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Thread: Hutton's Vireo

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    Default Hutton's Vireo

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    Canon 7D 2 w/ 100-400 L ISO 800 f/5.6 1/4000 400mm slight brightness, 30% cropped off with DPP4

    Early spring at 2400' already in northern California getting birds like this Hutton's Vireo active. I need to remember to check my settings, but this bird was in and out so quick, could have used much lower ISO. Think I am starting to get better IQ with the 7D 2 (can't wait for the new 100-400 to arrive). Comments welcome

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    Don't know if it's good or bad that the birds are arriving early, but nice to see the photo ops.

    This is on the soft side with detail lacking -- don't know if it's the lens or processing, or both. I've heard that lens is soft at 400. From your specs and that camera I'd expect sharper. I'm able to crop to 50% or more with my 7D2 with very good results. The new 100-400 is tack sharp at 400 with that camera , and the AF on the 7D2 has been wonderful for me, although others have had problems (much worse than this).

    Almost looks like the tail and near part of the branch are in better focus. Did you have one sensor selected and on the head, with AI Focus active when you pressed the shutter?

    I think there is more shadow and highlight detail that you could dig out (a form of lower contrast, but the shadow and highlight sliders in the raw converter should bring out more detail than just reducing the contrast slider -- they will in ACR/LR, at least). I'd also remove the two twigs intruding on the right and bottom edges.

    Would love to see more of these guys -- I imagine they're hard to get to pose.
    Last edited by Diane Miller; 02-13-2015 at 10:00 PM.

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    thanks for the suggestions Diane. I do have it set for spot focus and I try to get the head, but you know how it is getting excited about a bird suddenly showing up....I had cloned out the twigs,but forgot to get to the edge of the frame, rookie :(

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    Beautiful shot. I have found a SS of 1/1000 to be sufficient with this lens and camera combo. Auto ISO works very well and is much more consistent than on the 7D. Consider stopping down to f/8 also as this sharpens up the lens greatly.

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    I haven't found it necessary to stop down my 100-400 II to maximize sharpness. If DOF is a major issue, yes, I'll stop down. But "sharpens up the lens greatly" might indicate that you have a focus calibration issue. Worth looking into. If focus is slightly off, increasing the DOF isn't the answer. The focus needs to be spot-on, and with that body and lens combo, that is possible in all but the most difficult situations. Shooting a short burst will often give one that is sharper. As incredible as today's AF systems are, they aren't perfect, and there is a lot of room for operator error and for not having the best camera settings.

    The SS can be highly dependent on how steady the camera is (both with a tripod and with hand holding) and how still the subject is. I wouldn't adopt a hard and fast rule.

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    I didn't mean to imply a hard and fast rule with the SS.

    I will agree that AFMA would be a good idea in the case that the lens sharpens greatly from wide open as well as using ta short burst. I do both with my cameras and lenses. This was on the Mark I version of the lens which is known to have a great variety on how well wide open works and stopping down has been known to bring an obvious improvement in some cases. I think auto ISO might be good for not having to remember to adjust ISO as WillieHall stated. I think AI Servo used with Spot Focus can be a double edged sword with the 7D Mark II. That could have something to do with technique I believe.

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    Apologies -- I didn't notice that it was the vI of the lens. Stopping down could be good there -- I haven't used it but have heard it is soft at the long end.

    The vII is wonderfully sharp wide open at 400.

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    I have read that and am interested in replacing my vI for vII and its other upgrades. I have been told I won the lottery on mine as I get sharp shots wide open.

    Come to think of it the 1.5 stop IS might be the reason for WillieHall using a higher SS.

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