I was just watching your A9iii vs A1 video that you did with Jonathan, and now this one about the A1ii. Watching both videos in a row is pretty interesting. I've only just discovered your channel but I love hearing you guys talk about wildlife photography and about the gear. One can really see how passionate you guys are 👍 So if we really want to go straight to the point, it seems like the deal breaker each time is that Pre-Capture technology which is game-changing for wildlife photography, is it not? The A1 without pre-capture is inferior to the A9iii because that one has pre-capture. But give pre-capture to the A1 and then you have the A1ii and it comes back on top. No matter how good the other upgrades are from the A1 to A1ii, if it didn't get pre-capture you guys would have still stuck to the A9iii right?

Your video cost me a lot of money. I was already close to pulling the trigger, so I can't blame you 100% 😁. Well done - thank you.

Great video! I've veen to titchwell marsh before a few times, its a great reserve. And the beach is nice as well. I got shots of the black-winged stilts last time I was there. It was a bit far away, from the island hide that is. Nice to see though! Well done with the bearded tits, still waiting to get a good shot of them! Thanks again for the video, and Happy New Year!

I've had my best results on the beach over the years...tend to walk straight through the reserve.

Great down to earth user experience and comparison betw the a1 and a9mk3. I have the a6700 and a9. Both are excellent for birds photography but lack the pre capture feature. I am sold on the a9mk3. Now I need to decide between - a9mk3 & 300mm, f2.8 GM which to buy first. Thank you for sharing your point of view.

great video and great shots happy new year mark

So where is the A1 mk11??

Very entertaining, thank you.

What about 400mm f/2.8 prime with teleconverters? I don't own any of those lenses and I don't have the money to get them, yet I like watching those videos as I find it fascinating and those are beautiful pieces of technology. From what I understand, even the 400 f/2.8 is still cheaper than the 600 f/4 With teleconverters you'd get 560 at 1.4x and 800 at 2x, while keeping reasonably wide apertures and image quality. On top of that you'd also get the crazy 400mm f/2.8 shots without the teleconverters. I think 400mm can be useful in many situations for wildlife, can't it? Considering it's still cheaper than a 600 F/4 and about the same weight, I think, then what would the benefits of the 600/4 be over a 400/2.8 with teleconverters? If there are any, do they really compensate against the availabilty of the 400/2.8 shots on the other lens? Vs the 300/2.8 + 2x TC I could still see an argument for the 600/4 when going for 600mm shots because you get f/4 vs f/5.6 but for the 400 + 1,4x TC, the 560mm shots should be pretty damn close to the 600/4 shots? Anyways, very informative video, thanks 👍

I would disagree with you about harsh light now in December, the light is fantastic all day this time of year when the sun is out.

Watched one of your videos and, you said its all about image quality these days.? This got me thinking if you are taking videos on KZbin you will not see any difference in image quality from a Sony 200-600 to a 300mm f2.8. Far more important is the light, if you take pictures on a dull grey day you get low contrast dull images, and image quality will not matter. Early morning or late afternoon or evening with sunshine is far far more important than image quality. A typical example of this is i was Photographing Bee-Eater in Spain, when i took pictures around midday the light was so harsh all the colours of the Birds were washed out and looked terrible, every image was for the bin. When i took them again from 18.00 onwards the Birds looked stunning and all their colours stood out, so the moral of the story is do not waste your time shooting in harsh light, or dull grey light the images will look terrible. If we take as an example the Weather outside today, its grey dull flat light, like its been for Weeks now, would i bother getting my Camera out now, to get pictures of birds? No way i will wait until the light is right. Its far more important to plan a trip to as an example Bempton Cliffs on a bright sunny day early morning or evening, than have the best lens and best image quality on a grey flat light day, or harsh sunny day. This week Thursday and Friday are perfect weather days, low sun all day. Looking as an example your picture of a Kingfisher taken in great light, the bird looks stunning and all its colours stand out, if you took the picture of that on a dull grey day, the picture would look like the light dull and grey. Its all about the light not image quality.

