Thursday, February 27, 2020

Merced National Wildlife Refuge

Okay, this one was tough! Shooting birds with an RB67 is very difficult!

I arranged the trip for our local photo club, at their suggestions, knowing this one would be difficult for me, the only film shooter in the group. The weekend turned out to align with a full moon, so there was a backup plan in place, if bird photos seemed too fleeting.

I packed up the RB67 kit and threw in the monopod, along with the tripod, and loaded some Portra 400 rated at 800 to keep the shutter speed high. I also grabbed the Think Tank belt system, to allow for more mobility as I explored.

Upon arrival we found lots of birds. Mostly white snow geese, a few egrets and some cinnamon teal ducks. I mounted the Sekor C 360mm F6.3, and put the camera up on the monopod and started exploring. We stopped at the main visitor area and took a few picks.

Strength in Numbers

Gathering our photo club, we slowly drove the 5 mile loop around the refuge, stopping periodically to capture a few more images.

A Hiding Place

Let's Go!

Finally the sun set and the moon rose, and we wrapped up shooting a few sunsets and a few moonrise images before heading home.

Moon over Marsh

A fun day, but a serious test on equipment and vision. The RB67 worked great. (2) rolls provided 20 well exposed frames.  The 360mm (equivalent to 180mm) was fairly easy to use on the monopod. Pushing the Portra 400 to 800 helped to keep the shutter speed at 1/250th or 1/400th of a second, at f8 to f16. Fast enough to get good clarity at that focal length. Overall a good experience. But, for one who prefers the still landscape, this one tested my "general" photography skills.

If you want to visit, plan on the Jan - Feb time frame to catch the migration patterns. Get there early afternoon as the flocks started departing between 3-4pm, and that is a sight to see! And bring a long lens! 200mm-400mm or better. And if you are shooting digital, consider renting a longer lens and a teleconverter.


Wednesday, February 26, 2020

More Testing - preparing for a busy year!

So, where did January go?  I was hoping to get up to the mountains, only to be thwarted by work and family issues.

But I did manage to acquire two copies of the Sekor non-C 127mm lens for my RB67. Why two copies?  I took a chance on a really cheap copy, that looked to be in great shape, but the seller did not know how to test the lens. We communicated and I took a chance, only to discover the shutter was acting up. So... back to the bay, to find a working shutter. The second copy was rough looking, but the shutter was in good shape, so the dissection began!


After a few nights of cleaning and reassembly, I ended up with a clean and fully functional lens!


Final step? Go out and test in the field. So on a recent sales trip, I took a 2 hour detour to Castle Air Museum in Atwater, CA. Side note: this place is incredible!

Here are a few pics from that day, using TriX @400. Definitely need to go back with more time and film!




This air museum is one of the best I have seen. Almost all the planes are outdoor and easily accessed. And they have a bunch! including the SR71 shown above, and a B36 with H bomb casing, and a B52D along with many others.  $20 admission is a bit steep, but well worth it if you have a good 3-4 hours.