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ISO is an Acronym, not a word, so it should be “I” “S” “O” not “Eye-so” and it stands for International Organization for Standardization as depicted on their logo. In the old days we called it ASA, pronounced “A “S” “A” … and we certainly never said “Ah-Sah”. Was great to hear you say it correctly!!! Topaz AI is truly amazing, I accidentally shot an image at ISO 51,200 on a Sony A7R5 and a Tamron 28-300mm lens handheld, and after running it through Topaz Photo AI for noise reduction and Photoshop using the High Pass Filter for sharpening I ended up with a very usable image … I was blown away! Thanks for the video, lots of good tips and tricks.

Nice stuff! I'm currently recovering from a knee replacement, but not too far from where I live is a dam that has a lot of eagle activity. They're open until March, so I'm hoping that by then I'll be a bit more ambulatory and I can try to get some shots.

Nice video

Awesome video! I was out there this past weekend for the sunrise. As soon as i switched from a wide -angle to zoom lens, i had one adult pass overhead towards the marina and came across another adult perched at the observation deck. I heard a few more in the area as well. Looking forward to the upcoming weeks.

Awesome... I LIKE!!!

Great stuff, my friend. Worth the wait and cold fingers!

Nice one !:) What gloves are You using?

Complaining about a telephoto lens being too long. lol

Good video and some nice shortie shots! You are right there are a lot more options for noise these days. Haven't tried topaz ai, but have used their denoise program. A lot of the auto options do sometimes flatten out the details too much to make them look cartoony so I find sometimes manually dialing things back may be necessary.

Another stellar video. I especially enjoy your videos because you photograph the same stuff as me and go about it the same way I would. Thanks for all your content.

Super nice photos, well done 👍

Great photos of the bald eagle

Cant wait for it to thaw and the feast to begin!

Thanks very much! Practice well spent on a deer I found today in Wisconsin:)

What an amazing bird!

Outstanding video!!!! Amazing footage. I been thinking of getting this lens and this helps out a lot.

I have found that if I put a very noisy images into Topaz that I often get banding, or artifacts (these are Sony images) - so my process is to partially denoise in Lightroom, then import into Topaz to finish clean up and sharpen. That works for me to give best results..

Did u hv to struggle with AF and can tell me what focus settings u used. Also in such low light is it necessary to still use the lens hood.

Lightroom’s built in AI denoise is amazing. I have no issues shooting 25600 with my R6mkii. ISO is no longer something I even consider these days.

Excellent! I've been shooting shortears hear in Montana this winter. I start with RF 200-800 lens until blue hour then switch to RF 70-200mm F2.8 lens. I have Topaz, but found ON1 Photo Raw 2025 even better for low light, high noise images. With the RF 200-800mm I get some good photos with smoot panning at shutter speed as low as 1/250 sec...I start at 1/2000 sec and bump down the shutter speed as it gets darker as the sun sets. The F2.8 lens at 200mm is amazing for really low light conditions!

Wow...very surprised by what the R5ii looks like at 25,600. I would have thought the noise at 25,600 would be somewhat similar the R1's at 25,600. Looking forward to the day when we can get a 45mp camera with the high-iso characteristics of a 24mp camera.

I’m a bird photographer and have Topaz Photo AI but don’t use it. It adds color noise and artifacts.

You will get better result if you first run the RAW file through DXO PureRAW and then through Topaz. DXO will retain more details but will leave som noise, which Topaz can take care of. Give that combo a try. I've done presentations on the differences in our local nature photo community.

Although I'm mostly a small, perched bird kind of guy, one bird I'd like to get more of in flight is the Short Eared Owl. Almost makes me wish i still had my R5.... It's interesting though, even for perched birds, while a lot of folks are trying to keep there shutter speeds up, even for darker conditions, often with ISO's of like 3200, 6400, or even higher, I'm shooting at shutter speeds of like 1/20th to 1/60th, to keep my ISO at or below 800. No Topaz required 😉 But I'm using the same advice > take LOTS of shots. I almost always get some sharp ones 🙂 I've looked for the SEO's here in Nor Cal a couple times, but none yet this year ☹️ Going to look at eBird again now. Great video 👍 Thank you 🙂✝️l

got the R7 with 100-500L and learned that high iso is not our enemy anymore. lightroom denoise makes it possible. i was thinking about the 200-800 for long time but end up with the 500mm and decided to crop in and use the faster AF as advantage over range. the slightly better/worse image quality depending on situation is totally fine for me. sometimes i still wonder if that was the right decision. how you get along with the 800mm? how is your experience and opinion over both lenses side by side if you can ONLY use the R7 body? fantastic shots! the snow makes it easier on the denoise i guess?

I can shoot 4 hours on two of those batteries. Battery grip was so worth it.

Minnor point, you would be better of using the lens strap that the came with it. Its too heavy to let lens hang of your camera.

