50D Rocks....

[Arthur Morris]

This Osprey was photographed here at Indian Lake Estates this past Monday with the Canon EOS-50D and the 400DO IS lens handheld. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3. AI Servo AF/Central Sensor only.

As I have stated consistently here and in Bulletins, AF on the 50D is remarkable; tracking and focusing accuracy on birds in flight is more consistenly accurate than with any Canon camera that I have ever used. To see how the 50D focuses accurately through a telephone pole, see today's blog entry here:

http://www.birdsasart-blog.com/

Folks late to the party may need to scroll down.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

[Arthur Morris]

This is the original capture. Image leveled by drawing line with Ruler Tool through both pupils followed by Image/Rotate Canvas/Arbitrary. Then cropped and added canvas where needed and finally added the one tiny missing wingtip.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Master at work Artie! An awesome image from every aspect.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Great pose and PP work. As for the 50D, have you noticed that there is a magenta cast often? Some of the recent images posted here by different people seem to have one.

[Karl Egressy]

Great image and explanation, Artie.
I'm glad that the 50D works well. I have one of them.

[Arthur Morris]

Great pose and PP work. As for the 50D, have you noticed that there is a magenta cast often? Some of the recent images posted here by different people seem to have one.

At times I notice a magenta cast, but not as great as in some images that I have seen. In the Osprey image here and in most of the white sky Osprey images the blacks have a red cast. I either run an Average Blur color balance on these images or reduce the red SAT.

Though not so obvious here this image and the others posted on the blog are killer sharp on the eye(s).

Thanks all for looking and commenting.

[Steve Canuel]

I really like the wide open spread of the wings here. I also like the color contrast of the area consisting of the little brown shoulder patches, head patches and eyes.

[Nate Chappell]

Great wing spread and eye contact here Artie, I agree with you on the 50D, just purchased one about a month ago.

[kevinmat]

In looking at the image I am intrigued especially by the eye contact you achieved.

I think many would be interested to read about your technique when capturing images like this. It would make for interesting discussion. Much more work for you though I especially enjoyed the discussion following your bear paw shot on exposure.

Nice PP on the wing tip btw.

[Stuart Bowie]

You have exposed the underwings perfectly, bringing out so much detail, and love the wingspread. Great capture Artie.

[Kobus Tollig]

Ditto stu. Well done with the exposure and detail. Great pose 2

[Arthur Morris]

Hi Kevin,

re: I think many would be interested to read about your technique when capturing images like this.

I am not sure what you are looking for; please explain.

Nice PP on the wing tip btw.

Thanks. That was a 30 second APTATS/Quick Mask job.

[Stephen Earle]

Very impresive image indeed. I love the wing position and the stare.

I recently got to try a 50D and although I agree with you on the AF I must say that I was a bit dissapointed in how it handled noise. My 40D gives cleaner images under the same circumstances in my opinion.

[Nate Chappell]

I agree with Stephen that the noise peformance in this camera is a bit disappointing, other than exposing your images properly is there any advice you could give to help minimize noise with this body? Thanks for any info.

[kevinmat]

Hi Artie,

One thing that sets this forum apart is the excellent critical comments that are made in response to posts (something I know you constantly encourage). These comments encourage everyone to think more carefully about preparation, capture and presentation.

I think it is interesting when, as in some other posts, you elaborate on the environment, your positioning, how the shot was made (i.e was it part of a sequence or one of a few carefully taken frames), whether there was something you did specifically to capture the frame in the way that you did. I know that this is extra work, but does make for interesting discussion - i.e why did you do that, or that way). I'm certainly not suggesting an essay every time you post, just some informative comments on how you took the shot that can enhance discussion. Just one or two sentences would be adequate.

Glad you took up the wing tip comment ! I'm surprised by comments like "I don't know how to do PP" on the forum. It's great that there are excellent resources like APTATS available (and other good material in the education section) and I think you should indicate when the procedure for accomplishing the PP you do is available in APTATS or elsewhere with a link to the product. Just a suggestion.

