Young Black Skimmer bank shot

[Dorian Anderson]

Yes, David is correct. I am brute forcing these results. These frames are the exception, not the rule with my 5D4. I will be curious to try Isaac's center zone suggestion when
I get back from guiding at the Rio Grande Birding Festival Nov 7-11 (tides are wrong the next few days).

Has anyone used 5D4 and 1DX/DX2? I curious what I might be able to gain AF-wise over my 5D4 with either those bodies. I'm most specifically interested in the DX as prices
have fallen to 2K. If I could double or triple my success rate for 2K, I'd probably be happy with that. Again, a complete switch to Nikon is not a financial option.

[Isaac Grant]

Dorian i have never shot with a 5d4 but have owned both the 1dx and 1dx mark 2. Despite what just about everyone else says (or maybe everyone else), the Canon cameras do not actively track outside of zone. Do they auto focus? Sure. Do they actively track movings subjects? Absolutely not! I 100% stand by this and think that anyone who thinks otherwise is just wrong. And i know that many on this site will have a problem with that statement. Put the camera in zone and you will watch the focus points move around the sensor and track the birds. This will never happen using center point or expand. If you want better auto focus for moving subjects and you are not using zone then I do not think you will get better results with a 1dx or dx2. The Nikon group focus works differently than the Canon zone does. You select 4 points and if you keep the bird in elipse in the viewfinder the camera will keep the bird in focus and not jump off of it but you will not see the points moving. With Canon zone you will see the focus points jumping around and following the bird. They do it against blue skies and also busy backgrounds. I have tried out a d850 a few times recently to get a feel for the Nikon focus system and how it works. Now I am not saying that the Canon zone is better than the Nikon group at tracking birds, nor am I saying that it is better at staying locked on to the birds and not jumping off the bird, what I am saying is that if you are not using zone for flight photography then you are not comparing apples to apples and there is not doubt about it. You will have to get used to the moving focus points which can be a bit unnerving but it is the way that Canon tracks.

[Arthur Morris]

Yes, David is correct. I am brute forcing these results. These frames are the exception, not the rule with my 5D4. I will be curious to try Isaac's center zone suggestion when
I get back from guiding at the Rio Grande Birding Festival Nov 7-11 (tides are wrong the next few days).

Has anyone used 5D4 and 1DX/DX2? I curious what I might be able to gain AF-wise over my 5D4 with either those bodies. I'm most specifically interested in the DX as prices
have fallen to 2K. If I could double or triple my success rate for 2K, I'd probably be happy with that. Again, a complete switch to Nikon is not a financial option.

Hi Dorian, Thanks for starting this interesting thread!

I have used all three bodies extensively. When I was looking for my favorite 5D Mark IV flight images I was surprised to see how few there were. That said I simply do not shoot a lot of flight, having made a career of creating beautiful images of birds just sitting there doing nothing. Often set against the now much-maligned backgrounds of pure color . Many of my best flight images were indeed made with the 1DX and the 1DX II. The huge problem for me was that of oil spatter on the sensor with the 1DX II. As far as I know, I am the only person who succeeded in having a 1DX II replaced by Canon with a brand new one. I sold that body immediately. If you have not heard of the problem, do a search for "oil spatter" in the little white search box on the top right of each blog post page.

My advice if you are gonna stick with Canon is to get yourself a 1DX.

As far as the finances of sticking with Canon instead of switching to Nikon, you may be right as the resale value of Canon long glass continues to plummet. But still I would view Nikon as the far better option for flight photography.

with love, artie