Lightroom’s catalog backups are merely a copy of the currently open .lrcat catalog file. If your catalog is big, the backup will be as well. So for example, my 30,000-image catalog takes up almost 700MB of disk space. Every week or so it gets backed by Lightroom, after 4 weeks there’s a total of 2.8GB of backed up catalog files in addition to the 700MB active catalog sitting on my drive. Perhapse not significant for me, but when you have a 2G catalog and you don’t keep on top of manually removing the backups you can very quickly end up with a whole lot of space taken up by the backups.

Compression

I approach the issue size with the catalog and it’s backups in a multi fold way. To start with, I use Window’s built in NTFS compression to compress my catalogs and their backups. On average, I see about a 50% reduction in Lightroom catalog file sizes due to NTFS compression.

I would point out, that while it might seem similar to “zip” or “compressed” folders, NTFS (file system level) compression is not the same thing. While you can zip the backup catalogs manually, you cannot compress the main catalog that way and still be able to use it.

As I understand it, MacOS also offers file system level compression for HFS+ formatted volumes. Unfortunately, from a cursory Google search there doesn’t appear to be an easy way to enable or disable it without dropping into the command line. Moreover, since I don’t have a Mac, I can’t walk through the enabling it. Further Apple recommends against using HFS+ compression for compatibility reasons. In short, you might be able to do something with file-system level compression, or not, I simply don’t know.

NTFS compression can be enabled though the Advanced button in the Folder Properties (right click -> properties) dialog.

Getting Fancy with PowerShell and 7-Zip

NTFS compression is good, but not that good. My 696MB catalog compresses with NTFS compression to 296MB, but if I use 7-Zip to compress it into a 7Z archive file, it shrinks down to a mere 24.6 MB.

Just compressing it is good enough to save tons of space; throwing away old copies take that even further. Unfortunately, carrying this out is a little more complicated than just turning on NTFS compression.

Normally for scheduled task kind of work, I turn to bash on a Linux box, this is also what you mac users would want to use.

Initially I had envisioned a rather simple script that duplicated the command find $lr_bak_path –directory –mtime +30 –delete –print. In short, delete every directory that’s older than 30 days.

That was the initial thought, after playing around in PowerShell for a while I came up with the script published later in the article. Instead of deleting based on time, it deletes based on the number of backups I want to keep. That is, it’ll keep the last 4 backups even if they are 2 or 3 months old. It also compresses the backed up catalogs into 7-Zip archives, so I get massive storage savings while retaining backups of my catalog.

One hurdle to running PowerShell scripts is that Microsoft sets PowerShell by default to not execute scripts. To fix this, you need to run set-executionpolicy from an administrator PowerShell prompt, as show below.

PS C:\windows\system32> set-executionpolicy RemoteSigned

There are several options you can pick, but RemoteSigned is most secure without also requiring you to sign your own scripts.

I also elected to use 7-Zip to compress my backups. I’ve added a check for it being installed in the event that you have it installed too, or you can download it from 7-zip.org and install it. Two keep points, you’ll need to edit the $lrbackup_path line to point to where your Lightroom catalog backups actually are, second you might want to change the $backups_to_keep line to however many old backups you want to keep.

I automated the whole shooting match by running the script as a scheduled task though the Windows Task Scheduler. Getting the task scheduler to work is a bit tricky. You have to invoke powershell to run the script, not just the script. In the action dialog, the program/script will be %SystemRoot%\system32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe. Then to run the script, I found that setting the argument to -NoProfile -File "%path_to_script" -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned, worked for me.

If I there’s demand for it, or I have some free time, I’ll look into seeing if i can put together a video walk though of the whole process. In the mean time, here’s the powershell script I’m running.

The Script

# Script to compress and clean up Lightroom backups
# This script is provided as is and without any warranty or support.
# From: http://www.pointsinfocus.com/learning/digital-darkroom/how-i-manage-lightrooms-catalog-backups/
# Change this value to point where your Lightroom Backups are stored
$lrbackup_path = “$HOME\Pictures\Lightroom\Backups”
# Change this value to
$backups_to_keep = 4
# Delete the following line after the first run of the script
$whatifpreference = $true
#
# Do not Edit beyond this point
#
$7z = Test-Path 'C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe'
function create-7zip([String] $aDirectory, [String] $aZipfile) {
  [string]$pathToZipExe = "C:\Program Files\7-Zip\7z.exe";
  [Array]$arguments = "a", "-t7z", "$aZipfile", "$aDirectory", "-r";
  & $pathToZipExe $arguments;
}
# Remove everything but the last 4 backup directories.
Get-ChildItem $lrbackup_path -Directory | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | select -skip $backups_to_keep |% { Remove-Item $_.fullname -Recurse -Force }
if( $7z ) {
  #Compress and remove archives.
  $archives = Get-ChildItem $lrbackup_path -Directory
  foreach ( $archive in $archives ) {
    create-7zip ( $archive.FullName ) ( $archive.FullName )
    Remove-Item $archive.FullName -Force -Recurse
  }
  # Trim number of backups to $backups_to_keep.
  Get-ChildItem $lrbackup_path -Filter "*.7z" | Sort-Object Name -Descending | select -skip $backups_to_keep |% { Remove-Item $_.fullname -Force }
}

So, the big sensor sensor in the 5D mark III is good for thin depth of field. What about when you want lots of depth of field?

My first reaction was that I’d need to consider another platform; something with a smaller sensor that I could leverage for more depth of field. That was, at least, until I started running some numbers, which actually surprised me.

Aside from the limit imposed by the lens itself, diffraction is the biggest problem with stopping down much beyond the diffraction-limited aperture for a sensor. For a 5D mark 3 with 6.25μm pixels would be diffraction limited around f/9.3 as , at least when shooting stills.

However, when shooting video, the 5D mark III, as best as I can tell, bins 9 pixels in a 3×3 grid into a single pixel for the video output. This is in part of the reasons the 5D mark III has a 5760-pixel wide 22MP sensor instead of a 21MP sensor like the one in the 5D mark II.

In any event, at least somewhat naively, when shooting video the effective pixel you’re using is 3 x 6.25μm or 18.75μm, which put the diffraction-limited aperture at rather lovely f/28. Not at all bad, especially considering that most of my lenses won’t even stop down that far.

Compared to some similarly theoretical numbers form other cameras.

A Canon C300 uses a 4 pixel 2×2 grid (1 red, 1 blue, and 2 separate greens) to produce an RGB tuple video pixel. However, they apparently are demosaiced, instead they’re taken directly to form the RGB tupple. With 6.4-micron pixels, you can expect the C300 to start showing diffraction effects at apertures between f/9.5 and f/19.

Using the worst-case number, using comparable fields of view, a C300 will show softening at the depth of field equivalent aperture of f/18 on the 5D mark III. Using the best-case number, the depth of field equivalent aperture[i] steps out to just over f/25. A C300’s (or C100 for that matter) crop factor doesn’t help if you’re looking for more depth of field.

A Canon 7D (or 60D, or T3i, etc.) uses an 18MP APS-C sensor with 4.3-micron pixels. The readout is considerably more complicated than either the C300 or the 5D mark III as it uses binning and line skipping to produce the resulting video file. The makes the computation of a diffraction-limited aperture significantly more complicated, especially since Canon doesn’t fully qualify how the video is produced. However, I would expect to see diffraction effects at somewhere between f/6.5 and f/13 while shooting video. However, the results will likely be asymmetric due to the way the sensor is read out.

Using the worst-case of f/6.5 the DoF equivalent aperture on the 5D mark III is f/8. With the best case of f/13, the DoF equivalent aperture is f/20. Again, the crop factor doesn’t help get more depth of field, at least not before you should start losing sharpness due to diffraction.

The short of it, is that the 5D mark III’s pixel architecture for shooting video makes it something of an anachronism. It’s seemingly capable of both incredibly think depth of field when shot wide open with fast lenses, as well being very capable of stopping down without significant image quality loss when depth of field is actually needed.

Of course stopping down isn’t a perfect solution. Having to stop down further to achieve the same, depth of field may result in raising the gain and as a result potentially produce noisier video. However, that’s a project for another time.

To quote Vincent Laforet, “50% of any great film is in the sound design, and the first step to great sound design is capturing great audio while on set.” How you get that audio is the big question. Clap sticks, with or without the addition of a slate, is one way of easily synchronizing sound by producing a sharp peak that can be aligned in post-production, either with a synchronized audio track or with the visual of the boards striking together.

Do you need Clap Sticks or a Clapperboard?

For some people, and in some situations, you’ll only be shooting with a microphone hooked up to your camera. Depending on the camera and its capabilities, that audio may be good enough as it stands. In my experience, a Canon 5D Mk. III and a Rode VideoMic Pro, I can get acceptable audio for my needs with careful levels and 1/8” stereo extension cord to put the mic closer to the subjects. Moreover, since I’m recording into the camera, the audio is already synced with the video and there’s no need to have a sharp spike and visual queue to synchronize with.

On the other hand, if you’re using a camera that doesn’t have passable input options, you’re forced to use auto-mic-gain, or you need to record more than one subject simultaneously then to get good audio you’re going to need an external recorder. Adding an external recorder to the mix also adds the requirement for synchronizing audio in post. The cheapest and easiest way to do this is to generate a sharp spike that coincides with a visual queue that you can quickly and easily align on the timeline in your editor. This is when you need clap sticks or a clapperboard.

Do you need a slate too?

