Sony a6700 Canon R7 Hummingbird Photography & More! FE 200-600 RF 100-500 Telephoto Zoom Lenses

[@remember627]

Heather, thank you for putting the camera settings on the photos that are used in your and Phil’s videos. It is so helpful and appreciated.

[@PhilThach]

She's pretty awesome! I do the settings on my shots and she does it on hers. She sends them to me complete with settings, all I have to do to hers is drop them in the video and narrate over them.

[@robertegan7080]

I don’t know anything about birds but enjoy ur and Heathers Photography

[@PhilThach]

Thank you!

[@JonnyPink65]

Beautiful photos - both set ups are impressive. For me, I was really surprised at how much I LOVE what the Sony A6700 offers with the 200-600. I have been going through my photos looking at the R7 and A6700 side by side - each produces spectacular results as you have shown here!! 🤗

[@PhilThach]

Thank you!

[@JonnyPink65]

@@PhilThach 💖

[@sabu5727]

R7🔥🔥🔥🔥👌🏻

[@Rajupkd]

Fantastic shots both cameras performed nicely except the rolling shutter issue, but as you said ",I don't mind mild rolling shutter issue, "inspirational "😊. I too have Canon R7. Though I love the reach if 200-600. Both cameras performed exceptionally well. Please keep on posting new video thoroughly enjoyed your video. Love from Mumbai , India.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you!

[@thenewmanfiles3269]

well you certainly inspired me to make a blind, similar to yours, will be my own little outside man cave. My neighbors will love this :). Nice shots though, and didn't have to travel far. Love the Sony IQ. Almost forgot, from one Rush fan to another, Neil's bd is 12 Sept, RIP professor.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! I need to get out one of my many concert DVDs and enjoy an evening of Rush.

[@N_v_G]

Nice video, very nice pics! I love your T-shirt! LOL

[@PhilThach]

Thank you!

[@SheldonMorton]

Both of you took some amazing images......especially the hummingbirds! What a great way of spending Father/Daughter time together. Always look forward to your next video.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, Sheldon! BTW, Heather is my fiance! :)

[@thomastuorto9929]

Great vid, great photos. Surprised there wasn't more wing blur/movement that I like in the photos like the last photo with those shutter speeds. Tractor supply sells a little tube of ant repel gel that I put on the plant hanger that keeps the ants from getting to the feeder. They also see a red thing-a -ma-jiggy that goes between the plant hanger & the feeder that you fill up with water that keeps the ants from reaching the feeder. I use them both & drilled out the center of the water holder & put a heavier eye bolt set-up in for my larger seed holding feeders. It works! Happy shooting.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, Thomas! Great tips!

[@thomastuorto9929]

@@PhilThach Your welcome!

[@pepper6253]

Amazing hummingbird captures . Those tiny birds are so difficult for me to capture. Thanks for sharing your blind and back yard birds.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you I really appreciate that. The best way in my opinion is to set up a feeder where they can’t perch and get pictures when they back up for a moment in between drinks. Good luck!

[@tatesue]

Ah, finally a photo of a hummer with hot lips! Lol! Nice job!!

[@PhilThach]

I was hoping you were going to watch this video! Thanks Tate!

[@tatesue]

@@PhilThach I don’t think I have missed any of your videos. Actually I saw/heard this while driving and couldn’t respond at the time. I did look back at my old photos to see if I had any photos of the hot lips when I first saw them, but did not. I do have a fb link that I’m going to send you.

[@pdel7007]

Great video , thanks. In the north of England we don't have anything exotic like hummingbirds but we can get the same pleasure as yourselves photographing common garden birds. With my R6 I've seen rolling shutter whilst trying to photography insects in flight (their wings ) or the background of birds in flight . I agree with your liking of some wing blur for the humming birds and now we have such great eye tracking I think it allows us a greater leeway in picking our shutter speeds and being able to create the image we want. Thanks again for sharing.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! Your common garden birds would be exotic for me! It's all a matter of perspective I suppose. Thanks for watching!

[@Eli4Bill]

Great shots of the hummingbirds Phil and Heather!👏

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, Bill!

[@markb9755]

Thank you for sharing. I have a similar setup on my back deck but I’m looking to improve things for next season and you’ve given me some helpful ideas.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you and good luck! :)

[@bobdrawbaugh4207]

Nice job! Love the Hummingbird shots. That’s a good tip covering up the holes to get the hummingbirds in the correct position.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, Bob!

