It had been a while since I last went to my favourite red kite feeding station to photograph these magnificent birds in flight. Luckily for me, a new opportunity came up when I received the Sigma MC-11 EF to E-mount adapter to review last week. One of the lenses I asked the brand to send along with it was the 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary, which I’d used on the A7r mark II for the same purpose but with the Metabones mark IV adapter last year. I was curious to see if the new MC-11 would communicate better with a Sigma lens and give me better results.
Sony Gallery
Butterflies in Low-Light – Sony a6300 High ISO Gallery with the Zeiss Touit 50mm Macro
Not too far from where we live, there is a small yet very well-presented butterfly house situated next to the Cwm Rheidol Reservoir, a mere 10 miles from Aberystwyth. Founded by Neil Gale in 2000, the butterfly house is home to over 80 species of butterfly, of which 30 can be seen at any one time during the year.
A red kite, a crow and a cat walk into a bar… – Sony A7r II & Sigma 150-600mm Gallery
There is a farm in Mid-Wales called Gigrin where more than 300 red kites are fed everyday by a member of the family-run business. The birds, with a wingspan of 1.8 metres, battle not only with one another but also against crows, ravens and buzzards for the best pieces of meat. We even saw a cat sneaking onto the field to steal a chunk for dinner. While observing all this (and it is fascinating to watch), we took the opportunity to push the Sony A7r mark II’s autofocus capabilities to the extreme by mounting the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary (Canon EF mount) and the Metabones Mark IV adapter to take some shots of the birds in action.
The Lantern Parade in Aberdyfi – Sony A7rII Image Samples in Low Light
A Foggy Easter Morning with the Sony A7 II & 16-35mm and Fujifilm X-T1 & Touit 12mm
The weather forecast looked promising. Following nearly two weeks of persistent rain and wind, the skies had opened just in time for the Easter long weekend, beckoning work-weary holidaymakers from all corners of the UK to the coast of Wales to enjoy some sand and sun.
Mathieu and I love sand and sun just as much as the next person but it was the words “morning fog” that caught our eye yesterday evening as we checked the forecast. Since we had both the FE 16-35mm f/4 (on the Sony A7 II) and Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8 (on the Fujifilm X-T1) in for testing, we decided to get up nice and early to chase the fog and put these two wide angle lenses through their paces.