I’ve drawn a distinction here, between the part that makes noise, what I’m calling the clapperboard or clap sticks, and the part that is used to convey information about the scene to the editor though the film, the slate. Commercial clapperboards or slates serve both functions, so there’s no secondary question as I’m posing here. However, for a small indie production or one man interview kind of setup, it’s not always necessary to have both and losing the slate part of the equation, if it’s not needed, can free up a bit of room in your bag.

So do you need a slate or are clap sticks good enough?

To answer this, you need to ask yourself, “Who’s editing your video?” and, “Do they need to know what they’re looking at?”

I write my own material, edit my own video, and what I’ve been shooting doesn’t generally involve takes or multiple cameras. In short, I know what I’m looking at because I was intimately involved with it from start to finish, thus the informational aspect of the slate is not entirely necessary for me; at least not in the editorial metadata sense.

On the other hand, if you pass your work off to another person to edit, have multiple cameras, or do many takes, then you’ll probably want a full slate so the videos themselves contain the needed data so your editors can organized and catalog the files.

There’s one other reason to consider building your own slate. You can build a slate that contains the information you want not what is considered standard for a film. This is my primary reason for building my slate. I don’t really care about what take or scene I’m shooting, rather I’m interested in the exposure and location metadata that my camera isn’t smart enough to note on its own.

Building the Clap Sticks

Basic clap sticks are nothing more than a pair of wooden sticks that are hinged together at one end. My first incarnation are two 1-1/2” x 3/4” x 10” (38mm x 19mm x 250mm) pieces cut from a piece of scrap pine 1×6. They’re hinged at one end with a 1-1/2” wide hinge I found in a spare parts box.

Needed Tools

If all you need are clap sticks, then that’s good enough right there.

To build mine I cut the two 1-1/2” x 3/4” x 10” sticks from a piece of scrap 1×6” pine. The width (1-1/2”) was dictated by the size of the hinge I found in my parts box. The length was something that was large enough to be easy to handle but not overly large to be hard to pack.

I laid mine out with a combination square, clamped the wood down, and carefully hacked out the pieces with a cheap handsaw.

Since I used a crappy handsaw, I needed to smooth down the cut edges. If you were cutting this on a table saw, or had a finer toothed handsaw, it wouldn’t be as necessary to clean up the edges. To clean up the edges, I taped a piece of 120-grit sandpaper to a flat surface using gaffer tape on 2 sides (though duct tape, or even masking tape would work), and sanded the cut sides until they were smooth.

While you have the sandpaper out, and before you put the sticks together, round over the corners so you don’t have any sharp/pointy edges.

Parts before assembly.

Transfer the marks for the screw holes from the hinge to the end of the sticks and pre-drill them. Then attach the hinge with the screws. A word of warning, it’s very likely the screw holes will be very close to the edge of your sticks. You’ll want to insure you don’t have too large of screws, and that you pre-drilled holes tend towards the center rather than the edges. Even then, it’s possible to split the wood as I did.

How you finish your sticks is up to you. I gave mine a coat of black paint and then wrapped a couple of bits of white gaffer tape around mine to give them clean finished lines on a black surface.

There’s no two ways about it good glass is expensive, and glass is far more important to your image quality than the camera is. However, if you’re on a budget, buying your lenses used is an easy way to get good gear at less bank-breaking prices. That said, the used market does have the potential to be a minefield.

In my experience, the keys to successfully buying used equipment are simple:

• Know what you’re looking to buy
• Buy from somewhere you can trust or through a reputable medium
• Test everything you possibly can before you can’t get your money back

Do your Research

Though it should go without saying, I think it bears repeating anyways. As with any lens purchase, you need to do your research before you buy. However, unlike a new lens purchase, I would argue you need to do considerably more research into the quirks of the lens so you can effectively evaluate it.

Let me give an example. Suppose you’re buying a used Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens. Since this is an IS lens you want to test the IS system to make sure it’s functional and works as intended. You turn the camera to portrait and hit touch the shutter release, and notice the image jumps as the IS system starts up.

Has the lens been abused? Is the IS system damaged?

In actuality, this behavior is something I’ve seen on every one of the 10 or so copies of the EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens I’ve handed. From mine after years of use, to brand new ones right out of the Canon box. As far as I can tell, it’s perfectly normal behavior for the IS system on this lens, and yet I’ve never seen a review—except for mine—mention it.

On the other hand consider how that looks if you’ve never handled that lens before. When under the gun to evaluate that the lens is free and clear of damage and defects before handing over cash for the sale, you might think twice when you see the image jumping around.

The other major area to research is the potential and predominate failure modes for the lens you’re looking at. Due to the way they’re designed, many lenses have one or two specific types of problem that are more likely than any others are. Many lenses, especially with early stabilization systems, are more likely to have the IS system damaged. Some lenses have had systemic design defects at one point in time. Others may have systemic issues such as focus calibration problems or AF accuracy.

The list of problems and affected lenses is long and illustrious with virtually no manufacturer exempted. Moreover, just because there’s the potential to have a problem doesn’t mean that you should avoid the lens. However, knowledge of the problem can help guide your hand when you evaluate the lens.

Some of this kind of research you can do by reading every review you can get your hands on. I know I try to point out quirky normal behaviors or known standing issues in my reviews but I can’t cover everything. However, most reviews won’t cover failures modes that might occur but didn’t while the item was being reviews. For that kind of information, one good source is Lens Rentals.com’s blog. The keep track and publish semi-annual round ups of the most problematic lenses in their fleet and the problems they had. Additionally sometimes, you just have to start asking questions on photography centric discussion forums.

Where to buy

There are two primary sources for buying used equipment; camera stores/used camera dealers, and from another individual (either in person or via the internet). They each have their pros and cons, and different levels of risk.

Buying from a camera store or used camera dealer is probably the easiest and safest way to buy used lenses. Reputable dealers thoroughly inspect the lenses they sell to insure they function properly. More importantly, the majority of used dealers stand behind their products with some kind of return period. For the buyer this means you’re more likely to get a lens in good shape to start with, and can do very careful and through tests when you receive it, instead of trying to quickly check it over in a fast food joint’s dining room.

The other option is buying person to person (P2P). Person to person sales can offer a better deal for everyone involved, namely they cut the middleman out and put more money in the hands of the seller, which can also help lower the asking price. However, at the same time, there are slightly more risks to buying P2P and the buyer is under the gun to insure that what they’re buying is what they thought it was and is functional.

Person-to-person sales require some common sense from the start. The old adage, if the deal looks too good to be true, it probably is. Additionally, if the seller is unwilling to let you inspect the lens at the time of purchase before handing over money, I would suspect that something is amiss as well.

I’ve bought and sold gear both ways, and from a sheer laziness perspective I like being able to have a reputable company standing behind what I’m buying. However, at the same time, I’ve had very good experiences buying from a fellow photographer, and it sometimes give you an opportunity to meet new people, make friends, and talk shop some.

Inspecting the Lens

I’m going to be focusing on the kinds of things I do if I’m buying person to person and meeting the seller. As such, I’m focusing on how to quickly gauge the quality of the lens being sold, and insure that it at least is functional, not so much putting it through extensive testing.

For lenses bought from a reputable dealer with a return window, I would conduct the same tests I would on a new lens, which is outside the scope of this article. My objective in inspecting the lens is to nail-down quickly the quality and functionality of the lens.

With a little practice, the actual inspection will take far less time than reading this article will.

Also bear in mind, in this article I’ll be covering how to test as many systems and features as I can readily test in buying a new lens. Some of these cases may not be applicable to the lens you’re buying; again, the research you do on your specific lens should be your guide.

The Tools

1. A camera that will mount the lens
2. A flashlight
3. A blank white target like a piece of matte board or paper or preferably a gray card
4. A Blower (Like a rocket blower)
5. A lens brush
6. A micro-fiber lens cloth
7. A filter, or threaded ring (step up or filter kit adapter) of the right size and known to be in good condition (round)

Basic kit for evaluating a lens.

Physical Inspection

The first thing I do is conduct a physical inspection of the exterior of the lens. I’m looking for scratches, dents, dings, or anything that looks like damage outside of normal wear and tear. I’m also looking to gauge the level of wear and tear.

I have to purposes for this inspection. First, is to ensure the lens in hand is the same one that was advertised. I.e. any pictures showing the condition of the lens are showing this lens and not some other lens.

Secondly, it’s to start gauging the way the lens was treated in general compared to how the seller advertised it’s use. This can also suggest the potential for problems that may not be easily diagnosed in the field, which may warrant passing or negotiating the price.

In practice, I’m looking over the glass as I’m looking over the body, but for the sake of clarity I’ve separated that into its own section.

When I’m doing my inspection, I want to inspect as much of the lens as I can. If the lens extends when focusing or zooming, extend the focus and zoom barrels as far as they can and look them over. For lenses that use focus-by-wire designs, such as Canon’s EF 85mm f/1.2L USM II, you’ll need to mount the lens on a camera to extend the inner lens barrel.

Excessive scratches, marring, paint loss, and brassing, can all be indicators that the lens has been abused. However, don’t go overboard. Some visible “imperfections” can be normal and acquired form basic usage. Some things to keep in mind:

• Lenses with plastic barrels examined closely under good light will show some evidence of their molding marks, don’t confuse these with cracks. Molding marks will be perfectly straight along the axis of the lens, and may be repeated around the circumference of the barrel as the mold may have multiple sections.
• Some coatings will show wear much easier than others will. Sigma, for example, has historically finished many of their lenses with a coating that is softer than what most manufactures use and it shows wear easily, even if the lens has otherwise been only lightly used.
  

