This male mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos) was seen just outside of Portland, Oregon. Normally I shoot birds (photographically speaking) at low ISOs. But on this walk I was experimenting with higher ISO settings in the daylight. On this exposure and even at ISO 2000, the color and saturation of this image is impressive. Chalk one up for the 1DX which has impressive high ISO performance and really nice color rendition. Nikon (with Sony sensors) may have an edge with noise at high ISO which is typically a main motivator for me. However, Canon has better color rendition to my eye, especially at higher ISO. It just looks more natural while the Nikon has a slightly green cast to it. It would be interesting to see how Sony’s full frame cameras handle color compared to Nikon.
Camera: Canon 1D X
Exposure: 1/640
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 300mm
ISO: 2000
That’s pretty sharp. In high school, I worked for a clothier called Malliard’s. Their logo was a duck, which caused everyone to remind us the name was spelled incorrectly. Scarred for life.
The lens is a Canon EF 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM
a remarkably compact affair that makes remarkably sharp images for such a long zoom focal range and it turns out, nice for bird photography.
Is Malliard’s still around? A quick Google did not show anything…