Gun Stock Camera Mount. . .Cheap!

[flyrod98 0]

I have a couple of problems that make tracking birds with DSLR difficult. First is doing it in a wheelchair and second I have lost most of the sight in my right (master) eye due to an venous occlusion so I have to use my left eye to look through the view finder.

 

Has anybody tried something like this? Build Your Own Shoulder Brace & Camera Gun Stock

I'm also thinking about adapting a Daisy Red Dot scope to the hot shoe some way and sighting it in so the dot and the center focus point coincide at about 25 yards.

[Joe Hard 0]

Great ideas. I am wondering if you could mount something simmilar to your chair. I dont have much luck with bird pictres. Dang things fly away on me

[Graham 0]

Hi flyrod98, I just love your avatar, one of my most favorite photos ever, and like they say, a picture can be worth a thousand words. About your question, I'm wondering if you've seen the Novoflex Chest and Shoulder Pod? And if you think it might work? I have quite a bit of Novoflex equipment, and it's great stuff! Here's a link...

 

http://www.amazon.com/Novoflex-Shoulder-Su...d/dp/B000H7OAKC

 

Graham

[flyrod98 0]

Graham, thanks for the link to Novoflex Chest and Shoulder Pod. That may be just what the "Doctor" ordered. I didn't see your link until after I had already purchased the fittings for the PVC version that I found. I already had the tubing so it won't cost much to find out if the concept will work for me. The Novoflex really looks good because it will allow me to use my hands to wheel when I am in a manual chair plus it looks like the length of the arm is adjustable.

 

Thanks for comments and understanding of my avatar. That was a good day. Here is the photo from which it was made. The sky was one those types that is almost imposible to keep from blowing out.

[flyrod98 0]

I finally got back to messing around with the camera again. I found a site that makes a bracket for attaching a Red/Green Dot scope to the hot shoe of the camera. I bought one of the brackets. Scope Bracket

I put a green dot scope from Cablela's on my camera and here are some of the results I got using it this evening. I still have trouble because I still try to look through it with my right eye, but I'm getting better at it. I may have to get an eyepatch.

I finally was able to catch an Eurasian Dove in flight.

 

 

 

Mr. Robin All Dress Up and Looking for Girls

 

 

[Wulff 0]

Hi Flyrod.

I'm a sucker for bird in flight photography. Check the bird thread last pages or my site. The best aid imo is the Bushhawk http://bushhawk.com/. Like anything in photography they don't come cheap. I also use it for Macro shooting. My Macro lens is a 180mm 3.5 lens, the DoF at the MFD is razor thin, such that any movement at all on my part will knock the subject oof. In natural light im often 1/50th to 1/100th and so it enables me to hold everything just that much firmer and yet maintain the freedom of full motion on the camera/lens. Like anything theres pros and cons and changing your setting if you shoot in manual isnt as easy but the pros more than make up for it.

 

Regarding Red Dots.

I dont know Flyrod. If your using it simply as a spotting scope to take shots of stationary targets, sure I can see it working. I dont know what lens you use but I use a 400mm prime, and while a red dot would tell me that Im on target, it wont tell you if your in focus. Even the best, top of the line pro bodies ( Canon 1DIIN) can and will lose focus tracking occassionally. Anything less will lose focus tracking more often and the further away you get from pro bodies in each makers lines, the less capable the focus drives are. So yes, your red dot will help you get on target.

 

Are you focused?

 

Anyways, look at a Bush-hawk, they aren't cheap but. Fully adjustable, it might be the ticket your looking for. Also with the modified cable release ( basically a trigger) at the end the hand grip it makes shooting that much more intuitive and if you shoot in cold weather wearing gloves isnt as much an issue. If you do alot of bird in flight photography you know the closer they are they harder they are to track and keep in focus. .

 

[flyrod98 0]

Hi Wulff,

Tack sharp focused photos like yours, Graham's and Carlin's last photo of the eagle give me inspiration to give BiF photography a try, even though trying to do it from a wheelchair with limited range of motion from the mid chest down makes it difficult to track the birds. Also I have limited vision in my right eye caused by a venous occlusion so I have been trying to learn to use my left eye to look through the view finder. This has been difficult for me because my right eye is my master eye, plus I cannot close my right eye (wink) and not almost close my left eye as well. I really am thinking about putting an eye patch over my right eye.

 

So this is why I decided to give the Green Dot scope a try. I have it sighted in at 25 yards so the dot and the center AF point coincide in the viewfinder of my Canon 350D. I have done this with my 70-300mm IS lens set at 300mm. I have to try and get the Dot on the bird then count on the cameras auto focusing to achieve focus. It has helped me at least get a bird in the frame. I couldn't do that when trying to look through the view finder. Focus, or maybe camera stability, still leave a lot to be desired, but I'm hoping with practice things will improve and I develop a technique that works for me.

 

The Bushhawk is something to consider along with the Noveflex that Graham mentioned earlier in this thread. I have cut the parts for PVC cheapie but haven't done anything else yet. By experimenting with the PVC gadget I hope it will give me an insight as to what will work the best. Right now I have adjusted the camera strap and I pull it tight against the back of my neck when my arms are fully extended and then find the bird in the scope.

 

One of the dove pics was only the 1100th picture I’ve taken with a DSLR and very few have been of birds, so I’m very low on the learning curve. Any tips and techniques you care to share will be greatly appreciated.

[Wulff 0]

The best advice I think I can give is practise, practise, practise. I know it sounds cliche but for BiF it does make a difference. I still have a long way to go and alot to learn, I look at it as beingl fun practise:) and the beauty of digital is deletions are free My trash is an intimate friend

 

Regarding your eyes.

A couple of Bird shooters who I look to, shoot with their left eye (right dominant) and some I know shoot left andkeep both eyes open. I tried it, its very hard (for me) but obviously its doable. These are guys who border on Pros and put my best shots to shame (would likekly delete them) So dont give up. Do what you need to to have fun, but keep trying it , in time you might find using the left doable.

 

The problem with the red dot is "focus". I tihnk in your case it will be great for assisting in getting on target but after that you'll struggle to get and leep them focused. The 350 is a nice body but to get the best from it with in flight birds you really need to help it along by refocusing fairly often. The AI servo on it is spotty and I suspect thats likely the culprit. However if you find you really need the red dot to asssist in target acquisition than what might work is a small chang in strategy. Rather than "tracking" and firing "burst" change your approach to 1 shot. Set the AF drive to one shot and practise timing quick snap shots. Such that once you have them on target via the RDS, a quick focus and then the shutter release can get you sharp single shots.

 

Also the smaller the bird the harder it is both on you as an indiviual and on your hardware. Doves are just bordering what I can reliably get sharp shots of. Below their sized I might delete a 100 shots for a couple keepers.

Things like Blue Jays, Cardinals, etc are very tough and I have one of Canons fastest focusing lenses and a pretty good body although not a 1D

 

For one shot like that I may delete 50and BJs are just a hair smaller than doves

 

Tree swallows

 

Are even tougher. Ive got a dozen keepers of them in flight, Ive deleted probably 500 to 1,000.

 

My point is Doves are actually fairly small and fast movers. Your really pushing the limits of the 350 and 75-300 imo. Keep trying them but dont be discouraged if the results arent what your hoping for. Its like my Tree swallow shots. They push the limits of my hardware I dotn sweat deleting hundreds for a couple keepers.

 

Ducks, hawks, Gulls (Gulls make great practise trgets) , Herons etc are just that little bit larger and a little bit slower. You'll find them easier to shoot.

 

 

J