I just bought my first full frame camera and took this shoot yesterday. I got closer than I would with my cropped camera. I realized the dof would be less but did not realize how much. I shot at 5.6 as usual as I wanted a smooth background. But look at the foreground hill. D800 with 600VR
Allan, the thing abut the D800 is you don't need to be closer.
You can crop all you want and lose very little IQ.
The DX crop made you no closer to the bird, it is just an incamera crop.
Shoot FX or 1.2 (that is what I use mostly to keep the file size manageable)
and just crop as much as you want.
You still have a lot of pixels to use.
Please post all exposure information so we can better understand what you were trying to do. The opportunity here is composition and subject placement. Regarding sensor crop I shoot a Canon 7D and MKIV. The former has a 1.6 vs the 1.3, I use a 1.4 TC with the 7D to maximize range but as a general rule do not move any closer when shooting without the TC. However, that is not a bad ideal the human zoom can be very effective. In bird photography close is usually a good thing.
The image has fine detail, nice HA and clean eye. The subject placement could be improved IMO but this is very subjective. The negative space on the right of the frame does little to support the beautiful subject and the sprigs could be removed as well. I like the sand hill and this type of angle can actually balance and add harmony to the frame. Play with different looks by placing a piece of paper on the edges and find one that tells your story. Very unique and some nice potential with this one - thanks for sharing.
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 05-03-2012 at 09:14 PM.
I'm fine with the DoF Alan. Lovely image. Nice light and BG.
It's clear that downsizing for the web is a great leveller. At 1024 x 800 it almost doesn't matter what the pixel size it. Now a print of this may tell a different story.
FX - less DOF
D800 with 600VR
