Brogborough Test of Lumix FZ1000 MkII

The weather brightened for a while, and enticed me to consider taking just the Lumix FZ 1000 MkII, the mirrorless body with a fixed zoom equal to 25-400mm, out to the lake at Brogborough. Since there was a reasonable wind blowing I anticipated there would be windsurfers out on the water to take advantage.

  By the time I was ready to leave, much of the promise of sunshine was rapidly dwindling, but the chance to find out how this camera might perform was too great a draw, and my only slight disappointment was just how few sailors had decided to grab the opportunity. Certainly, compared to setting up my Sigma 60-600mm on the heavy Benbo tripod, to ready this camera, was a mere matter of removing the soft cover and switching the power on – a breeze!

  It was not long before I had taken a few shots of the meagre number of windsurfers who were out on the lake, and I broke off to chat to some of those on the lakeside, before seeing just how effective this new ‘toy’ was able to perform; certainly compared to the Sigma, this was way short in terms of the size of image I was accustomed to expect at the long lens end, so I needed to position myself as close to the shore as possible, even at the long end of the range, since the sailors were at a reasonable distance from me. At first this seemed a bit of a disappointment, but once I had ‘chipped and zoomed in on the shots I had managed, I was fairly happy with the results. The cloud cover had increased from the start, but after I had taken some two hundred images, of which I would only use a mere forty-five, I felt I had enough material to look through and assess this camera’s potential for use here in the future. My conclusion after creating the gallery, was that if time was short and this camera were at hand, it would definitely be usable, but it certainly was never going to provide the same coverage I can get with my Sigma Sports lens, more especially as that is absolutely excellent when I also can attach the 2x Converter!

  I now knew if this camera was with me, and there was activity on the lake, I did have an excellent backstop to capture some action. As a technical reference, these were all taken at ISO 2000, so the quality achievable is more than adequate. I now know there is still more potential here once I really understand how to get the best out of it.

A Short and Late Lake Visit

Upon my arrival, I did not realise that though it was still early afternoon, I was already late, since almost everyone had come in the morning and my hope of action was doomed as many of the sailors I would have found adventurous had now come ashore. 

I did set up my camera and was using the 60-600mm with the 2x Converter on the EOS R body, mounted on the Benbo tripod, and the head I had on was the Acrotech Long Lens Head, which was the most suitable to try to maintain the horizon level, yet be able to pan smoothly and allow some movement vertically. However, the best uninterrupted viewing position was on the landing stage which is not the stablest of platforms when there is a good wind blowing, but does offer the widest uninterrupted view.

There was a youngster being helped by his father upon my arrival, and after some help, the young lad was soon aloft, and so these were my opening shots, and it was apparent that he had some prior experience despite some early hesitation.

This particular visit was not my most productive, but it is helpful to me to establish which items of kit work best when I use the EOS R, so that everything becomes second nature. In speaking to Barry Rivett, I learned he had been wondering about using a mirrorless body, so with everything locked on the camera, I went over to where he was chatting with another windsurfer, and suggested that he might like to take a look through the lens, to see what it was like, and as I answered some of his questions, I think it helped to help him make up his mind about whether to consider a similar investment.

The shots I took on this occasion were at least a record, and from a personal perspective were useful, but were definitely not overly exciting, but served a purpose, and I did get an opportunity to strike up a few interesting conversations with others, some unrelated to sports photography, and one interesting exchange on the political situation in relation to Brexit, and possible ramifications.

Late January – Brogborough Sun & Wind

          Finally a weekend comes along with wind and sunshine at the lake at Brogborough, and hardy Windsurfers can make the most of what late January has on offer. The really keen ones were on the water by the time I arrived at just after eleven.

          I set up the heavy Gitzo tripod, with the 7D MkII and the Sigma 150-600mm Lens on the gimbal head to the left of the foreshore, so that I was in a position to make the most of any sun that might appear as forecast. What I had not foreseen was just how waterlogged it was, so I changed my shoes for boots with some tread on them! Later I even moved the tripod because as I followed the action I was making a lot of mud from my constant changes of position, when panning. 

