XF70-300mmF4-5.6 R LM OIS WR Impression by Zhang Ming

Carrying Fujifilm from the top of giant panda kingdom to giant panda breeding base

I’m Zhang Ming, a photographer with natural themes. My work, from video recording to photo creation, focuses on the expression of plants, animals, landscapes and their relationships.

Balang mountain is located between Wolong Special Administrative Region of Aba Prefecture and Siguniang mountain of Xiaojin County, with the highest altitude of 5040 meters and numerous peaks of more than 4000 meters. Every year after winter, traffic control begins in balang mountain. The highway above the tunnel entrance of balang mountain is forced to be closed, so cars can’t reach it. Although the closed high-altitude area has cold climate, oxygen is thin, and winter is snowy, barren alpine meadow has lost its green sense in summer and turned to withered yellow, which seems to be dead, but there are many lives blooming here, such as alpine pheasant Tibetan pheasant And snow quail, blue sheep and other animals. In order to be able to record in the enclosed area, I adopted another mode of action that I could enter: cross-country motorcycles, which could not only move quickly to find animals that could be photographed, but also save a lot of physical strength at high altitudes.

As a natural photographer, I not only record the videos and pictures of animals and plants, but also record the landscape on a larger scale. This set of X-T4 + XF 70-300 mmF 4-5.6 combination finally presents a focal segment of 107-457mm (35mm equivalent), which is very suitable for recording and creating natural subjects.

In the early morning, the balang mountain is extremely cold, and the Tibetan snow chicken is very relaxed at this time. They are leisurely looking for food on the alpine meadow. They are very clear that the Raptors at this time can not pose a threat to them. The sunlight jumps over the ridge, and the strong sunlight on the plateau brings the high light ratio that the photographer is afraid of. Thanks to Fuji’s unique back illuminated COMS design, it has a higher sensitivity tolerance, especially the high light part is 1-2 grades higher than the dark part, which provides the necessary space and conditions for the photographer’s digital darkroom. Through the adjustment of raw format, it seems that the Tibetan snow chicken white feather is overexposed And the direct sunlight part can find the details, and the nearly dead dark part can easily find the details.

When most members of the Tibetan snow chicken group activities, one or two members are staring at the sky or ground to prevent the sneak attack of natural enemies. When they eat, other members start to act as sentinels. This strategy effectively protects each individual in the group.

As the sun roasts the earth, the air temperature begins to rise. With the help of the rising heat flow, the Yellow billed crow and the red billed crow glide in the mountains with the help of the rising heat flow. They flip their wings lightly and quickly hover or fly in the air to capture such objects. I turn on the wide area / tracking auto focus mode of the camera, and the Fujifilm XF 70-300 mm, which weighs only 580g The F 4-5.6 lens allows the photographer to hold the camera without any pressure, and can quickly lock in the moving crow in the open sky.

Red billed crows often gather in large groups in winter, with nearly 1000 crows at most. When the crows circle or move in the air, the scene is spectacular. 

High mountain vultures are also gliding by the rising heat flow. Sometimes they hover in the valley, and sometimes patrol along the valley. The harsh conditions in winter make many herbivores fall down. The long and hairy head and neck of the alpine vulture can easily penetrate into the decaying corpse and peck the viscera. They are efficient decomposers of nature and important maintainers of ecological balance. The exposure compensation dial at the right end of Fujifilm x-t4 is very convenient at this time. The right hand can quickly increase the exposure to avoid insufficient exposure of the main body of the highlighted background picture.

Lingyan pipit and linling finch are two common small birds in alpine meadow. Especially, linling finch has the habit of gathering in large groups in winter. Sometimes the birds can reach thousands. They sing loudly when flying, which looks like a fast moving dark cloud.
It is similar to sparrow in shape. It gathers small groups in the meadow in winter, and quickly searches for grass seeds in the grass.

The size of linling lark is similar to that of the pipit, but it is more slender and good at flying. It likes to forage on the ground and rest and comb its feathers on the Bush at other times.

The best way to protect the forest ridge sparrow is to gather together, especially the large group of birds, which makes the Raptors unable to start.

Kestrel is the natural enemy of small birds. They attack the single individuals by rapid diving. As a species at the top of the food chain, kestrel plays an important role in maintaining ecological balance in nature.
The vertical drop of balang mountain is nearly 4000 meters, creating rich vegetation types. The forest at an altitude of 2000-3500 has bred a wide range of animals and plants, including the giant panda and other rare wild animals that fascinate the world.

There are a large number of seabuckthorn trees growing in balang mountain. In autumn and winter, yellow fruits are covered with branches. They are important winter food for birds such as the red bellied Tragopan. In the early morning, the Tragopan will jump on the Seabuckthorn tree in the dark light to eat. When the sun rises, they will return to the forest to hibernate.

The male and female Tragopan have excellent protective color, they bear the main task of brooding, and the protective color plays an important role in the reproduction of offspring.
A pair of Chinese gazelle appear in the landslide zone, where the steep gravel terrain is like walking on the ground, and the gazelle has evolved excellent body structure adapted to mountain terrain to protect itself.

The gazelle is very afraid of human beings, so they are almost always seen several kilometers away. The long focal end of Fujifilm XF 70-300 mm f / 4-5.6 lens has very good imaging quality, and can still clearly record the body characteristics and habitat of the gazelle. For small birds, the fine texture can be reduced to about 5 meters in length.

The scarlet face, chest and abdomen, and the thick white eyebrow lines extending to the back of the brain are the important distinguishing features of the white brow finches

Wolong Nature Reserve at the foot of balang mountain is one of the earliest giant panda reserves in China, which has contributed to the protection of wild giant panda in China. The Chengdu Giant panda breeding base, located in the northern suburb of Chengdu, is one of the main research bases for the Chinese government to implement the ex situ conservation project for endangered wild animals such as giant pandas. There are not only giant pandas and little pandas living here, but also the beautiful environment provides a good habitat for all kinds of birds. Lazy giant panda

A nest of young spotted birds has not yet lived independently. They huddle together in the cold wind, waiting for their parents to return. And they are good at hiding in the bush The flip screen design of x-t4 comes in handy at this time. I stand on tiptoe and hold up the equipment, just beyond the sheltered branches and their head up view, and will not disturb them. By turning the angle of the flip screen, I can easily complete the composition and press the shutter. Even if the focal length reaches 457mm and light is not enough, the powerful five axis anti shake of the fuselage and the 5.5 level anti shake of the lens are added Hold on, the picture is still clear and sharp.

In addition, Fujifilm XF 70-300 mm f / 4-5.6 can also connect 1.4x and 2x zoom mirrors to achieve 640mm-914mm super long focal length (equivalent to 35mm). Although the luminous flux and image quality have decreased, it is amazing that the video still does not have a very violent shaking, and the picture darkens, but the main features can be reflected truthfully.

Through the use of Fujifilm x-t4 + Fujifilm XF 70-300 mm f / 4-5.6, I feel that the best highlights are as follows:

1. The total weight is only 1200g.
2. Super five axis anti shake of the fuselage, 5.5 anti shake of the lens, and lightweight total quality make it possible to shoot video by hand.
3. The self-contained F-LOG makes the video tolerance reach with 12 dynamic range, providing a huge space for later editing and color matching.
4. The frame rate of 4k60p can be recorded in the fuselage is absolutely an important choice.
5. Fujifilm XF 70-300mmF4-5.6 has the closest focusing distance of 0.8 m, which can record micro plants and other organisms in a macro range.
6. The fast silent motor can realize fast focusing, which provides