Avian Photo Gear - Testing the Kipon EF-FX Lens converter

Kipon have come out with their EF-FX AF version adaptor for Canon EF lens to Fuji mount  recently. May 2018 the Kipon AF adapter is in  stock at YL Camera. Price was slightly RM1000 which is much cheaper by 30-40% that the  price of Metabones. So just pop over from my office to check it out. My testing gear was my EF400mm F4 DO USM IS Mark1 lens on my current body Fuji XT-2 of 2 years old. My main objective is to  test whether my telephoto lens pairing up with a  EF 1.4 X mark3  teleconverter is useable.  This setup was to get better reach of 600mm x 1.5 = 900mm on my  1.5 cropped sensor Fuji  body.

Distance of shot is about 50-60 ft in the shop.  Firstly on the Auto Focusing in low light and low contrast condition focusing was a  frustrating hunting affair and as such it is definately not good for my bird photography purpose.  Even when it manage to focus the photo  the shots were rather soft and blurry as shown in the photos below. Looks like it a no go for me to  purchase the item.

Next I tried out the Kipon  adapter without the 1.4x teleconverter, the focusing is still an issue but much better but then I was shooting at a shorter distance of 30-40 ft. Basing on the 3 shoots below I must say the case is a miss and hit situation. Possibility that my telelens is not properly suited to Fuji Af algorithm as the focus confirmation indicated otherwise...........

At a nearer target of 30 ft and on contrasting subject I got much improved shots as shown below in term of focussing and sharpness. Please note that my finding here  relates to bird photography and  the performance of Kipon adapter would be different for other EF L lenses.  So for the moment  I have to wait for a better birding solution...................

Avian sighting July 2018 - Rufous collared Kingfisher is back

I was early to the port  first weekend of July to look for norturnal birds but alas none of my target birds responded to my calling.  Seremban Yap and then Lam from KL join me at the port. Later Liew and his kwailoh guest arrive in the late morning. The highlight of the day was the RCKf which stayed for a 10-15 minutes session for all to shoot to their heart content. Is it diffirent from the Chestnut Collared Kf of Borneo?  Hope to see it in my trip in October 2018. Any one interested to join me to Sandakan -Sepilok ............

Earlier bird life along the road in the wee morning 8.30 am was so so in misty condition.  First bird was a far sighting of  Black Magpie, a tattered Drongo cuckoo with its curvy beak (picture below) was next. Further up from Deerland spotted a hornbill. Walah it was my first sighting  of a Black Hornbill variant with white supercillum that morning (see my earlier posting).

Then a yellow bellied flowerpecker was curious enuf to show itself (picture above) . Other bird sighting include several common bulbuls. By 9am I was back to the port hoping lighting was better by then. At the port the usual birds appearance were frequent enough to keep us entertained. A Banded was calling but no appearance.

A pair of mating OM Robin in shining coat appears on several occasion everytime the resident  shama calls............

Below the Black-capped is the more difficult bird to snap in sharpness as we shoot in low speed in the low light condition and skittish behaviour of the same.

Avian Sighting July 2018 - Grey-cheeked Bulbul

A Grey-cheeked drop by the famed port  A88 . This is a fairly common bulbul  can be seen in Lancang Pahang. This is my second time photographing this bird but my first time here. It is a lowland forest bird. Other place you can see it is  in Hulu Langat and Merapoh side.

Avian sighting July 2018 - Black Hornbill (Female Variant)

This is a variant  female with its dark beak and pinkish eyering. It has a  long white streaked supercillum right up to its nape. How it came about is nobody's guess but I suspect  it may have arise cross breed with other hornbill like the pied............

This is my first time sighting of this nice looking variant. The variant also occur to the male bird. It do mix and  mate with the usual variant.

Caught it in the early morning in misty condition about 100m away on a dead tree top after Deerland. Later  another male of the common kind drop by. See video as the former flew off..................

Avian Sighting June 2018 - Puff-backed Bulbul

The Puff-backed Bulbul is quite a rarity to see. So far this is my second encounter of this bird in Lanchang Pahang peninsula Malaysia. This time it was just after the Deerland Bukit Rengit. The other time was at the RC bridge to Krau side. I would say the bird have a wide range  which it will follow the season of fruiting trees at a locale. It was alone. It stayed a  fair distance but good enough for some good shots here when it perched on the electric cables.

Avian sighting month of May 2018 - Bukit Fraser

 A pair of  Mountain imperial Pigeon  was seen feeding on fruiting tree opposite the Foodcourt. They monopolise the tree  for hours until a gang of macaques arrived to shoo them away at about 11am.

Even the Maroon Oriole kept it distance from the tree across the other side of the road.

I missed the nesting of the Long-tailed Broadbill last year which was subsequently abandoned or destroyed due to bad weather. This time around in 2018  the nest was very much sturdier and humongous  compared to the other Broadbill. This again at Bishop trail. It is no secret this bird keep coming back to nest here......................

Avian Sighting in May 2018 - Rufous-backed Kingfisher (Juvenile)

Without the blue patch behind its ear we can only id it as the Rufous-backed eventhough  it has a blue dark patch to its forehead (of the black-backed) and much darker wing set. It could be a hybrid kingfisher if you ask me.

In the month of May the juvenile bird is seen picking up mealworms offered by birders but never go after the fish hatchling in the watershed. On the other hand the parent bird was around to show its skill to its fledgling.

The surprise sighting is a parenting Silver-eared Broadbill  with its fledgling.