auto AF or manual AF

[ron moore]

hello everyone
i am getting two woodpeckers in my garden and i am trying to take pics through my window
i am using a canon 500d with a canon 75-300mm lens (not the expensive version) i have been trying different settings i.e. manual AF with AI focus, auto AF with AI focus, auto AF with
AI servo, a speed of 500 but i am not getting sharp pictures. i have sent in a couple of
pictures to my photos page for you to have a look and to tell me what i am doing wrong.

regards ron moore

[KeithT]

Canon's 75-300 (not the L series) isn't the best lens in the world from an optical point of view. If I were trying this kind of shot I would probably use 400 iso and TV, and set my shutter to a minimum1/1500 of a second up to 1/2000s, or higher. For extra sharpness stop the lens down by 1/3rd or 2/3rds. Tripod is essential and use of a remote control. Cover the viewfinder to prevent stray light entering, and put a bean bag over the top of the camera to prevent extraneous movement.

One of your shots seems to be overexposed by a stop or more, so maybe spot metering from the bird might be the way to go. I'm no expert as far as wildlife photography goes, so you might need to experiment with it.

[ron moore]

hello keith

thanks for your advice, one question, when you say stop the lense down do you mean
i should set my exposure compensation a third into the minus.
I am using a tripod and a remote. if i wanted a better lense to photograph the wild life
in my garden what lense would you recommend.


ron moore

[KeithT]

Hi Ron, yes. Just compensate by minus 1/3 or 2/3rds.

I don't think that there is really a 'best lens' for garden wildlife per se. Most wildlife photographers I know use several different lenses depending on the job at hand. One friend of mine uses anything from a 100mm macro up to 400mm, and if he could afford it, would go further than that.

I think 70-300 is a good focal range, but like all lenses, some are good and others not so good. I know it is a pain trying to get money together for a really good lens, but if you are serious about getting the best results there isn't any way round it but to buy the best. If I was using a crop camera I would consider the 70-200 f4 IS lens, seen here for a fair price: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-200...4149133&sr=8-2

As I use full frame, my next lens (if I can get the money together) will be the 70-300, seen here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-300...4149308&sr=1-1

Both these lenses would give you around 50% more focal range on a crop camera, and of course, superp images. Good luck.

[ron moore]

hello keith

thanks for all your help, a bit to expensive for me, is their an equivalent made by another
manufacturer i.e. sigma, and what would they be like.
what about second hand.

regards ron moore

[Cathus]

Hi Ron,

you need to remember that with zoom lenses, most of them are a little bit soft in focus at the extreme end of the range, I have a Canon 100-400 & a Sigma 50-500 & even though the Canon is priced well over a grand, it can be soft at 400mm, if you sacrifice a little zoom your photos might be a little sharper, so try it at say 270mm - if you get the chance stick a newspaper or magazine to the wall, set your camera on a tripod & take photos of the print at different zooms to see if 300mm is softer than shorter lengths.

You need to keep the shutter as fast as possible. I notice that the Nuthatch shots were 1/350 sec at 800 ISO. I think I'd want to be up in the 1/600 - 1/1000 or faster if possible, but if you are already up at ISO 800 then you will struggle because to double the shutter you'd need to double the ISO to 1600 & I notice that there is quite a lot of color noise in the greens on one of the nuthatch shots already so this might make your shot look worse.
Sometimes you just have to accept that the light available isn't good enough for your equipment, but that depends on how well your shots come out with high ISO levels.

These little birds are always flitting about, very rarely are they actually still for more than a split second, if you are zoomed right in & on widest aperture, even the turn of a head can throw the focus off, so you need to combine focusing with shooting at a moment when the bird is as still as possible.

Shooting through a patio window won't help. You are adding a layer of cheap glass to your lens, there will be dirt, dust & marks & reflections on the window, if you can't get away with doing it outside or through an open window, put the lens as close to the glass as you can & make sure the window is clean.

I don't know how much your shots are cropped, but keep in mind that the more you crop them the more quality you lose in terms of blowing up the problem areas (lack of sharpness, noise). So if you can get closer, that's better than cropping afterwards.

Hope this helps

[ron moore]

hello cathus

thanks for all that really helpfu advicel, i will certainly take your advice and try what
you say

regards ron moore

[cosmicma]

iv'e done quite a bit of wildlife photography in the past and most of what has allready been suggested is good advice

over time there's a couple of things iv'e learned and shutter speed isn't as important as you might think i have good sharp images at relativly low shutter speeds especialy when using a tripod or something to rest on
in order to keep the whole subject in focus i try to keep the apeture around f7/f8 and the iso below 400 this way i can attempt to keep the whole subject in focus with little as possible or no noise
it's sometimes easier to set the camera to manual and dial in the desired settings ( ie f8 , iso 200 and the shutter speed at 1/250th with camera rested or on a tripod ) and see what the exposure is like by snapping a couple off
if it looks overexposed raise the shutter speed if it looks underexposed ( a little underexposure is not a bad thing and can be easily rectified as long as the iso is low so no noise is introduced ) open the apeture a stop or raise the iso bearing in mind you don't really want to be much above 400 iso or as a last resort drop the shutter speed a little

in a perfect world settings of 1/500th or more shutter speed , F8 at 100 iso would be perfect but seldom achieved in our typical british weather

here's a couple of examples to show what i mean about shutter speed not being that important

example 1


the settings i used for this photo are
appeture at f6.3 , shutter speed at 1/500th and 200 iso
the camera used is a canon 50d and a canon 300mm F4 L prime

example 2


settings for this photo are
appeture at f6.3 , shutter speed at 1/50th and 400 iso
the same camera setup was used

as you can see both are reasonably sharp despite the difference in shutter speed
same tree same woodpecker different days different light / weather

shooting through glass is less than ideal and as allready said should really be avoided but a little post proccesing can usually get rid of the infuences that shooting through glass has on the image ( loss of contrast ) by darkening the shadows a little

a good lens for not a lot of money is one of the older 300mm F4 L primes ( non IS ) these can usually be had for around the 500 quid mark second hand
add the canon 1.4 x teleconverter and you end up with 420mm f5.6 L glass lens for less than 700 quid if you buy the converter 2nd hand

as far as lenses go that in my opinion is a bargain and an ideal entry into wildlife

[Markulous]

I'd agree with cosmicma - fast shutter isn't necessary at all providing you use a tripod. However, the faster it is the more likely you won't get movement in the subject - I rarely go to 1/500 but I do lose the occasional shot through the bird fidgetting! And no, I don't use 'machine gunning' burst at all - just anticipating when the subject will be still!

Chiffchaff - Canon 7D, Sigma 500mm f/4.5
EXIF: 1/200 f/4.5 ISO100


Spotted Flycatcher - Canon 7D, Canon 300mm f/4 IS + Kenko 1.4x Pro300 (this is the recommended setup above)
EXIF: 1/80 f/5.6 ISO400


Nuthatch - Canon 7D, Sigma 150-500mm OS
EXIF: 1/250 f/7.1 ISO400

[ron moore]

hello everyone

I would like to thank everyone who gave me advice on taking pictures of wild birds
i have printed all information for further reference.
All the pictures of the birds are really good and i hope one day i can take pictures
like these

regards ron moore