Ultimately, I’m looking for the lens to be in good condition for its age and indicated usage. A 50 year old lens that looks new and was advertised as being rarely used is likely in great shape; 2 year old lens that looks like it’s been used for 50 years, probably not so much.

Mechanical Inspection

Once I’ve looked the lens over for obvious damage, it’s time to look more in depth at the mechanical functionality of the lens. My goal is to insure that the major mechanical systems on the lens work well and don’t have any major issues. The key areas are:

• Filter threads
• Focus ring and focus
• Zoom ring and zoom
• Controls

Filter Threads

Whether or not you personally use filters for protection of effects, damaged filter threads, especially out of round ones, can indicate that the lens has been dropped or otherwise seriously mishandled.

When the threads are in good condition, it should be easy to attach and remove a good quality filter without any resistance, bumps, or hang-ups.

First with a flashlight, I inspect the filter rings to insure they don’t appear damaged. Then I simply screw on a filter or filter ring I know to be round (I like a good quality one that generally is easy to remove). Since I’m not trying to attach the filter, I don’t even have to mount the filter completely; an out of round filter mount will be readily obvious long before that point.

Focus Ring

The focus ring should feel right for the price and type of lens that you’re purchasing. Nevertheless, what does that mean?

Focus rings have morphed over the years, from wide prominent rings with buttery smooth well-damped actions and large amounts of throw on manual focus lenses, to thin almost useless ridged bits on cheap autofocus kit lenses, and many variants in between. Your research should guide your expectation but here are some general thoughts.

Very inexpensive lenses, like the Thrifty-Fifties or virtually all crop-format kit-lenses, will usually have a focus ring that’s very narrow, not very smooth in operation, and sometimes little more than ridges cast into the inner lens barrel. Don’t expect an awful lot in terms of feel from these focus rings, they may even have a degree of “roughness” that you otherwise would consider worth passing on.

Most entry-level autofocus lenses will have a wide rubberized zoom ring but little to no focus ring. In this case the focus ring is little more than molded ridges on the inner lens barrel, which rotates when focusing.

Going a step higher, entry-level ultrasonic lenses (USM, AF-S, HSM, etc.) will typically have a focus ring that’s wider than that of the very low-level lenses, but not nearly as wide as a professional AF lens or a manual focus lens. In many cases the ring will still be hard plastic, and comparatively narrow. However, it should be somewhat smoother than the previous class but may not be depending on whether the lens uses a micro- or ring-USM motor and has full time manual focus options.

Most mid-tier lenses retain the prominent rubberized zoom ring but bring the focus ring up from being a minimal molding. On this Canon lens, the focus ring is hard plastic as opposed to rubberized.

Going one-step further, professional level AF lenses will usually have a wide, prominent, often rubberized, focus ring, typically located towards the front of the lens barrel. The ring will likely be somewhat smoother when rotated than the previous class. Likewise, these lenses usually use ring-type ultrasonic motors, so the focus ring will turn past the end stops with a noticeable increase in resistance.

Pro grade autofocus lenses typically see a reversal of positioning for the zoom and focus rings, with the focus ring towards the front. Moreover, the rings are often equal in size and usually finished to the same standards (rubberized or not).

When it comes to prominence and quality feel, the top is found in purely manual focus lenses. The focus rings on these lenses should be butter smooth when turned. There shouldn’t be any grittiness nor should they feel like there is sand in the mechanism.

Manual focus lenses will always have a prominent focus ring, with the zoom ring on some MF zooms being nearly the entire outer surface of the lens. Even on this small 50mm prime, the entire front half of the lens, from the depth of field markings forward is a smoothly rotating focus ring.

In any case, the focus ring shouldn’t be loose (though there is sometimes some front-back play in the focus ring on mid-tier ultrasonic powered lenses with full time manual), nor should it feel like it has sand, grit, or anything else in the mechanism when the ring is turned.

Zoom Ring

Like the focus ring, the zoom ring should be smooth but offer some resistance when turned. However, how much resistance will depend on the lens and the angle it’s held. I find the following is a good place to start.

• Lenses that don’t extend when zoomed will require less force and have a smoother zoom ring than a lens with an extending barrel.
• Lenses with multiple extending barrels (found most often in inexpensive mid-tier zooms) or lenses with long barrels may have even more resistance over some or all of the zoom range.

When I test the zoom ring, I make sure that I’m holding the lens level so that gravity doesn’t artificially skew my perception of the feel of the ring. Additionally when the lens is held level, the force required to zoom in either direction should be about the same.

While not strictly a mechanical test, you may also want to check from zoom creep at this point as well. Some lenses, will exhibit this worse than others will, and it can vary from sample to sample of the same model. One example where I’ve seen this is Canon’s EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM, some copies will creep from 28mm to ~50mm when held pointing down, others don’t seem to creep at all.

Other Controls

The last thing to check is that all the other controls on the lens appear to be functional and attached. Canon lenses, for example, typically have the AF/MF and stabilizer switches mounted in molded protrusions on the lens barrel, in many cases there’s a screw or two holding this to the lens. However, some manufacturers use plastic clips to attach the controls.

In any case, the controls should be firmly attached, not loose. Moreover, the switches should change position easily and not jam. We’ll come back to verifying their functionality in a bit.

Optical Inspection

The last section covered the things I look over on the lens body, now I’m going to cover what I look over on the lens elements themselves.

My goal here is to uncover any major optical defects before the lens is mounted and tested on the camera. Defects, for me, include fungus, scratches, chips, and other damage to the optical path that can be seen.

Scratches and Chips

Small chips and scratches on the front element are a far bigger detriment to the lens’s value than they are to the images it produces. A number of websites have published demonstrations of just how much damage a lens’s front element has to take before it seriously affects image quality. In most cases, the front element had to be cracked or completely shattered to affect the image seriously.

That said, damage to the front element could increase flare and ghosting, though small ones aren’t likely to be an issue either.

Damage to the rear element, is a completely different story. Scratches or chips out of rear element almost certainly will affect image quality, especially if the lens is stopped down.

Personally, I won’t buy a lens that doesn’t have flawless front and rear elements. However, this is one place where you shouldn’t necessarily do what I do just because I said so. If the deal is good, the damage is small, and on the front element only—especially if it’s a scratch in the coating as opposed to a chip out of the glass—the odds are you’ll never see any indication that it’s even there in your pictures.

Dust

Many lenses I’ve handed, including some very high end ones, have had a few particles of dust in them even when new from the factory. Fortunately, a few particles of dust won’t have any impact on image quality.

That said, there should not be excessive amounts of dust in a lens. Even push-pull zooms, like Canon’s EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM—affectionately known to some as a dust pump—shouldn’t develop any appreciable amount of dust inside the lens over its life. A lot of dust can indicate a more pervasive problem with the lens or the way it was handled.

Mold/Fungus

While you’re looking for dust, and chips you’ll also want to keep an eye out for mold and fungus. Fungus is more likely in older lenses, but it can happen to any lens that has been stored for a long time in poorly controlled (damp and dark) conditions.

Fungus appears in a number of ways. Sometimes it will look like spots or blobs in the lens (or on it depending on where it’s growing). It can also look like spider webs or hairline cracks.

Lenses with visible fungus growth are absolute avoids for me.

Having fungus cleaned from a lens is never really a good solution. For starters, it requires complete disassembly of the lens, and there’s no guarantee the reassembled lens will be as sharp as it once was—of course, it could be better too. On top of that, the fungus will actually destroy the lens coatings resulting in damage to the lens element that’s permanent even after the fungus has been removed. Finally, there’s some evidence that the fungus can spread from an infected/contaminated lens to uncontaminated lenses, which is something I want to avoid.

Function Testing

I’ve you’ve made it this far in the testing then the lens has no obvious defects in the glass or body. This is a good thing, now it’s time to confirm that it works the way it should. The only potential hang in function testing is that it may be difficult to separate a flaky switch form a more serious problem. Then again, if, for example, you can’t, get the lens’s AF system to kick in and it wasn’t advertised as having a defective AF system, you’ll probably want to pass on the lens.

Since all these tests require the lens be powered up to perform correctly, you’ll need to mount the lens to a suitable body to start your function testing.

Auto Focus

Depending on the lens there may or may not be an auto/manual focus switch on the lens. For example, lenses for Canon’s EOS bodies will always have an AF/MF switch on the lens. However, Nikon AF-D lenses use the camera’s in body focus motor and so don’t need an AF/MF switch as the body provides that. Whether or not your lens has an AF/MF switch or relies on some on-body control will be something you need to determine while doing your research.

Since I’m most familiar with Canon lenses and cameras, I’ll focus on how I test a lens for their EOS system, but much of what I say can be applied to any other system.

The first think I’ll check is the AF/MF switch’s function. With the AF/MF switch set to AF, the camera’s status display should show “ONE SHOT”, “AI FOCUS”, or “AI SERVO” for the focus mode. With the AF/MF switch flipped to MF, the status display will change to “M FOCUS” indicating that the camera knows a lens is mounted but it cannot be focused.

I’ll then manually focus at infinity and then use the AF system to focus back to some closer target. Like with the physical inspection, if the lens is not a USM lens that supports full time manual focus, you’ll want to switch the AF/MF switch to MF before you adjust the lens’s focus. If that worked, I’ll then do the same from macro to some point further away. I’m mostly looking to make sure the AF motor will drive the lens in both directions here.

After I’m satisfied that the AF system works in general, I’ll check that the distance limiter works if the lens has one. While I don’t bother testing the distances with a ruler, generally a lens with a distance limiter will focus as close as across the room with the limiter on and to 4 or 5 feet with the limiter off. For macro lenses, I’ll also check that the “macro” position won’t focus out to infinity.

