Testing — Tripod Head + Lens Combo

I have spent time of late rationalising kit for differing weight limits imposed by how much weight I can carry over a distance yet maintain the highest quality practically. I know that optimally if the lens throw and versatility is essential then I use the Sigma Sports 60-600mm, and almost invariably I can use it with the 1.4x Converter permanently attached. The ideal solid tripod support is the Benbo, as it is fairly straightforward to set up, and one major advantage lies with its ability to have the legs in water if need be. Also even with the central column extended, it is remarkably stable.

Another aspect that requires some thought is how the camera and lens is connected to the tripod. I can use a gimbal head with a leveller which provides a safely balanced head, but when the lens focal length is changed from long to wide frequently, it can lose its advantage, whereas when the Acratech Long lenshead is used with its overall balance set centrally, the only precaution needed is to lock it speedily when not actually using it. The gimbal’s advantage is safety, and overall balance, but it is much heavier than the long lens head. So, on this occasion I was verifying that the Long Lens head was critical where weight was the consideration.

The tripod was fairly lightweight with a good leg spread, so quick to set up. I do have a Silk Road Carbon Fibre Tripod, but its first setting is too tight for safety, so it is unsafe in speedy use, because the legs need to be unclicked to go to the second setting for each leg.

I also have a Gitzo tripod, but it is even heavier than the Benbo, so that is really for inside use only. I retained my Tamron 150-600mm lens, and now that I have had its internal firmware updated it really scores when Long throw is more essential than ultimate range, as it is far lighter than its Sigma equivalent, and the quality is still very good.

I feel most would find it hard to accept that all the shots using the EOS R body from wide angle and close-up, to distant building shots, were taken using the 60-600mm with the 1.5x Converter throughout. The EOS 5D MkII shots that are prefixed _56A were shot using theTamron 90mm and are the only images that have not been taken by the Sigma and 1.4x Converter. My recent windsurfer images were all taken using the 60-600mm with the Converter, which now remains almost permanently attached. It is a testament to just how well Sigma have produced their lenses.

Autumn Sun in Priory Park Bedford

Last time I attempted to capture the colours of Autumn, I was thwarted by the ever-shy English Sun – however when an opportunity arose again, I made my way to Priory park in Bedford; the only adversary on this occasion was my intransigent SatNav, which would bow out when I needed it most which involved me in more than one loop back to take the correct direction at a junction. Even when nearing the Car Park, it was insisting it would appear on my right, but fortunately I spotted it myself on my left, albeit too late resulting in a U-turn at a nearby junction.

I was greeted by a very milky sun, but as forecast, it slowly cleared and was pleasantly warm with not a breath of breeze to ripple the water on the lakes. After a brief conversation wit a couple of ladies by the map, I set off for a walk around the lake with just the 5D MKIII and the 35mm f/1.4 lens. I headed for the water's edge before crossing the green sward to a stand of multicoloured trees in the near distance. After a few brief glimpses beyond the frontage of cover, I headed back to the path that ran around the lake's edge, taking every opportunity that was offered for further trips down pathways into the woods to my left, which resulted in other small pools under heavy tree cover, and small bridges over streams or gullies.

I continued these forays throughout my trip around the lake before returning to my start and changing cameras and lenses at the car after taking the opportunity to eat a Scotch egg and a packet of crisps. I would have liked to have used my monopod with my long lens, but sadly, the 3/8th to 1/4 screw adaptor was stuck firmly and I had no tools to extricate it to attach it to the lens foot. I also swapped the 35mm lens for the Tamron 90mm Macro and took the anti-clockwise trip and returned the way from which I had just emerged with the 5D MkIII and now the 150-600mm around my neck. This time only retracing a third of that side of the lake before making a different route back to the car.

I had covered quite a lot of ground and had found the Canoe Slalom Course, but without its teams of canoeists and met numerous dog walkers and mothers and grandmothers of very young children with a mere handful of fathers, and countless joggers and strollers with earphones firmly excluding the sounds of the wildlife from their hearing. There were also the occasional young businessmen discussing their day's business meetings as they made their way around the lake as well as a few small family groups at the water's edge feeding the ducks and gulls, or using plastic ball throwers to keep their dogs exercised. It was only towards the end of my trip did I spot any birds that my camera could consider capturing.

It was a very relaxed interlude with several tunnels of trees to capture bathed in warm autumnal hues and casting long shadows through the branches of trees still fairly-well covered in their foliage, but as I walked I witnessed numerous flutterings of leaves falling to form the golden carpet that covered the paths I was following, every so often I would turn around and take shots from the opposing direction when I spotted the new view from the other side.

I wondered just how long before the wind and rains of the oncoming winter would be upon us. 

ABC – Autumn Bedfordshire Colours!

Why do free time slots occur when the sun is hiding? I had earlier seen some splendid autumn colours along the A421 in late afternoon sunshine, but when free to get out and try to capture the panoply of autumn hues, the sun was behind clouds. But to fail to record them at all seemed a poor option, so I headed out to see whether with a long lens I might be able to see some of that regardless, but the geography made that impossible, so I sought out areas that were more accessible from the countryside nearer me. And initially much closer – within the reach of the 90mm Tamron Macro!

Leaves, acorns, brambles, late roses, and puzzling holes in the verges – I am left wondering which small animals were responsible for these thinly disguised entrances, marked from the dying grasses. I found red leaves on roadside trees, and in a field, rows of cultivated bushes. Later, I even found some late roses and holly with berries; definitely greeting card fodder.

Strangely, also a small area of hedgerow literally teeming with energetic wasps of seemingly different ages to judge from the span of sizes, and they were intent on a very specific seed structure; that of ivy, which resemble a tiny World War II mine at normal viewing distance, but when close, resemble small green flowers on extending stems, obviously supplying an inviting taste to wasps. I had never seen such a number, other than when seeing a cluster of rotting windfall apples.

Altogether a fruitful time for the dying colours of Autumn. The American term: Fall, only describes the results of the action of the wind on the dying leaves from the trees, the English term: Autumn, describes so much more; the range of colours, the russets against the fading green, and the pale yellows with blotchy specks of black, the last warm winds that signal the end of summer and the rains that will herald the cold of the coming Winter.

I hope the gallery of pictures has captured something of an English Autumn, not simply the carpet of fallen leaves.