What I learned from the latest trip

[Astacus]

Just back from Costa Rica, trip number four!
Day 1 - my 600 f4 fell to the ground and split in two.. I had no words, not even bad ones! The 600 was, at the time, attached to the A1 and the 1.4 TC

My second system (A7S3 + 70-200 + TC2) was pulled into play - not so sharp, but the lack of reach was a killer. Put the same combo on the A1, and was surprised that the A1 still apears to be working as pre-accident. And, I used it for almost all of the remaining trip (most of it)

Day 2: We with guide drove back to San Jose and bought the only 200-600 available in the country - thanks IMAX, Thanks Alex (guide, over and above)

Day 3: My mood improved, and all further shots were taken with the 200-600, with several kilos of junk titanium in my luggage. But, I was limited to 200-600, with no chance of adding the 1.4 TC under most lighting conditions, as shutter speed and Af speed struggled at f9.
Initial portents are that the images are excellent, but the keeper rate has dropped, because of slower shutter, especially in the canopy. So it goes.

I would say that the 200-600 saved a holiday, although I was trying to put a brave face on it. The outcome is that I now have an 'imported' 200-600, as well as my domestically purchased on, that I shall sell - it is not fair to sell the import. I will keep the 200-600 though. It is sharp, and the close focus distance, compared to the 600 f4, was important for some shots.

I own the A7S3 because I wanted to spend more time on video. This has been an eye opener for me. I simply cannot manage two systems at once, and will probably sell the A7S3 (less than one year old) at a loss, because it is not being used. So, anyone want an A7S3 and 200-600 combo for perfect wildlife videography.

I did shoot video through the A1 200-600 combo, and if I can stabilise in post, it will be pretty acceptable (all of birds).

Other observations. The iFootage monopod I took to Namibia continues to impress and is a very stable support, whether on the ground or with the camera/lens slung over my shoulder whilst walking trails. The click attach/detach works brilliantly for getting in and out of a vehicle.

The trip was excellent. We had a record number of birds on this trip, broke our Costa Rica record (on eBird) and are now at 508 species, and we broke outr life list during this trip as well. I'll write a trip report inn a separate thread.

TLDR; Costa Rica, Birds, big expensive 600mm lens broken day one, emergency purchase of 200-600, which has performed well in good light. Holiday saved!

ET-1 emerald toucanet, taken on last day in good light, when I was used to the 200-600. 1600 ISO
GHB-1 200-600 early in trip, 2000 ISO, and a reminder to me that no matter what the lens, heat haze is a killer.
Kiskadee - taken with 70-200 @ 200mm with TC2.. looked soft but OK in post.
RS Hawk - 200-600 + 1.4 TC - not too sharp, need some post processing ISO 1600. Background busier than the 600 f4, for sure,
Rob

 

[iamdlewis]

You probably realized this now but what you are going to be able to do on a tour, especially a group tour, will depend on the type of tour you go for. I have found that there are 3 basic group tour types (using general terms here), Birding, Birding with a Camera (BwC) and Photography.
Birding - Hit as many species as possible with minimal time between. Quantity over quality.
BwC - Get a good species count but try to see if everybody can get clean looks, most likely spend extra time on highly desired targets. Balance between quantity and quality.
Photography - Low species count, when possible staging an area will be done. Quality over quantity.

Birding tours are really not designed to be camera friendly as they are considered binoculars first tours but depending on the group make-up it could be. BwC tours you can generally do either photo or video for each species but usually not the time to do both (there are generally times at feeders/blinds in which you should be able too) and there is generally a healthy amount of trail/road walks which can make carrying two setups very tiring. Photography tours are the ones in which photo and video with dedicated setups as there is less moving around and more time spent with each species.

I personally would avoid birding tours as I don't consider a typical warbler view a good view of a bird and I am not going to risk being part of a group in which the majority are checklist happy and a heard is the same as a view. I like the BwC tours for a first time to a location and Photography ones for a second.

You should though have a 2nd camera for the trips. Probably something in the A7 or A7R line. In my just finished Costa Rica tour one of the members was having issues with his primary camera and ended up using his backup for a day till he worked out the issues.