          I was not expecting exciting jumping, but was pleasantly surprised by capturing a couple of the sailors lift off from the water. Sam’s dog provided me with rolling activity presumably to have a good scratch! In order not to delay any more from getting the gallery of images up on the blog I will keep my narrative to a minimum as tomorrow is an important day when I pay a visit to Moorfields at Bedford for my initial visit to sort the cataract in my right eye. 

          There are a lot of gallery pages, hopefully covering everyone who was out on the lake, so for those in a hurry I have put a few headliners to whet the appetite.

Sun & Stewartby Lake – Sailing

I needed a fix of photographs having suffered withdrawal symptoms due to poor weather after the Christmas festivities, and now was greeted with a real chance as the sun was shining in clear blue skies. I reckoned that despite the cold, Stewartby Lake might offer either wildlife or Sailing. So that was where I headed as it was not exactly early, and the distance was negligible. I took a variety of lenses, but opted on the 150-600mm Sigma on the 7D MkII, and the heavy Gitzo Tripod and Gimbal Head since from car to the lakeside was no distance at all.

And as I had hoped there was activity on the water, so I was soon set up and shooting, with occasional glances around at the activities of others, mostly families with youngsters , or  people out to give their dogs and themselves some exercise, and quite a few runners of both sexes out to work off the excesses of the recent holiday break, some of those noticeably puffing from their exertions! I was in a spot off the path with a reasonably wide angle of view, and in the lulls, I did look around to see whether I could improve my position, but the spot I had selected proved to be the best as any spot beyond had narrower views or the iron fence came into view in the lower half of the frame.

I was surprised that with such a lack of wind, just how fast some sailors managed to achieve, and ironically when they all retired from the lake, the wind rose. I was rewarded with a fair number of interesting shots and came away very satisfied and even bagged a few shots of the wildlife, albeit fairly tame stuff. I also found a few people stopped for a friendly chat; so altogether a very worthwhile afternoon.

Doris Blows in at Brogborough

Waking to warnings of high winds, meant that after a long wait for winds of sufficient strength to encourage Windsurfers to make or find the time to leave work on a Thursday, at last that day was here. I phoned Sam to check whether he had heard from any sailors, and learned three were scheduled — that was promising! I checked when they might arrive and gathered early afternoon, so I let him know I might see him later — that was hardly the full truth, I had made up my mind to definitely make it!

I then assembled the camera and lenses I planned to take along, but put the 70-200mm on the 5D MkIII and the 150-600mm was already on the 7D MkII, taking along a 300mm and a couple of other primes to cover the distances that I might need to cover, but as it turned out my first choice proved to be those I used — the 7D on the Gitzo tripod, and the 5D MkIII slung around my neck, for handheld closer shots.

The wind at home was fairly blustery, and fairly strong, but later on the road to Brogborough Lake it was considerably stronger, I presume to it being less built-up than within Marston Moretaine. When I met up with Sam, he reckoned it was the worst he had ever seen it, and he was not exaggerating! I drove over and on arrival opened the boot to assemble the tripod and gimbal head, and Doris blew the boot lid down on me!

I spotted Sam and he told me three were getting knitted up and one was already on the water, so picked up the gear and headed towards the bank, but since the wind was directly on the shore and the larger breakers were sending the slime inland, I put the tripod down a fair way back! It was not long before there were generally at least two out on the lake, and for a change I operated on the basis of shooting as often as I could because with the best will in the world shooting was very hit and miss, because I had to keep one shoulder against the tripod as the wind threatened to blow it over. Also, I had to keep resetting the levelling head as one or more tripod legs dug into the muddy, water- sodden ground — it certainly was not easy keeping the surfers in shot.

