Dickcissels! - 30 Jun 2014

I took the Digidapter™, Zeiss 85T*Fl Diascope, 40X W Eyepiece and Sony Cybershot DSC-RX100 III down to the antennae farm in n. Monroe Co. late this afternoon to test out the rig on some (hopefully) cooperative Dickcissels along Haggerman Rd.  From my previous post I had mentioned that the 40X W eyepiece was a nice compliment to the 24-70mm zoom range of the RX100 III so I was confident that this outing would be much more successful than the last. It was.

While walking the fence-line I came upon several Savannah Sparrows that (I'm sure) had nests nearby. They were chattering and posturing on the fence top and so made good first targets.

I was hearing several Dickcissels calling from inside the fence but couldn't see any.  I then found one about 50 yds. up the road and headed in its direction.  A nice male singing from a tree branch next to the fence. Broken clouds alternated backgrounds between cyan blue to bright white, so it was an opportunity to see how the RX100 III handled CA.  Not bad at all. Focus-peaking allowed me to focus on the bird's face even though he was obscured by branches in front. The magnified view really helped in this case!

I was able to move around past the bird so that the sun was more behind my back. From about 30' away I was able to play w/ focus-peaking and continuous shooting (6 fps in RAW). I shot Aperture-priority at ISO 200 with the Zeiss lens wide open (f1.8 - 2.8). With white clouds behind the bird I had a chance to test chromatic aberration - only a touch along the edges of the photo. Well done!

I absolutely love these two portraits of the male. They look like pencil drawings. 

He then flew over to the fence, and the sun came back out, so I was able to get a few 'photographs'.

Another male appeared about 60' away, so I digiscoped him through the fence.

I just love these little sparrows! 

As we headed home we swung by Roberts Rd. and checked out the Osprey tower. One bird was perched in the late afternoon sun, so it was an opportunity to get some pics from about 150' away.

I'm excited w/ the possibilities from this camera. I want to play more with focus points and peaking, and possibly play w/ using the Hoodman Loupe on the LCD. Stay tuned!