 

[Astacus]

You probably realized this now but what you are going to be able to do on a tour, especially a group tour, will depend on the type of tour you go for. I have found that there are 3 basic group tour types (using general terms here), Birding, Birding with a Camera (BwC) and Photography.
Birding - Hit as many species as possible with minimal time between. Quantity over quality.
BwC - Get a good species count but try to see if everybody can get clean looks, most likely spend extra time on highly desired targets. Balance between quantity and quality.
Photography - Low species count, when possible staging an area will be done. Quality over quantity.

Birding tours are really not designed to be camera friendly as they are considered binoculars first tours but depending on the group make-up it could be. BwC tours you can generally do either photo or video for each species but usually not the time to do both (there are generally times at feeders/blinds in which you should be able too) and there is generally a healthy amount of trail/road walks which can make carrying two setups very tiring. Photography tours are the ones in which photo and video with dedicated setups as there is less moving around and more time spent with each species.

I personally would avoid birding tours as I don't consider a typical warbler view a good view of a bird and I am not going to risk being part of a group in which the majority are checklist happy and a heard is the same as a view. I like the BwC tours for a first time to a location and Photography ones for a second.

You should though have a 2nd camera for the trips. Probably something in the A7 or A7R line. In my just finished Costa Rica tour one of the members was having issues with his primary camera and ended up using his backup for a day till he worked out the issues.

Well, this was our fourth birding trip to CR (two self guided, the last two with Costa Rica Focus - superb company), also birding trips to Namibia/Zambia/Tanzania etc - see rjbwild.smugmug.com. We (SO and I) have evolved our own dynamic. Jane is the birder, and I am the recorder.

We also only now go on 'private tours' with us plus guide/driver. That gives us tonnes of flexibility and we've been clear that the primary purpose is to get good looks at birds/behaviour (not tick and run) and that we'd also like time to stop and either grab a quick image, or even spend more time waiting for birds (e.g. the elusive ocellated crake or a blue gold tanager) to appear. The private tour gives us lots of flexibility, and the help of a simply superb guide seals the deal. Still, with what you call B&C, we saw >320 species on this trip alone, brought our CR list to about 510 and our life list to over 1400. And, I have lots of excellent images, including quite a few stick-warblers where focus point is a lottery

The limitation was mainly one of handling more than one system even with the flexibility of the private tour.

I now agree that carrying two setups is not feasible, esp since video really needs to be tripod stabilised and for still, I find a monopod excellent. That being said, I used by primary system to grab video snips, and am hoping that the latest stabilisation tools in post will help to make the images more steady. I am going to try to develop video skills with the main system, so I can always 'grab some video' (e.g. of red capped manakin moonwalking) - and not worry about changing lens and body for an elusive moment.

I agree re a second body (the A7S3 filled that role, though I didn't intend it to be that way. Indeed the A1 was attached to the lend when it went southwards, and I could have snapped the lens mount, screwing both. Stuff happens. I will buy a S/H body, probably with the proceeds from the A7S3 and the 200-600. I might even look for a S/H A1 or A7RV - for an image backup, I think I'll need higher resolution than the A7S3 - I'm putting that down to experience.
Rob

 

[Astacus]

Nice shots. Sorry about the lens.

A question though, do you still plan to maintain a second camera after selling the SIII? It seems a trip like yours is too important to trust to a single camera. I'd want a backup.

I thought I had replied, but it seems to have vanished in the aether. Yes, looking hard at a potential back up, which will be high resolution, and also, 'previously loved'
Rob

 

[iamdlewis]

Well, this was our fourth birding trip to CR (two self guided, the last two with Costa Rica Focus - superb company), also birding trips to Namibia/Zambia/Tanzania etc - see rjbwild.smugmug.com. We (SO and I) have evolved our own dynamic. Jane is the birder, and I am the recorder.