[Arthur Morris]

I agree with Stephen that the noise peformance in this camera is a bit disappointing, other than exposing your images properly is there any advice you could give to help minimize noise with this body? Thanks for any info.

Cameras with smaller pixels will always be noisier than similar cameras with larger pixels. I often use a combination of conversion NR followed up by Axel's CS3 NR techniques. There may be a thread on that in Educational Resources. If not, these techniques are described (along with a ton of others) in Digital Basics. Al Forns is using a plug-in that works great with 50D images. Do contact him for that info.

[Arthur Morris]

KMAT,

re:

I think it is interesting when, as in some other posts, you elaborate on the environment, your positioning, how the shot was made (i.e was it part of a sequence or one of a few carefully taken frames), whether there was something you did specifically to capture the frame in the way that you did. I know that this is extra work, but does make for interesting discussion - i.e why did you do that, or that way). I'm certainly not suggesting an essay every time you post, just some informative comments on how you took the shot that can enhance discussion. Just one or two sentences would be adequate.

I was just getting ready to start out on my afternoon health walk when I saw an Osprey leap off of the telephone pole and start to circle. I grabbed the 400DO off the seat of my car. It is always there ready to go. I dialed in +1 1/3 stops for the white sky. It turned out to be a great choice; with this image, I wound up with just a few flashing highlights in the sky--perfect.

The three preceding images (which can be seen on my blog at www.birdsasart-blog were made handheld as the bird swung by the pole. I made a few more after that as he landed, but nothing great as I was too close to the pole. I moved back and he took off again. I was still a bit on the close side as he landed as the single clipped wingtip showed. In contrast to most folks I rarely hold the trigger down, usually preferring to make one or at most two images that capture the peak of the action. In this case, I made only a single image as he braked hard above the top of the pole.

Glad you took up the wing tip comment ! I'm surprised by comments like "I don't know how to do PP" on the forum. It's great that there are excellent resources like APTATS available (and other good material in the education section) and I think you should indicate when the procedure for accomplishing the PP you do is available in APTATS or elsewhere with a link to the product. Just a suggestion.

Thanks for the plug (not to mention Digital Basics, ABP, and ABP II he said modestly ) I usually assume that folks will know to click on the link to the home page and be able to find our various educational offerings. That is all that it takes.

I just finished a 80 minute phone interview with Miki Johnson for the great Live Books Photographic Blog, Resolve: http://blog.livebooks.com/category/c...ors/lou-lesko/ One of the things that I mentioned is that photographers today are blessed with a huge wealth of great educational materials, stuff that simply did not exist in the mid 1980s when I was thirsting for knowledge, especially regarding exposure. The problem is that most folks just do not want to put in the effort to study, learn, and practice. Many think that buying a big lens and the latest greatest camera makes you a photographer....

[Ramon M. Casares]

You're the best Artie! I love the pose, the exposure control is stunning as always and the great PP work is also terrific, thaks for all your comments and info regarding the shot and the equipment used. COngratulations!

[kevinmat]

Just excellent Artie, a big "thank you"!

[Greg Schneider]

Artie,

Curious if you've gotten the AF fix for your Mk3? Personally I don't see the 50D as better or even equal to the Mk3s in my experience. I am tending to see magenta casts quite often with the 50D. Not sure what is to blame.

Oh, and nice shot.

[Arthur Morris]

Artie, Curious if you've gotten the AF fix for your Mk3? Personally I don't see the 50D as better or even equal to the Mk3s in my experience. I am tending to see magenta casts quite often with the 50D. Not sure what is to blame. Oh, and nice shot.

Hey Greg, My MIII bodies are all up to date. I did not say that the 50D is better (overall) then the MIII. I said that AI Servo AF with the 50D is more consistently accurate than AI Servo AF with the MIII.