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by Wildflower-nut on Sun Oct 01, 2017 10:15 am
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Is it worth taking something like a 400DO or 500F4 or is a 100-400 sufficient maybe with a 1.4x to NZ.  All full frame canon bodies.

Skippers canyon..   Can't take a rent a car and having a hard time finding a tour that does not want to go during the best light.  Is it worth it or should I move on to something else.
 

by Mike in O on Sun Oct 01, 2017 12:49 pm
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Most New Zealand birds (other than sea birds and shorebirds) are seen in the dark forest environment and not when the sun shines. The unique birds I saw were needing a bright lens, not so much long. The Yellow eyed penguin was the exception since you don't want to get close to them but they also were active at dusk and dawn. To me the best lens would be a 300 f2.8 w/ a TC. It was fun camping and needing to take a pee, I ran into 2 Kiwis in my headlamp. The Kakas were evening birds but the Keas could taken with a cell phone in the middle of the day.
 

by DavidSutton on Sun Oct 01, 2017 4:32 pm
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I agree with Mike.
If your high iso is reasonably good, the 100-400 will do. I'd stick with that.
Penguins: I use a 24-100 mm lens. If you sit still they will often walk past you.
Skippers: it's quite a cool and slightly scary drive, and I like going there, but I find I don't come back with many images worth keeping. But that could be just me. A search will bring up several companies that do private tours, with a minimum of two people. So if you double the fee for taking just one person, it would come to a bit under NZ$400.
If you are coming here around the last 4 to 5 weeks of this year you might be better off photographing the lupins with the mountain backdrop in the Mackenzie Country and Mt. Cook in particular. You could combine that with a side trip to Bendigo (just off the Northburn - Tarras road) to photograph the abandoned gold miners' cottages and diggings.
Another alternative for that area would be St. Bathans. A couple of hours from Cromwell. The hotel is worth staying in. But you would come back the same road to carry on to Queenstown or Mt. Cook.
David
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by Craig McKenzie on Mon Oct 02, 2017 4:44 pm
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Driving up the Coronet Ski Field road (sealed), parking at the Skippers turn off and walking a km or so in will get you to as good a location as any. Certainly where most of the iconic Skippers photos are taken.

A 100-400 would be a good versatile lens to bring. It is used by many bird photographers here. If bird photography was your primary objective a more exotic tele would be useful. I almost exclusively use a 600mm for my bird photography.

Regards
Craig McKenzie

[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigmckenzie[/url]
 

by Wildflower-nut on Mon Oct 02, 2017 5:01 pm
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Tried without much success to find a private tour of skippers canyon.  One guy will be in Japan and the other is doing a wedding.  I will probably go elsewhere as you suggest.

Probably will take the 100-400 for scenery and 400f4 do for wildlife.  The latter can be used with a 1.4x and 2x and is a good birds in flight lens. Probably overkill but the 400do is not that big and heavy.
 

by Wildflower-nut on Mon Oct 02, 2017 5:21 pm
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Craig McKenzie wrote:Driving up the Coronet Ski Field road (sealed), parking at the Skippers turn off and walking a km or so in will get you to as good a location as any. Certainly where most of the iconic Skippers photos are taken.

A 100-400 would be a good versatile lens to bring. It is used by many bird photographers here. If bird photography was your primary objective a more exotic tele would be useful. I almost exclusively use a 600mm for my bird photography.

Regards

If this was the US, I'd be taking the 600f4 as that is what I normally use for birds and even large mammals (elk, moose, bear etc).  That is just a long way to go with that kind of lens particularly since the tour part of the trip will be mostly scenics.  The 500f4 was a compromise as is the 400f4DO.  I guess I will go with the 400f4DO as it can give me light and compact with a decent focal length with multipliers.  Not as good as a 600 but ....

