Barn Owl in flight, #3

[Dan Brown]

Here's another Barn Owl from last week, shot literally at sunset. This is nearly full frame. The wing to our left was clipped, so I cropped the other to match. I am still trying to get a handle on processing the D800 files. I did no NR on this file. I used a sharpening/resizing action downloaded thru another thread here (which may include nr?). I like what the action has produced but I can't seem to duplicate the results on my higher res file? C&C welcome!

Camera Model: NIKON D800, handheld
Shutter speed: 1/1600 sec
Aperture: 5.6
Exposure mode: Manual
Flash: Off
Metering mode: Multi-segment
ISO: 2500, auto ISO
Lens: VR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6D
Focal length: 400mm
AF mode: AF-C

[dankearl]

Dan, I am not sure what you are doing, but if this is FF, then you are losing all the detail for some reason.
I would suggest you just use NX2 to process D800 files.
I don't know anything about the other programs you are using, but it is not that complicated.
If this is in focus, at iso 2500 with no processing, you would have a lot of detail.
The pose and comp is really nice, the exposure looks good, you should be able to see every feather.

[Joe Senzatimore]

I agree Dan. Seems to be lacking detail , which should not happen with this camera. That may not be the best lens for this body. Perhaps a few tests and tweeks on the AF are in order. I know I had a tough time taming my D800 untill I set it for the lenses I use with it.

[Dan Brown]

I agree Dan. Seems to be lacking detail , which should not happen with this camera. That may not be the best lens for this body. Perhaps a few tests and tweeks on the AF are in order. I know I had a tough time taming my D800 untill I set it for the lenses I use with it.Thanks for the input guys. I have come to the conclusion that these Owl images just aren't sharp, for whatever reason. I have plenty of much sharper captures with the D800 and the 80-400. But, I do think it needs some fine tuning. I have attempted this and don't seem to be able to adjust it? When I adjust the focus point, I can't seem to see any difference from one setting captured to another? Any tips?

[Dan Brown]

I have revisited my AF fine tuning with this equipment and have settled on -2 AF adjustment. I don't think that this would have saved my bacon on the Owl shots but it is nice to have the tuning!

[Joe Senzatimore]

One of the things I had to do was send it to NIkon to be checked out. They said they made some adjustments. It's a beast woth tameing.
If you still have difficulties I would consider sending it to them.
I'm no expert , but if I had to guess , I'd say the problem is that your lens is not a great match for this body. I know some people who had softness issues with the D800 and some older lenses. In a few cases they sent the body and lens to Nikon to be tweeked as a unit.

[Nico Steenberg]

Super light and flight angle.