Black-headed Gulls in flight on Canon 7D2....

RedRobin

RedRobin

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Robin
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Those interested in or owning the new 7D Mark II will know how there are zillions of autofocus options available to the user. Coming from a 70D and not a 1DX, it can be rather daunting but the way forward is of course to get involved and suck it and see - In other words, shoot shoot shoot and analyse the results and then adjust settings accordingly.

So the story behind this shot is that I was already setup in AF Case 3, AF SERVO, Av-mode at F/9, and ISO 800 when some b*****d kid threw a stone (actually a rock!) at some Mallard in the small river estuary. A flock of gulls instantly took to the air and I instantly swung my camera skywards on its fluid cartridge monopod (Manfrotto MVM500A). Set at 10 fps, I got 7 frames in 5 seconds and the best was #2. Shot on my trusty old Canon 400mm F/5.6L.

I have to say that I am getting a higher rate of bird-in-flight 'keepers' from the new 7D2 than my much loved 70D. I hoped I would and so far so good.



^ EXIF etc on Flickr. RAW plus post-processing.

My original shot showing AF pts....

Black-headedGulls_AFpts.png


I have been able to create several image compositions from this original because enough of the birds are in focus - More compositions are posted in Reply #9.

Comments always welcome :). Thanks for looking.
 
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I am thinking of trying a 7d2 for wildlife, i am using a 60d at the moment but miss focus quite a bit with the limited 9 point AF system while trying BIF shots.
It looks like your doing well with yours and i have the same lens as you have, its certainly got me thinking after seeing what you are getting.
 
Nice one Robin

Not sure I understood your connection between the 7D2 and the amount of birds you've caught in focus.

Looks like you've caught focus somewhere around the middle and (regardless of what camera you were using) what's in focus is down to f9 depth of focus / position of birds / distance to subjects.
 
Rustydon said:
You're certainly getting there Robin with that new 7D2 :)

Once you guys have sussed all the right settings for BIF (and the price has fallen somewhat ;)), I may be tempted myself!

Russ
Click to expand...

....Thanks for the encouragement, Russ - Greatly appreciated :)

However, looking at the high standard of shots in your Bird Gallery, I can see that upgrading from a 7D to a 7D2 is not a priority.
 
dinners said:
Nice one Robin

Not sure I understood your connection between the 7D2 and the amount of birds you've caught in focus.

Looks like you've caught focus somewhere around the middle and (regardless of what camera you were using) what's in focus is down to f9 depth of focus / position of birds / distance to subjects.
Click to expand...

....I ought to clarify my original post: Yes, F/9 has delivered DoF irrespective of the camera body but in general I am getting more bird-in-flight keepers since using the 7D2. I'm saying that it seems to suit me better and I am more consistent - That could be 10 fps helping and also my increased experience. I ought to post a couple of other 7D2 flight shots on TP (they're on my Flickr page).

Also, I expect there is an element of me justifying why I bought the 7D2 early! :D
 
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RedRobin said:
....I ought to clarify my original post: Yes, F/9 has delivered DoF irrespective of the camera body but in general I am getting more bird-in-flight keepers since using the 7D2.
Click to expand...

Got you now (y)
 
Two more compositions from this shot....





^ Both on Flickr.
 
Robin,

Thanks for posting that with the focus points showing.

This is not 7D2 specific but does it mean that you used the central point plus four surrounding points?

As the left hand of the central points is illuminated does this mean it was this point that actually caught focus? If that is the case, why has the central focus point not focussed on the bird's body, which it covers?

Hope someone can clarify this for me....!

Nice photo, by the way. The quality of the results from the 7D2 does look good.
 
jerry12953 said:
Robin,

Thanks for posting that with the focus points showing.

This is not 7D2 specific but does it mean that you used the central point plus four surrounding points?

As the left hand of the central points is illuminated does this mean it was this point that actually caught focus? If that is the case, why has the central focus point not focussed on the bird's body, which it covers?

Hope someone can clarify this for me....!

Nice photo, by the way. The quality of the results from the 7D2 does look good.
Click to expand...

....Thanks :) I'm really beginning to enjoy my 7D2 but there's a heck of a lot to learn!

To try to answer your questions:

Yes, I already had the camera set on those central 5 AF pts and grabbed a 10 fps sequence of 7 shots in 5 seconds without thinking fast enough to increase the AF pts area although it's so easily done by thumb with the AF Area Select lever (default function) on the 7D2.

