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I have now added the images of the 600mm lens. More marks on the body, but the glass is perfect. #gallery-111-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-111-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-111-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-111-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

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Mike Lane FRPS

Update. Both lenses have now been sold.

In an ungaurded moment I pressed  the Buy button on Ebay and bought myself a Canon 800mm F5.6 lens. Pulling power. I have always said I use the 600mm more than the 500mm and I expect the 800mm will be even more useful. It has 4 stops of IS and I have tried it out hand held. It works. I could never hold the 600m steady, it was just too heavy.

Only leaves me with one problem. Paying for it. I need to sell my Canon EF 500mm f4 IS USM lens for £3200 and my Canon EF 600mm f4 IS USM for £4500. Neither are mint, but the optics are perfect. Both bodies have marks on them.

500mm lens below. The worst marks on on the base of the lens hood and tripod foot. #gallery-75-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-75-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-75-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-75-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */


Both lenses come with the Canon case, unused. Lens hood and front cap.

Please email me at mikelane@nature-photography.co.uk if interested. I am based in the Midlands, U.K.

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Mike Lane FRPS

Water shrew, Neomys fodiens, single shrew on rock by water, Warwickshire, July 2010

Water shrew, Neomys fodiens, single shrew on rock by water, Warwickshire, July 2010


When money is tight (and it is) I revert to staying at home and photographing our common British wildlife. They do not come much more numerous than the common shrew, but there are relatively few pictures of them around. The pygmy shrew is just as common, but try looking on picture library web sites for them. Very few people have done them.

Look for images of wood mice and bank voles and you will find masses. They are easy to catch, simple to keep alive and very prone to taking up cute poses. Put either in a glass tank and quite readily they will sit upright and groom themselves like supermodels preparing for the camera. Not so the shrews.

Of the three widespread U.K. shrews the one you will find the most pictures of is the water shrew. Second comes the common shrew and finally the pygmy. It reflects how difficult they are to photograph in that order.

I have just done water shrew and found it very difficult. Hyper active and never stopping to pose it consumed a lot of my energy over five days. It took many more days to trap and the traps have to be inspected every few hours to make sure they stay alive. I do not find it true that shrews die easily. Given food and water they are not difficult to keep. I had a supply of  earthorms and meal worms and they thrived.


Water shrew, Neomys fodiens, single shrew on ground, Warwickshire,

Water shrew, Neomys fodiens, single shrew on ground, Warwickshire,



Water shrew in a shoe

Water shrew in a shoe


Now I am doing the common shrew and it is even more difficult (and it bites). I have finally worked out a method to get its cooperation, but it is still hard. I am expecting the pygmy to be even harder to get to grips with, but so far failed to catch one.You need a license to trap shrews in the U.K.

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