Long-tailed Duck at ISO 800

[Axel Hildebrandt]

I made this at Barnegat Light two days ago. There were thin clouds making the water look different every few minutes. I received some requests about the high ISO performance of the Mark IV. This one is at ISO 800 and I'm very happy with the results so far.

http://www.pbase.com/axelhi/image/121015622/original.jpg

1D4, 500f4, 1.4x, 1/1600s, f/8, EC +0.67, ISO 800

[Harshad Barve]

This is absolute stunner. wing pose , HA and sharpness spot on, ISO performance looks solid. Have you applied NR on BG ?
TFS

[Myer Bornstein]

definetly a keeper Love it

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Thanks, Harshad! I ran a little NR on the BG but I almost always do this. In my previous post at ISO 400 I didn't run NR at all: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=54400

[Phil Liew]

Axel, regardless of camera equipment etc this is a wonderful shot that is very sharp, great wing position. Having said that the 1D Mk4 looks very promising from the posts from yourself and the others so far.

[Kurt Bowman]

Axel, terrific shot! How are you liking the new AF?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Axel, terrific shot! How are you liking the new AF?

Thanks, Kurt! I'm quite happy with the AF performance. I didn't have many problems with the Mark III, either, but the Mark IV seems to be more consistent with varying backgrounds when tracking birds in flight. I changed the tracking sensitivity one notch down as in the Mark III. Some people set it all the way to 'slow'.

[Bonnie Block]

Just beautiful, Axel. Love the detail.

[Grace Scalzo]

A beauty, Axel. I know we are supposed to say "why" but sometime you just don't have to. :)

[Fabs Forns]

Looking pretty good, Axel. Al's got his and I will try it at some point to see if the 7D wil become a back-up rather than the main,although I like the reach.

[James Salywoda]

Excellent flight shot of this duck Axel I like the wing position.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Looking pretty good, Axel. Al's got his and I will try it at some point to see if the 7D wil become a back-up rather than the main,although I like the reach.

The two cameras might complement each other really well, depending on light and subject distance. The additional 20% pixels of the Mark IV help, too.

[Mike Lentz]

The soft light and wing position make this image for me!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

I'm quite happy with the AF performance. I didn't have many problems with the Mark III, either, As expected Axel. In the right hands any camera works well enough and you have shown us that right here mate.

I love the above image and the noise is not even visible to me. All techs are excellent and I cannot praise your work enough. I think the MkIV will be a huge step forward from Canon.

[Ted Willcox]

This is better then your other Long-tailed Duck image and that one was excellent!!
Ted

[arash_hazeghi]

Very nice Axel, whites are a tad hot on my screen but otherwise a great shot.

Any chance you can post a 100% crop of the photo above with NR truned off?

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Very nice Axel, whites are a tad hot on my screen but otherwise a great shot.

Any chance you can post a 100% crop of the photo above with NR truned off?

Thanks, Arash! The whites of this species are very bright and in this image they are in the 230 range.

I will go back to a RAW file and make a 100% crop before processing soon. Please remind me if I don't think about it.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Axel, seems like you have already mastered your new toy - great work. Im beginning to like this fellow, and you have captured this in good light. Love the sharpness and detail too.

[Morkel Erasmus]

this shot shines Axel! lovely clarity and detail. Mk4 results look stellar so far.