Selecting SS for different BIF

[shane shacaluga]

Hi,

Is there a way of determining the shutter speed to select when shooting different species of birds in flight

For example, i was shooting Griffon vultures this past weekend using 1/2500 but in some of the comments they mentioned i could have got away with even as low as 1/800

The week before i was trying to nail a stonechat flying off a perch and even a 1/3200 the wings were blurred.

I suppose it will vary but is there an approximate value to select so I have a decent chance of nailing it on first shot without getting motion blur (sometimes thats all I get)

The birds i usually shoot are:

Vultures
Eagles
Falcons/Hawks
Ducks
Waders like egrets etc
Passerines

Thanks

[James Shadle]

It depends on how well you pan with your subject and how much wing blur you can handle.
Fast birds coming right at you need need as much shutter speed as possible.
The old rule of thumb for action photography was 1/1000 of a second and that will work most times.
If you want no wing blur on fast birds start at 1/2000 of a second.

Slower birds flying parallel to the image plane can be photographed with a much slower SS.
I have images of Brown Pelicans with tack sharp sharp heads at 1/30 of a second. Their wings and background was blurred due to the panning action.

[Randy Stout]

Shane:

Just to add to James's advice.

Swans - slow, big, predictable flight paths - 1/1000s and up. I don't generally like a lot of wing blur, so that influences my choice.

Ducks - 1/2000s and up, and for the bullets like buffle heads, probably 1/2500s and up

Small birds - which are usually in close to get them big enough in the frame 1/2500s and up as well.

I have lots of shots at slower shutter speeds that have worked, but everything has to be just right and you will have lots of blurred images

I would much rather have a bit of noise on a sharp image (so bump up ISO to get the shutter speed I want) than a noiseless but blurred image from too low of shutter speed.

Your ability to pan certainly helps a lot for sharp bodies at slower shutter speeds, but I prefer the wings to be mostly sharp as well, thus my recommendations

Lots of good BIF photographers here. Spend some time looking at the techs under the images that you like, and should get a feel pretty quickly.

Cheers

Randy

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks for your advice. I will take that on board for my next outing.

I have been checking the techs and the big eye opener for me was the use of smaller apertures for big birds. I read a lot about using the lenses wide open but in reality a smaller aperture is required.

Next time I will nail them ;)

[Randy Stout]

SHANE:

The super telephotos are generally at their sharpest wide open, so people like to shoot them there to get as much light as possible (and for subject isolation). But, the dof isn't adequate for larger birds, esp if they aren't parallel to the sensors. Taking an in flight picture of a sandhill crane or swan with that long neck really needs as much DOF as you can muster, esp. when flying at you!

Randy

[shane shacaluga]

Thanks ;)

[Jim Neiger]

Shane think about the motion of the bird relative to you your motion and what parts of the bird you want to get sharp. This, along with experiences you will accumulate will guide you to understanding what minimum shutter speed you need. Most of the time the range will be between 1/800 and 1/2500. There are exceptions though.

[arash_hazeghi]

I prefer to have at least 1/2000 sec. I usually find myself at 1/3200. Depends on the bird and its motion relative to photographer.

[Melissa Groo]

Randy, is that true that super telephotos are generally at their sharpest wide open? I get confused cause I hear many people say that such lenses are at their sharpest when you stop down one or two f-stops from wide open.

[arash_hazeghi]

Randy, is that true that super telephotos are generally at their sharpest wide open? I get confused cause I hear many people say that such lenses are at their sharpest when you stop down one or two f-stops from wide open.

True Melissa, the Canon super telephoto lenses are tack sharp wide open. 95% of my photographs are taken at wide open aperture. The only benefit of stopping down is DOF not sharpness.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks Arash. What about with teleconverters though, would you say that's true with them, or do you shoot with them wide open too for optimal sharpness results?

[arash_hazeghi]

Thanks Arash. What about with teleconverters though, would you say that's true with them, or do you shoot with them wide open too for optimal sharpness results?

With 1.4X they are all tack sharp, I never stop down for sharpness.

with the 2X it depends, the MKII lenses with 2X III are sharp wide open, with old lenses you need to stop down.

[Jim Neiger]

I prefer to have at least 1/2000 sec. I usually find myself at 1/3200. Depends on the bird and its motion relative to photographer.

Arash,

I was talking about the range for the MINIMUM SS needed to get a sharp image. I too prefer higher shutter speeds when there is enough light to allow them.

[Charles Glatzer]

With 1.4X they are all tack sharp, I never stop down for sharpness.

with the 2X it depends, the MKII lenses with 2X III are sharp wide open, with old lenses you need to stop down.

I agree..I can produce tack sharp images when using the new 1.4x III with the new MKII lenses wide open f/5.6.
I still find sharpness increases when stopping down a bit when using the new 2x III even with the new MKII lenses.

Moreover, the new IS on MKII lenses is outstanding.

Chas

[Sabyasachi Patra]

Smaller is the bird, faster is the their movement and hence requirement for faster shutter speed.

I have a previous generation 400 f2.8 L IS USM. I like it at f2.8 aperture. It is pretty sharp.