Juvenile Marmot
Related: Marmota flaviventris, Sony, Sony FE, Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS, wildlife
On an overcast day, I spent an hour or so photographing marmots, which are pretty tough to approach in wide open spaces. Had I been willing to sit and be patient for day, I’m sure I could have gotten much closer. However, the juveniles are much less suspicious of things and are easier to approach.
The Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS worked well for the task, but something up to 1000mm would be a lot more useful. The Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS would have been ideal, with 1.4X and 2X teleconverters, but I don’t have one.
Turns out that the Sony A7R IV is grossly inferior to the Sony A1 for Eye AF. After a lot frustration (inability to find the eye, ears are eyes, nose is an eye, etc), I gave up and used standard focusing in magnified Live View instead—much faster and more reliable. I plan on getting the A1 soon because the A7R IV, fine as it is, just feels outdated, its responsiveness in every way inferior to the A1, which irritated me daily now that I am/was spoiled by the A1.
This juvenile marmot was scavenging the dirt road for some particular kind of grit (nothing growing at all and the soil can be seen on its noise). I’ve seen this behavior before and I presume it was after some kind of mineral content in certain I am glad these guys aren’t around my garden. They’s like supersized ground squirrel, quite a bit larger than a house cat as adults (up to 23 pounds!).
Sony A7R IV + Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS @ 600mm
ENV: White Mountain Rd, altitude 11600 ft / 3536 m, 60°F / 15°C
RAW: LACA corrected
[low-res image for bot]
Sony A7R IV + Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS @ 600mm
ENV: White Mountain Rd, altitude 11600 ft / 3536 m, 60°F / 15°C
RAW: LACA corrected
[low-res image for bot]
Sony A7R IV + Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS @ 600mm
ENV: White Mountain Rd, altitude 11600 ft / 3536 m, 60°F / 15°C
RAW: LACA corrected
[low-res image for bot]
Sony A7R IV + Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS @ 600mm
ENV: White Mountain Rd, altitude 11600 ft / 3536 m, 60°F / 15°C
RAW: LACA corrected
[low-res image for bot]
