 lens plus 2X extender). I can honestly say I am impressed so far; I applied some noise removal software (in Adobe Camera Raw) and love the resulting images.

The auto-focus works even better than the now three-year-old flagship, the Alpha 1. Still, my time with difficult-to-photograph birds has been limited, and I haven’t tried all of the AF menu setting combinations, so I feel it is too early to make the final judgement on how much better.

120 Frames per second RAW capture is insane! You must learn to become a ruthless editor and cull everything but the best images. Gone are the days of my wishing for a slightly later or earlier frame to get a better wing position! This camera is a real game-changer!

Black-capped Chickadee in Flight (Poecile atricapillus, Mésange à tête noire, BCCH). From February 17, 2024, Southwestern Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @1,200mm ISO 25,600, f/8 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Sony a7 IV for birds in flight photography: First thoughts

My friends over at Sony of Canada sent over the first Sony a7 IV in Canada for me to give it a spin and test it out. Let's make no mistake, this is not a camera that was purpose-built for action or birds in flight photography, but it is much more affordable than both the much more capable (and expensive) Sony a9 II (CAD$5,999.99) and the Sony Alpha 1 (CAD$8,499.99) bodies that I use.

Priced at CAD$3,199.99, the Sony a7 IV is the base model Sony Alpha 7 series of cameras, but it now boasts many of the features of the much more expensive higher-end cameras like the Sony Alpha 1.

Since there are already many reviews out there, here are my initial thoughts about the camera from a bird photographer's perspective. This is simply a point-by-point summary of what I feel anyone considering the upgrade for bird (or action) photography may want to know. Do keep in mind that my experience with the camera is limited, as I only had one day in the field with it.

The new 33-megapixel full-frame Exmor R CMOS sensor should offer a similar dynamic range and noise performance as the Sony a9 II (To minimize the noise in any image on any camera, avoid underexposing and cropping). I say should, because of my limited experience with the camera. My results are excellent, but I don’t feel that I have enough variety to say with authority.

The maximum frame rate is 10 frames per second when using the mechanical or electronic shutter while recording lossy compressed RAW images. The scan rate of the sensor is much slower than the flagship Alpha 1, so there is significant rolling shutter distortion when photographing moving subjects with the electronic shutter. To minimize rolling shutter distortion, be sure to avoid the electronic shutter (silent shutter mode) in favour of the mechanical shutter.

Using the mechanical shutter to avoid the rolling shutter distortion becomes challenging while tracking fast and erratic birds in flight with significant electronic viewfinder blackout, and what you do see in the viewfinder has already happened.

Real-time Eye-AF for humans, animals and birds is incredible and works very much like the flagship Sony Alpha 1. I did have to rethink my autofocus settings and strategy to work around the significant EVF blackout and display lag. With the a9 and Alpha 1 there is no EVF blackout, and I always like to use the smallest group of autofocus points. With the Sony a7 IV, I found it best to use the largest group in tracking AF and zoom out just a little to give more room for error: to clarify, while photographing fast and erratically moving birds, there are significant intervals when the EVF is black and when I do see an image it has already happened, so I need to keep the subject slightly smaller in the frame and use the largest array of AF points to increase the odds of getting the bird in the frame.

The Sony a7 IV uses the same NP-FZ100 Z-series Rechargeable Battery Pack as the Alpha 1, a9, a9II, etc., with makes it an obvious low cost back-up camera for those who can’t afford or justify buying two flagships for redundancy while travelling.

One of the most overlooked new features of the Sony a7 IV is the bird eye AF while recording video - something I hope to see come the the Alpha 1 via a firmware update :)

Do consider supporting this site and order yours here:

Buy the Sony a7 IV in Canada HERE

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Sony A1 missing features and am I really full of Sh1t?

“Chris, I hate to say it, but you are full of shit! You wrote a great review of the new Sony a1 but skipped over anything that might be missing or any weaknesses - just like the Sony fanboy that you are. How much money has Sony thrown at you for a 5-star review? Shameful! I dare you to post this and include missing features and product weaknesses. Looking back through this blog, you used to be able to capture some of the best birds in flight shots in the world! Why did you need to bother upgrading from your beloved a9? Better yet: a full comparison to Canon and Nikon offerings” - James Laporte

James,

While I appreciate your thoughts, you sure do have a funny way of asking nicely! I dunno why, but I am accepting your dare!

First off, I didn't skip over the single most important weakness to me as a bird photographer. I clearly stated that in my limited time with limited opportunity, I had indeed experienced bird eye auto-focus failure when the camera kept locking onto the shoulder of a small dark bird.

Now that is out of the way, I can't think of anything else that I would like to see on the new a1, other than a top LCD. Not for me: I never used it when I shot with Canon or before that when I used Nikon. It is a great way to see what photographers in my workshops are doing, and a great tool to help direct my teaching toward them or alert them that there may be an exposure or shutter speed problem.

