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Going to Costa Rica later this year, anyone been just using MFT gear if so what lenses do you recommend to take? What were light levels like in the forests and did you have to crop images or was the bird life reasonable close?
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My “perfect pair” are the 12-40 & 40-150 (f/2.8 versions) and the 1.4 TC. You can also use the internal 2x to get really tight in images.Graham
We often repeat the mistakes we most enjoy... -
We spent 19 days birding round Costa Rica last April/May - just my wife & I and a local birder/guide/driver (recommended to us and an excellent choice). I used the OM-1 (with unused EM1-3 as back up) with the 300mm PRO all day, every day apart from 1 when I used the 100-400 to see how it did (OK but just slower and not as good results as the 300). For probably 75% of the time I had the 1.4x TC in place even in the forests - the stabilisation is superb and I often ended up shooting at less than 1/100 with decent results. For the most part shooting at ISO 3200 (as I do most of the time in the UK), lens wide open and depending on DxO PL5 to process the RAWs. My wife - who shoots Lumix/G9 - used her Pana/Leica 100-400 exclusively apart from when looking at frogs and similar where she used her 35mm macro lens.
As no doubt you know and/or will have read/heard, Costa Rica is a fabulous destination in all ways and especially if you're into wildlife. Friendly people, decent food, pretty good roads, gorgeous scenery and huge areas of protected forest (we saw no smoke plumes or heavy duty tree felling throughout the country). I was expecting lots of biting bugs but at least when we were there we had virtually no problems and I can only remember using bug spray a couple of times when around mangrove swamps on the West coast. Weather was mostly hot and dry but with heavy showers during mid-afternoon on several days. The only heavy/persistent rain was in the cloud forests (where you expect it!). I had no camera issues and rarely covered my camera equipment up irrespective of the weather - certainly worried more about dust than water!
In total we saw 534 species and I managed photographs (of hugely varying quality!) of 310 of them despite the priority on this trip being birding not photography. A lot of the birds are very approachable (it helped that there were only 3 of us) although some of the forest specialities are definitely not easy. As with most bird photography reach is pretty much everything and even then most pics are cropped to some degree so I'd take the longest lens you have plus any TC's.
If you're interested here is the link to our eBird trip report from which you can see species list, site list & itinerary. There are around 1000 photos embedded in the lists. https://ebird.org/tripreport/53466
Again, if interested (at least you can see the EXIF info), here is the link to my Flickr album of my favourite images from this trip: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA2h6f
Feel free to ask if you have any questions - sure you'll have a fantastic time. We'd love to go back again one day but currently we're in discussions with a couple of Bogota-based bird guides hopefully arranging a trip to Colombia in November. Fingers crossed
ChrisComment
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Hi,
It depends on what you are targeting.
I was in Costa Rica for three weeks in Nov-Dec 2022. The main focus was bird photography. I also got some lovely photos of mammals; some reptiles and a few frogs. I took a few landscapes but that's not my main area of interest.
The areas I visited encompassed a variety of biotopes. From open land to the deepest rain forest and everything in between. From sea level up to 3500 m above sea level.
I brought with me: OM-1 and E-M1.2 as spare body.
Lens selection:150-400 F/4.5, 300 F/4, 150 F/2.8 and 12-40 F/2.8
The OM-1 and 150-400 F/4.5 was the main tool. For the toughest hikes in rough and steep terrain, I brought the 300/F4 instead.
I used the 40-150 for hummingbirds at close-range.
And the 12-40 for GP and landscapes.
I also brought the MC14 and MC20, hardly used.
We had quite some rain during the trip. The PRO weather sealing was great to have.
Checking the photos I took in the deepest forest I'd say the longest shutter speed was around 1/100s at ISO 6400, F/4.5. Some photos taken in the first or last minutes of light called for 1/25.
Hunting has been banned for a long time in CR. This means that many birds and wildlife can be approached relatively close if you behave properly so in that sense you often succeed in filling enough of the frame, avoiding having to crop too much. Exceptions are those that feed in the canopy and species that are rarely seen perched.
I could upload some photos if you are interested.
What areas are planning to visit?
Cheers
Tord
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It's basically a holiday with some wildlife thrown in!! Have a variety of tours planned. Can't do too much on the bird front otherwise my other half would complain!!
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Changing from Sony to Olympus so I'm building my lens collection with this holiday in mind.
So far I have: OM-1, 300mm, 12-100mm, 7-14mm and 60mm Macro, plus both TC's. Hoping to get a 150-400 once all my Sony gear is sold.Comment
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Looks good; are you travelling with a tour operator or are all these booked independently?
