Has anybody ever used a product, called....

Dave Parker · Apr 5, 2005

'Better Beamer' Flash extender, it is apparently a device to extend your flash when using telephoto lenses for better fill flash.

I shoot alot of wildlife photography with long tele's and have been doing alot of birding as of late, and thought I would get some opinions to see if anyone else had used it, before I spent $40 bucks for two pieces of plastic and a small fresnel screen.

Thanks

the guy that makes this is located at thisURL.

http://www.birdsasart.com/accs.html#BEAMER

Dave

David A. Goldfarb · Apr 5, 2005

I do a lot of birding too, and all the birders who shoot flash except for me use it. I don't because I do flash manually with my Norman setup and a tele reflector, but if you're shooting with a normal shoe-mount flash and if you've got TTL flash metering, it's the thing to have.

Off topic birding event--today outside my office there was a white-throated sparrow singing very assertively, and it's a kind of U-shaped brick building, so it was echoing very loudly, and people who were coming were all looking around to see where it was coming from.

Konical · Apr 5, 2005

Good Evening, Dave,

I have not used the product you mention, although I recall seeing something about it in a magazine recently (can't recall which one). The concept is a very workable one. Almost thirty years ago, when I was a high school yearbook adviser and needed to shoot nighttime football games, I constructed a similar device using, if I recall correctly, a fresnel lens I found at Edmund Scientific. It wasn't very pretty, but it did work. I also purchased a flexible light pipe which I rigged to feed into the flash sensor in an attempt to maintain auto function. I don't know for sure if that actually worked because I'm sure that most of the shots required the maximum flash output possible anyway. Obviously, a rather accurate alignment of the flash beam with the area covered by the lens is critical.

Konical

Tom Duffy · Apr 5, 2005

Bird people tell stories about birds they like. I tell stories about birds I hate!

For the last 2 years I've been dealing with a woodpecker that's further up the evolutionary scale than most. I think some of the woodpecking is to attract a mate, rather than digging for bugs or whatever they eat. Anyway this woodpecker had the bright idea that he could make a louder noise by banging on the top on my grill on my back deck than by hammering on a tree. He pounds away on the grill for a few seconds then pauses and looks around expecting a flock of woodpecker babes to notice what a smart, noisy, stud he is. He does this over and over for about 20 min to a half hour, before he gives up. Not to worry, he'll be back at 5AM the next morning to do it again. Wakes up the whole house.
Mr. Woodpecker is going to find out he's too smart for his own good. This year I'm going to kill him...

John Bartley · Apr 5, 2005

Tom Duffy said:
Bird people tell stories about birds they like. I tell stories about birds I hate!

For the last 2 years I've been dealing with a woodpecker that's further up the evolutionary scale than most.....
Mr. Woodpecker is going to find out he's too smart for his own good. This year I'm going to kill him...

I'm glad he moved from out neighbourhood to yours .

We had a Pileated Woodpecker trying to drill a hole in the top of a hydro transformer around here a couple of years ago.

He must have been telepathic. He left when he realised what I was thinking (thoughts similar to yours )

They're a devil to get a picture of. The Pileated Woodpecker is pretty smart and tends to circle a tree trunk and peek at you from the backside before flying away just as you're about to release the shutter.

.

Dave Parker · Apr 5, 2005

Our Pileated has not found the power transformer yet, but the nut hatches have been at it for about two years now, little bugger, gets up on the top of the pole and beats for all he is worth on the transformer braket, he has the loudest tap, tap in the valley, normally starts very early in the morning, then he comes back right before dark to beat some more!

Dave

photomc · Apr 6, 2005

Hi Dave, found a link to the one I had heard about...
http://www.leppphoto.com/Project-A-Flash/index.html

not sure if it works or worth the money...

Will S · Apr 6, 2005

I think woodpeckers are protected in some states in the U.S. Maybe all. I've never lived anywhere where you could shoot them.

See: http://www.urbanwildlifecontrol.com/animals/woodp.htm for Georgia for example.

And yes, they do use drumming for courtship. Much like hippies.

John Bartley · Apr 6, 2005

Will S said:
I think woodpeckers are protected in some states in the U.S. Maybe all. I've never lived anywhere where you could shoot them.

Ummm... Will ?.....

We were just kidding about shooting them.

That's a problem with communicating via internet. The facial expressions, body language and expression of voice tend to......well....ummm...I think you get the drift.

I haven't shot anything but pop cans in years, but if that stray cat gets in my flowerbed again......... :rolleyes:

Here is a really crappy snap of him (Woody, not the cat) :::

John Koehrer · Apr 6, 2005

John,
Use a paintball gun for the cat, If he comes home with some bright paint splashed on him maybe his humans won't allow him out of the house.
If he is a stray the sting may teach him he's not wanted.

kswatapug · Apr 6, 2005

Dave, you might want to check with Michael Frye at michael**at**michaelfrye.com. I recall he purchased one of those some time back, though I believe he uses a Norman set-up for most of his night-time work.

Regarding the whacko-whacko bird, sounds like classic red-shafted flicker behavior. The most common way to discourage them is putting one of those plastic great horned owls in the vicinity. They use them in the National Parks with some success to keep woodpeckers from hanging around poking holes in things or, even just doing their best garage band imitation.

John Bartley · Apr 6, 2005

Shaggy said:
John,
Use a paintball gun for the cat, If he comes home with some bright paint splashed on him maybe his humans won't allow him out of the house.
If he is a stray the sting may teach him he's not wanted.

Hehehe - I tried that Shaggy - I could have filmed the results for Americas funniest....there were paintballs EVERYWHERE except on the cats. I can knock a dime off a fencepost at a 100 yards with my muzzleloader, but that &^$%# paintball gun was enough to make me have a beer!

Jeremy · Apr 6, 2005

Someone is selling one of these over at photo.net for $31 plus shipping.

Not affiliated, but this my be a good chance to get one for cheaper than new....

Has anybody ever used a product, called....

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