Indonesia – SULAWESI

Sulawesi

From what I read, the Nikon D810 boasts of 36 megapixel image sensor and has a burst rate of maximum of five frames per second at full resolution. So I had to get my hands on it. More importantly it is able to squeeze in 23 images using uncompressed 14-bit RAW files before the buffer gets full. Still a far cry from the D4s but that is good enough for me. I also like the availability of using the sensitivity of ISO 64 – the increased dynamic range will be ideal for landscape photography.


Its new EXPEED 4 processor means faster autofocus speed for focusing and tracking moving subjects – a bonus for wildlife photographers. I would like to see how the autofocus works when shooting on low light despite the claims of improved performance. The D810 has a quiet shutter function and gets even quieter in its Quiet mode – important so as not to alarm the more sound-sensitive skittish wildlife. I could hear my colleagues more obvious shutter burst from the D4s but he could not hear my D810 during my trial. I like the option of memory card slots for both Secure Digital and CompactFlash card – more flexibility so that I am not suddenly short of the other.

I tested my D810 on a recent trip to Sulawesi.

My photographic companion and I spent 6 days and 5 nights in Sulawesi in September 2015, trying to fathom the great divide mentioned by Wallace in his book โ€œThe Malay Archipelagoโ€. Many part of Indonesia were blanked by smog from forest fires due to rampant land clearing.ย  North Sulawesi was spared sparingly. ย Due to the extreme drought โ€“ pockets of fires had scorched the forest but fortunately, it was self-limiting as the primary forests had little undergrowth. We stayed in a village inย Batu Putihย (60km from the airport) which was near the entrance to the nature reserve.

Sunrise at Sulawesi; forest fires were still raging when we there in Sept 2015

Great-eared Nightjar, Phytocrene bracteata, Owl

Black crested Macaque – often hunted for food; Sulawesi Spectral Tarsier

Liliac Kf, Greenback Kf, Sulawesi Dwarf Kf

Scaly breasted Kf, Broadbilled Kf, Greenback Kf

Ochre bellied Boobook

Sulawesi Pitta

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