What I know others want: I know there is a high percentage of photographers who use built-in GPS to geotag their images, and I don't understand why Sony seems oblivious to this. Perhaps they are so determined to win over the press that they are blind to every other genre that drives their sales? If I were still a working photojournalist, I would want to have the image location embedded in the EXIF data for better image/event management.

While I prefer to review my images and change the menu through the electronic viewfinder, there is a significant number of Sony shooters who are screaming for a newer, higher-resolution, and fully articulated rear monitor. That's it.

Videographers complain that their favorite codec is not supported out of the camera.

That is honestly all that comes to mind.

As the image above demonstrates, the Sony a9 was an awesome camera. Why did I need to upgrade from my a9? Image file size, 30 FPS, better and faster auto-focus, and more dynamic range. Yes, the Sony a9 was the best in class at the time, but getting 30 images per second gives me an edge when it comes to the exact wing/head/eye/body position. The better dynamic range makes for a richer and truer image, while the bigger files allow more options for bigger images and cropping.

As for a real-world comparison with Canon and Nikon flagship camera bodies, although I have used both systems extensively, I don't own three systems to make that an option.

How much money did Sony throw at me for the review? The answer may surprise you: $0.00. I did get my hands on the first a1 in the country, and I am paid for my public appearances/presentations that Sony sponsors, but I got a great big fat nothing for the review. Many influencers raise funds with various degrees of begging campaigns to motivate you to place your order via affiliate links carefully placed throughout their reviews, but I choose not to do that (for now, at least).

So, full of shit? I guess the jury is out, but you can at least thank me for my honesty! The time I took to write and share my thoughts. That review yielded absolutely nothing towards my bottom line, it was a public service and an act of charity for those wanting to hear my thoughts about the newly announced/released camera :)

Sony 200-600 with Sony A1 Image Quality

There has been a lot of chatter about the image quality of the Sony 200-600mm zoom lens when used with the new high-resolution Sony a1 camera body. My observations were limited in time and opportunity, but I don't see any issues with the incredible level of detail in this full-frame image of a Great Gray Owl in a snowstorm. I purposely tested the camera in the field as I typically use my equipment to produce the kind of images that excite me.

What I can tell you is that this may not be the best example to clearly define any issues that the lens may have when paired with an ultra-high-resolution camera. If I were to try to find a weakness, then I would test it for edge-to-edge sharpness, chromatic aberration, image degradation, and barrel distortion on something as simple as a black and white chessboard; an image with lots of contrast and linear lines. To test that most accurately and rule out any interference from traffic or ground tremor vibrations I would have to use one of only a very few seismically stable platforms that are typically used to test/measure helicopter or jet engine vibrations.

My advice is to completely ignore the critics who are photographing outside of their usual genre and posting bird pictures that most of us would throw in the trash: always to test equipment under the conditions that you would normally use it - smile.

Sony a1 Bird Eye AF The Real Test

To truly test the bird eye AF of the newly launched Sony a1, I needed to find a moving bird against a distracting background that would normally confuse the camera's AF system into focusing on the background. Sounds easier than it was, as I first had to overcome my natural reflex of finding birds and animals against nice clean out-of-focus backgrounds. This image is perfect to demonstrate the ridiculous accuracy of the bird eye autofocus of the Sony a1: Not only is the background close and cluttered (photographing the subject further from the background would have made the background more out of focus and made the whole test easier for the camera), but the subject is relatively low contrast against it. The random scattering of snow covered branches is harder for most autofocus systems to negate when compared to the predictable vertical tree trunks on the edge of a deciduous forest. It was remarkable to see the camera lock onto the eye and follow it through a sequence of 40 images that were all razor-sharp.

Sony a1 Bird Eye Autofocus ROCKS

I have been lucky to have had several shoots with this beautiful Great Gray Owl relatively close to home in Southwestern Quebec. It was the perfect model for my recent test of the Sony Alpha A1 for Sony of Canada. It is amazing to think back on all of the owls I have photographed over the years and I can’t remember the last time I got to photograph one completely alone without a group of eager winter owl workshop participants, so this is one silver lining of the Covid-19 pandemic that has wreaked havoc across the travel/workshop industry.

In truth, this is a big and relatively slow moving owl. I would have loved to test the camera and it’s built-in and industry leading bird eye auto-focus on some small and fast moving Auklets in The Pribilofs or Atlantic Puffins in Quebec.

The a1 locked onto the owls eye instantly and stayed locked-on to the eye until the owl’s head turned away from the camera; that is when a larger focus target locked-onto it’s head, and quickly regained it’s lock on the eye as soon as it looked back towards me. The bird eye autofocus in extremely impressive and when combined with the camera’s ability to verify focus 120 per second (twice as often than the a9 & a9II) it truly is a game changer! Does it work every time? Almost; the only time it had a little trouble so far was when pointed at a dark bird in low contract light when it tried hard, but ended-up choosing the bird’s shoulder instead of it’s dark eye.