We also only now go on 'private tours' with us plus guide/driver. That gives us tonnes of flexibility and we've been clear that the primary purpose is to get good looks at birds/behaviour (not tick and run) and that we'd also like time to stop and either grab a quick image, or even spend more time waiting for birds (e.g. the elusive ocellated crake or a blue gold tanager) to appear. The private tour gives us lots of flexibility, and the help of a simply superb guide seals the deal. Still, with what you call B&C, we saw >320 species on this trip alone, brought our CR list to about 510 and our life list to over 1400. And, I have lots of excellent images, including quite a few stick-warblers where focus point is a lottery

The limitation was mainly one of handling more than one system even with the flexibility of the private tour.

I now agree that carrying two setups is not feasible, esp since video really needs to be tripod stabilised and for still, I find a monopod excellent. That being said, I used by primary system to grab video snips, and am hoping that the latest stabilisation tools in post will help to make the images more steady. I am going to try to develop video skills with the main system, so I can always 'grab some video' (e.g. of red capped manakin moonwalking) - and not worry about changing lens and body for an elusive moment.

I agree re a second body (the A7S3 filled that role, though I didn't intend it to be that way. Indeed the A1 was attached to the lend when it went southwards, and I could have snapped the lens mount, screwing both. Stuff happens. I will buy a S/H body, probably with the proceeds from the A7S3 and the 200-600. I might even look for a S/H A1 or A7RV - for an image backup, I think I'll need higher resolution than the A7S3 - I'm putting that down to experience.
Rob

Private tours go as you please and if the guide says otherwise, let us all know so we won't use them. I've been using Tropical Birding who have a variety of set tours but also will do private. If you are going to do another CR trip I would highly recommend seeing if you can get Zak Babbit as a guide highly knowledge of pretty much all the wildlife of CR, seems every other guide or local expert knew him and his enthusiasm is off the charts.

My trip hit 323 birds, a dozen or so mammals (though we only tried for White Bats and got them), a few snakes, lots of butterflies, some reptiles, and from what I understand a lot of frogs and other insects as I didn't attend the night walks for these.

Our trip of 12 days had both the Clay Colored Thrush and Blue & White Swallow as the everyday sightings, the Turkey and Black Vultures both took 1 day off each. Surprise was the Baltimore Oriole which appeared on 6 days.

 

[Astacus]

Private tours go as you please and if the guide says otherwise, let us all know so we won't use them. I've been using Tropical Birding who have a variety of set tours but also will do private. If you are going to do another CR trip I would highly recommend seeing if you can get Zak Babbit as a guide highly knowledge of pretty much all the wildlife of CR, seems every other guide or local expert knew him and his enthusiasm is off the charts.

My trip hit 323 birds, a dozen or so mammals (though we only tried for White Bats and got them), a few snakes, lots of butterflies, some reptiles, and from what I understand a lot of frogs and other insects as I didn't attend the night walks for these.

Our trip of 12 days had both the Clay Colored Thrush and Blue & White Swallow as the everyday sightings, the Turkey and Black Vultures both took 1 day off each. Surprise was the Baltimore Oriole which appeared on 6 days.

We have no immediate plans to return, eastwards next, but we’d go with our guide again too. Alex Costa. Biggest mammal encounter for us was a wonderful minute face to face with a tayra, about 1m away, neither parties daring to move! Surprise for me was a painted bunting male!

 

[iamdlewis]

We have no immediate plans to return, eastwards next, but we’d go with our guide again too. Alex Costa. Biggest mammal encounter for us was a wonderful minute face to face with a tayra, about 1m away, neither parties daring to move! Surprise for me was a painted bunting male!

Painted Bunting - what happens when you roll a bird across a wet painting easel. Love these guys.

Best bird - Latticed-Tailed Trogon
Best mammal - White Nosed Coati - He walked within about 10 feet of me and watched me as he ate some bananas.
Wildest mammal - Spectral Bat - This circled our group. Still not sure how I feel about this encounter.

 

[Tim Mayo]

Great write-up Robert and lovely pics! Very sorry to hear about the 600 F4 but glad to hear that you managed to find a 200-600 even if it struggled in the lower light. I'd definitely have a few words to say though no matter what lens I dropped let alone the 600 F4!

 

[Sdawes]

Great write up .