Jay (Garrulus glandarius)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Still having fun with the jays in the back garden, not quite there yet but getting a little closer I think. There are two particular pose I am after - which I have got but they are not quite in focus. With better light I will go for 1/4000 sec and probably f2.8.

Olympus E-M1MarkIII
Focal Length : 110.0mm
Focal length in 35 mm film : 220.0mm
Exposure mode : Manual exposure
ISO Sensitivity : 1000
Exposure compensation : 0.0 EV
Shutter : 1/3200 sec (Procapture)
Aperture : F3.5

ACR/PSCC

[Brian Sump]

Jon, pretty neat. What exact species of Jay is this?

I like the view against the pale green. I'd evict that brighter grass on the left.

Lots of nice detail in the talons and chest. Head seems to be slightly out of plane being @ f3.5 - wonder if you could selectively sharpen through it?

Are you saying f2.8 so that you can achieve 1/4000 or for some other reason? Typically, a bit more dof is more desirable if possible I think.

Look forward to seeing those slightly more desirable poses :-)

[Jonathan Ashton]

Brian the species is in the title - I think Eurasian Jay is the correct common name. I agree smaller apertures offer greater DOF but I don't need a lot but I do need it where I want it if you see what I mean. The DOF on 4:3 is greater than 35mm SLR so I do have more to play with in the first place, the 2.8 may give me 1/4000 sec at a low ISO on a decent day, in an ideal world I want ISO 1600 or less, assuming a small crop is made, if it has to be higher then so be it but then I have less opportunity to crop because noise is magnified. So yes I minimise success with the smaller aperture but I may get that bit better quality.

[Steve Kaluski]

Nice image Jon, shame about the visible peanut in the mouth, could be fixed... The name is correct.

TFS
Steve

[Kurt Bowman]

I like the incoming pose, nice job getting him in focus. I agree with Brian about some selective sharpening on the head might make it better.

[John Mack]

It's sharp. The flaired tail and curled up feet are nice.

[Steve Kaluski]

Jon, FWIW, I think you need to up the DoF to say f/5.6 = f/8, the feet & wing tips are sharp, but the head is just on the cusp, and additional sharpening won’t help. Yes it means more ISO to retain the SS and the camera is less forgiving at higher ISO, but I’ve always said a bit of noise is better than a partially soft image.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Jon, FWIW, I think you need to up the DoF to say f/5.6 = f/8, the feet & wing tips are sharp, but the head is just on the cusp, and additional sharpening won’t help. Yes it means more ISO to retain the SS and the camera is less forgiving at higher ISO, but I’ve always said a bit of noise is better than a partially soft image.

Yes I partially agree but what I want is a clean file and I am prepared to sacrifice a little DOF, so long as the eye and bill are sharp I will be pretty content. I am using Procapture High which means I have no idea what will be in focus until I see the image. i.e. manual focus on what I regard as the optimal plane of focus.

[Volkan Akgul]

hi Jon,

one word. congratulations.