[@ammadoux]

we don't have humming birds but we have sunbirds and they are also nectar feeders, never seen them on Lantana, but they adore Aloe vera flowers, do you have aloe vera in America, also they love the yellow flowers of Tecoma tree, but Aloe vera is always there favorite. i don't have the natives Aloe vera, those imported ones flowers only once a year form Nov-Feb unlike the native endemic Aloe vera. have to get one or more. thanks for all those great shots you show us, frankly can't tell which is my favorite i really love them all.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! Sunbirds are beautiful!

[@SnaphypeWorld]

Wow, these hummingbird shots are absolutely breathtaking! 📸 Congrats to both of you for capturing such intricate details of ruby-throated hummingbirds in flight; it’s truly remarkable. 🌺✨ Nature at its finest! 🐦🌿 I took a few shots last February using the Nikon 105mm macro lens and the Z6, spending hours photographing this amazing bird.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! That are an amazing species!

[@adrianalfordphotography]

Great shots Phil and Heather. A good variety all from your hide. Was worth building that. Cheers

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, Adrian! I just added a much more permanent roof to the blind!

[@leonfisher]

Great hummer photos!

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, Leon!

[@dr_squirrel]

Awesome Humming Bird shots! I wish we had those in Europe

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! I didn't know that there were no hummingbirds there.

[@ses4vols]

Great shots! My favorite was at the 9:09 mark 😍!

[@PhilThach]

That you! That's my favorite too. :)

[@MrTmiket0007]

Thanks so much for sharing another wonderful video like always Phil, those hummingbird photos are outstanding, Phil today I met two amazing photographers, Fans Lanting and Art Worlfe here at the BH event in New York city, take care 👍😁

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! That's really cool about the B&H event!

[@davidclode3601]

Hi to you both. I actually like the blurred wings for hummingbirds, beautiful photos. Your climate may not be warm enough for these plants, but they may be good for hummingbirds (they work well for sunbirds and honeyeaters in Australia): Odontonema strictum, Russellia equisetiformis, and various species and clutivars of aloes. The botanical names are off the top of my head, so may not be exactly right, but should be enough for an internet search to see if you like them and if they will grow in your area.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, David!

[@NickTheGreek-m3x]

Just beautiful. One little note I would prefer to have a faster ss for istance a 1/4000 a sec to freeze the wings but as you said it is a matter of personal preference!!! Keep creating amazing things!!!

[@PhilThach]

Thank you!

[@eljayr4669]

Unfortunately we do not have Hummingbirds in the U.K. and Europe. Great shots and a grail Bird for me.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! I am just learning today that there are no hummingbirds in the UK. Bummer!

[@peterviragphoto]

Awesome compilation! I love the motion blur in the wings of the hummingbirds as well, just makes the shots look more dynamic in general. Superb series, stunning captures❤ p.s: loved Heather’s images too,top effort!😍

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, Peter!

[@ForrestWest]

They have these plastic cup shaped devices with a hook on top and a hook on bottom that you can add water to that will prevent the ants from getting into the hummingbird feeder.

[@PhilThach]

That is very true but I really don’t even want the hummingbird feeder out there unless I’m going to do photography because it’s just getting dirty and going bad but if I remove the hummingbird feeder and put it in the refrigerator it stays good for a long time and doesn’t get dirty.

[@ForrestWest]

Very nice hummingbird shots!

[@patriciablyler6484]

Beautiful photos Heather and Phil! I don’t have the ant issue at my feeders but I have Honey Bee issues.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! I think I might rather have bees than ants!

[@dccoletrain]

You you find the 6700 camera having better AF for wildlife or similar to the newer Canon cameras

[@PhilThach]

It's pretty similar.

[@cesarm8811]

As always great photos Phil and Heather. Phil I am bit curios which camera do you like better the Canon R7 or the Sony A6700?

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, Cesar! I haven't decided which camera I like best yet. I'm putting together a list of things I like better about each camera.

[@PhotoGearFun]

Thanks so much for the video. I have been having lots of focus issues with my R7 lately and I am considering selling it in favor of the a6700. I was watching Duade's video and he has the same issue it seems Canon admits the focus system on the R7 has limitations versus say the R5 which is expected but it's a huge pain. I just got the Sony 200-600 to use with my a7iv but will happily use it on the a6700 if I get it. I know you haven't had the a6700 for long but which camera do you prefer?

