Sony RX10 Mark IV Telephoto Photos
2019 © Thomas GadeI am frequently out on or near the waters of Berlin and Brandenburg. Nature and boats offer many excellent photographic subjects. While harbors allow photographers to get close to boats and capture maritime details, photographs taken from the water or from the shore usually require long focal lengths to bring distant subjects closer. When looking across the water into the distance, haze and atmospheric heat shimmer almost always play a role. The farther away objects are, the more their details become obscured.
The effects of atmospheric heat shimmer can be reduced and sometimes almost completely eliminated with static subjects such as city buildings. This technique is described on page 3. On the water, however, this method is rarely applicable because both the photographer and many subjects are constantly moving.
2019. Berlin. Nordic Folkboat. Sailing boat on Lake Tegel. Settings: f/8, ISO 100, 1/500 s, 136 mm (371 mm full-frame equivalent)
Crop (800 x 533 pixels) from the photograph. The disturbed structure of the water is mainly caused by haze and atmospheric heat shimmer.
The powerful telephoto range of the Sony RX10 IV zoom lens is also useful on the water, but when zooming into image files, it is often visible that the structure of trees along the shore or the surface of the water is affected by haze.
This should not discourage photographers from trying their luck. Some images will still turn out successfully. However, the zoom lens is even more useful when photographing birds near the water, such as cormorants or grey herons resting on trees or branches lying in the water or searching for prey. If they are accustomed to boats, it is possible to approach them to within about 30 meters. The zoom lens of the Sony RX10 IV easily covers this distance. At this relatively short range, image quality is not yet significantly affected by haze or atmospheric distortion.
Life ring on a boat. Settings: f/4, ISO 100, 1/800 s, 32 mm (88 mm full-frame equivalent)
Berlin. Sailing. Water sports. Nordic Folkboat on Lake Tegel. Settings: f/8, ISO 100, 1/1000 s, 129 mm (351 mm full-frame equivalent)