If the lens focuses when it should and doesn’t when it shouldn’t, the odds are good the AF motor and AF/MF switches are in working order.

Image Stabilization

Active image stabilization is becoming an increasing part of lens designs. On the positive side, stabilized lenses provide the photographer with more flexibility with non-stabilized lenses. On the other hand, the stabilizer adds an element of potential problems to the lens.

If the lens has some form of image stabilization, then it’s a good idea to make sure that it works as advertised.

Testing the full range of functionality of an image stabilizer can be difficult at best. Many stabilized lenses change mode based on how they detect they’re being used, such as when panning or on a tripod. Even lenses that have manual controls or determining mode, it can be difficult to determine whether the stabilizer is working, as it should while also trying to pan the lens.

Because it’s difficult to fully characterize the IS system without testing equipment, I have to settle for just making sure it seems to work, even this can still be challenging with say a stabilized wide like Nikon’s 16-35mm f/4G VR.

I take a 2 fold approach to testing the IS system, first is listening for the gyro’s and servos to start up when the IS system is activated—the tell tail click when you first touch the shutter release with an IS lens on the camera.

The second test is to insure the stabilization system is actually stabilizing. For this, I use the longest focal length available and switch the stabilizer on and off while shaking the camera. When the stabilizer is engaged, there should be a noticeable reduction in shake.

With respect to testing the IS system, Canon has added a couple of features to the 7D, 5D mark 3 and EOS-1D X that make the testing a little easier. All of these cameras all the DoF preview or M-Fn2  button to be remapped as an IS start button. When configured this way, the IS system will only run when the button is depressed. It makes is markedly easier to switch IS on and off without waiting for the metering timeout.

Aperture Functionality

There are a number of reasons an aperture can fail to operate or operate inconstantly or out of calibration. In the case of modern SLR bodies that meter with the aperture fully opened getting good exposures depends on the aperture reliably stopping down to the configured setting.

In practice, I can’t say I’ve seen many issues with the aperture not performing properly, but it’s easy enough to test so there’s little point skipping over it anyway.

To test that the aperture stops down I simply set the lens to the smallest aperture it can use and depress the depth of field preview button while looking in the front of the lens. If the aperture doesn’t close down, something is seriously amiss, if it does then at least it actuates.

Testing the aperture is really as simple as setting the camera to aperture priority mode and taking a series of images at smaller apertures while maintaining the same exposure value. When looking at the histogram for the images, it should remain largely the same. I do this type of test while shooting at a white or gray target to eliminate the variances depth of field will have on the histogram. Also while stopping down, you can expect, the histogram should tighten up slightly as any vignetting will be reduced, as it does in the images below.

As I noted at the beginning, the test you need to conduct are weighted by the research you’ve done and the lens you’re buying. I would also reiterate the point that you’re not going to be able to quantify full the performance of a lens in a 5-minute function check before you hand over the cash for it. In the end, buying used gear can be an effective way to get higher quality gear on a smaller budget, it also comes with the risks that the gear may not perform as advertised. However, a careful inspection and function testing, along with buying from a reputable dealer or through a reputable forum can go a long way to minimizing the risks of being stuck with a broken lens and a lighter wallet as well.

Canon has introduced a number of measures beyond the traditional mechanism of simply reducing the number of selectable points to assist the photographer in getting the active AF point where they need it quickly. This article will work though two of those mechanisms, Orientation Linked AF points, and AF point registration, describing their utility and configuration.

Supported Cameras

Overview of AF Point Registration and Orientation Linked AF Points

Chronologically the first mechanism Canon introduced to deal with increasingly large AF grids was the ability to register a second AF point that the photographer could quickly switch to. This feature first came to market on the EOS-1D and EOS-1v cameras. Canon continued to refine the registered AF point system with subsequent bodies eventually reaching the current design starting with the EOS 7D, and extending that functionality into the EOS 5D Mark III, EOS-1D Mk. IV and EOS-1Dx.

By registering an AF point, the photographer now has a quick way to move between points without having the thumb-stick of scroll across the AF field.

This can be put to use in a number of ways, for example if a photographer knows that their subject will be on the right side of the frame, they can select two AF points that will be approximately where they want the subject to be, one for the horizontal frame, and a second for the vertical frame. Then when they switch camera angles, they merely need to switch to the registered AF point and they already have the point where they want it.

With the EOS 7D, the above-described solution was partially replaced by linking the camera’s orientation to AF point selection. The camera could be configured to switch automatically to a different AF point when changing the camera’s orientation. Now instead of having to push a button to activate the other AF point, the change would happen automatically when the camera was rotated.

In addition to adding the new orientation linked functionality, Canon chose to continue have a mechanism for registering an AF point. In fact, they expanded the registration system to allow the user to register a point for each orientation.

The AF system in the 7D, 5D Mk. III, EOS-1D X, and EOS-1D C take things a step further by including the AF area selection as part what is stored for the registered AF point. On these bodies, not only can you have AF points conveniently located for expected compositions, but you can also switch from something like a 9-point expanded AF pattern or even automatic AF point selection to a single spot AF point for precise focusing.

The benefits of this functionality can be tremendous depending on your style of photography. For example, a bird photographer can set their camera up so they can quickly switch from a spot AF point for precisely focusing on a static subject, to a wide AF pattern for quickly acquiring and tracking a bird in flight. 

EOS 6D

The EOS 6D only supports orientation linked AF points, and it’s not difficult to see why. Though greatly improved the 6D’s AF system harkens back to the low point count AF systems of the 5D Mk. II, the 60D, and its predecessors. The system simply doesn’t have enough AF points to make navigating the AF grid in a hurry a problem. That said, the camera does retain orientation linked AF points, which is still handy even with the limited number of points for portrait work.

One nice oddity of the 6D’s more entry-level interface is that the dedicated multi-controller has been replaced by the integrated multi-controller/quick control dial. This change makes direct AF point selection with the multi-controller much more ergonomically friendly when using a battery grip.

Orientation Linked AF points

Orientation linked AF points are enabled and disabled though the C.Fn II-7 Orientation linked AF point.

Custom Functions That Affect AF Point Selection and Registration

EOS 7D

The EOS 7D is the first camera where Canon really got behind the whole customization thing. It was, at its release, the most customizable Canon camera ever released. It also the debut platform for orientation linked AF points and the first non EOS-1 body to have registered AF points.

Orientation Linked AF Points

Orientation linked AF points are enabled and disabled though C.Fn III-12: orientation linked AF points. To enable orientation linked AF points, select option “1: select different AF points”.

Registering an AF Point

Like subsequent cameras, the 7D includes AF area mode as part of the registered point. Spot, single, both expansions and 19-point automatic modes can be registered; automatic zone AF mode however is not available with registered AF points.

Registration starts by selecting the AF area mode and desired AF point in the AF system. To register that point, tap the LCD backlight () button while holding down the AF point select () button. The camera will indicate thsat there’s a registered AF point by displaying the small spot AF box where the registered point is.

Clearing the Registered AF Point

Because the 7D constantly displays the registered AF point in the viewfinder, Canon has provided a mechanism for clearing the registered AF point at will. This is accomplished by tapping the ISO/FEC () button while holding the AF point selection () button.

Using the Registered AF point

The 7D started the trend of providing 2 methods of using the registered AF points, a toggle method where the registered AF point becomes the active AF point, and a temporary method where the camera focuses and meters with the registered AF point, but only while a button is held down.

The configuration of the controls to access the registered AF points is done though C.Fn IV-1: Custom Controls in the menus.

The following table shows the buttons that can be configured to what

Switch to registered AF point	Depth of Field Preview  LENS*
Activate registered AF point and start focusing	AF-ON  Exposure Lock

* Lens button is available on some super-telephoto lenses.

For the second case, using the registered point while focusing and metering, it’s necessary to press the info button when the option is highlighted and choose to use the registered AF point, otherwise the camera will focus and meter using the main AF point. It’s also possible with this sub selection to use both the AF-ON and exposure lock buttons to auto focus with the main and registered AF points with the rear button focusing technique.

Custom Functions That Affect AF Point Selection and Registration

First & Second Generation EOS-1 bodies

(EOS-1D, EOS-1D Mk. II, EOS-1D Mk. IIn,  EOS-1Ds, and EOS-1Ds Mk. II)

These cameras have a 45-point AF grid, of which by default all 45-points are selectable and can be used as the registered AF point. Neither body supports orientation linked AF points.

Registering an AF Point

Additionally these cameras allow the number of AF points to be constrained to 11 or 9 of the 45 points by setting C.Fn- 13.

An AF point is registered by selecting the AF point you want to register by pressing the AF point selection () button and using the main and quick-control dials to select the point. Then while holding the assist () button, press the flash exposure lock () button.

Using the Registered AF point

By default, switching to the registered AF point is done by pressing both the Assist () and AF Point selection () buttons simultaneously. This behavior can be modified by C.Fn-18 Switch to registered AF point.

Setting C.Fn-18 to option 1 will switch to/from the registered focus point when only the Assist () button is pressed.

Setting C.Fn-18 is set to option 2 the camera will use the registered AF point only while the Assist () button is held down. Additionally if C.Fn-04 is set to either option 1 or 3, the camera will start focusing at the assist point.

