800mm vs hot day

Associate
Joined
1 Aug 2007
Posts
1,052
We went to Skomer a couple of weeks ago and were rewarded with a sighting of the Little Owl.

It was maybe 20 or 30 meters away. I had plenty of time, a tripod and bright lighting. I figured it was my best chance for a good picture.

But alas, no. it was too hot. it was a baking hot day. Even on relatively short distances, distortion from the heat wrecks the picture.

Here is three images, converted into an animated GIF. They are all unprocessed, except for the same 100% crop ffrom the middle of the frame, taken at 5 FPS. There is a bit of movement in the lens, but look at the movement of the subject. That's the distortion in the hot air - not wind. It simply wasn't possible to get the image sharp.

*sigh*

LittleOwl.gif


Andrew
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
32,615
Nice visualization. Always heard of this problem on 500mm+ lenses and seen some minor heat effects in my own photos.

All the more reason for sunrise photography!
 
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