Snowy Owl Last Light a la Sony RMT-P1BT Wireless Remote Commander

I photographed this Snowy Owl in the severe cold during the very last moments of the sun recently. As a long time sufferer of Raynaud's syndrome, keeping my hands warm is of paramount importance during my Snowy Owl workshops. I typically use big & warm mitts with several hand warmers to keep my fingers warm. Although I have mastered how to control my camera with the mitts on, it takes a lot of practice and I do miss the occasional shot.
The Sony RMT-P1BT Wireless Remote Commander came in useful while set-up on this Snowy Owl, waiting for it to open its eyes and look at the camera. With the Remote Commander tucked into my mitt, I was able to trigger the camera via Bluetooth without taking my hands out of the warm mitts.
While it is true that a wired controller would have worked just as well to trigger the camera, it is connected to the camera with a wire that is prone to get tangled in my extensive cold-weather gear, and since it is wired, I would have to leave it attached to the camera in the cold anytime I moved away; this means putting the frozen device back into my warm mitts and defeating my efforts to keep my fingers warm.

Wimberley MH-100 MonoGimbal Head for monopods mini-review

My friends over at Wimberley sent over their new MH-100 MonoGimabl Head for me to test; I have been using it during my winter owl workshops and I absolutely love it!

What is it? The Wimberley MH-100 MonoGimbal Head for monopods is a super light-weight (but amazingly heavy-duty), single-axis monopod head designed to work with telephoto or super-telephoto lens.

Why do you need it? Indeed, you can attach a monopod directly to a lens or camera without a monopod head, but then you have to tilt the whole rig around when pointing upwards or downwards. Other monopod and ball-heads load the weight of the lens and camera on top of the head and make it somewhat unruly: the whole rig tends to want to flop over to one side which can result in damage to camera and or your fingers.

Using the Wimberley MH-100 MonoGimbal Head makes everything work harmoniously and intuitively, giving you the hand-held freedom, but transferring the weight load to your monopod. The side-mount design of the Wimberley MonoGimbal ensures a stable, smooth and solid vertical pan action, while horizontal panning is achieved by turning the camera and monopod together. It is light (.77 lbs = 347 grams) and solid and I see myself using it as my primary support for my Sony 200-600mm lens.

Click HERE to download the Wimberley MH-100 Monogimbal instructions from Wimberley.

“The Wimberley MonoGimbal Head is a new style of monopod head. It allows you to balance your lens, preventing lens flop. The end result is a hand-held experience with the added stability of a monopod.The offset nature of the head compared to a tilt or ball head seems like a problem for handling, panning, and maintaining a level horizon. However in practice your hands intuitively do all these things without even thinking about it.The MonoGimbal Head is a game-changer when it comes to portability. The offset nature allows easy carrying with the weight of the lens and camera resting on your back instead of applying all that weight to the monopod which then digs into your shoulder. Also, weighing in at .77lbs, it is a very light and compact unit.Lastly the MonoGimbal Head is capable of handling any lens with a rotating collar with the limiting factor being the strength of the monopod.”

— - Wimberley product description.

ioSafe Solo Hawk Bearproof SSD mini-review

Coastal Brown Bear Sow and Spring Cub clamming (Ursus arctos) Geographic Harbor, Katmai National Park, Alaska. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 G Master OSS Lens  with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter @800mm ISO 640, f/5.6 @ 1/1,000s. Manual exposure. Full frame image.

ioSafe Solo Hawk bearproof SSD mini-review

I am constantly on the go and do take the utmost care of my cameras, laptop, and other electronics while travelling, but that doesn't guarantee that my valuable images are safe from disaster. My friends over at ioSafe sent over an (almost) indestructible and waterproof external ioSafe Solo Hawk SSD drive, and I thought I would share a mini-review of it for you. I'm calling this one bearproof!

Accidents happen all the time; The ioSafe Solo Hawk is as comfortable in the desert being pelted with blowing sand, as it is on the bed of a truck in heavy freezing rain. . . . . in my case (literally), it will likely stay safe, warm and dry in my laptop case, but it will handle any hell thrown its way in an accidental emergency; If I forget to zip my laptop case closed, accidentally drop it on the floor or in the toilet (or in the ocean while boarding a boat), spill coffee, or accidentally back my truck over it my images will be safe! It is my insurance policy for my images.

The ioSafe Solo Hawk is an external solid-state storage drive that can withstand total submersion in freshwater or saltwater for 72 hours (diesel fuel, oils, hydraulic fluids, aircraft fuels, 12′ depth for 1 hour). It can be dropped from ten feet, works at up to 30,000 feet and is crush-resistant up to 2,500 pounds.

The Solo Hawk SSD, available in 500GB or 1TB capacities, combines this military-class toughness with 550 MBps data transfer rates, the fastest read/write speeds available in the industry today via the waterproof USB C (USB 3 Gen 2) port. My 1TB version tested a write speed of 494.4 MB/s and a read speed of 519.6 MB/s using Black magic designs Disk Speed Test utility. These are the fastest results I have achieved with an external SSD.

MIL-STD-810G Specs:

Crush Protection Technology: Crush resistant up to 2500 lbs.

Full Suspension Drive™ Technology: Full suspension in all six axes of motion. Optimized for data loss protection from drop and shock of 10′ per MIL-STD-810G Method 516.5.