Custom Functions That Affect AF Point Selection and Registration

Third Generation EOS-1D Bodies

(EOS-1D Mk III, EOS-1Ds Mk. III)

The 3^rd generation EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds bodies made major changes to Canon’s professional AF system. While the system retains 45 AF points, only 19 of them are selectable by the user. The remaining 26 points are dedicated assist points. Additionally Canon added the multi-controller that has been on their consumer bodies since the EOS 20D.

Though the reduced number of selectable AF points and faster selection though the multi-controller contribute to making AF point selection faster, Canon elected to continue to include an AF point registration function, though admittedly the procedure for selecting the AF point is a little less elegant than it was on the previous models.

Changes to the selectable AF points function made to C.Fn III-9 will clear the registered AF point.

Any of the 19 user selectable AF points can be set as the registered AF point. In addition, automatic AF point selection can be registered.

Registering an AF Point

To register an AF point enter the AF point selection mode and set the current AF point to the one you want to register. Then press and hold the AF point select () button and tap the ISO () button.

Using the Registered AF Point

The Mark 3’s offer two mechanisms for selecting the registered AF point. The most prominent is set with C.Fn III 10 Switch to Registered AF point. By setting this custom function to 1: Enable, pressing straight in on the multi-controller will switch between the current AF point and the registered AF point.

The second option is set though C.Fn III-6, Lens AF stop button function. Option 6: Switch to Registred AF point, allows switching to the registered AF point when the LENS () button is held and the FEL () button is tapped.

Custom Functions That Affect AF Point Selection and Registration

4^th Generation EOS-1D

(EOS-1D Mk. IV)

The EOS-1D Mk. IV restored the fully selectable 45-point AF grid to the EOS-1D line, in addition to the registered AF point, the EOS-1D Mk. IV also added Orientation Linked AF.

For example, the first and second gen EOS-1D bodies used the Assist button to activate the registered AF point, and the assist button was located both on the main and vertical grips. As a result, it was equally easy to use the registered AF point regardless which grip you were using. The Mark 4 retains the Mark 3’s use of the multi-controller as the switch mechanism, and the multi-controller isn’t easily accessible from the vertical grip. The new selection option, which uses the exposure lock () button to select the registered point while held, is also somewhat limited in use.Though the EOS-1D Mk. IV brings back the much larger selectable AF grid, the registered AF point selection method is largely retained from the 3^rd generation EOS-1D line. As a result, in many ways the situation is less than ideal in this configuration.

Orientation Linked AF Points

Orientation linked AF points are enabled by setting C.Fn III-16 (Orientation linked AF point) to option 1, selected different AF point. When the custom function is enabled, the camera will store the active AF point and a registered AF point for each of the 3 available orientations; horizontal, vertical with the main grip at the bottom, and vertical with the main grip at the top.

Registering an AF Point

AF point registration on the EOS-1D Mk. IV is handed the same way as it was on the Mark 3’s. Enter the AF point selection mode by pressing the AF point select button. Select the point you want to register. Then hold the AF point select () button and tap the ISO () button.

If C.Fn III-16, Orientation linked AF points, is set to enable, then this procedure would need to be repeated for each orientation where a registered AF point is desired.

Using the Registered AF point

The EOS-1D Mk. IV retained the same two modes for selecting the registered AF point as the preceeding Mark 3’s did as well as adding a 3^rd option.

The most accessible option is to use the “middle” button of the multi-controller (i.e. pressing straight in) to switch to the registered AF point. This is set by setting C.Fn III-11 to option 1.

Setting C.Fn III-11 to the new option 2, will cause the camera to switch to the registered AF point when the exposure lock () button is held down.

Finally, C.Fn III-6, Lens AF stop button function, can be set to option 6, which allows the AF point to be switched by holding down the AF stop button (found on some super telephoto lenses) and taping the FEL button to switch to the registered AF point.

Custom Functions That Affect AF Point Selection and Registration

EOS 5D Mk. III  and 5^th Generation EOS-1D

(EOS-1D X, EOS-1D C)

The EOS-1D X, EOS-1D C and EOS 5D Mk. III all share a remarkably similar AF system. Though the EOS-1D X and 1D C support some advanced features that the 5D Mk. III doesn’t, namely due to their more advanced RGB light meter, the operation of AF point selection and registration is very similar.

All three of these bodies take the concepts of registered AF points, orientation linked AF points, and end-user customization to the furthest extent of any Canon cameras to date.

Software enhancements to the AF system also contribute to the functionality of the system. Though beyond the scope of this article, AF point registration and orientation linked AF points store more than just the active point (or auto point selection), but the specific mode the AF system was working in; i.e. single point, single point spot, 4 point expansion, 8 point expansion, and 61-point auto AF modes. The notable exception is that Zone AF cannot be registered.From a physical interface perspective, all 3 of these cameras make strides in making the section of AF points, including the use of registered points more straightforward and easier. Primary to this is the introduction of a second multi-controller for the vertical grip—this is available on both the 1D X and 1D C as well as the BG-E11 grip for the 5D Mk. III.

It’s now possible to have for example, the normal AF point be an 8 point expanded mode for tracking objects in motion and the registered point be a single spot AF point for accurately focusing on a static subject.

Orientation Linked AF Points

The EOS-1DX, 1DC, and 5D Mk. III have abandoned custom functions for configuring AF options, and have instead promoted them to their own top-level menu. Enabling and disabling Orientation Linked AF points are now located under the AF-4 menu (purple). Enabling orientation linked AF points is done by selecting the section option, “Select separate AF points”, form the “Orientation linked AF point” menu entry.

Registering an AF Point

AF point registration is subtly different between the EOS-1D X and EOS-1D C, and the EOS 5D Mk. III due to the differences in the top panel controls.

For all three cameras, the first step is to select an AF area selection mode and the AF area or point to be used.

If the registration is successful, the registered AF point will be indicated by a blinking AF point in the viewfinder.

Clearing the Registered AF Point

Unlike previous EOS-1D AF systems, the 5D Mk. III, EOS-1D X, and EOS-1D C display the registered AF point in the viewfinder. This can be distracting if it’s not needed, so Canon has provided a mechanism for clearing the AF point without also clearing the camera settings or making a major AF related setting change (i.e. disabling/enabling orientation linked AF points).

EOS 5D Mk. III	EOS-1D X, EOS-1D C
Tap the ISO/Flash Exposure Compensation () button while holding the AF point selection () button.	Tap the Exposure Compensation () button while holding the AF point selection () button.

Using the Registered AF point

Unlike prior EOS-1 bodies the 5^th gen EOS-1 bodies accessing and using the registered AF points have become quite numerous and efficient. All of these settings are configured though the Custom Controls custom function menu.

There are two ways to use the registered AF points, toggling between the active/registered AF point and activating it and starting the AF and metering system. The first case is similar to the functionality previously provided on the 3^rd generation EOS-1D bodies and earlier. The latter option is similar to what you could do on the EOS-1D Mk. IV with the exposure lock button.

	EOS 5D Mk. III	EOS-1D X, EOS-1D C
Switch to registered AF point	Depth of Field Preview  LENS*	Depth of Field Preview  M-Fn2  LENS *
Activate registered AF point and start focusing	AF-ON  Exposure Lock

* Available on most super-telephoto lenses.

For the second case, using the registered point while focusing and metering, it’s necessary to press the info button when the option is highlighted and choose to use the registered AF point, otherwise the camera will focus and meter using the main AF point. It’s also possible with this sub selection to use both the AF-ON and exposure lock buttons to auto focus with the main and registered AF points with the rear button focusing technique.

Menu and Custom Functions That Affect AF Point Selection and Registration

The Brass Tacks

• Create your watermark image in Photoshop or another graphic editor
  • Make sure it’s big enough that it won’t need to be scaled up
  • Make sure the background is transparent
  • Simplify any color schemes
  • Make sure your text has a contrasting border
  • Save your watermark image as a 24-bit PNG (PNG-24) with transparency
• Create a Watermark to apply to your images on export in Lightroom
  • Open the Watermark Editor (Edit -> Edit Watermarks…)
  • In the top right corner where it says Watermark Style, pick “Graphic”
  • In the Open File dialog that pops up, navigate to where you saved your watermark image from your image editor
  • Adjust the opacity, proportion, inset, and anchor point under Watermark Effects to position the watermark where you want it
  • Save your watermark by clicking the save button in the lower right corner of the Watermark Editor window
    • If there is no save button, or you’re updating an existing watermark, use the Save Current Settings as New Preset or Update Preset… options from the dropdown menu in the top left corner of the Watermark Editor.
• Close the Watermark Editor window, and begin using your watermark when you export images

Creating the File for the Graphical Watermark

To create the watermark you’ll need a bitmap editor, like Adobe’s Photoshop, that can save files as 24-bit PNGs with transparency.

To start you’ll need to create a canvas large enough to be usable without becoming blocky due to resizing. In this case larger is better, but you have to mind the complexity. For example, if you want your watermark to take up 15% of a 22MP image, you’ll want your watermark file to be at least 1000px on a side. For images intended for the web, say a max size of 1000-pixels on the long edge, you probably don’t want to make your watermark less than 200px on its longest edge. However, as I noted, you can use that 1000-pixel print watermark on those web images without any serious issues, but you can’t use a 250-pixel watermark on a big print image without quality problems.

The 2-minute Photoshop Walk Through

Create a new image in Photoshop. In this case, I’ve picked a 1000x500px canvas size for my watermark, set the background to transparent, and set the color space to sRGB.

Watermark image settings.

Now create your watermark text and graphics. I would recommend keeping things relatively simple color wise. For a text watermark, using only black, white or grays would be preferable. If you are using an existing logotype, I would simplify the color scheme down to one or two primary colors.

