White-tailed kite with breakfast

Had to jog about 50 yards with the 600 and by the time I found a halfway decent vantage point the meal was mostly consumed. Would have like to get more to the left but couldn't. They hang out in very tall trees and this is 20% of the original full frame.

Canon 5D Mk III, 600mm II + 1.4X III. Big Gitzo with Wimberley II. ISO 1600, f/9, 1/3200 sec. EC +2/3. Should have gone to ISO 800; didn't need all that shutter speed but had been anticipating flight of a juvenile from another tree and was afraid this one would take off when I approached so didn't take time to change anything. Basic LR adjustments (Shadow and Highlight) then to PS CS6 for very minor BG cleanup and Neat Image NR, but with proper exposure the noise here was surprisingly low.

Diane,
Sharp and nicely exposed.
The iso is fine, I wonder, you seem to shoot birds at small apertures, why f9?
With big tele's, you should be shooting at close to wide open unless there is a good reason to stop down.
You could have high SS and lower ISO and a less busy BG.

Good question about the apertures. I've had a major issue with the 5D3 not holding focus well with flight shots, with the 600 II and 1.4X III. That combo gives me f/5.6 and maybe it's just more than the camera can handle for flight. Even if the subject stays in the center of the frame, and against clear sky, focus drifts off unexpectedly. (The birds are never close enough to fill the frame, even with wings outstretched, but I loose focus when they are what I think should be reasonable large in the frame.) I think I've tried to overcompensate with more DOF but it doesn't seem to be the answer. Have just decided to try wider apertures.

Part of it is, when I shoot songbirds attracted to perches, the extra DOF is important, due to the magnification. And I have spot-on focus there, using the same back button / AI Servo strategy as with flight shots. But I'm using the 300 f/2.8 IS + 1.4X because they are too close for the 600 unless I add an ext tube.

But with birds such as the kites, no -- I think it's a mistake. Need to get used to two different operating modes, I guess.

I would really like to find an answer to the focus drifting off, always at the most critical times, and not seemingly always correlated to the subject drifting off center. If f/5.6 just something the 5D III can't handle, for action?

Are you using single point for small-in-frame flight images? If so, try single with expansion...sometimes with single point it can be difficult to keep that point squarely on the small subject and any drifting away will cause some focus hunting. You may need to "bump" the focus and set your AI Servo tracking sensitivity to "slow" in the custom functions (not sure where on the 5D III).

Neat encounter you had here, and from the sounds of it you tried your best to get yourself in position.

Nice action shot, Diane. I wish for a better angle.

With the 600 (II) and especially with a 1.4 (III) attached, I usually can't keep a flying bird in the center of the frame smoothly enough to rely on single point. So I usually use 4 or even 8 point expansion, and have also tried all points letting the camera decide if the subject movement is very active. (I'm almost always shooting against a clear sky so the focus sensor grabbing the BG isn't an issue. If I'm against a BG I'd definitely use the smallest array I could.)

My issue is that even with the center point only, or the center + 4 points, and a situation in which the bird isn't drifting around in the frame or significantly changing distance, such as a hovering kite, the focus will often drift off and not re-acquire readily. (I'm using AI Servo and holding down the back button.) It is really frustrating because I just don't see the focus drifting well enough in the viewfinder to hit the back button again. I have the diopter adjusted and my vision is well corrected by it. (I'm a little off but not enough to need glasses.)

Focus on still subjects is quick, very sharp and reliable. I just double-checked the AF Microadjustment, very carefully, with LensAlign, although I doubt it would be a factor in fight shots at a distance. Just trying to eliminate any issues with what the AF sensor might be seeing. It comes out right at 0 with both the TC on and off. Have just changed shutter release priority for both first and subsequent images set to focus acquired (however it's worded) -- it had been on the default, so maybe that will improve things.

I have tried tracking sensitivity both high and low with about the same results. Hard to do careful analysis in the field but will try both next time (probably tomorrow) and take notes.

Lots of parameters to juggle....

Appreciate any advice. I'm very frustrated right now.

Had similar experiences shooting airshows with the 5D II and 300 f/2.8 IS + 2X. I was pretty sure the problem there was that when the planes were fairly small in the frame, they got in between the focus sensors. Will try a show in August and see how the new system compares. I hope better. An additional complication with airshows may be loss of detail for the sensor to lock onto because of heat waves, if the planes are fairly far away or low to the ground. The AF sensor, even on the 5D II seems to want very fine detail to grab onto. Don't think this is a factor in avian flight.

Thanks for the C&C! Yeah, I wish for a better angle, too. These guys like to keep their backs to the sun. One day I'll get luckier.

Hi Diane,
the kite looks great and I cannot believe the great IQ of the bird at such a big crop. BG a bit busy but not an image killer!
What do you have your IS mode on? It should be 3 on the 600 II. I can't think of any other reason you are losing focus. Your kit should be nailing these shots.
Another thought- are you pressing your face against the camera when you take the shot? Chris Dodds and others say this is very important with the extender on to make all contact points touch firmly,
Gail

No, I haven't tried Mode 3. It seems stable on Mode 1 and I'm not panning fast enough to feel Mode 2 is necessary -- anything very fast in horizontal motion I can't keep in the frame. But I'll try it.

Yes, I have my face smashed against the camera very firmly, and gripping the camera very tight. Have the rotating collar tight and slight tension set on the Wimberley, too. And have tried "silent shutter" to minimize any vibrations, although aiming at a still subject such as very small tree branches at about the same distance as the birds, with the camera held in the same way (not locked down) it only makes a miniscule improvement in sharpness over fast burst. And I never get the focus being lost on a still subject, just flight shots.

But my issue isn't motion blur, from the subject or the camera. It's just plain loss of focus. I know there can be minor issues with possibly a sensor seeing a wingtip vs. a foot in subsequent frames, but what I'm getting is way beyond that.

I guess it's possible that motion blur is confusing the focus sensor, but it can wander off over several frames when the subject is barely moving in the frame.

Maybe the sensors are hitting the sky more than I think, and losing focus. I'll reset the tracking sensitivity to slow and try it again.