Hi Nick,
If you haven’t done so already, contact Dr. Colleen Downs (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) about these birds and your interest in working with and photographing them.
For video, there are loads of new options out there. I would recommend any of the 1080i or 1080p high definition cameras (depending on your specific needs), and especially like the Canon HV30 as it’s cheap and uses miniDV tapes which are also incredibly reasonable. With a 2x teleconverter (from Ebay they’re cheap), you can get some great stuff with a camera like that. If you want to spend more, look at the new Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras which shoot HD video, although the Canon is higher res than the Nikon (1080p vs 720p if memory serves), tho’ that’s likely to change by the month as new options arrive.
You’ll need a good tripod if you want to follow moving birds, and often those are as expensive as the camera (look for a true fluid head and a counterbalance spring).
Best of luck!
Jamie
Nick Wright - 11 January 2009 01:24 AM
We have a very small, population of Cape Parrots in the area +- 50.
I would like to try to document and film them over an extemded period of time.
Any advice on vidio equipment will be welcome. I am also looking at the possability of releaing hand reared birds back into the wild to boost the extreamly vunrable population. Any comments on this, for and against, will also be welcome.
Regards,
Nick Wright
Tzaneen,
Limpopo,
South Africa.