HydroSafe™ Technology: Waterproof yet heat-conducting barrier to protect against data loss in up to 10′ for 3 days in freshwater or saltwater per IP68. Protects data even when USB plug is in. No requirement for a connector cap to retain data protection.

ChemSafe™ Technology: Full immersion in diesel fuel, oils, hydraulic fluids, aircraft fuels, 12′ depth for 1 hour with no data loss per MIL-STD-810G Method 504

EnviroSafe™ Technology: Continuous exposure to UV, blowing sand, blowing dust, rain, salt fog, icing or freezing rain, 24 hours with no data loss per MIL-STD-810G Methods 505.4, 506.4, 509.4 and 510.

AltiSafe™ Technology: High altitude operation. 15K ft. (Alum.) and 30K ft. (SSD and Ti.) rated altitudes per MIL-STD-810G Method 500.4

Theft Resistant Kensington® Lock compatible slot solid metal construction — theft protection

Bald Eagle Fishing a la Sony 400mm f/2.8

American Bald Eagle FISHING (Hailiaeetus leucocephalus, Pygarge a tete blanche, BAEA) from my BALD EAGLE WORKSHOP in Kachemak Bay (near Homer), Alaska ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 G Master OSS Lens Full Frame image. ISO 640, f/2.8 @ 1/5,000s Manual mode.

Here's a Bald Eagle fishing in golden light from my recent sold-out back to back Bald Eagle photo tours on the beautiful Kachemak Bay near Homer, Alaska. This is a full frame image made with the new and much lusted after Sony 400mm f/2.8 G Master prime lens. I worked wide open at f/2.8 for most of the trip and was blown away by the incredible speed at which the Sony a9 achieves accurate auto-focus while using this lens (Learn more about why it can focus so quickly with its linear movement HERE).

I continue to be blown away by the Sony a9 since switching from Canon in August 2017;  there is no better system for flying birds out there!

Great Grey Owl BOO

Great Grey Owl BOO (Strix nebulosa, Chouette Lapone, GGOW) ©Christopher Dodds  Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS ISO 2,000, f/5.6 @ 1/2,000s Manual Exposure mode and Sony's eye AF. Join me for my winter owl workshops this January/February to learn More CLICK HERE.

Yet another example of how well the Sony Eye AF works! I am loving the new Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS

Join me for my winter owl workshops this January/February to learn More CLICK HERE.

Great Grey Owl LAUNCH

Great Grey Owl LAUNCH (Strix nebulosa, Chouette Lapone, GGOW) ©Christopher Dodds  Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS ISO 5,000, F5.6 @ 1/5,000s Manual Exposure mode and Sony's eye AF. Join me for my winter owl workshops this January/February to learn More CLICK HERE.

Another example of how well the Sony Eye AF works! I am loving the new Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS, early start to winter (did I really say that) and having this beauty all to myself :)

In case you missed it, I wrote a mini-review of the new Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS in a recent blog post HERE. 

Join me for my winter owl workshops this January/February to learn More CLICK HERE.

Great Grey Owl a la Sony a9 Eye AF 400mm f/2.8 G Master

Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa, Chouette Lapone, GGOW) ©Christopher Dodds  Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS ISO 3,200, F5.6 @ 1/3,200s Manual Exposure mode and Sony's eye AF. Join me for my winter owl workshops this January/February to learn More CLICK HERE.

Sony is very careful to note that Eye AF is designed to work with human subjects; they make no claims about it's ability with birds or mammals..BUT, with every firmware update, it seems to work better with non-human subjects. Make no mistake, it is not flawless, but when it works, it really nails the shots ;) The rumours are that Sony is continuing their efforts to improve this feature, and hope to announce it officially sometime in the future.

Do note the intentional movement in the wing-tips, even with a high shutter speed of 1/3,200 of a second. When I want to freeze the motion, and zoom into every detail, then I am working with a minimum shutter speed of 1/5,000 of a second.

In case you missed it, I wrote a mini-review of the new Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS in a recent blog post HERE. 

Join me for my winter owl workshops this January/February to learn More CLICK HERE.

Great Gray Owl a la Sony a9 and 400mm f/2.8 G Master lens with 2X teleconverter

Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa, Chouette Lapone, GGOW) ©Christopher Dodds  Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter ISO 2,000, F5.6 @ 1/5,000s Manual Exposure mode. Join me for my winter owl workshops this January/February to learn More CLICK HERE.

In case you missed it, I wrote a mini-review of the new Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS in my last blog post HERE. Here's an image of a Great Grey Owl with the Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS with Sony FE 2X Teleconverter.

I continue to be amazed by the speed and accuracy of the Sony auto-focus. It truly is unbelievable!

Join me for my winter owl workshops this January/February to learn More CLICK HERE.

Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM Mini Review

Great Grey Owl (Strix nebulosa, Chouette Lapone, GGOW) ©Christopher Dodds  Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS  ISO 1,250, F2.8 @ 1/5,000s Manual Exposure mode. Join me for my winter owl workshops this January/February to learn More CLICK HERE.

Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS Mini Review

I am just back from a cross Canada road trip that took just over six weeks and covered more than 17,500km. I was honoured to stop and present at various camera stores across the country, then ended the trip with presentations at ProFusion (Canada's largest camera show); all sponsored by Sony of Canada. Thank you Sony. I got to meet so many great photographers along the way; it was a blast!

I have received a lot of email asking about my thoughts on the new Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS lens; if I had one, and if I thought it was worth the price tag. Yes, I do own one and YES, it is worth the price! When paired with the Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera, the Sony FE 400 f/2.8 GM OSS is the fastest, most reactive with the most accurate auto focus lens that I have ever used. It is light and very well balanced (there was a lot of engineering involved to carefully design the lens with most of it's optics toward the back to make it really easy to hand-hold; a real win for birds-in-flight photographers). Add the Sony 2X Tele-extender, and you end up with a prime killing 800mm f/5.6 that is sharper and more capable than the Canon or Nikon prime lenses that I have used.

Sony took a huge step when thy developed the hybrid AF system that the Sony a9 uses; they have leapt forward with the XD Linear focus. There is no camera and lens that can focus as fast!

From the Sony website: "The XD Linear Motors have been newly developed to deliver higher thrust and efficiency than conventional types in order to make the most of the rapidly evolving speed performance of current and future camera bodies. Linear motor design and component layout have been thoroughly revised to achieve significantly higher thrust. Two of these new motors are used in the SEL400F28GM, achieving up to a 5x improvement* in moving-subject tracking performance. This means that the full speed performance of advanced camera bodies can be applied to capturing perfect images of the most dynamic sports or wildlife subjects. The XD Linear motors are further supported by new algorithms developed specifically for them, notably improving the motors’ response to control signals and minimizing lag and instability that can occur when driving a large aperture focus lens group for quiet, low-vibration operation. "

In summary, XD Linear focus is so much faster than the conventional rotational focus because it quickly and efficiently "thrusts" forward and backward to achieve tack sharp focus. Since conventional lens elements rotate like a nut on a bolt, they have to travel about five times further (think how little a nut moves in relation to how many times it must be turned). There is a limit as to how fast a lens (or lens group) can safely move in a rotational manner. 

Bald Eagle SNOWY PORTRAIT a la Sony a9 Silent Shutter

American Bald Eagle SNOWY PORTRAIT (Hailiaeetus leucocephalus, Pygarge a tete blanche, BAEA) Kachemak Bay (near Homer), Alaska ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless camera & Sony FE100-400mm F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS Lens @ 218mm Full Frame image. ISO 5,000 f/16 @ 1/400s Manual mode.

Sony a9 Mirrorless silent mode

Here's another Eagle from my recent Eagles Galore workshop in Alaska; it's a full frame portrait from the Sony a9 mirrorless camera in silent mode at 218mm. After all these years of learning how to approach wildlife without spooking away my subjects, it is incredible to be sitting just a couple of feet from wildlife and enjoying the peace of the silent shutter without concern that the shutter noise from my next image might scare my subject away! While I have used shutter noise to spark curiosity in tolerant subject just to try to get them to move their head to a better angel in the past, shutter noise usually scares away the very best and rarest wild subjects.

Atlantic Puffin CATCH OF THE DAY

Atlantic Puffin CATCH OF THE DAY (Fratercula arctica, Macareux moine, ATPU) Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada, Réserve de parc national du Canada de l'Archipel-de-Mingan, Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS @ 400mm. Full frame image. ISO 800 f/5.6 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure mode. PURCHASE A PRINT or LICENSE IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION HERE.

Getting back to the immense number of Puffin images produced with the Sony a9 & Sony 100-400 G Master during my Deluxe Puffins Galore workshop in July/August. Here is another Puffin with Capelin image; full frame at 400mm. I have said it before, and I will say it again: The new auto-focus is unstoppable! The number of Puffins returning to their burrows with Capelin was similar to other years, but the number of tack sharp images @ 20fps was tough to edit thanks to the Sony a9.

Sony RX-10 mark IV Mini-review

I am in the midst of preparing for a bunch of presentations, but want to share that I  received my Sony RX-10 Mark IV a couple of weeks  ago, and the first results are remarkable. Although it won't fit in a pocket (I didn't expect it to, and my phone is already there and ready for those shots), the idea is to always have a camera with me that has fast auto-focus (.03 second focus acquisition), 24 frames per second and a built-in zoom that covers from 24 to 600mm at f/4. This is for those times when you see a something and wish you had brought your full camera rig. Of course, like all things in the photography world, there are trade-offs, so you shouldn't expect it to produce files like the a9 at higher ISO. Overall, the Sony RX-10 Mark IV has impressed and delivers everything promised. It is a great introduction to the Sony world for those photographers fully invested in other brands, and a great camera choice for all naturalists, birders or sports fans and parents!

