With the CL having spent almost all its time in the dry cabinet since the arrival of the M body, it got an outing this afternoon to see how the two telephotos I shot on the M yesterday would fare on crop sensor in optimum light. Less than a ninety-minute outing, mind you, as the temperature was at 96F with the heat index at 113F, not favorable weather for old farts like me.
Both lenses were beyond spectacular, and as I was on the way back I encountered a pair of unusually confiding pigeons. With the 180mm mounted, it turned out to be a nice critter photo op.
It reminded me of how I got into birding what seems like a zillion years ago. I was an avid macro shooter (which was what led me to my first R lens, the 100mm APO) until I found myself in a location where open spaces were so inundated with pesticides that it wasn’t so easy to find six-legged critters to shoot. So as not to waste my outings I started carrying progressively longer lenses and added birds to the agenda whenever they’d appear.
Now I wonder whether the temporary shift to shooting short could become the next phase. For sure the simplicity of M photography has my attention, reminding me of when I first started. Back then the only thing that needed a battery was the light meter. Getting a firm grasp of the exposure triangle as I was starting out led to many delightful weekends spent strolling around endlessly fascinating Manhattan and places beyond.
Once travel resumes, I guess I’ll know for sure . . .
