Howdy - New to Birding

[Mike Eddinger]

Hello all. I am NOT new to photography, but I am new to trying to capture good bird photos. I currently am working with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400mm IS tele.

I did do some work this year set up near my bird feeders. Captured some good shots (for me), but I am always amazed by some of the stunning shots I see on this forum. I have a few technique questions, but I'd like to start with one on focus.

My shots (mainly with Canon 50D) this summer/fall were often not in sharp focus. They were good, but pixel peeping at 100%, they were not as sharp as some I have seen (albeit, I often realize I am looking at a much reduced shot on this forum and think "wow, that is incredibly sharp", then I look at mine zoomed to 100% on a 23" LCD and think "yuch, my focus is not that good).

So I have a question on focus technique. Which best describes what you do

1. I rely on autofocus, and my shots are usual very sharp
2. I rely on autofucus, and I get some critically shart pictures, but certainly not nearly all
3. I do NOT rely on autofocus, I manually focus when I can
4. My shots are sharp enough, you will drive yourself nuts pixel peeping at 100%

And

What shutter speed do you think is required to get a really crisp shot of a "stationary" bird (i.e. ya, its moving some while sitting, not flying) while camera is on a tripod, NOT using mirror lockup or timer.... i.e. immediate shutter release when I push the button.

I really am probably like a crack addict... I have spent too much time on some of the more technical forums where everybody just does focus tests and shoots brick walls and focus targets. What a refreshing site this is, people actually take pictures. I really need to get over pixel peeping I think, and enjoy the photos at a reasonable size. To help me make this transistion, does somebody have full size photos that I could look at to see what 100% zooms look like for people who know what they are doing? I have to figure out whether I am taking shots that are as reasonable as one should expect, or, I really do have issues figuring out how to focus.

I could also use sharpening tips via Lightroom and Photoshop for typical bird shots.... i.e. for best feather detail without the dreaded over sharpened look...

Oh ya, most of my shots were with tripod and had shutter speeds of at least 1/250, so I am not making the newbie mistake of shooting a bird, handheld, at 400mm with 1/30th of a second shutter speed. I know 1/250 is often not fast enough, but I use fill flash often, as feeder is in a bit of a shady area. I will post some pics moving forward.

Thanks you all, I look forward to finally beating my pixel peeping crack addiction and getting back to enjoying taking pictures like I used to with my film camera!!

[Alfred Forns]

Big Welcome to BPN Mike !!!

You will find most of the feeder images made are don with a long telephoto lens, your 100-400 will work but not the best choice.

Focusing wise you need to place the sensor right on the birds eye, it is critical at close distances and shutter speed wise even with your focal length, what your using is marginal. Remember to add to add the crop factor ... so you a 600mm. Rely on your camera's AF just use one shot or rear focus.

If you enjoy the little birds might want to take a peak at Alan Murphy's new guide, should be a thread about it nearby !!!

[Mike Eddinger]

Long tele as in 400mm, 500mm fixed focal length? I assume because the sharpness is that much better on the long end??

I know what one shot is... what do you mean "or rear focus" ??

Thanx for reply. I will try to hunt down the guide... is it a book, or a posting?

[Dave Hassell]

Hello Mike,
You can find Alan Murphy's Songbird Setup Guide at https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/ca....aspx?catid=19
Dave.

[Lance Peters]

Another big welcome to BPN Mike - Ill let AL answer your questions :)
Hope to see some images :)

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Mike On most cameras you can assign focusing to a button on the rear of the camera so the shutter button is only responsible for releasing the shutter. This way you can focus let go then move around to recompose and make your image.

Excellent for stationary subjects and some people use it all the time. A few years ago Robert O'toole(full time user) talked me into trying and I did for six or seven months. Still prefer to use a rear button to hold focus while on AI.

[Alan Lillich]

Mike,

I'm also not new to photography, but only serious about birds in the last year or so. Don't get discouraged, remember that folks are posting their best shots. Who knows how many un-keepers they have. I absolutely prefer autofocus, but it isn't essential for stationary birds. I'm satisfied if 1 in 3 autofocus shot have the focus where I want, joyous if 1 in 10 manual focus shots do.

Keep in mind the incredibly shallow depth of field with long lenses. Here's a 100% crop from portrait of a Jay that I took one day when practicing with a manual focus Nikon 500 f/4 P, 1.4 TC, D300 (1.5 crop), 1/100 @ f/8, Gitzo 2530 tripod, Wimberly Sidekick on Markins M-10. It shows that you can get sharp results way outside of normal bounds, as long as you're willing to try a lot and don't show anybody the bad shots. Minimal processing in LR, sharpening amount of 109. The crop also shows that the depth of field is just a few mm.

And there is a great, deep in theory, sharpening discussion here:
http://www.birdphotographers.net/for...ad.php?t=18534

keep shooting,
Alan

[Mike Tracy]

Mike,
Don't get discouraged, remember that folks are posting their best shots.

Not sure if I agree with that statement but I might pose that question in a separate post. I personally pretty much only post those I am on the fence with and am looking for a honest critique whether its a yea or nay.

[Jamie Strickland]

after going through basically what you have described above there are 2 things I realized that were giving me inconsistent results

1) shutter speed, 1/250 is not always fast enough for sure, dont be afraid to bump up the iso especially on the 7D
2) try shooting at F8 you will get sharper results, the 1-4 seems to be soft for many people at 400mm wide open

be patient it will come :)

[Roger Clark]

Mike,

Welcome!

You say you rely on autofocus. Are you using one focus point or multiple? (Use one focus point centered on the eye of the subject.) Are you using AI servo for moving subjects?

Here are images of the moon with various lenses, out of camera jpegs with no sharpening for comparison. You can image the moon with your lenses and compare (there is also one post process full resolution image):
http://www.clarkvision.com/imagedetail/moon-test2

Roger

[Jeff Donald]

Greetings Mike,

What tripod/head combo are you using? It may not be up to the task. I use the 7D as well and routinely use ISO 400, 500 and 640 with minimal noise. The noise reduction will get even better in PS and LR when ACR 5.6 is released and has the final settings for the 7D.