Canon Lenses for Sale

Email me an offer! chris@chrisdoddsphoto.com

• SOLD: Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x
• SOLD: Canon EF 85mm f/1.2 L II USM Telephoto Lens
• SOLD: Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM Zoom Lens (Version I) 
• SOLD: Canon EF 70-300mm f4-5.6L IS USM Lens
• SOLD: Canon Speedlight 580EX II Flash
  

Sony Alpha a9 High ISO Birds in Flight Performance

Atlantic Puffin RAINFLIGHT (Fratercula arctica, Macareux moine, ATPU) Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada, Réserve de parc national du Canada de l'Archipel-de-Mingan, Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS @ 400mm. Full frame image. ISO 8,000 f/5.6 @ 1/2,500s Manual exposure mode. PURCHASE A PRINT or LICENSE IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION HERE.

Atlantic Puffin THE RETURN (Fratercula arctica, Macareux moine, ATPU) Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada, Réserve de parc national du Canada de l'Archipel-de-Mingan, Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS @ 400mm. Full frame image. ISO 20,000, f/5.6 @ 1/2,500s Manual exposure mode. PURCHASE A PRINT or LICENSE IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION HERE.

Razorbill (Alca troda, petit pingouin, RAZO) Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada, Réserve de parc national du Canada de l'Archipel-de-Mingan, Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS @ 400mm. Full frame image. ISO 20,000, f/5.6 @ 1/2,500s Manual exposure mode. PURCHASE A PRINT or LICENSE IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION HERE.

Sony Alpha a9 High ISO Birds in Flight Performance

Here are a few more images from my recent Deluxe Puffins Galore Workshop. As I am sure you can tell from the camera settings, we had a day of really foul weather. It was the perfect occasion to get the Sony a9 wet and see what it is made of! Although I did use a LensCoat rain cover, the rain was so hard and constant that I did manage to fog the viewfinder by the end of the day; I put the camera body with its body cap off into a zip-lock bag full of white rice to clear it out overnight.

Yet again, the camera amazed me; not only was it locking onto everything I pointed it at in low contrast and heavy rain, it excelled at high ISO! The details in the files are exceptional; Do take the time to read the setting I used under each image. The images above are all full-frame and lightly processed with some mild noise reduction applied. I don't post raw images, because I don't use Raw images for anything other than a starting point. It wasn't that long ago when 800 ISO was noisy, and here I was using 8,000 and 20,000 ISO!

The Sony Raw images require much less processing than my Canon 1DX Mark II, or files I have from other digital cameras that I have used. Although there is noise at 20,000 ISO as expected, the details in the darks are exceptional!

TIP: In order to get the most out of an image, but particularly at extreme ISO, remember that it is critical to expose the image correctly and try not to crop much! All cameras see light like us, they haven't yet figured out how to record darkness. If you brighten an image while processing it, then you are introducing noise.

Stay tuned for more about my time with the Sony a9

Sony a9 for birds in flight photography

Atlantic Puffin with Capelin (Fratercula arctica, Macareux moine, ATPU) Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada, Réserve de parc national du Canada de l'Archipel-de-Mingan, Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS @ 400mm. Full frame image. ISO 640, f/5.6 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure mode. PURCHASE A PRINT or LICENSE IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION HERE.

Sony a9 for birds in flight photography

Well, here it is; the first Puffin image I made with the Sony a9 and Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master Lens. After getting everyone in my first group for my Deluxe Puffin Workshop settled into their rooms in the lighthouse, and with a delicious lunch in our bellies on July 29, we headed down to the beach and started working on birds in flight. It was around four when I first lifted the new Sony rig to my eye for the first time. I didn’t take any pictures while tracking the first few Puffins, instead I tried to understand the autofocus system and what the autofocus settings were all about. I headed into this a little blind, as no one that I spoke to at Sony had much insight into where to start; using mirrorless cameras for birds-in-flight was uncharted territory (for the most part). I needed to quickly understand what choices I had to tweak the autofocus system to best track these little erratic bullets as quickly as possible.

I had seen a few blog posts with sample images from the a9 where the autofocus had failed; A Robin flying from its perch in a tree surrounded by a clutter of branches and a Turkey Vulture sticking its head out from long grass. Both sequences of images were out of focus, and the author left out some critical information about which AF settings he had used. Both sequences were out of focus because of user error (in my opinion); the AF point cluster that the photographer had likely chosen was set to large, so the camera didn’t have a chance, given the situation. I would have chosen single point to ensure the camera knew what to focus on. We need to know how our cameras work, what settings are available and when and how to choose them! BTW, those sample images I mentioned; neither one of them would have been sharp with any camera that had pretty-much all of their AF sensors active.

Before leaving for the trip, I downloaded the instruction manual and autofocus guide to iBooks, which made it available (and searchable) from my iPhone, iPad and MacBook; something I highly recommend everyone do this for every piece of equipment they own.

Download the a9 Instruction manual HERE

Download the Sony AF Guide HERE

Back to the Puffin image above; given the contrasty light and blue sky, this was a relatively easy image (for a practiced birds-in-flight photographer). I’ll be back shortly with more about my time with the Sony a9 soon, and will post more images of birds-in-flight and some high ISO images in the coming days. I will share my thoughts on adding, or switching to Sony, and more likes and dislikes. Stay tuned!

