31 thoughts on “The Finch Connection”

    • Thanks! These were taken with a Canon 1Ds with a Canon 70-200mm ƒ/4 L lens, ISO 100. The first photo was ƒ/5.6 at 1/160, the second photo, in the shadow of the fence, was ƒ/4 at 1/80, the rest of the photos were taken at ƒ/4 at 1/200.

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        • After the long piece I wrote after you got the shock of the price of 1D class bodies, you can get similar results to what I got with most any digital camera that has a decent lens. The main problem with smaller sensors is you don’t always have the ability to balance extremes between the highlights and shadows like you can with a full-frame sensor. Otherwise the sharpness and depth-of-field is generally not a problem with the cameras.

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          • Yes you gave me a lot to think about and terms I wasn’t familiar with – that is the beauty of learning and being open to doing so. I have been doing research on used cameras. I see I can step up with ease (meaning not causing a financial upheaval) to another Fuji 36x 16 megapixel which from what I read will give me more clarity. I know it is still a low end camera. I will scout the pawn shops for better camera down the road. 🙂 You words aren’t wasted I appreciate your taking the time to response with good information I can use.

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            • The advantage to a camera like a Fuji Finepix with a 36x zoom, is those lenses are usually super sharp and give you a nice long range, and they generally produce really nice images. I need a much longer focal length lens, 400mm, for example, for birding, but they start at $1500 for an L lens and go up to $15K. Canon just introduced a 200—400mm ƒ/4 zoom lens that would be prefect for me — the problem is it’s $12K.

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        • The new 1Dx body is way out of my price range at $6K. The 1Ds bodies are 10 years old now, but you can get decent ones with low shutter counts from $400 to $600 (always get the shutter count on a used digital if you can). I got the 1Ds bodies last year to take with me to France, instead of my expensive 5D. They turned out to be wonderful cameras (I now understand why they were so expensive new). I have two 1Ds bodies I bought used. One had 1300 actuations on the shutter, the other one had 1600 actuations, so both bodies were basically brand new 9 year old cameras. Even though the 1Ds has limitations compared to my 5D Mark II, I prefer the 1Ds because the lenses focus much quicker and more accurately, especially under bad lighting conditions, than the 5D. The shutters are smoother and quieter and produce no detectible vibration, the light meter is much more accurate, and the 1Ds is weather resistant, like the L lenses, so wind and rain isn’t a problem. The 1Ds bodies are also much more durable than the 5D. Basically, if you don’t mind using a bit older technology, and want to have a full-frame sensor, a good used 1Ds is really quite affordable. The problem is, L lenses are still pricey new or used, but any EF lens works just as well on a 1Ds body.

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  2. I love Finches, so small, so happy and always the vibrant colors. They are everywhere too, my feeder back in Michigan was swarming with them all year. Great captures!!

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  5. Beautiful finch photos, Timothy! We’re getting more Juncos and Chickadees up here now now as the weather is getting colder.

    I never saw the French Connection movie 🙂

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