Notes on Camera Equipment

Notes on Camera Equipment

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This page describes and compares the equipment that was used to take the photos on this website.

Canon Rebel EX and 75-300 lens

This was my original setup. With up to 3x magnification, it works great for subjects you can get close to.

female Wood Duck

Reifel Migratory Bird Refuge near Vancouver, BC, February 2000. This was taken on 400 speed print film, and scanned from the negative.

Canon Elan 2, 75-300 IS lens and Tamron-F 2x teleconverter

This gives effectively 6x magnification with a built-in image stabilizer that does a good job at reducing camera shake. I use this for hand-held shots, though the IS technology is less effective with the doubler on it.

	male House Finch This finch was spotted behind the Roslyn Cafe in Roslyn, WA in April of 2002. This shot was taken on 200 slide film.
	male California Quail This quail was photographed along Umptanum Road near Ellensburg, WA in April of 2002. This shot was taken on 200 slide film.
	American Kestrel This kestrel was spotted along the road at the Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge in southeastern Oregon in May of 2002. This shot was taken on 200 slide film.

Canon Rebel EX and Meade 12x spotting scope/adapter

This configuration uses a spotting scope as a lens. It gave me very good magnification on very sunny, windless days, and with pretty immobile subjects.

	male Northern Flicker This flicker was waiting for access to the suet feeder in our backyard in August of 2000. This shot was also taken on 400 speed print film, and scanned from the negative.
	When conditions are not perfect, this is a very difficult setup to use. The picture can be disrupted by the slightest camera shake, or by the subject moving at the wrong moment. However, I've also gotten some incredible shots that make the piles of bad prints worth it... California Thrasher This thrasher was photographed at Big Morongo in southern California in September of 1999. This shot was also taken on 400 speed print film, and scanned from the negative.
	In this case, although the early morning light was perfect, the shot came out a little fuzzy due to either a moving subject or an unstable tripod. Red Wattlebird This wattlebird was photographed behind our motel at the Grampians in Victoria, Australia in September of 1999. This shot was also taken on 400 speed print film, and scanned from the negative.

Canon D60, 75-300 IS lens and Tamron-F 2x teleconverter

In October of 2002, I finally switched to a completely digital configuration. The main drawback I have noticed so far is that more distant subjects have less precision in the image than on print or slide film. It also eats batteries for lunch, requiring a recharge after only a day or so in the field. However, there are great advantages to being able to preview and delete shots on the spot, and not having to deal with processing, storage, cleaning, scanning, etc. of negatives and slides.

	Brown Pelicans A couple of the many Brown Pelicans that were flying by the jetty at Westport, WA in November, 2002.
	Pied-billed Grebe A wintering Pied-billed Grebe at Foster Island, in Seattle, WA in December of 2002.

Canon Powershot A85 digiscoping with Swarovski 80-series scope

In January of 2005, I got a digiscoping setup using an instamatic Canon camera. This has worked out better than I hoped: you can scope anywhere from a few feet to hundreds of yards away, and the camera auto-focuses through the lens (which helps my weak vision a bit). The photo quality is fairly good even in overcast conditions, though it's necessary to crop the dark halo. A close target makes that difficult.

	Bald Eagle A Bald Eagle adult in the Samish flats in January 2005. This shows the halo effect caused by this setup.
	Rough-legged Hawk A dark Rough-legged Hawk in the Samish flats in January of 2005. This was taken at a range of about 100 yards in overcast, snowy conditions and is still fairly clear.