Wildlife Watching Supplies Neoprene Lens Cover Set

If you've invested in a lens it's important to protect it. The last thing you want to do is knock it and end up with a chip or a scratch.  Neoprene covers are a great way to prevent this, they provide a soft padded covering for your lens. Wildlife Watching Supplies' cover is made from sections of shock-absorbing 4mm thick water-proof neoprene. Your lens is effectively safe from knocks and scratches. It also offers fairly effective weatherproofing, but not complete -  there are small gaps between the neoprene sections. For full weather proofing I suggest their bag cover.
 You can choose from a range of different patterns/colours for your cover, mine is in Advantage Timber camouflage, and is reversible to be Olive Green.

 In the field, I find it makes it far more comfortable when holding your lens, the soft neoprene is certainly nicer than the metal! And it'll help prevent it overheating or even getting too cold if you're shooting in extreme environments.  My only qualm is that it can make operating switches on your lens slightly awkward.  By pulling back the section covering them it will make it a lot easier to use.
With lenses that zoom, or have retractable lens hoods, the set will contain a neoprene section with Velcro, so it can be strapped on when the lens is zoomed in or the hood extended, it can then be quickly and easily removed when you are finished.

 Whether or not you will definitely benefit from one of these can depend on what sort of photographer you are, if you're going to be out in all terrains and in all weather, then make sure you have one. Even if you aren't though, I would personally advise owning a cover for your lens, just for the peace of mind, and to keep it in top condition!

Back in the Game

After over a month, last Wednesday my lens was back from the repairs.  What a relief. And what a dilemma.  As you may well know, I had originally believed it to be the displacement of a lens element. A fairly costly repair yes, but ah, if only that's what it had been.  No, what had broken was the Optical Stabiliser.  Which belongs to quite a different spectrum of price - in short over twice as much.  Eegh, painful just about comes close to it.
 So after weeks of macro photography, it was nice to be back in the field with a telephoto again.  I dread to think of the shots I may have missed in that time.
 On Sunday I headed over to Kensington Gardens to fill my memory card up with picture of birds, to make a change from insects.  Indeed I was also keen to see the Tawny Owlets as I hadn't had a chance to get over there for them this year. After a bit of searching two did show pretty well, even flying in broad daylight!  Although only to a new tree.  By now they've been out of the nest for quite a while, and already look more like adult birds.  Not many downy feathers left!

So that's the last matter of the slump resolved, I'm back in the game.  Now with the weather we've been having await many images with blown highlights....

Lens Trouble

I thought I'd treat myself to a new bit of kit, I'd been saving for the last eight months, didn't I deserve to?  It was clear what I was missing, a macro lens.  I opted for the Tamron 90mm, a very sharp lens and not extortionately priced, what more could you want?  So today I ordered one from a company, which conveniently turned out to be local, so I picked it up in person which saved on postage.  Ah the excitement of new kit!  With the longer days it was still light when I got home, so I had a quick test of it in the garden.  Whoo what a lens!  Sure the focus hunted a little, but it was incredibly sharp, and at f/2.8 the depth of field was as shallow as you like.  I was impressed.

I took about one hundred or so images of random gardeny stuff and then I encountered a problem.  After switching the camera to MF there was a clicking noise as I turned the focus, changing back to AF, still clicking, back to MF 'click click', back to AF.... and the focus has stopped working.  Ah.  The camera is no longer registering it to be an auto-focus lens.  Potentially problematic. Maybe there was something wrong with the camera connection?  A hollow hope yes, and one which was diminished as the lens failed to respond when tried on a different camera body.  Huh, change from manual focus back... still nothing.  It was 2nd hand, but even so... the rest of the lens is in prime condition, so why has the auto-focus gone?  For now an unanswered question.
 It was some relief I had bought it from a company, I should be able to take it back to be repaired, as it really is a beautiful piece of kit.

Wildlife Watching Supplies Camera/lens Cover Review.

For a wildlife photographer being able to shoot in the elements is vital to get eye-catching shots.  You must however protect your equipment.  This is why I always keep a camera/lens cover in my bag when I'm out photographing. I personally use a camera/lens cover from Wildlife Watching Supplies, made in Britain with fine quality Proofed Polycotton in camouflage colour on the outside and uniform olive-green water-proof nylon on the other.  The end is elasticated so that it fits snugly on the lens hood covering the whole of the lens, at the front there is a drawstring to cover the camera's LCD screen.

I've used this camera/lens cover for a couple of months now and have been constantly impressed by it.  Shorty after I got it I was in Ireland for a week So when the inescapable rain came, instead of staying indoors I went out to test it. I spent around an hour wandering around the countryside getting completely soaked.  When I got back inside however the lens beneath the cover was bone-dry.  The same couldn't be said for me.  I noticed that rather than being absorbed, the rain slides off the cover, but a constant soaking can get into the polycotton. This is no trouble though as it dries surprisingly quickly and doesn't get through the waterproof nylon beneath.

Not only does the cover protect your camera/lens from the elements it also camouflages it and breaks up the outline helping disguise the camera.

The only downside to this product is that it reduces control over the zoom.  If you use a prime lens however this will be no problem, I for one use a zoom lens for the versatility it gives.

The camera/lens cover by Wildlife Watching Supplies is a must have for all photographers, it folds up small so won't take up much space in your bag, but most importantly it keeps your equipment safe from the elements.