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| 20250224 Cattle Egret 2 wintering in Wighton area. |
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| 20250224 Russian White-fronted Goose Warham Fort, River Stiffkey flood plain. |
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| 20250224 Lesser White-fronted Goose 9 birds here. |
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| 20240224 Lesser White-fronted Goose & Greylag Goose Greylag 73% longer & 56% heavier...! |
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| 20250214 Lesser White-fronted Goose Comparison with White Fronts. Larger gander at right end. |
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| 20250219 Smew Male with 2 female type, Layer Breton causeway. 2400mm. Subject detection frequently pulls the focus point nearer off the target with the MC20... |
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| 20250219 Smew 2400mm equiv. |
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| 20250219 Smew 2400mm equiv. |
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| 20250219 Slavonian Grebe |
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| 20250219 Slavonian Grebe Pair by VP on causeway. |
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| 20250219 Slavonian Grebe |
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| 20250219 Slavonian Grebe 2400mm, 1/1000th sec, F13, ISO8000....!!! Overcast dull white cloud. |
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| 20250219 Slavonian Grebe 2400mm with MC20. Birds bobbing on choppy water causing subject detection in C-AF to jump closer, as seen here. Most shots in burst missed like this.... Use of S-AF without subject detection gave good focus throughout burst. |
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| 20250219 Goosander Abberton Res is the site for this species... MC20 at 1570mm. |
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| 20250206 Pallid Harrier Adult female. Big Black 2400mm equiv plus x2 in camera crop.... |
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| 20250206 Pallid Harrier Darker brown secondaries into which black bars merge. |
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| 20250206 Pallid Harrier |
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| 20250206 Pallid Harrier |
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| 20250206 Mallard Pair wandering salt marsh on a quieter evening... |
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| 20250206 Barn Owl |
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| 20250201 BHGull Big Black x1.4 telecon, 1108mm equiv. Great bokeh. At long range Bird Subject detection with C-AF fails to focus consistently enough... so far. Use S-AF+MF for bang on focus in long range mode. |
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| 20250201 BHG 300mm F4 x2 Tele. 1200mm equiv. Very sharp but...Also Subject detection was left on at all times with this lens combination with a few misses all shots from monopod... |
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| 20250201 BHG 2400mm equiv... As a past well pleased user of the Sigma 50-500mm with, adapter on an E-M1, The Big Black's spec appeal is exceptionally desirable. |
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| 20250201 Mute Swan 680mm with x1.4 telecon, nice and easy shot, very smooth. |
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| 20250202 Bearded Reedling x2 telecon,1896mm equiv. Note this converter gives ample reach to pull back the zoom. Note lens still at a higher focal length than the x1.4 can reach... |
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| 20250204 Coot Selbrigg Pond. x1.4 telecon at 740mm. Composition options are great with the Big Black. Smooth tones and sharp edges creates a nice image. |
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| 20250215 Fieldfare Rain, dull and grey evening. 1200mm, F9,1/400th, ISO12800. Vitariski as hide. |
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| 20250215 Fieldfare Dull as above. 1680mm x1.4 tele, F9, 1/400th ISO10000. Vitariski as hide. |
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| 20250222 Dunlin The Ultimate test. 2400mm equiv. at back of Simmond's, a difficult shot... |
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| 20250222 Dunlin 2400mm equiv. At long range and with normal daylight the x2 telecon gives the desired reach for ID. Any drop off in light or heat haze caused too many issues to overcome with the MC20, used on a monopod. The x1.4 telecon can be used in all lights, and the digital x2 used for ID at range. After much testing the lower ISOs possible with the 1.4x makes up for the lack of reach. Is The Big Black the ultimate twitching lens...?? |
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| 20250221 Avocet Flock off Pat's. x2 telecon at 846mm equiv. Note within reach of MC14 telecon... |
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| 20250314 Black-tailed Godwits At 2400mm wader head and bill movement is an issue. Shutter speeds of 1/1600th + are required to freeze this, and a sudden wing flap also gets captured! F16, 1/1600th sec, ISO12800. Live within the flock. |
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| 20250330 Rook Pull back to1050mm with MC20. Close movement requires 1/1600th sec at least, this being shot from monopod. Note this reach is easily achieved with the MC14 and at the native ISO level... Using the MC20 with the Big Black requires a solid tripod if being sensible... Obviously this is not an option for the light cavalry. Conclusions: MC14, 1.4x telecon gives a magnification range of about 8 to 34 times, bins to scope, which is ideal for walk about birding. Native ISOs are frequently achieved at correct exposures. For long range ID the x2 digital zoom is usable with the MC14. The MC20 requires very bright light and clear atmospherics to be usable on a monopod... Response time acquiring close targets caused too many complete misses. Also subject detection was not usable at range. |
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| 20250514 Dartford Warbler MC14, 1680mm, 1/1000th sec, F13. Bird unaware of presence. Excellent bokeh not seen with 300mm. |
