Double barrel bird gun (camera)

cknight · Aug 15, 2005

These are couple of pics of Greg's D2H setup. I thought it was pretty neat.
He has 2 D2Hs synced together so that both fire when the shutter button is pressed on one. The top one has the 70-200, the bottom the 300f2.8 (and TC1.4 I think). When the birds get too close in for the 300, they are about right for the 70-200. It looks like the setup works pretty well, but is still being tweaked. And its a lot of fun to carry on a tripod up and down rocky hills.
I hope he doesn't mind me posting these, but I thought ya'll would enjoy seeing this.

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This is just a random pic of Frank, in case anyone wants to make fun of him. Be creative. :twisted:

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Gale · Aug 15, 2005

Chris,
That is just to cool.

Can't poke fun at FLEWWWWWW's pics though, he is to good..

Now don't tell him I said that :>))) hahahahaha

Great pics tooooooo

andreasb · Aug 15, 2005

Cool but then again when you have D2X you can crop so you dont need two D2HS's?

Seriously though who built the setup for the holder of the two cameras? Looks pretty cool...

greyflash · Aug 15, 2005

A double barreled camera is a new one on me. I have never seen that before. This is not something I would want to carry around.

Also, I have enough trouble processing the images from one camera let alone two.

Frank looks like he is really into that shot.

Good images of these two fine photographers Chris.

Flew · Aug 15, 2005

Cool shots of Greg's double barreled monster Chris, but that guy in the third pics is so handsome, and so intelligent, that I just can't help but be mucho impressed.

Bwahahahahahahaha!!

:roll:

Keith · Aug 15, 2005

Hey

Chris, nifty set ups and a bit of cash laying out there with all those set ups ;-)

Flew, just dont have it in me :wink: , but luv the hat!!!! YOu guys need to take paypal and just charge the purchasers 3% for us lazy people, would luv to do a better job in supporting the cafe and dang it you need more exposure out here on the West coast!!!!!

Philippe Roger · Aug 16, 2005

That's a great (if not lightweight) set-up, but I can't imagine processing double the amount of shots in RAW! ;-)

Greg · Aug 16, 2005

ok, here's the low down on the the double mount.

I started with 2 Bogen 3421 gimbal mounts. Remove the mount from one (the swinging part ) invert it and switch the rail system to the outside. Then cut off the top of one of them so that you can get the cameras closer together and lower the center of gravity. Mine will move just a bit more before I'm done. they are tied together by two straight brackets (home-made) using the existing holes and metric threads. these will be replaced by a u-channel metal brackets with thumb screws so that you can adjust the parallax. This is very important that you set the angle and swing of the two lenses to intersect at the desired point.

The two cameras were linked together with the Nikon MC-23 cable which makes both act as one. Each one does have to have the focus and exposure modes set as well as the fps. Autofocus controls and shutter releases do work as one.

This was the first try with this set up. initial observations are this.

It works for the intended purpose and that's to allow additional opportunities on moving objects (such as large birds, Geese and GBH) as they come to close for the 300 with the 1.4. The location we were at had the birds coming straight at us and I got many opportunities to check this out.

2nd reason... I like to tinker.

Up Side
1. Basic idea works well.
2. I got shots I would not have gotten with only the 300 with the 1.4.
3. I also have shots that were better with the 300 than the shorter lens.
4. You do have the ability to turn one off and only use one at a time. Kind of defeats the purpose though.
5. Use of the sliding rails allows the use of only one lens in seconds similar to other sliding mounts that are out there.

Down side.
1. ONE HEAVY MOTHER! Not something you will be carrying all day. Only good for when you have known locations and opportunities.
2. I was using matrix metering and checking the histogram on the 300mm with the 1.4. Once I returned and loaded them I found that the 200mm has a greater field of view and thus had a different exposure adjustment required. Which I didn't take into account. this can be remedied by either an ev adjustment or shooting manual.
3. As to more processing. didn't seem to be an issue. I had two windows open and was looking at both sets at the same time as thumbnails. Just selected the thumb that had the desired scene.
4. Does tend to eat more space. I carry 4-4 gig cards which looks like it will be enough for most of the sessions I take. From what Frank says, that's not going to be enough at Merritt.
5. Dangerous. I don't think I would be showing this off without some backup (Chris/Frank) just to much temptation.
6. Higher risk of damage given the weight.

I'll post shots when it's all done in a couple of weeks.

Crayaco · Aug 16, 2005

That is a very intriguing combination. It really took a lot of thought and engineering to come up with that.

I like the idea of the two cameras being linked together.

greyflash · Aug 16, 2005

I think you just took Chris and Frank along to help carry that beast. :lol: :lol:

bobhoge · Aug 16, 2005

Hi Greg and Chris and all,

WARNING!!! :lol: :lol:

You are headed down a slippery slope with this double mount! I have been there and it can get expen$ive.

First you will beef up the mount to reduce the shake.

Then you will put on bigger lenses since it is steadier.

Then you will need a bigger tripod.

Then you will add wheels because it is so heavy.

Then you will add another camera.

Then you will go thought the same loop a couple of times....

Then you need bigger wheels and it becomes a trailer.

Here is where you are heading.... :roll: :roll:

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But it will let you take photos of VERY BIG birds from far away!!

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Photos from 1967/8
Bob

Greg · Aug 16, 2005

Oh yeah, gotta have one. maybe even two.

Flew · Aug 16, 2005

Bob, you're a hoot. 8)

cknight · Aug 16, 2005

Where do you put the CF card in???

We all started down that slope a long time ago.
-I just want a nice simple SLR to take pics of the kids/dog with
-Would a better flash help with lighting?
-A wide angle would be nice for scenery on trips
-Taking pics of birds would be fun and challenging
-If only I had a little more reach - need a longer lens
-This telephoto is heavy and hard to hold steady, I need a tripod
-I'm tired of birds, how 'bout bugs?
-Dang, those things are small, need a macro lens.
-Dang again, my short macro scares them off. Need longer macro lens to get more working distance
-Maybe I'll try birds again. But my telephoto is too long sometimes
-I got it - build a double barrel!!
-Wife divorces me, dog won't talk to me because its tired of that darn lens in its face
-Now have more time and money. Use time and money to build super-duper camera trailer with automatic bird tracking radar
-New camera trailer shoots 100 fps. That's a lot of pics.
-Need new faster computer to handle all post processing.
-Go back to DSLR because I'm sick of PPing all the pics from the super camera.

Flew · Aug 16, 2005

Uh Chris, I don't remember telling you the story of my life on the drive last Saturday. How did you find out....? :roll:

Oh yeah, that describes all of us. :twisted:

bobhoge · Aug 16, 2005

Just for reference, in the first photo, on the right lower platform there are two lenses. The smaller one is a 300mm. The big one on the left upper platform is an 80....that's INCHES not mm. (About a 2000mm)

Also, to avoid the mosquitoes, you aimed it remotely from the second trailer, the big white box in the background. It could be up to six miles away.

In the last shot, I think the rocket is an Atlas Agena launching the Orbiting Geophysical Observatory.

Bob