Photography Q&A
Q I struggle to photograph birds in flight (especially pale birds against pale skies). Can you help? M Goodwin, Hastings
A Thanks for your question. Birds in flight are always difficult, it all depends on what equipment you use and how big the bird is! I would recommend using a Full Frame camera and a 70-200mm or up to 600mm lens (Sigma 150- 600mm is perfect). This will allow you to crop into the frame without losing quality and be close enough to the subject to give the camera enough contrast to focus on the bird in flight against the sky. Increasing your ISO or exposure compensation will also help with focusing and creating a contrast. If you shoot RAW (digital negative) any lighting corrections can be made easily via editing software.
Q I’d like to buy a hybrid or micro four thirds type camera with good video capability, for filming my garden birds. What should I be looking for? I Davidson, Burnley
A There are two options here, Olympus or Panasonic. They both use the micro four thirds mount ( MFT) and are brilliant for video ( Panasonic more so.) The lens focal range are also doubled on MFT mounts, allowing you to use smaller, lighter equipment. Panasonic G100 or Olympus OM-D E-M10. Give your local LCE store a phone call for more information.
Q I’m looking for a universal phone-scoping mount ( I currently have an iPhone 11 but may change soon) – can you recommend one, please? Carl Brown, Billericay
A Hi Carl, I would recommend the Celestron NexYZ 3-Axis Universal Smartphone Adapter £ 54. Currently available on our website