Hummingbirds with the Pana-Leica 100-400 (image heavy) - A running thread

[Mountain]

Territorial little things:
View attachment 606253

 

[cnyap]

Out of curiosity, what lens are you shooting for these?

Shot them with the Panny 42.5mm F1.7 lens.
I tried flash, but then was limited to 1/50s until I selected something or another that allowed me to use flash as fill flash, then I think I could get up to 1/500s, but the wings were still blurred because the sun was bright, so the lens was not strong enough to overcome the sun and the fact that 1/500 is not quite fast enough.
E-shutter works well (often enough to have "keepers"). I like to have exposure 1/1300s or faster and like to step the aperture down to F4 to get more DOF but often have to go to F2.8 and even F1.7 as the sun dims (which is when the darn birds feed more it seems). I place the camera maybe 2' from the feeder (I really ought to measure one of these times), just a bit further back than the min focusing distance.
GX85's faster mechanical shutter (and reasonable price used or "close out") is tempting but it's so similar to what I have now and I really like the GF7's small size.

 

[cnyap]

Territorial little things:

I fear mine are fighting, see them chasing each other and noticed one looked beat up and tail had a feather hanging at odd angle. I have two feeders, perhaps I should move one at least 20' away.

 

[Mountain]

The little rufous hummingbirds here are apparently notorious for that behavior:
Rufous Hummingbird

 

[cnyap]

The little rufous hummingbirds here are apparently notorious for that behavior:
Rufous Hummingbird

Don't have that one in nys but the behavior is similar - either playful or very aggressive. one bird seems to have a scar, looks like it had open heart surgery, another has a damaged tail feather. not sure how much longer they will stay, night temps are below 50(F) this week, high in low 70's.

 

[Mountain]

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[MarekChmiel]

Wow! Beautiful images

 

[Mountain]

Wow! Beautiful images

Glad you enjoyed them. I'm looking forward to trying again this summer when they come back, although I'd settle for anything with color this time of year.
Welcome to the forum, it's a friendly place.

 

[MarekChmiel]

Thank you and best regards.

 

[Mountain]

Hummingbirds have been showing up for the last couple of weeks, but I've been busy with business travel and other day to day stuff so I haven't had any opportunities to photograph them. Hopefully more to come as my garden comes in a little more.

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[Mountain]

I had a couple of morning visitors between me and the car on the way to work this morning. Worth being a couple mins late to the office, I think.

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[Mountain]

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[Mountain]

Just for fun, I shot a quick handheld video to show how fast and randomly these things move. I didn't edit out the autofocus fails, since that's a big part of the challenge in getting a good still shot as well. I'm able to fix the focus quicker with stills, but it would make for a more jerky video. I may put the lens on the gimbal head and put a little more effort into shooting a video, but not sure when I'll have the time. SOOC

 

[retiredfromlife]

Just for fun, I shot a quick handheld video to show how fast and randomly these things move. I didn't edit out the autofocus fails, since that's a big part of the challenge in getting a good still shot as well. I'm able to fix the focus quicker with stills, but it would make for a more jerky video. I may put the lens on the gimbal head and put a little more effort into shooting a video, but not sure when I'll have the time. SOOC

I still don't see how you manage to get these in focus. I cant imagine how the auto focus can get past those wings.

 

[Mountain]

I still don't see how you manage to get these in focus. I cant imagine how the auto focus can get past those wings.

There's a fair amount of cursing, I mean manual focus, involved

 

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

Just for fun, I shot a quick handheld video to show how fast and randomly these things move. I didn't edit out the autofocus fails, since that's a big part of the challenge in getting a good still shot as well. I'm able to fix the focus quicker with stills, but it would make for a more jerky video. I may put the lens on the gimbal head and put a little more effort into shooting a video, but not sure when I'll have the time. SOOC

Nice work on the video. I just have 3 hanging feeders, and it is still a huge chore to take stills of the little buggers. Cold mornings are helpful, but rare this time of the year.

 

[Mountain]

After a weird spring, I hadn't seen a single hummingbird in my yard until today. I'm glad that they're at least stopping by for a bit.

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[Mountain]

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