One key tip here is to make sure that any text has a contrasting border of some sort. White text on a on a very light background, or black text on a dark background, won’t render noticeably, at which point you might as well not have a watermark in the first place. Most of my watermarks to date have used white text, with a black outline, as a drop shadow, outer glow, or stroke.

You can test the rendering of your watermark over various backgrounds by creating a new layer under your watermark layers, and filling it with some color. At a minimum, I tend to at least test on black and white solids to get an idea how things will render on light and dark backgrounds.

One final check is to zoom out until the watermark is about the size it would be if you were looking at your images. You’re looking to make sure that you haven’t created a watermark with too much fine detail that will be lost when it’s resized and applied to your images.

Saving for the Watermark – Photoshop

When you’re happy with the watermark, you’ve created you need to save it in a compatible format. Lightroom only supports watermarks in PNG or JPEG format, and practically speaking only PNG is useful.

I find the easiest way to generate a suitable PNG in Photoshop is to use the Save for Web under the File window. In the Save for Web dialog, choose the preset PNG-24 from the Preset dropdown in the upper right corner. Then double check that the drop down immediately below it says PNG-24. Finally check that the box for transparency is checked.

Check these settings before saving. (click to enlarge)

If all those settings are good, click save and save the file to a folder you can find. I personally like to keep all my Lightroom watermarks in a Lightroom Watermarks folder in my Pictures library since.

Don’t forget to save your PSD with your watermark as well.

Creating the Graphical Watermark

In Lightroom for go to the Edit menu and select Edit Watermarks… at the bottom of the menu. The Watermark Editor window will open and look something like the screen shot below.

Lightroom 4 Watermark Editor window. (click to enlarge)

In the upper right corner of the Watermark Editor window, you’ll find a pair of buttons labeled text and graphic. Click on the one that reads Graphic. That will open yet another window, this time a standard Open File dialog box.

Selecting the type of watermark in the Lightroom 4 Watermark Editor window. (click to enlarge)

In the open file dialog box, navigate to where you saved your watermark images from the previous section. Select the file and click open.

The Open File dialog will disappear and you’ll be returned to the Watermark Editor window, only the default “Copyright” text in the lower left corner of the sample picture will have been replaced with a small version of your watermark graphic.

Now you just need to adjust the position, size, and opacity of your logo text. These changes are made by manipulating the sliders and buttons in the right column under “Watermark Effects”.

Adjust the size, position and opacity of the watermark using the Watermark Effects options. (click to enlarge)

Once you’ve positioned your watermark where you want it, it’s time to save it. If you’re creating a new watermark and the drop down in the upper left corner still reads “Custom”, you can click the save button in the lower right corner of the window. If you’re updating an existing watermark, or making a new watermark based on an existing watermark, you’ll need to click on the drop down in the upper left corner of the Watermark Editor window and choose either “Update Preset ___” or “Save Current Settings as New Preset” respectively.

Saving the watermark, use either the Save button (lower right) or the drop-down (upper left). (click to enlarge)

When saving a new preset, either via the save button or the drop-down menu method, you’ll be prompted to enter a name for your preset. Do so, then click create in the Preset Name dialog that pops up. Finally, click the done button in the Watermark Editor to return to Lightroom proper.

You can now use your watermark when you export by checking the Watermark check-box in the Watermark section and selecting your watermark preset from the drop-down list.

Adding a watermark on export.

I didn’t, and now I’m starting to realize how much of a good idea it would have been to do this all-along.

Granted, a record isn’t always required, nor is the same level of detail needed in every situation. For many things, simply taking a photo of the entire set is probably good enough. For other situations, like shooting background plates for chroma-key work, or product setups that need to be repeatable in the future, more detailed measurements and diagrams are needed.

Like most things in photography, I can’t presume to tell you every situation that you might or might not need a record of the setup. Instead, I’m going to cover some of the tools I use, and the methods I’ve found useful now that I’m beginning to redress this aspect of the craft of photography.

Photos, Diagrams, or Both?

A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a diagram’s few dozen can make it count. How precise your records need to be depends on a lot of factors, such as on how accurately you may need to reproduce the scene and how big or small the scene actually is. A shot of a model with a big softbox to camera right, and a fill card to camera left, may be sufficiently conveyed simply by stepping back and shooting a wide-angle frame that covers the set. On the other hand, something like the product images that I have on my review pages, will definitely require more precise measurements to get accurate reproductions down the road.

One thing that can never really hurt is to step back and take a “behind the scenes” shot of your setup. It imposes no extra effort and goes right along with the images on the card. Even if you don’t note the flash powers or distances, it makes it a lot faster to replicate things than trying to remember what you did or reverse engineer a finished image.

Measuring Stuff

First, you don’t really need millimeter accuracy here, even when shooting a green screen background plate or a modest sized stilllife or product on a table. One thing to keep in mind, is that the further and bigger your lights are, and the bigger your subject is, the bigger the variations have to be to change the look.

I generally measure using the subject as the reference point. It works well when working backwards for guide numbers and flash powers, and generally, everything is pointed towards the subject anyway.

One measurement that might not be readily obvious is camera height and angle. If you’re doing a tabletop setup, or VFX background plate, it’s useful or even necessary to know the height and direction the camera was pointing in the frame. Unfortunately, even with the fancy virtual horizons it seems that our cameras still don’t log that information in the EXIF data, so you need to record this stuff manually.

To get camera angles, and really just about any angle of a surface, I use the levels in iHandy Carpenter on my iPhone. When getting the angles for a camera, I won’t try and measure something on the camera, instead I’ll simply pull the camera off the tripod’s QR clamp and measure the angle that’s sitting at.

iHandy Carpenter Surface Level

Additionally, iHandy Carpenter has a convenient hold button so don’t have to balance precariously your phone on your tripod while writing things down. I have no idea how accurate the level actually is, it seems about on par with its indication with the 3’ framing level I tested it against. That said, since it uses the calibration of your phones accelerometers, the accuracy can vary from phone to phone and possibly day to day.

Drawing the Diagram

Honestly when it comes to sketching and note taking, I find there’s no actual substitute for paper and a pencil. I’ve tried, at various times, various digital solutions; from Wacom enabled TabletPCs to capacitive styluses on my iPad. To me they all suck, especially the capacitive styluses on a touch screen tablet. Some of this comes down to feel, some accuracy, and some just frustrations in the operation.

Having said that, I do have a stylus for my iPad, mine is this Griffin one. I haven’t tested many others, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say they’re all probably pretty much the same. Some may be smoother, some will be bigger or smaller, but they all tend to have a pointy end that’s about the same size and as squishy.

I got the stylus because I was starting to use Evernote’s Penultimate to jot down notes and ideas without carrying around a pad of paper. I mention this, because Penultimate is certainly capable of being used to keep track of your lighting and camera setups. One thing with Penultimate is that to get palm detection to work, you have to turn off Multitasking Gestures; even then, the palm detection isn’t 100% accurate.

Slick and techy, sketching on the iPad with Penultimate and a stylus.

I tried Strobox some time back, but found the UI somewhat clunky and the lack of a native iPad app that uses the full iPad screen ended up turning me off from it.

Storing, Orginzigin and Linking Setups to Images

In a way, the biggest trick here is tying setups to images. Unfortunately, since I’m writing this from a “why didn’t I do this” perspective, and not an “I’ve done this already” one, this section is more speculative than practiced advice.

Storing Setups Diagrams

In a way, this is more of a filing problem than anything else. My first thought on this is to leverage Lightroom. It already catalogs my images, and it and my images are already backed up so there’s less administrative overhead to the whole thing than there would be otherwise. Never mind there’s little need to set anything else up.

On the other hand, Lightroom doesn’t play well with all image formats. For example, it won’t import PNGs, which is what software such as Penultimate produces when you export a copy of what you’ve drawn. Sure, you can convert them to TIFFs or JPEGs, but that’s more work. Of course, if you’re scanning hand drawn images, this isn’t so much of an issue since you can scan to whatever format you want.

My second though was to use a wiki program, like MediaWiki, to handle the setups; as a nice bonus you can handle just about anything else, like model releases, there as well. Of course, in some ways this is only really a consideration for me because I already have a computer with the necessary software to do that and I’ve set them up before. If you haven’t, this isn’t probably as good of an idea as it seems to me.

Of course there are other options but these are the two I’ve considered so far. Right now, I’m leaning towards keeping everything in Lightroom; simply because it’s less for me to manage.

Linking Images to Setups

The second problem is linking the images to their setups. What I think I want to do here eventually is write a custom plugin to give me the links and a quick way to jump to the linked image. Until then, I’ve decided to repurpose an existing metadata field to store the setup reference. I settled on the user comment EXIF field, since it doesn’t change the meaning of the field in any way, and none of my cameras records anything there anyway.

If you’re not into making custom Metadata Field Lists, the user comment field is found on the EXIF, and EXIF & IPTC lists for the Metadata panel. If you are, you’ll need to add the field “com.adobe.userComment” to your field list to get the field to show up.

This method doesn’t provide a quick “link” arrow but it does store the data. I am currently looking into writing a plug-in to make this a click-able link, but it’ll be a while before I work that out.

Whether or not you record your setups is obviously a personal choice. I’ve found that if there’s a chance I may need to recreate that specific setup, a diagram goes a long way towards making my life easier.

Tools

You can cut PVC pipe with just about any kind of saw, but there are a number of things that go a long way towards making things go faster and produce cleaner cuts and less mess to clean up. For cutting PVC pipe, I use a ratcheting PVC Pipe cutter similar to the one linked. They also come in smaller sizes, and in single stroke types. Unlike a saw, these leave smooth clean cuts and produce no “sawdust” at all.

