Photographing sand martins in flight at their nesting burrows - who says the Nikon Z7 can't handle fast action?!
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Equipment I used in this video (full list available here: [ Ссылка ])
** 3D Camouflage Suit: [ Ссылка ]
Nikon Z7 FX Mirrorless Camera: [ Ссылка ]
Nikon Z6 FX Mirrorless Camera: [ Ссылка ]
Nikon FTZ Adapter: [ Ссылка ]
Nikon Z 14-30mm f/4 S Lens: [ Ссылка ]
Nikon Z 24-70mm f/4 S Lens: [ Ссылка ]
Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR IF Lens: [ Ссылка ]
Nikon AF-S 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR Lens: [ Ссылка ]
Gitzo GT3543LS Systematic Carbon Tripod: [ Ссылка ]
Really Right Stuff BH-55 Head: [ Ссылка ]
Peak Design Slide Summit Strap: [ Ссылка ]
Peak Design Capture Clip V3 : [ Ссылка ]
DJI Osmo Pocket miniature gimbal: [ Ссылка ]
UltraPod II mini-tripod: [ Ссылка ]
Røde Videomic Pro Mic: [ Ссылка ]
Leica Trinovid 10x25 BCA Binoculars: [ Ссылка ]
Camouflage scrim scarf: [ Ссылка ]
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Description: In early May I saw that the sand martins had returned to the sand dunes where they nest, so I decided to take my camera and see if I could get some footage of these awesome birds! Sand martins are seriously fast fliers, but if you manage to get a look at one, you see that they're really pretty birds.
I was worried that I wouldn't be able to track and focus on them in flight - after all, the internet would have us believe that the AF system of the Nikon Z7 isn’t much good for fast action - but while it was very difficult and frustrating, and I did take a lot of unusable images, I did manage to get some really nice shots. I had to shoot at 1/4000s and that meant some fairly high ISO values, but the new version of Topaz Labs DeNoise AI cleaned up the noisy ones no bother. I also got some great slow motion video of them hovering in the rain which I'm really pleased with!
While I intended the vlog to be completed with the one evening’s filming, I did end up making a number of trips to see the sand martins and get more footage, and it was nice to see the progress they made with the nest burrows and also the changes in activity as started bringing food to the nest for their young.
Note: We're fairly sure the ringed plover eggs hatched eventually. We visited the site several times, always keeping our distance, and saw the adult bird brooding. After about three weeks, the nest was empty and there were no signs of predation (egg shells etc), so we assume the adult took the newly hatched young into the dunes where they could hide more effectively...
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Music: "New Land" by Ian Post; "Gold among the Sand" by Trevor Kowalski; "Lens Flare 3" by Peter Sandberg; "Last Countdown to the End" by Mikki Aglaganov. Music from [ Ссылка ] & [ Ссылка ]
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#sandmartins #birdphotography #wildlifephotography #birdsinflight #behindthescenes #nikonz7 #scottishwildlife