Thanks for the suggestion on Skippers canyon.  I may do that.  I'll need to rent a car anyway. If you have any other suggestions for a day tour around queenstown or on good birding areas anywhere on the south island, I'm all ears!
 

by Mike in O on Mon Oct 02, 2017 8:35 pm
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Make sure your eyes are taking in the sights and meeting great people over a beverage before the photography becomes all encompassing.
 

by DavidSutton on Tue Oct 03, 2017 1:17 am
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Wildflower-nut wrote:Tried without much success to find a private tour of skippers canyon.  One guy will be in Japan and the other is doing a wedding.  I will probably go elsewhere as you suggest.

Probably will take the 100-400 for scenery and 400f4 do for wildlife.  The latter can be used with a 1.4x and 2x and is a good birds in flight lens. Probably overkill but the 400do is not that big and heavy.
Here's a site that may do if you decide to go:
https://www.queenstownnz.co.nz/explore/ ... overy-tour

I thought there were others at this price but they turned out to be the same company.
David
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Website: http://davidsutton.co.nz/
 

by Craig McKenzie on Tue Oct 03, 2017 4:15 am
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From Queenstown a drive the Glenorchy at the top of Lake Wakatipu and beyond to the start of the Routeburn would be worthwhile. A bit over an hour to the Routeburn. Forest and mountain scenery with a good bird population in the forest at the start of the Routeburn track. Also a reasonable chance of a Whio (Blue duck) on the stretch of river below the swing bridge. Following from Mike's comment, you won't see many New Zealanders up there, mostly tourists.

If you are heading to Milford Sound a stop at any of the camping spots in the Eglinton Valley should reveal good forest birds as well, particularly Knobs Flat/Kiosk Creek and Lake Gunn. Never be in a hurry to get to the sound. The trip in is the best part.

Regards
Craig McKenzie

[url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/craigmckenzie[/url]
 

by Mike in O on Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:46 am
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If you go into the forest, the sand flies (no see um) can be wicked. Don't forget to get some DEET when you land.
 

by Wildflower-nut on Tue Oct 03, 2017 8:35 pm
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Craig McKenzie wrote:From Queenstown a drive the Glenorchy at the top of Lake Wakatipu and beyond to the start of the Routeburn would be worthwhile. A bit over an hour to the Routeburn. Forest and mountain scenery with a good bird population in the forest at the start of the Routeburn track. Also a reasonable chance of a Whio (Blue duck) on the stretch of river below the swing bridge. Following from Mike's comment, you won't see many New Zealanders up there, mostly tourists.

If you are heading to Milford Sound a stop at any of the camping spots in the Eglinton Valley should reveal good forest birds as well, particularly Knobs Flat/Kiosk Creek and Lake Gunn. Never be in a hurry to get to the sound. The trip in is the best part.

Regards


I checked out your web site.  Beautiful bird pictures.  Can't help but notice most taken with a 600mm lens.

I'm making a note of these locations and the ones others have suggested.  I'll check them out.

I'll bring DEET too!
 

by capebretondoc on Wed Oct 11, 2017 7:44 pm
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I am headed to NZ for 5 weeks and will be bringing my 600mm. I weighed all the options and decided I love the soft BG's and IQ I get with the 600. I will likely never get back to NZ and I would rather complain that I carried too much gear than wish I had my 600 with me. We will be renting a car for the duration of the trip so I will put it all in the trunk!
I also read your comment about Craig's images being mostly with the 600 and am feeling like I have made the right decision,
Gail
gailbissonphotography.zenfolio.com
Instagram @gailmbisson
 

by Andy Trowbridge on Thu Oct 12, 2017 1:52 am
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I would recommend taking at least your 500mm if you are going to be spending a lot time photographing NZ birds. While a lot of our birds are quite approachable I still use my 500mm with TC's for over 80% of my bird photography and quite often with a cropped sensor camera  (7D Mark II).
All comments & suggestions welcomed and appreciated.
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by capebretondoc on Sat Dec 09, 2017 5:09 pm
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Just back from my trip to NZ. Definitely take your longest lens. I used it 90% of the time with my 1.4x.
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