Beginner Sneaky little Weasel

I bet that made your day ! They are amazing to sit and watch, we were lucky enough to see one in Scotland this year and was amazing to watch it hunt for mice
 
holty said:
great shots
all 3 seem soft focus
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I agree Holty and am frustrated to say the least, was only two metres away , I used canon 7D mk ii with 100 -400 lens, shooting in manual, tv was 1/1000th second av 5.6 auto ISO, light was good.
Any thoughts / help greatly appreciated
 
did you have constant a/f selected with back button focus thats the secret weapon
constant a/f for anything that moves always
single a/f for static subjects
you will never get that golden chance again if you live to 100
 
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holty said:
did you have constant a/f selected with back button focus thats the secret weapon
constant a/f for anything that moves always
single a/f for static subjects
you will never get that golden chance again if you live to 100
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Yes I was using back button focus AI Servo, think you’re right, unlikely to be that lucky again, walked that path for over three years and first sighting of a Weasel.
I’d love to think it’s something technical I’m doing wrong, (maybe AF settings) running out of ideas.
All the gear no idea ha ha
 
Hving seen how fast these little critters can be, thats no bad effort....
 
It's always going to be tough shooting through grass. The focus always tries to grab the first thing it sees, which is a blade of grass.. Sometimes focusing on the very top of the weasels head can help. You can usually see what the lens is focused on.
 
Trev mate utter novice talking are you on some from of group point focus as opposed to just one point?? what are your techs please?? Mate I feel for you these one off chances are so hard when one is learning and things don't quite work out,but it is part of learning. Trev do you get sharp images with a static subject at a similar range off a tripod,there must be a reason for these not being . terribly sharp

Trev I use a 1Div been at this a couple or three years . These tools take time to get to grips with it's a matter also of setting the camera up right, But there were a few niggles early on for the 7Dii I just wonder if you pop techs up maybe someone can work out what's up.

Sure weasel's are fast but you have said this guy was pretty laid back. The camera should nail focus on this providing it's being told to do the right thing But I can't work out why the second frame is the only one that has anything remotely sharp and that is the grasses in front of weasel. Mate on shots down low I specifically use one point because the camera pics up veggies etc and can focus on them instead that's why I have asked.I suspect it isn't that but worth asking all the same ,I find I need that specific small point of focus at times

all the luck trev

stu
 
Stuart Philpott said:
Trev mate utter novice talking are you on some from of group point focus as opposed to just one point?? what are your techs please?? Mate I feel for you these one off chances are so hard when one is learning and things don't quite work out,but it is part of learning. Trev do you get sharp images with a static subject at a similar range off a tripod,there must be a reason for these not being . terribly sharp

Trev I use a 1Div been at this a couple or three years . These tools take time to get to grips with it's a matter also of setting the camera up right, But there were a few niggles early on for the 7Dii I just wonder if you pop techs up maybe someone can work out what's up.

Sure weasel's are fast but you have said this guy was pretty laid back. The camera should nail focus on this providing it's being told to do the right thing But I can't work out why the second frame is the only one that has anything remotely sharp and that is the grasses in front of weasel. Mate on shots down low I specifically use one point because the camera pics up veggies etc and can focus on them instead that's why I have asked.I suspect it isn't that but worth asking all the same ,I find I need that specific small point of focus at times

all the luck trev

stu
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Hi Stuart,
Thanks for your input, I generally use single spot focus, as in this case , so that I can pinpoint focus on the eye / head so don’t think that’s the problem , I had considered the possibility of forward or back focus grabbing a blade of grass etc.
Think I will try your suggestion of using a tripod to check sharpness, but this won’t help me with my handheld shooting, guess it will highlight if my technique needs improving, that said my shots haven’t suffered too much in the past, to my mind it could be one of a number of issues ( lens, body, technique, settings etc), yesterday I swapped and used a friends 150-600 Sigma C - the results were far sharper than with my 100- 400 so think I shall send the lens for a Service, bizarrely the AF works well and looks crisp to the eye through the viewfinder but the recorded images are soft.
Thanks for your input, greatly appreciated

Trevor
 
Trev the tripod I concur won't help with HH but it might allow you to verify that the camera/lens combo is doing what you tell it to. As you say it could be your techs or god knows what else always worth sharing techs trev especially if you have a problem. All the luck with kingy trev and sorting out whats going on

stu
 
Stuart Philpott said:
Trev the tripod I concur won't help with HH but it might allow you to verify that the camera/lens combo is doing what you tell it to. As you say it could be your techs or god knows what else always worth sharing techs trev especially if you have a problem. All the luck with kingy trev and sorting out whats going on

stu
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Cheers Stuart, gonna persevere [emoji12]
 
This a tricky situation for any af system, lots of light points and areas of contrast. Personally I wouldn't use continuous af in this situation because
As the camera micro focus adjusts you are highly likely to press the shutter release as the camera is adjusting focus! I would use single point non continuous focus, you would be unlikely to get perfect focus every time but you may have got at least a couple of sharp images. A very tricky subject which no one could ever guarantee 100% success.
Cheers
Tony
 
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