My wife and I are going for a couple of weeks between Dec '23 and March '24 and we're currently looking at areas & lodges. We may well take a custom tour via Trailfinders.
I'll be taking OM-1 & E-M1iii with 40-150 f2.8, 300, 1.4 converter, 60 f2.8 and 12-45 for sure, and I'm considering adding something wider for landscape and/or the 17 f1.2 if there are any street opportunities (research under way).
I've recently seriously upgraded my macro gear with a FL-700RC and a Cygnustech diffuser, so this summer's going to be spent learning how to use that properly!
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You may want to check out sulasula.com where he gives some good insight to Costa Rica and other similar places.
hope you are not wanting the 150-400 for the trip, unless you ordered it months ago!
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Stunning!Originally posted by antpitta View Post
My favourite photo is a bird apparently named P4291339_DXO. Could you elucidate?Comment
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Thanks. So far as P4291339_DXO is concerned, that would be the original file name processed through DxO PL5 before loading to Flickr. I rename/label/comment on the loaded photos in Flickr but missed this one for no obvious reason. Thanks for pointing it out ... it (& the preceding image of the same bird) has been correctly labelled as a "Three-wattled Bellbird" - not only a very distinctive bird visually but even more astonishing to hear.
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Very impressive set of photos! Costa Rica is on the bucket list - time and moneyOriginally posted by antpitta View PostWe spent 19 days birding round Costa Rica last April/May - just my wife & I and a local birder/guide/driver (recommended to us and an excellent choice). I used the OM-1 (with unused EM1-3 as back up) with the 300mm PRO all day, every day apart from 1 when I used the 100-400 to see how it did (OK but just slower and not as good results as the 300). For probably 75% of the time I had the 1.4x TC in place even in the forests - the stabilisation is superb and I often ended up shooting at less than 1/100 with decent results. For the most part shooting at ISO 3200 (as I do most of the time in the UK), lens wide open and depending on DxO PL5 to process the RAWs. My wife - who shoots Lumix/G9 - used her Pana/Leica 100-400 exclusively apart from when looking at frogs and similar where she used her 35mm macro lens.
As no doubt you know and/or will have read/heard, Costa Rica is a fabulous destination in all ways and especially if you're into wildlife. Friendly people, decent food, pretty good roads, gorgeous scenery and huge areas of protected forest (we saw no smoke plumes or heavy duty tree felling throughout the country). I was expecting lots of biting bugs but at least when we were there we had virtually no problems and I can only remember using bug spray a couple of times when around mangrove swamps on the West coast. Weather was mostly hot and dry but with heavy showers during mid-afternoon on several days. The only heavy/persistent rain was in the cloud forests (where you expect it!). I had no camera issues and rarely covered my camera equipment up irrespective of the weather - certainly worried more about dust than water!
In total we saw 534 species and I managed photographs (of hugely varying quality!) of 310 of them despite the priority on this trip being birding not photography. A lot of the birds are very approachable (it helped that there were only 3 of us) although some of the forest specialities are definitely not easy. As with most bird photography reach is pretty much everything and even then most pics are cropped to some degree so I'd take the longest lens you have plus any TC's.
If you're interested here is the link to our eBird trip report from which you can see species list, site list & itinerary. There are around 1000 photos embedded in the lists. https://ebird.org/tripreport/53466
Again, if interested (at least you can see the EXIF info), here is the link to my Flickr album of my favourite images from this trip: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjA2h6f
Feel free to ask if you have any questions - sure you'll have a fantastic time. We'd love to go back again one day but currently we're in discussions with a couple of Bogota-based bird guides hopefully arranging a trip to Colombia in November. Fingers crossed
Chris
Thank you for sharing your Flickr link
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I visited Costa Rica in 2011 back in the days of 4/3 DSLR's. My main camera was the E-3 and the back-up an E-500, lenses were 12-60, 75-300 and 40-150 so not high spec by today's standards. It wasn't specifically a photo tour, more a general wildlife and nature tour spent in the central interior and on the Pacific coast.
Photo technology has moved on a lot since then, I don't think I went much above 800 ISO for any of my shots. Two camera bodies is a must otherwise you will spend a lot of time changing lenses or missing shots.
Eventually I did manage to get the photos together for a photo book.
I have a PDF of the photo book. If you are interested to have a look send me a PM and I'll send you a link.Regards,
Stephen
AKA Snibbo
E-M1X | E-M1 mk1 | MZ 12-40mm | MZ 40-150mm f4 | MZ 60mm Macro | MZ 7-14mm | ZD 50-200mm | FL50-R FlashComment
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