Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lockdown so here's a shot from the back garden, I used manual focus and pointed the camera in the bird's flight path, 60fps. Camera mounted on a tripod head.

Olympusl : E-M1X
Lens Model : M.40-150mm F2.8 + MC-14
Lens focal length : 210 mm
Focal length in 35 mm film : 421.0mm
Metering mode : Pattern
Shutter speed : 1/3200 sec
Aperture : F4.5
ISO : 500
Exposure bias : 0 EV
Flash : OFF

ACR & PSCC

[Steve Kaluski]

Killer BKG Jon, and at 60fps second, you must nail something!!! :S3:

The the slightly cocked head to camera and the wings down. F/4.5 in old money is 6.3/7.1? Might go a tad more and let the DoF small up any issues, as it wouldn't compromise the ISO and keep it within a tolerable amount.

TFS
Steve

[David Roach]

You're killing it with that technique. Great detail where it counts for me. TFS

[John Mack]

Whoa! Not everyday you see tack sharp song birds in flight. Like the framing and the light. If you stopped down some more it would bring in the background. So i don't mind it as is. 60fps insane.

[Steve Kaluski]

If you stopped down some more it would bring in the background.

If the BKG is far enough away, then it won't John, and knowing Jon, it will have enough to play with. :w3

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Jon .... wow brillant , beautiful captured .
And 60 frames is a lot .... filling quickly the card , I think . You should get yourself a .... light trap ... or what is that thing called ???!!
Love this species and you created a nice image .

Great work , TFS Andreas

[Bill Dix]

Nice head turn, good wing position, and sharp where it counts. Well done.

[dankearl]

Pretty nice... not an easy shot to get, head is sharp, you were too close to get all in focus, stopping down would have done nothing.
Nice work!

[arash_hazeghi]

sweet frame Jon, you nailed it and had a bit of luck too :) sharp with good details.

TFS

[Jonathan Ashton]

Thanks very much everyone, glad you liked it. I am still trying to find the optimal position to get the background that I wish for. The choice of lens is also very relevant and the focal length plays a big part. The key point is the magnification of the bird so if I use a TC (or MC in Olympus) so long as the bird is the same size then the DOF will be the same, so in other words if the bird is nearer or further away it doesn't matter so long as the magnification of the bird is the same on the sensor. the appearance of the background does change however with the focal length due to the angle of view. I am not getting too concerned about DOF, I want to ensure the head is sharp, now of course we have very dull weather so as I was getting to grips the opportunity slips! I have a few more images in the bag.
I will start using a setting called Procapture which I have used on previous occasions for insects in flight, here you press the shutter at what you consider to be the optimal time and the camera will record the previous x images and subsequent y images and I can decide how many x and y are, this will be more efficient than just using the high frame rate. In terms of wear and tear there is none compared to using the mechanical shutter.

[Mike Poole]

However it was achieved, this is just a superb result Jon, wings, head angle, sharpness all look bang on the money to me, if you get anything better than this I'd be very impressed

Mike

[gail bisson]

Really good!
perfect HA and love the wing position.
Gail

[Jonathan Ashton]

However it was achieved, this is just a superb result Jon, wings, head angle, sharpness all look bang on the money to me, if you get anything better than this I'd be very impressed

Mike

I think I have!

[William Dickson]

This is brilliant Jon...What a great capture. I would be chuffed to bits getting this one. Well done, I like it all.

Will

[Daniel Cadieux]

Hey Jon, I somehow missed this one. Just want to say this is a wonderful image. Great colours, BG, and sharp where it needs to be. Super!