Little owl

[Steve Kaluski]

Shot just before 8.00am early on, whilst monitoring these two owls and as previously stated the nail & bird poo has been removed, but for those who have asked how far have I gone in ISO with the MK3, well here you are, ISO8000, but have also gone to 10K with similar results. The files are good and in the fluctuating light we have over here, like the MK2, I have absolute faith in what it delivers, but the mirrorless aspect as mentioned before does mean the subjects get far closer and often catch me out. Both owls don't really bat an eyelid if the camera is set to 'conventional', but to date, I am shooting more in silent mode. The image is certainly not going to win a prize and yes, the cobweb strand could go, but noise has improved above 64000 (NR was applied simply via LR at only 7, 4, 4,). With hindsight removing the 1.4x would have been better, but under the bag hide it was too difficult.

Thanks to those who viewed or commented on the previous posting.

Steve

Subject: Little owls (Athene noctua)
Location: UK
Camera: Canon EOS-1D X Mark III
Lens: EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4x III
Exposure: 1/1600s at f/8 ISO8000
Original format: Portrait, very slight crop from above, FF width
Processed via: LRCC Classic & *PSCC2020
Time: 8.30am

* Cloned out three little holes in the metal as per Jon A's suggestion

Note: The subject is fully wild and completely unconstrained. Besides the potential impact of my presence, nothing has been done to intentionally alter or affect the ongoing behavior of the subject and, of course, there has been no use of any form of bait or other form of wildlife attractants (including vocalisations) in the capture of this image.

[Randy Stout]

Steve:

Noise well controlled at this ISO. Still maintained good detail. The rusty I beam is an interesting perch. I might consider a version with the wood in the RU corner removed.

Cheers

Randy

[Colin Driscoll]

Well shot in nice smooth light, good IQ particularly at that iso.
Why not tie a nice bush perch to the i-beam?

[Steve Kaluski]

I might consider a version with the wood in the RU corner removed.

Yep, I had considered that Randy as it's not adding anything and would look cleaner without it, but to be honest, it's not an image I would have posted as it's very 'pedestrian' in content, but wanted to show an image taken at a higher ISO as folk have been asking. Once back home, homfully there will be some more 'interesting' images to post, including a few flight too, cheers.

Well shot in nice smooth light, good IQ particularly at that iso. Why not tie a nice bush perch to the i-beam?

As you can see Colin, the camera doesn't fall apart and delivers good files, so don't let ISO tether you to slow SS and OOF images, if you need the SS go for it. You will see later, the whole trailer has now been taken over by 'Mother Nature' and so the images are more 'natural' IMHO because of the ever growing habitat.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Technically excellent Steve, not wild about the disinterested pose though.
hey you still have that rusty nail there - get rid!!

[Steve Kaluski]

hey you still have that rusty nail there - get rid!!

AHA Mr Ashton... indeed I do, but as I said, this was in the first few days of shooting, however you have also seen some of the recent 'rushes' where nature has begun the 'take back control', but those images cannot be processed until I'm back, so perhaps one or two may give your WP a run for its money.

[Jonathan Ashton]

AHA Mr Ashton... indeed I do, but as I said, this was in the first few days of shooting, however you have also seen some of the recent 'rushes' where nature has begun the 'take back control', but those images cannot be processed until I'm back, so perhaps one or two may give your WP a run for its money.

We'll see Canon boy !!!

[Steve Kaluski]

What’s with ‘Canonboy’?

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Steve ... stunning from the purely technical aspect , your are my IDOL . Tough to beat you or come close ....
Love the High Iso performance and the very fine detail rendered .... by the kit and the image editor !!!!!

Comp , color and tones are good as usual ...

TFS Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Andreas and many thanks for the kind words. All I'm trying to do here, like you often do (although you have the added disadvantage of English not being your first language), is to get folk to push their techs and not to be afraid of high ISO, as it's far better to have a grainy image than a soft one. I can't speak for Nikon bodies and Auto ISO, but with Artie's ETTR, manual mode, it becomes so easy with almost perfect results. Both Colin & Kevin seem to be getting to grips which is great and with this lock down, doing stuff like Jon A is doing, what a great way to get to know your camera and have fun.

Love the High Iso performance and the very fine detail rendered .... by the kit and the image editor !!!!!

I do agree that detail has been slight more enhanced with the MK3, but having the additional frame rate & mirrorless facility work is not just fun, but you can get oh so close, I'm a total convert. I had some cool plans for the last two weeks on doing some new stuff, but sadly the tech side has been put on hold!!!!

[Andreas Liedmann]

, but having the additional frame rate & mirrorless facility work is not just fun, but you can get oh so close, I'm a total convert.

Meaning you are hoping for a higher mirrorless standard in the coming month ??? From Canon ...
So far I cannot get used to that " mirrorless " shooting via the screen ... and to be honest I am not doing that much serious photography with the MK III at the moment !!
Weil soon give it to Canon ... for calibration .

Cheers Andreas

[Steve Kaluski]

If it was an EVF Andreas then oh how sweet, but holding a 500 out is not just ridiculous, but almost impossible, but mounted or supported its just changed things. I doubt the frame rate will increase with the launch of the new models this year, but the EVF is just so good. The only issue I see, is having more px's the higher ISO suffers IMHO, some will, I'm sure disagree, but I'm happy with what I have.

Forget lens cleaning, just get the gear sorted, might be worth copying the camera settings to card, as often setting change because they shoot JPEG, sRGB, single shot etc...

[Andreas Liedmann]

Maybe I will get there .... sooner or later , I tried to use it on habituated red squirrels in local park ..... complete failure from side
My subjective feeling was that the AF was painfully slow ... compared to the normal VF shooting ???!!

[John Mack]

The side preofile is nice. Detail is right on and image qulaity is quite nice.

[dankearl]

Bad head angle and bad perch.
Nice IQ for the ISO. If Owls are perched they are one of the few birds I shoot at really low SS.
I would think that 1/800 would have been sufficient, iso4000....
With side profile, why F8? F5.6 would have got just as much detail, you could have been at iso2000.
Since I fight light where I live, I try to shoot lowest iso I can , not highest.
Not advice I would give to newcomers.

[Steve Kaluski]

Thanks Dan, always good to have your feedback.

Agree the perch and HA isn't great, but that's not the point as I have said, it's more for this who shoot Canon MK2 & 3 and to move away from old school slow SS and low ISO as it's better to have a sharp image than a soft one and folk need to embrace the new technology & software to the point where they push both camera and themselves. Nothing has to be excessive and the techs above are not, as both Andreas & myself have pushed much further than most here with excellent results, and for me, how a file prints is more important.

More owls to come over weeks & months, as Covid has all of us under locked down, can't wait to get back travelling again.