That said, a while the pipe cutter is by far the best tool for cutting pipe to length, a hacksaw is far from useless. In fact, it’s necessary for one of the techniques I’m going to describe in a few moments. That said, when it comes to buying a hacksaw, the difference between a good one that won’t piss you off constantly and a bad one that will is $5-10 dollars, and it’s well worth it for the difference.

Ratching PVC pipe cutter.

As a brief aside about hacksaws, the obvious question is what separates a good hacksaw from a bad one? The answer is quite simply, how the blade is mounted. All hacksaws, at least all hacksaws worth talking about, have replaceable blades held by some tension system. The bit that separates a good saw form a bad one is whether that tensioning system allows the blade to rotate or not.

The two hacksaws shown here depict the traits of a generally solid well performing hacksaw (bottom) and one subject to blade twist (top). These designs differences aren’t necessarily brand specific and may vary from model to model even in a given brand.

If you look closely the saw with the red handle simply secures the blade with a wing nut on a bolt, and in this saws case, there’s nothing to keep the blade from rotating around its axis. As opposed to the older gray saw, where the blade is tensioned by pulling on the cammed front end. That’s not to say that all saws that follow the design of the top one are bad, but I’d definitely check to make sure the blade won’t rotate in the holding assembly.

While I haven’t used them personally, this on the low end $10 or this at $30 on the high end would both be examples of hacksaws that don’t appear to allow the blade to rotate.

The final tool that’s somewhat invaluable for DIYing, even with PVC, is a decent 4″ or 5″ bench vice.

Other handy, but not strictly necessary tools include files, rasps, tape measures,

Joints

If you’re like me and building your PVC projects in the white plumbing PVC pipe, you’ll have basically 3 options for pipe end joints. Unglued slip joints, glued slip joints and threaded joints.

From my perspective threaded joints are perhaps the least useful, they’re certainly my least used option.  That said, they have pretty good structural strength and can be connected and disconnected easily. That said, more often than not for this type of work, you’ll need to glue thread adapters to the ends of un-threaded pipes to make it work.

Slip joints are the standard kind of PVC connection. When glued with PVC cement, they become effectively part of the pipe. Glued slip joints are good under compression, tension and torsion (twisting).

Unglued slip joints are only truly solid under compression, under tension they simply come apart. Under torsion the behavior depends on how you’re using them and how many joints there are that need to be rotated.

For example a simple rectangular scrim frame (4 pipes and 4 90s) can be held together by the compressive force of the fabric under tension without any real need to glue it. Even more complex structures can survive to some degree on the friction of the fittings alone.

The other application for unglued slip joints is to exploit the lack of torsional strength and use them as pivots to rotate your structure around.

The parts for my DiY Scrim Frame

An example of this are the small L shaped pieces in the bottom right of the above image. The fit into the tees in the top two pieces to allow the scrim to be supported on a pair of light stands. By not being glued, the scrim can be rotated around them to adjust the angle.

That said a completely unglued DIY builds aren’t really a good idea, largely because it becomes easy to lose parts and because it’s far to easy to deform the structure or have it come apart.

Clips and Clamps

I won’t even being to present this as my own ideas. The perhaps seminal work in DiY PVC photography stuff is the book Tinker Tubes by Dean Collins. Software Cinema has republished it in PDF format (the low resolution version is free, the high resolution version costs $20).

Basically, Dean’s system boils down to two kinds of clamps; light duty clamps made from schedule 125 pipe of the same diameter as your main tube, and heavy duty clamps made from schedule 40 pipe one size larger. So if you’re working with 3/4″ PCV—what I use—then your light duty clamps are 3/4″ schedule 125 pipe, and your heavy duty clamps are 1″ schedule 40 pipe.

Approximate profile for cutting light and heavy duty clips.

For the light duty clamps you’ll need the PVC pipe cutter and a pair of heavy duty scissors—or you can use the hacksaw. Simply cut 1-1/2″ to 2″ sections of the schedule 125 pipe, and then clip out about 90° worth of material on one side. For the pipe I use, that usually works out to removing the writing on it plus about an 1/8th inch of extra material. The schedule 125 pipe is thin enough that you can generally cut it with heavy duty scissors or shears, which makes this real easy to make.

Light duty clamps for 3/4″ pipe, cut from 3/4″ Schedule 125 pipe.

Heavy duty clamps follow the same basic idea. start with a 1-1/2″ to 2″ piece of schedule 40 pipe and remove about 135° worth of material from one side.

With the basics down, you can start manufacturing more sophisticated clips simply by applying the above. A double clip, for example, just involves gluing two single clips back to back—filing the tops each piece smooth to insure a good bond.

Likewise you can build a T-clip by gluing the two short sections of pipe into a t-fitting and then cutting the gap once the glue has dried. T-clips should always be made using the heavy duty materials, i.e. a T-chip for a 3/4″ frame would use 1″ schedule 40 PCV and a 1″x1″x3/4″ tee.

Examples of a heavy duty T-clip using a 1″x1″x3/4″ Tee (uncut but glued assembly shown standing on end)

Cutaway side of a heavy duty T-clip showing the glued pipe sections inserted into the larger tee.

I cut these T-clips using a hacksaw and a bench vice, and all told it took maybe 5 minutes a clip to cut the bottoms off. The process can be done without a bench vice, but a means of clamping them down is certainly necessary. A rotary tool (like a Dremel, or an angle grinder) with a cutoff disk may help if you have to improvise a clamping solution.

So far in my work, I’ve only needed light duty single clips and heavy-duty T-clips but then again my focus isn’t on building free standing PVC structures either, everything I’ve designed has been designed to work on traditional light/C stands and collapse for compactness.

Thinking about Designs

Of course you can go though life simply copying other people’s plans, and doing so certainly is expedient. On the other hand, if you work up your own designs you can get exactly what you need for any given project.

If collapsibility isn’t necessary, and therefore all joints can be glued, then you can get away with a lot more than you can if you intend to make things collapsible, simply because glued joints have significantly fewer potential problems than unglued ones.

If, on the other hand, you’re objective is to make something collapse able you have to start thinking about how forces may affect the structure around those joints where it can rotate or otherwise pull apart. Fortunately you don’t have to do finite element analysis or even draw force diagrams or something engineering-y like that. Instead, given that PVC is cheap you can try it and see where and how it fails and glue accordingly.

That said, I’ve found a couple of useful shortcuts to dealing with the frame.

First, and most obviously, the more joints you have resisting a motion, the more force it takes to move the system that way. My DiY 28×34 softbox is still completely unglued while I figure out the final details, and there’s enough resistance to torsion and tension from all the joints resisting motion in basically the same direction that it’s amazingly solid even in it’s unfinished state.

Secondly, wherever possible center your pivot points along the center of gravity for the axis they’ll rotate. For a symmetric structure that’s easy, you just put it half way between the front and back, for an asymmetric one it can be a bit more challenging. Fortunately, you don’t have to be super precise either. If you’re really unsure, you can always work out a clamp of sorts similar to the friction knobs used on yoked lights.

When you’re partially gluing an assembly, consider how the structure may flex and the corners could rotate. For example a scrim frame where a 90° elbow was glued to each length of pipe could still twist out of square However, glue those same 90s to opposing sides, and the ability for the frame to twist is greatly reduced. That said, don’t over estimate your load or underestimate your pipe.

In the end PVC is a wonderful tool for DiYing things, it’s cheap, easy to cut and assemble, and fairly strong for the the weight. Granted the PVC skeleton only gets you so far in the process, turning that basic skeleton into a practical light shaping tool does require some sewing ability. In the end if you have more time than money, PVC and some fabric can go a long way towards filling the voids for large scale light modifiers for the zero-budget photographer—at last if you have the skills to execute them.

I originally wanted to call this zero-budget lighting, but then I realized it’s silly to work on that premise. There is one useful zero-budget light source, the sun, for everything else you need to spend some money or scrounge something that cost someone else money. That’s not to say you can’t go some way on a small budget, but there needs to be a budget none the less. Simply put, I think if you have any aspiration of producing something with a decent production value, you have to spend at least a few dollars on lights, and that’s what I want to talk about here.

“Pan” Work-lights

At the very bottom of the barrel, are the home-improvement-store clamp-on “pan” work-lights. They are cheap—mine cost me all of $5 apiece—produce light, and in a way that’s all that really matters. However, like most things, you get what you pay for; compared to higher tier lights, they have poor reflectors, no handles, short cords, and typically low power ratings. Some of those shortcomings can be worked around, sometimes easily, others not so much.

The typical 8″ work light, painted black to look more professional.

For example, fixing the short cord. The sockets in most if not all of these kinds of lights, can be disassembled simply by unscrewing, and the cord replaced with a suitable lamp cord and plug assembly of whatever length is needed. Or, you can just plug them in to an extension cord and be done with it.

Or consider the reflectors. They simply aren’t designed to produce an even beam. However, you can always whack a bit of heat resistant diffusion over the fixture, or remember always to use a frosted lamp instead of a clear one.

Even the lack of a handle can be worked around.

That said, the real problem in my opinion, is the inability to handle high power lamps safely. A 100W or 150W lamp may be perfectly passable for a tabletop still setup but my experience is that you need at least two times more than that for a key light for a video production. The simple reality is you need light, and lots of it, or you have to settle for highs ISOs and very shallow depth of field.