Very beautiful video and photography!!!

Thanks for the video. What's the cover you have on the 300 please?

Congrats. 👍👍👍

Hi mate, very atmospheric video in the rain. It often works when we get out in bad weather. All the best Steve.

Loved this video, a fantastic introduction to a new reserve, thanks Mark! I’ll definitely have to visit Minsmere myself sometime 👍🏼

Lovely shot of the kingfisher and its reflection. Congrats on 5 years of KZbin! Merry Christmas and all the best for the new year. Cheers

great video. thanks for sharing! merry christmas!

Nice to meet you looking for Shorties the other day. Hope Santa remembers drop something off for you 📸!

I notice you use a video tripod head with the 600. Is this because you shoot more video?

Great video, as always. Absolutely loved the sound of the rain hitting that teepee! Merry Christmas to you Mark, and here’s to 2025. keep the fantastic content coming!

Nice shots, thank you!

great video and great shots mark merry Christmas to you

Lovely footage mate.

I got kicked by one of those little bastards 😂 at Dungeness it was hiding in the stones and i couldnt see it i got to close it booted me so hard i could hardly walk for a couple days

Thanks Mark that was great I’ve spent hours days and months with these beauties be careful they are addictive. Just to wish you one of those special memorable Christmases. Look forward to seeing more of your postings 2025

Nice footage Mark

No one mentions the price.

I can't disagree with you but what didn't get covered, and you may say dxo does this good enough, is that the 400 and 600 buy you more time in the field. I currently shoot with the 200-600 and my copy is amazingly sharp. The 300 at 5.6 with a TC is only 1/3 stop faster. I'm chasing time and better bokeh and was just about to pull the trigger on a used 400 as a TC on it is just a few mm short of the 600 but still the same light plus it is amazingly bright at 400 2.8. I'm ready to be persuaded to save 6 grand if you can lol. Looking forward to your response as I ponder my choice.

Lovely kestrel shot Mark, good luck with the shorties. Have a great Christmas, all the best Steve.

Great video Mark !!! i been debating on this lens . I shot the Nikon z600PF and fell in love with small light weight primes vs my 600 F4. The older i get the less I want. carry that lens lol

Merlin app reckons the bird you labelled as 'song thrush not singing', is a redwing. I checked, as the white stripe on its head made me think, not song thrush. Great owl/raptor episode. Your pics are amazing. Be glad when the SEOs show themselves down my neck of the woods again!

Very nice pics but has it occurred to you that for some of us the camera information might be boring and or baffling ?

chef a few of your videos , and pre capture is on my old Lumix g9 , you've taken some lovely pictures but come across as a camera snob to me always going about how many megabytes this and that ,, a real sort of snobby show off,, I might be wrong , that's why I haven't subbed , cheers Shane uk

Pleased the shorties have arrived. Maybe I will go looking on New Year’s Day afternoon after I get back from China

Very nice video Mark. Great results.

The only shorty I've seen was loitering on a golf green, along the coast, just south of Clevedon. Got my binocs on it. Had a great look. Awesome birds. Fingers crossed.

Great comparison! I'm always looking over the fence at other systems, even though I'm currently very happy with my G9II and 200mm f2.8. The PF lenses still need to come down in price imo. Also FF need to stop it with the artificial segmenting and just offer things like pre-burst, vlog, shutter angle etc., on their lower end models. There's no excuse not to.

I would sure hope so since there isn't any viable wildlife camera with any more than that.

i can never get over that electric blue stripe, down the back. magic

Those UK prices are ridiculous. You guys really get ripped off.

Well explained… lovely shots too 👍… canon user 300 2.8 incoming for the wife 😎…subscribed!

How far are you prepared to go to locate them?

Lovely footage mate, it's always nice when you don't have to travel too far to see the wildlife. All the best Steve.

Nice video Mark. You got some very natureal looking shots from your sun lounge. Well done.

Another enjoyable instalment first class footage at the end of the video enjoy a lot thanks

A few of pounds of seed, £20k worth of gear 🤣🤣🤣