humming birds

Hummingbirds give v4 a go (56k users beware)

1/125 sec/F8/6400 ISO - hand held w/on board flash used. Levels adjusted and eye fixed in pshop. NR done in Neat Image. I believe I could improve it greatly with real PP work.
http://www.cramptonstation.com/hummerhighiso1.jpg

1600 ISO
http://www.cramptonstation.com/hummerhighiso2.jpg

1250 ISO
http://www.cramptonstation.com/hummer08e1.jpg

Two more hummingbird shots

I had to "cheat" and use my crude bird blind to get these. This mature male doesn't like anybody watching him drink.

Not sure whether or not to clone out the bug right over his head.
http://www.cramptonstation.com/hummer08s.jpg
http://www.cramptonstation.com/hummer08t.jpg

Hummingbirds and flowers

I think hummingbirds visiting flowers is one of the few things I haven't yet shot with the A700. The superior AF abilities of the A700 make a HUGE difference for this type of photography. Last year I was using manual focus for 99% of such shots taken with the A100. With the right lens it's possible to manually focus pretty fast, so it wasn't a huge deal. It's far nicer to be not to have to worry about focusing on your subject, though. The superior metering of the A700 also is apparent to me.