All that said, for $5 apiece, the hardware store pan lights are a decent, but not perfect, solution. I used them for a quite a while for still photography when I was first getting started, and they came back out when I first started playing with video. They’re certainly good to have, but they’re best used as background or accent lights.

Smith-Victor Adapta Lights

Taking a step further up the lighting pyramid, you have something like Smith-Victor’s Adapt Lights—or in my case Smith Victor’s Adapta Lights. In a way, they’re just overgrown hardware store lights, with a slightly bigger price tag—sort of. What your $35-45 buys you is a reflector designed to even out the beam and attach accessories, and a lamp holder rated and tested to accept 250W or 500W incandescent lamps.

A Smith Victor A10UL., from the 1970s or 1980s as they are now painted black. Even having been around all that time, the reflector and cord set are still in good condition.

The first part of the story is power. The Adapta-Lights are tested and UL listed to handle 250W lamps, with some listed for 500W lamps. Better yet, they stay manageable at those powers thanks to a handle for reaming them that stay’s cool.

The second factor is quality of light. Simply put the reflectors in the Adapta Lights are much better at evening out the beam from even a clear lamp than the hardware store lights are. Though there is still a hot spot to some degree, the falloff is much smoother and better controlled.

Adapta Light with clear lamp.

Adapta Light with frosted lamp.

Hardware store fixture with clear lamp.

Hardware store fixture with frosted lamp.

• Adapta Light w/ clear lamp
• Adapta Light w/ frosted lamp
• Hardware store light w/ clear lamp
• Hardware store light w/ frosted lamp

Then there’s the line of accessories designed to mound directly to the reflector, from scrims to diffusers, to barn doors. All of which are fairly reasonably priced.

To me the real question comes down to production value. The hardware store work lights are cheap, and that’s a quantity that’s hard to beat. On the other hand, the Adapta Lights being designed for photo and video work are ever so slightly better and actually having the little touches that make things that much easier.

As far as lights go, either the hardware-store pan lights or the Adapta Lights are essentially 0 budget items. The difference really comes down to how much you can get out of them in terms of production value. Being able to safely handled 2 to 4 times more power means I’m not forced to shoot up in the ISO 3200 range but can drop down to 1600 or 800, which makes a difference. Moreover, the smoother beam means that if I have to shoot with lamps from the hardware store, I don’t have to care whether I can get frosted lamps at high wattages.

The Next Step Up

The next step up is to invest a couple of bucks into a real video/cinema light. On the low end, there are tons of choices.

Ryan Connolly, of Film Riot fame has shown and uses fixtures from Lowel. Lowel’s Omni-light provides a reasonable 500W source with a handle and variable beam from 16° to 53° for around $170-200. Industry giant Arri has a line of location Fresnels with powers from 150W to 650W and beam angles from 15° to 55°, priced between $280 and $380. On a slightly tighter budget, Smith Victor has a 600W fixed focus halogen lamp, that runs $130, and a variable focus one with a 22° to 36° beam for $141.

Moreover, all these halogen lamps turn out to be ever so slightly cheaper on the consumable side, as their lamps are generally rated for 100-200 hours of operation, compared to the 20-60 hours you can expect from the photo incandescent lamps.

Unfortunately, I haven’t made this jump yet, so I don’t have much to say about any of these specifically.

Budget Drawbacks

The real downside to budget lighting is heat. The simple reality is that video takes a lot of light, and incandescent lamps radiate most of their power as heat, technically infrared light, not visible light. Regardless of how well designed the lamp housing is at keeping itself cool, the subject is still in front of a good deal of IR producing lights, and will get hot.

To make matters worse, florescent lamps aren’t readily available at powers much higher than 150 equivalent watts. To get decent power levels, manufacturers pair multiple lamps in a single fixture. Likewise, I’ve yet to find a photographic LED source that can be screwed into an Edison base lamp fixture.

In the end, I think the best budget lighting kit draws a little from the various available sources—for example, lots of cheap hardware store fixtures for the background lights and a good fixture for the key light—especially given the number of fixtures you’ll probably find you need to light anything decently.

Least Tern

However, they aren’t the only species of tern that visits south Florida. In the late spring and early summer the smallest verity of North American Terns, the Least Tern begins to appear to nest. Even better, they can be reliably found in reasonable numbers at easily accessible wetland areas like Wakodahatchee and Green Cay.

The Least Tern, Sterna antillarum, is small, growing to about 9″ from tip to tail, with a wingspan of 20″. They follow the general tern shape and have long narrow wings, a long slightly decurved tapered bill, a short tail and yellow legs.

They are easily identifiable, as the smallest white-gray tern in North America.

Adult Least Terns have white underpants, and gray upperparts and wings. All Least Tern plumage variations have a black cap, black eye-line and white forehead.

Juveniles from July to September can be identified by their brownish barring on their backs and upper wing coverts. The base of a juvenile Least Tern’s bill is flesh or yellow colored.

Least Tern

During their first winter, young Least Terns undergo extensive molting and develop the majority of their adult plumage, loosing the barred upperparts for solid gray. However, they retain dark patagial bar and our primaries until their first summer.

Least Terns molt into their alternate or breeding plumage during their second alternate molt. The plumage varies slightly from the adult basic plumage in several key ways. They develop a solid black cap and their eye-line extends to the base of their bill, forming a white chevron shaped forehead. The gain two dark primaries on their wings and their bills turn distinctively yellow.

Least Terns breed on open beaches, mudflats or salt flats in the summer placing them in competition with people for breeding locations. As such, Least Tern populations are declining over much of their range. The ICUN considers them as a species of least concern, however many states where they breed have consider them a threatened species.

Nests are built as scrapes in sand, soil or pebbles in areas that have little or no vegetation. There have been reports that some Least Terns colonies in some Florida counties have adapted to diminishing habitat by building nests on gravel rooftops. In most areas, nest building begins in late may and is completed by mid June.

Least Terns typically lay a single clutch of two to three eggs, but may lay a second clutch if the first one is lost. Late season clutches (relays and late arriving birds) tend to be smaller than early season clutches. Both Least Tern parents incubate the nest during the approximately 3 week long incubation period.

Least tern chicks are semi-precocial, meaning they have features including open eyes, down and the capacity to leave the nest but remain at or near the nest until close to adult size. Chicks are fully dependant on their parents for food until will after fledging even though they will practice fishing for several weeks after fledging. Some data may indicate that the parents continue to feed young least terns during their first migration and possibly at the wintering grounds.

Least Terns chicks and eggs are preyed on by a verity of smaller predatory mammals as well as birds such as the American Kestrel and American Crow.

Least Terns feed primarily on small fish. Their foraging behavior is either hovering and diving or skimming the surface of the water. At sites like Wakodahatchee and Green Cay they can be readily seen flying circuits around the open water areas. They often signal their intent to dive by hovering momentarily before plunging head first to the water.

Full Profile

Photographing least terns at Wakodahatchee and Green Cay provides opportunities for two general types of photographs; birds in flight and static shots often with terns perched on the metal roofs of the gazebos. Flight shots pose a significant challenge, as the Least Tern is small, very agile and fast. The static shots provide better access to producing close up images of the terns, though the images generally have artificial elements (the roof) in them, which is less desirable.

The size and speed of Least Terns pose contradictory challenges to photographing them in flight. Their small size demands a long focal length lens to achieve as much magnification as possible. However, their high speed requires much more available viewfinder space in order to continue to track them. A fast focusing but light hand-holdable lens in the 400mm range is probably a good place to start, I use Canon’s EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, thought the EF 400mm f/5.6L USM or EF 300mm f/4L IS USM would be good lighter alternatives. Nikon users have less choices, the AF-should consider the AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4D IF-ED the AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8G IF-ED with an AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E II may also be a workable solution.

I’ve had some success using both Canon’s consumer (EOS 40D) level and pro level (EOS 1D Mark 3) autofocus systems for flight shots. It goes with out saying that continuous servo autofocus and a fast continuous release mode is an absolute requirement for this type of shot. This is one time where you want to do everything you can to maximize your chances at getting anything.

Least Tern flight shots pose a second problem with respect to lighting. Their predominately white plumage reflects light very well resulting in a very high dynamic range subject. With out even lighting, and even supplemental lighting, the can exceed the dynamic range that even the best dSLRs can capture. A photograph of a side lit Least Tern can go from completely white on the sunny side to near black on the shadow side.

The ideal conditions for photographing Least Terns in flight are to have the sun low in the sky and a moderate but constant wind at your back. The sun behind you will provide fairly even lighting to the entire front surface of the bird, and the wind will help slow them down to something a little easier to track and photograph.

Least Tern

The technique I use for Least Tern flight shots is to start tracking the birds at considerable distance as they approach. This way I have time to locate the bird as well as allowing the camera to start focusing. I generally use the center autofocus point though, on the EOS 1D Mark 3 I will expand the auto focus point to the surrounding 9 assist points as well.

Currently I’m testing the use of the automatic focus point selection mode, for when the bird is close enough to really fill the frame. I would not recommend using automatic point selection mode on the 9- or 11-point consumer cameras, as the gird is too spread out and there is too much of a chance that one of the peripheral points will lock on to something undesirable.

Static shots can be done with a 200mm to 400mm lens. By following bird photography best practices, and placing yourself between the sun and the bird you can typically get a clean blue sky or gray cloud backgrounds can be easily had. I recommend using a flash to provide some fill lighting as you are typically shooting up towards the bird. I generally use a setting of -1 to -2/3rds EV on a Canon 580Ex II flash @ 105mm zoom. I don’t use a better beamer in these situations as frequently I’m too close and don’t want to overpower the subject.