Kudos

My teenage son (an avid youth nature photographer) and I just came back from Chris' Puffin trip. We had a day of pouring rain, a day of cloud cover and a day of sunshine and Chris gave practical advice on how to get great images no matter what the weather. Chris is skilled at meeting each photographer where they are as he gives individual customized attention out in the field. Chris uses a variety of teaching strategies (including great metaphors!) to make complex information concrete and understandable. My son came back with incredible images - puffin portraits in beautiful golden light, puffins and razorbills with fish in flight, beautiful groupings, single puffins in grass, flowers and rocky cliffs. He also came back with a wealth of tips, tools and strategies. And amidst all of the superb photography instruction and individualized attention, there was also lots of camaraderie and great stories. Chris is not only an excellent teacher but an outstanding host. Can't wait for our next Chris Dodds adventure!

Deborah & Christopher Graham Ontario | Canada

Sony a9 and Sony G Master 100-400mm lens ready for bird photography

Atlantic Puffin PORTRAIT OF A CLOWN (Fratercula arctica, Macareux moine, ATPU) Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve of Canada, Réserve de parc national du Canada de l'Archipel-de-Mingan, Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS @ 400mm @ minimum focusing distance. Full frame image (top to bottom; left and right cropped to square aspect ratio). ISO 2,500, f/6.3 @ 1/1,600s Manual exposure mode.

Sony a9 and Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master Lens: Ready for Bird Photography?

Canadian Nature and Wildlife Photographer Christopher Dodds with Sony FE 100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master Lens

My friends over at Sony Canada sent over a Sony a9 and Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master Lens for me to test while leading my four consecutive Deluxe Atlantic Puffins Galore Workshops in Puffin Paradise. The workshops were a huge success, with crew after crew of wonderful participants and awesome photographers who all made boatloads of Atlantic Puffin and Razorbill images, while enjoying life on a tiny island and the ambiance of a lighthouse with gourmet meals - it was fabulous! Learn more & sign-up for my 2018 Deluxe Puffins Galore trip HERE.Deluxe Puffins Galore trip HERE.

The Sony a9 is the first mirrorless camera I have tested that is capable of replacing my current Canon 1DX mark II camera bodies. So, why did I consider adding, or moving away from my current Canon set-up in the first place? Like all of my workshop clients and friends who travel and constantly worry about getting camera gear in the cabin of the airplane as carry-on (or who may be tired of lugging all of the “big and better” stuff around), I am always on the lookout for smaller, lighter, better and more manageable cameras; In this case, the a9 offers some incredible specs. to the birds-in-flight photographer, as seen on the Sony website HERE.

The camera arrived moments before we left for the long drive, and because it uses Contrast and Phase detection autofocus points built into the sensor, I didn’t have to worry about delaying my departure and taking the time to micro-calibrate the camera and lens before leaving; My Canon SLR cameras have a separate auto-focus sensor, which requires micro-calibration (or, to be more specific; require me to go through the process of micro-calibration to make sure the camera and lens combination are producing sharp images, even if no calibration is required). Having undertaken the time-consuming task of the micro-calibration of all of my Canon cameras and lenses, and any combination possible with teleconverters countless times …… this is huge!

The Sony a9 and G Master 100-400 feel great in the hand, and seem perfectly balanced and easy to hold; a whopping two and a half pounds lighter than my Canon 1DX with Canon 100-400!

I quickly set-up the camera for birds-in-flight action photography and immediately found the autofocus to be almost a magical dream of perfection. The AF points cover 93% of the surface of the sensor; this seems to be a huge advantage for keeping really fast and erratically moving subjects in the viewfinder. Initial autofocus acquisition seems so fast with this camera, that I had absolutely no hesitation hammering away the moment I had the target in the viewfinder. The results are remarkable! I spent every moment (unfairly) trying to make the Sony a9 fail with circumstances that I know none of the other brands can keep up with; I was on a beach at low tide in low contrast light, aiming at Puffins flying low over seaweed covered rocks. All of the Canon cameras that I own, and Nikons I have owned and used would focus on the seaweed-covered rocks. I could point the camera at the Puffin while it was tiny in the frame (well before I would normally try to acquire autofocus), and the camera would pick-up, and focus on the Puffin nearly every time. It seemed like there was an algorithm in the firmware that was looking for something moving in the frame to target. It would lock-on and stay with the Puffin all the way along its flight path towards me. Autofocus systems are challenged by objects moving towards the camera at a constant rate of speed; as an object approaches a camera at a constant rate of speed, we must move the focusing ring faster to keep the object in focus (or the camera’s autofocus mechanism must accelerate its adjustment). This often proves challenging to even the best autofocus systems; the Sony a9 kept-up every time! I was blown away.