I order my R5 just now. As it is much cheaper and a lot of futures are enough for me.

Hello Matthew, I'm from North central Ohio and absolutely can't get enough of the Bald eagles. I'm especially drawn to the sub adults with all the cool feather patterns. I'm curious as to what month your having these eagles gather? Thanks and amazing video.

incredible experience!

Gorgeous footage! Thank you for this. A Coopers killed one of my chickens yesterday and got trapped in the coop. I got it out and witnessed the incredible grip of its talons, which explains how Coopers easily suffocated their prey before eating

Well done, you got there🎉🎉great shots😊

Awesome and nice pics! I once stopped on a country dirt road, looking for snow owls and ended up with 5 short eared instead and when I stepped out of the car, he or she was as stunned as me and the shorty was just about 4 feet away! Had time for a couple of pics then it flew away in the field with the others...but they were quite close and that was my fave short eared owl moment!

Very helpful thanks 👍

what kind of harness is good for this?

it's not too big or heavy...just wish it would focus...so far, after 3 weeks of testing, my keeper rate is so low that it's going back to Canon and if they can't fault it, it's being sold. I have zero need for a lens that doesn't work. My 25 year old 500mm prime, with a 1.4x TC and EF to RF adaptor absolutely smacks the RF200-800 to kingdom come with it comes to AF performance and sharpness. It has been a massive disappointment and great source of frustration for me.

As a photographer, I am always trying to make lemonade out of lemons. It's nice when things come together. You're hunting a huge area with a lot of fence posts. A lot of space to cover. One area I go to has two fields across the road from each other. So the seo's will fly in a loop around me while they fly back and forth. I sit so I can look down the fence line. Sooner or later they'll land on a post. SEO's are fun to photograph because they come back. Great horned just seem to leave. Find them and they leave again. Maybe the best place for you would be a place where the sun is on your passenger side? With some fence posts within reasonable range. I get my best photos in a place like that. Positioning is poor at a couple other locations I go to. The owls are there but the photos just won't be as good for me. Congratulations on the photos you did get.

Loner

Definitely a loner loser, lol!

I admire your persistence! To be rewarded with some great photos is what it’s all about. I’m a bit new to wildlife photography and appreciate the advice you give and the example you put forth. Maybe I can catch the elusive Squatch photo in the beautiful Laurel Highlands of PA! Lol! I am a fan of owls with barred owls, screech owls, and great horned owls heard in my neighborhood hoping to get photos some day.

I'm so pumped for you! As someone who's done exactly what you did in this video for years, I can emphasize with the frustration. On a tip from a FB group, I took about an hours drive out to a spot two weeks ago. I was told Northern Harriers and Short Ear Owls are in this spot regularly. Sure enough, I spotted 5-6 Northern Harriers & 2 Short Ear Owls. Unfortunately, there was heat haze and they were all pretty far out. All I left with was a blurry ID shot. Outstanding photos, hoping my luck takes the turn yours did!

Awesome video Matt!! Happened across this video after returning from my own failed owl search, very timely. Outstanding images! 🔥🔥

Your channel came up on my feed..SO GLAD it did!!! You are so real, I love it… This is exactly how I am when out searching for ANY wildlife…LOL NEW SUB..keep at it and thank you for sharing!!!🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Your excitement is palpable! Loved it. The things we go through to 'get the shot'. Well done with your persistence, those final images especially really were worth it.

The exact results I thought, I almost always like to shoot alone. It not only gives you time to spend quietly in nature and enjoy yourself and I always have found that most people don't have the patience that I do when waiting for wildlife. When shooting large animals I usually like to have someone with me as long as I can outrun them. Thanks for a great poll.

Great video man!!

"I have to learn how to use my camera" Thanks for sharing. I had an equipment moment like that so many times. Yesterday the battery pack was loose at bottom and camera kept turning off.

Why would you need a new CFEx card with the mkII? One thing you didn’t mention is that the battery drain appears to be much higher than with the mkI. a week ago I had to swap batteries twice on the mkII while the mkI was still happy on the first battery (these are all LP-6NH which have plenty of life left, and I am not going to use LP-6P for now; which means no wireless connectivity for now, for me). Considering inflation, the mkII itself is less expensive than the mkI (and sale price makes it even better); I wasn’t going to upgrade to the mkII, but what convinced me is how well the EC-AF works (after trying it on a buddy’s R1); that and the Christmas sale price 😂. I am not intending to sell my mkI at this time, though. The EC-AF might take some getting used to, but first impression is it feels extremely precise.

I’m definitely a loser (according to my kids 😂). Whilst I’m comfortable alone, I love the opportunity to photograph with others.

I'm going to Yellowstone in February with a small group . We are sharing the cost of guides & rentals. I know 2 of the other 3 photographers and enjoy their company so it adds to my excitement about going. Locally I plan most trips solo.