Also @dinners Phil: I think that in all the commotion I probably raised my thumb off my AF-ON Back Button Focus and hence locked focus and the lefthand AF pt? Although I think I was already set on AI SERVO and don't remember if I rolled my thumb onto the AE Lock button which I have customised to toggle AI SERVO >< ONE SHOT. I am able to keep both buttons pressed under my thumb when needed. It all happened very fast.

So to simplify the suggested answer, perhaps I froze the AF pt after focus on a bird was achieved. Other frames in this 7-shot sequence have the same lefthand AF point illuminated.

The AF was set at Case 3.
 
bx338 said:
I am thinking of trying a 7d2 for wildlife, i am using a 60d at the moment but miss focus quite a bit with the limited 9 point AF system while trying BIF shots.
It looks like your doing well with yours and i have the same lens as you have, its certainly got me thinking after seeing what you are getting.
Click to expand...

....I'm sure I'm not the only one who would recommend the 7D2 for wildlife and Canon have specifically aimed it that way. I'm coming from a 70D but the 7D2 has a real edge with it's very sophisticated AF system (1DX and 5D III style I believe), 10 fps, and extensive customisation options.

This thread may further inform/encourage you: http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/a-flying-shag.569715/
 
RedRobin said:
....Thanks :) I'm really beginning to enjoy my 7D2 but there's a heck of a lot to learn!

To try to answer your questions:

Yes, I already had the camera set on those central 5 AF pts and grabbed a 10 fps sequence of 7 shots in 5 seconds without thinking fast enough to increase the AF pts area although it's so easily done by thumb with the AF Area Select lever (default function) on the 7D2.

Also @dinners Phil: I think that in all the commotion I probably raised my thumb off my AF-ON Back Button Focus and hence locked focus and the lefthand AF pt? Although I think I was already set on AI SERVO and don't remember if I rolled my thumb onto the AE Lock button which I have customised to toggle AI SERVO >< ONE SHOT. I am able to keep both buttons pressed under my thumb when needed. It all happened very fast.

So to simplify the suggested answer, perhaps I froze the AF pt after focus on a bird was achieved. Other frames in this 7-shot sequence have the same lefthand AF point illuminated.

The AF was set at Case 3.
Click to expand...

I know these things happen so fast that there is hardly ever time to adjust settings to the one you really need. It's probably unlikely that 9 af points would have done a better job than 5 points, though, but I am no expert at BIF's. I think I would find a 7D2 quite a complex beast.
 
jerry12953 said:
I know these things happen so fast that there is hardly ever time to adjust settings to the one you really need. It's probably unlikely that 9 af points would have done a better job than 5 points, though, but I am no expert at BIF's. I think I would find a 7D2 quite a complex beast.
Click to expand...

....Happening very fast is often what often happens when shooting wildlife. Knowledge of behaviour and anticipating it helps enormously. I now know that a flock of Black-headed Gulls will usually wheel around in a circle to gather themselves all together before flying away.

And yes, the 7D2 is quite complex but that same complexity offers a lot of potential. It just means that there's a steeper or longer learning curve but once you got some good shots in the bag your confidence grows and you can begin to enjoy it.
 
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Black headed gulls are good BIF practice and looks like you are enjoying the learning curve (y)
One thing to consider is that at some point you will be wanting to have a background other than plain sky, my advice would be to start using center point only as soon as you can (y)
 
Neil B said:
Black headed gulls are good BIF practice and looks like you are enjoying the learning curve (y)
One thing to consider is that at some point you will be wanting to have a background other than plain sky, my advice would be to start using center point only as soon as you can (y)
Click to expand...

....I agree but it's rarely possible to choose what the weather system is serving up as a background.

Are you advising just one centre point for birds-in-flight? Why ignore what the AF system can offer combined with AI SERVO by choosing from an extensive variety of AF pt areas?
 
RedRobin said:
....I agree but it's rarely possible to choose what the weather system is serving up as a background.

Are you advising just one centre point for birds-in-flight? Why ignore what the AF system can offer combined with AI SERVO by choosing from an extensive variety of AF pt areas?
Click to expand...

Example
If i used expanded center point on this one then it tended to want to pick up on the background rather than the bird

New bird on site checking me out !!!. by Neil Brimacombe, on Flickr

Using the center point only and tracking the bird early with the sensitivity set to slow allows you to get back on the bird if needed.
Using expanded is letting the camera decide what it's focussing on, even though they are clever they sometimes get confused and keeper rate can fall.
Find whatever works best for yourself and of course these are just my views (y)
 
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