Every now and then a squall would come up, and I had to break off to keep my kit safe, but as one passed, I'd be back out and shooting again, also,if my subjects came in close, I would forego the camera on the tripod and shoot handheld, which as I find it hard to accurately synch the two bodies some of the true chronology is awry. I did get a few jumps and sequences, and was reasonably satisfied with what I did capture, but at least half of what I shot was binned, but I am really glad I made the effort, so I hope they give those who had braved the weather some pleasure.

Easter Saturday, Wind at Last at Brogborough Lake

Weekday winds are not as attractive for windsurfers due to jobs getting in the way, and that has been the situation for a while, but though rain does not deter those participating, it is a little less enticing for me as cameras and lenses are not partial to a drenching! I was therefore hoping that rain might hold off for at least some of the time, and I really cannot complain too much as it held off for much of the time. Even when it came I was thankful that it was light and relative to the direction of most of my shooting, it came from the side.

My arrival timing was fairly reasonable as several windsurfers had put their kit together and were due to join the single person already on the water. It was time for me to put my kit together — put the Lensmaster gimbal head on the Gitzo tripod with the Novoflex levelling head. This was going to be a test of a new set of wave washers in place of the spring washer in the gimbal head that Robert Hardy had kindly supplied just that morning. Recently I had been doing my own experimenting to improve the overall smoothness of what is already a good (British made) gimbal head, and had been in contact with Robert who was its designer; hence why he sent me his latest take on how to effect an improvement. Although only marginal , any slight advance is always welcome and so it proved.

The shooting on the lake this time would be watching the various sailors go through various manoeuvres to improve their skills and do my best to capture the sequences and apparently due to the wind direction the conditions would not favour jumps, so such dramatics were not likely fare. Seemingly though jumping would not be easy, it was not going to stop some of them taking a chance, as I spotted a couple through my lens, and one with my eyes!

Not being a windsurfer myself, it is not easy to read the conditions and sense when a sailor is about to make their move so to capture jumps at all gives me a lot of satisfaction and to do so when it less likely than ever is a delight. I am afraid that there are a lot of images to wade through as they are as much as anything a record the windsurfers themselves can study to seek to hone their skills, and some sequences may well span more than the same page.

Brogborough Yet Again – Stronger Winds Than Were Forecast

I had hoped that Sunday would bring some wind, and I was not disappointed, but whereas I seemed just a fair amount here at Marston Moretaine, when I reached the lake at Brogborough it was blowing heartily and had attracted the energetic sailors, those that would jump at such an opportunity to give their skills a workout. They would be using their store of energy to generate plenty of body heat, such that they would not feel the chill, and to be fair, it was a warmer wind than of late, but keeping oneself concentrating on what I am tracking through the viewfinder, whilst being constantly battered by the wind, the chill effect soon becomes apparent. I am not compensating with much input of energy, just concentration, so really should have worn more, and this I failed to do.

I have been wanting to shoot from a lower viewpoint to emphasise the height of any jump sequences I might capture, so initially I went as close to the water’s edge as I could, but I then met with another problem and that was that my heaviest and therefore most stable tripod was not allowing me to get my eye to the right height for the camera and every third wave soaked me, so I had to move back to higher, level ground and stand rather than sit. During this transition I therefore missed some of the action.

Once re-sited, I then began to spot which characters were going to provide me with action, and I concentrated on following them trying to anticipate when they might take to the air. I learned later that the conditions that prevailed this day did not provide a great deal of height to the jumps. I also tried to back up the action with shots that covered the entry and exit of the water and therefore telling a fuller story.

Foolishly, I decided to break off and grab a cup of tea when the numbers on the water dropped, but I was not able to continue as before, because I had been unable to warm up sufficiently and so soon curtailed my shooting after a very short time, but I was very happy in the main with what I had captured and I knew the more I took the longer would be my time spent in front of a computer screen, so it was not too difficult a decision to pack up and retire to the warmth of my office! I do long for the joy of the sun along with the wind.