I quickly realized that there was a lag between the live view on the back of the camera, and it’s automatic switch to the EVF (electronic viewfinder) when the camera is brought up to the eye. This felt awkward and interfered with my “target acquisition”,  so I switched to EVF display only, and was surprised that there was no menu choice to use the EVF for shooting, and the rear LCD to display the menu; In other words, when the camera is set to use the EVF display, you have to use the EVF for live-view (perfect), and menu adjustments (not-so-perfect). I quickly set-up a custom menu, with it’s first option to switch back the display to the rear LCD screen for when I want to make menu changes. The EVF was remarkably good and didn’t take long to get used to. Not having to drive the rear LCD increased battery life immensely, and I regularly filled a 128GB card with 2,200 RAW images on a single charge with battery life to spare.

I installed a Black Rapid Sport strap to sling the camera (and lens) over my shoulder at my waist; I quickly adapted to partially depressing the shutter button as I lifted the camera to my eye to “wake” the sensor and EVF. Since SLR cameras don’t need to keep the sensor energized to project an image in an EVF, this is not a problem when using a traditional SLR with an optical viewfinder. This seemed a pain at first, but it really didn’t take long to develop muscle memory, and it became reflex very quickly.

I set the camera to silent mode, which seemed really strange @ 20 frames per second, but I quickly grew to love the silence and think this to be a huge bonus while photographing flighty subjects like warblers that take-off at the sound of a camera shutter.

The image files are fantastic! At first, I thought there may be a huge gain in dynamic range, but after spending time with the files, I feel it is fair to say there is about 1/3 to 1/2 stop gain in dynamic range at higher ISO, but files at lower ISO seem to compare with those from the Canon 1DX mark II. I haven’t gone to great lengths to scientifically test them, as I will leave that to others and all I am really interested in is getting the better image. Files seemed richer, sharper and more saturated than those from the Canon 1DX mark II. Although I applied the same workflow to the images from the Sony a9 as I do to images from my Canon 1DX mark II, I only needed to apply about half as much of everything to produce some extremely awesome results.

In conclusion, I fell in love with the Sony a9 and Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master Lens! It’s a super light and manageable combination @4.5 pounds that can be hand-held all day long. The autofocus system is second to none (that I have used), it’s silent 20 frames per second with a huge buffer will keep even the most trigger happy birds-in-flight shooters happy, and the files this camera produces are stunning. This is the perfect combination for those who don’t choose the weight or reach of a super telephoto lens (as there are none currently offered by Sony….but they would be wise to jump on a native Sony e-mount 500 or 600mm f/4 lens soon!). Paired with a second body and wider zoom, it would be the perfect kit for an African Safari!

I haven’t yet tried any of the adapters which allow you to use Canon and Nikon lenses at 10 frames per second, mostly because I don’t see an adapted lens as a long term or reliable solution. Please do take the time to make comments here if you can offer any insight from your experience with any of the adapters available; We would love to hear your thoughts.

I’ll be back shortly with more about my time with the Sony a9 soon, and will post images of birds-in-flight and some high ISO images in the coming days. I will share some of things I learned about using the camera and offer some suggestions for menu choices. I will share my thoughts on adding, or switching to Sony, and more likes and dislikes. Stay tuned!

Kudos

I’m an experienced wildlife photographer and I’ve had puffins on my bucket list for several years. Around my Colorado home, I scout my own sites and work my network of photography buddies, so I know what it takes to find good sites, get in and then have the wildlife cooperate, to get good pictures. I’ve even been a scout for a leading professional photographer, looking for superior deer and turkey subjects and locations.

Regarding puffins, I’d considered renting hide times, but most involved day-trips on boats. Most importantly, time in the hide is limited and you won’t necessarily be able to shoot when they’re feeding, nor will you likely shoot in ideal light. Angle of view is often not ideal from a hide.

I don’t know how, but I ran across Chris’ Deluxe Puffins Galore Workshop at the Mingan Archipelago National Park of Canada. It sounded too good to be true. You can shoot ALL DAY and have gourmet meals morning, noon and night. Hang on.

The “galore” part of the title is entirely true. I took over 13,000-shots in my three-days. It required merciless culling to get down to under 200 for sharing. I have many worthy of framing and the culls contain many shots that I might have been happy with, had I not had so many superior shots.

There are rules, to protect the birds, about where you can go on the islet, but that in no way excludes you from puffin activity. For example, every evening, we sat in chairs as puffin filled our frames landing, taking off, kibitzing, posing, all in ideal light. By the end of the first day, I didn’t know how I’d possibly improve my shots, but I did, indeed, add to my archive.

Importantly, Chris is an affable and professional guy, but he pays close attention to safety, respect of our subjects and comfort of his guests. Everyone in my group was experienced, with good equipment. In fact, I was the only newbie. All had shot with Chris before. Guess what, I’ve signed up for his Snowy Owl Adventure, next January. I suspect that won’t be my last.

Chris delivers a premium product, in every way. Planning information was thorough and detailed, making it crystal clear what you needed to get there, to wear, etc.. The only thing left was to take the pix.

This is a premium product and a photographer’s dream. This is THE way to shoot Atlantic puffin.

Dave StephensColorado | USA