February 2021

Some shots with the R5 from our lockdown walks on the Downs now I know what I'm doing - bullfinch, firecrest, goldcrest.

I've had a Canon R5 and the 100-500mm RF lens for about a month now, and almost sent them back on several occasions. It's been a steep learning curve dealing with things like double back button focussing, and I had what I thought were quality issues. Initially the camera appeared faulty when the rear LCD kept cutting out, only for me to work out that happened when my hand went over the proximity sensor near the EVF. On another day I couldn't work out how to fit the extender (the lens wasn't extended beyond 300mm necessary for the extender to work). The last straw was seeing consistently fuzzy images from the lens - I did extensive tests alongside the 100-400mm and the prime 500mm and couldn't work out why the lens got stellar reviews on the internet. Turns out the lens didn't like a Tiffen Haze filter I had on it (no problem with other lenses), and now works fine with a B & W Pro clear filter. I think I neally know what I'm doing now - the animal eye autofocus is great, and the image quality appears excellent too. A few sample snaps below of a black-headed gull and a jay. The jay was taken at 1/100s and didn't need sharpening. I'm really looking forward to trying the equipment out after lockdown eases. The earlier images this month (below the jay) were taken before I sorted the filter issue.

23rd. Two kingfisher and a siskin, Eastville Park.

19th. Dipper on the Trym, Westbury-on-Trym.

12th. Lockdown continues. The only new birds since the first week of January have been kestrel, collared dove and skylark. Hetty and I spend a lot of our free time on the Downs. To brighten things up I bought a Canon R5 mirrorless camera and 100-500mm lens. Has it been worth it? I don't know yet, and it's a steep learning curve. The animal eye autofocus looks great judging by the dog action shots, but the image quality looks very similar to what I was getting with the 5D Mark IV. Jay and female firecrest below.