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! I watched that video of Duade's. He does excellent work. It's basically a no-brainer that a camera won't focus as well in low light/contrast situations. I'm going to have to test the R7 and a6700 against each other and the R6 Mark II which has a faster sensor than the R5 and see if there are differences. I'm finding that the a6700 and R7 have different strengths and weaknesses but on the subject of auto-focus, I find them to be very similar.

[@PhotoGearFun]

@@PhilThach thanks so much for the info. My issue with the R7 occurs in good light with high contrast. It's very frustrating and causes me to miss shots. Part of me just says to live with it and keep the r7 but my experience with Sony AF tells me the a6700 would do better so thanks for your feedback. Cheers.

[@rui7773]

Vá de R8 ou R6M2 e seja feliz!

[@PhotoGearFun]

@@rui7773 I have the R5 which I love but I want a crop sensor camera for bird photography. Cheers.

[@rui7773]

@@PhotoGearFun, pois não sofra com a R7 !

[@VladimirMikota]

Great video! I want to buy a Sony A6700 for wildlife and macro photography. Have you tried how the Sony A6700 continuously focuses on the eye of an insect? I read different opinions about it. Thank you.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! I have a Macro lens for it but it is a manual focus lens so I can't really test it that way. I have done a tiny amount of dragonfly photography with the FE 200-600 and it seemed to work pretty well. Certainly better than the Canon in Animal mode.

[@PeteCroft1]

Great shots again Heather and Phil, love those hummingbirds! Sounds like you were on the right track with lower frame rates for the R7, Duane Paton in his latest video says Canon recommended to him lower rates as the af system is not as fast as the other models which leads to the out of focus shots sometimes. How did the Sony 6700 compare in af speed and accuracy to the R7 Phil?

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! I switched to lower than the maximum frame rate on the R7 so the buffer would last longer and to keep from having to look through so many pictures on the computer. It was a happy side effect that the autofocus works a little better when it has more time to focus between shots. I find the autofocus on the a6700 to have similar strengths and weaknesses to the R7. Neither one of them do their best in low light. I'd say that's the case for most cameras.

[@telkirton]

Great video as always Phil, when are we going to see a Heather Thach ??? 🙃🙂

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! The wedding is in about a year.

[@linhaixueyuan]

Thanks for the nice video. Do you think that the focus part is probably on-par between R7 and 6700, and 30 vs 11 frame rates and double card slots, put R7 way ahead? And how was the rolling shutter comparison, thanks!

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! The focus is similar. I plan on doing some boring lab testing of that soon but so far I've been doing real world and they feel about the same. I never use the second slot in my R7 so, while that may be a huge advantage to some, it doesn't really matter that much to me. I very rarely use the 30 FPS mode on the R7 because it fills the buffer faster than I'd like and it produces more files than I prefer to have to deal with. Also, it's becoming clear that the R7 auto-focus doesn't perform as well in the 30 FPS mode. Heather and I usually use the 15fps middle-speed on the R7 with electronic shutter and sometimes I use the slowest speed. So, 30 FPS sounds really amazing but I don't really find it all that important. I did use it once without auto-focus capturing birds flying into their nest. That video is here on the channel in the wildlife and pets playlist. As for rolling shutter, the a6700 has a faster sensor readout so it SHOULD have less rolling shutter but I still find it necessary to switch to the mechanical shutter with the Sony when I'm shooting sports. I can say that the a6700 has almost no rolling shutter wobbles that plague the R7 and many other Canon cameras including even the R5. I really like both cameras but neither one is perfect which is to be expected for their 1399 & 1499 USD prices.

[@linhaixueyuan]

👍👍👍I really appriciate your prompt feedbacks, Phil!! The readout speed is the major flaw of R7, only wish that the future R7Mark2 with a stacked sensor, just dreaming .... whoever comes out a APSC stacked or even global sensor will be fantastic, and I will jump on it right away ...🤣 @@PhilThach

[@MrSuperdavz]

Another great video Phil! In your opinion between the 6700 and the R7 which tracks birds better?

[@PhilThach]

Thank you, I appreciate that! Unfortunately, I don’t have a clear answer for you. I would say they are both very good but neither one is perfect.

[@jeffolson4731]

I agree about Hummingbird wings. Part of the story, part of the magic about Hummingbirds is how fast their wings move. If you freeze the wings it just doesn't look as impressive to me. I know you had to use an incredibly high shutter speed to freeze the wing but to people that know about the bird yet they may think the wing moves slowly. I know not everyone agrees, and that is okay.

[@PhilThach]

Thank you! I agree.