Back in the Garden - Great Tit

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mikeyb

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Still playing about with this 500mm Sigma Lens and the narrow DOF is catching me out at this distance ( 15ft), still playing about with the PP, as you can see from the three images below as all are slightly different.

Great Tit - 500mm ISO 400 1/6400th F4.5 - Full Frame
246847723-L.jpg



Cropped and Cooled
246846409-L.jpg



Another Nibble - 500mm ISO 100 1/1600th F4.5
246833551-L.jpg


Mike.
 
Have you stated your shutter speeds correctly? Or is there one zero too many !
Nice photos, I like the last one best.
 
They are very good(y)(y)
 
I like the ones that haven't been cooled I agree very sharp shots!
 
Richard T said:
nice and sharp!

I like the last one better than the cooled one tho (well at least here on my work screen!)
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Hi Richard,

thanks, having looked again I probably prefer the other version too.


KeithH said:
Have you stated your shutter speeds correctly? Or is there one zero too many !
Nice photos, I like the last one best.
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Hi Keith,

glad you like them and the speeds are correct.


BRASH said:
They are very good(y)(y)
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Thank you.


ab$olut said:
I like the ones that haven't been cooled I agree very sharp shots!
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Hi,

thanks, looks like the warmer ones are the best, they are almost straight from the camera with very little pp on the warmer ones.


elvis said:
great shots love the backgrounds
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Thank you very much, it's the house brick that has given them that lovely orange colour.

Mike.
 
Mike do you use DOF tables for your particular camera and lens ? at 15ft at f4.5 you have virtually no DOF at all 0.02 ft 1/4 inch in front 0.02 ft 1/4 inch behind. Do you use one shot AF or are you using the A1servo ? good shots but shooting these little things ain't as easy as it looks for sure nice to see though.

Cheers
Bill
 
explora56 said:
Mike do you use DOF tables for your particular camera and lens ? at 15ft at f4.5 you have virtually no DOF at all 0.02 ft 1/4 inch in front 0.02 ft 1/4 inch behind. Do you use one shot AF or are you using the A1servo ? good shots but shooting these little things ain't as easy as it looks for sure nice to see though.

Cheers
Bill
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Hi Bill,

no not used tables, only bought the lens last week so getting to know it just now, but I could see once setup that the DOF was minute at this distance, I could tell with the seeds on the decking at the feet of the bird.

I'm really glad you have posted though as it confirms what I had suspected about the narrowness of it, as I was worrying about having a dodgy lens :eek:, I had suspected it was fine but when you buy something new and expensive you doubt yourself as to whether you've done the right thing or not. The only reason I was using F4.5 on these was to see how fast the shutter speeds would get and also to help freeze any movement in the birds AND me, as they flit about soooo much. I did however try F8, F11 and it didn't seem to make a lot of difference in the viewfinder as to the DOF, but obviously it would have done once checked on the PC.

Oh, I was using one shot AF and Centre Point for focus, I don't feel the AI Servo on the 30D is fast enough for small garden birds, but that's maybe just me.

Thanks for the info, as I can see, as it was with my 100-400 IS that it's another learning curve for me, which I look forward to tackling over the coming months.

Mike.
 
Mike it's nice to see someone in the same boat as myself trying to find a way through all of this stuff wow there is just so much to take in. Here is a link to a DOF calc site I have printed off the tables for my big lens and carry it around with me gives me a good idea rather than guessing you may have seen it already. I don't think there is anything wrong with your lens at all I can see you will get some stunning images with it no doubt.

http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

Rgds
Bill
 
Welcome the world of zippo dof field Mike. ;)

It's a common problem with long lenses and the problem only increases as you get closer to your subject, which is always desirable anyway, no matter how long the lens.

These are nice shots, but just lacking the sharpness and definition we're all striving for.

I can't see why you opted for a 1/6400th shutter speed and shooting wide open when stopping down a few stops would have given you more than enough shutter speed but would no doubt have increased the dof and resolution too?
 
Very good shots Mike ... (y) ... although of all of them I think the so-called 'cooled' one is better for two reasons imhgo ... :cautious: ... the orange background is too bright and over-powering in the others and the colouring in the middle shot is definitely closer to life than the other two ... :shrug: ... I also think the head could do with a little lightening up top bring out a bit more detail ... ;)





:p
 
Enjoying the discussion on this, I usually get to see Mike's photo before they are posted and sometimes a bit wary of being critical of them but I was sure these were not as sharp as some previous ones and didn't think it was the lens. My feeling with Great Tits there is quite a bit of white on them and it tends to get blown so I don't think it's the best subject to judge a lens on, he had one of a squirrel after taken after the Great Tit and you can see the sharpness better on it.
Anyway good shooting to all of you as I'm very poor at all this DOF etc. just point and shoot and hope thats me.
 
Hi great series I do prefer the cooled one too maybee something in between would be about right.
I agree about a bit more DOF helping sharpness although these look OK on my PC monitor. maybee F5.6 would be better
Pete
 
Lovely shots as usual. I'm glad i am not the only one who finds the dof a problem - the light up to the last couple of days so poor that I am having to use f2.8 to keep speed anywhere near 1/200 to freeze movement and then beaks often are blurred. Resorting to -1 stop fill in flash to try and get any detail in shadows. Look forward to better light until the leaves start reducing it again!
 
CT said:
Welcome the world of zippo dof field Mike. ;)

It's a common problem with long lenses and the problem only increases as you get closer to your subject, which is always desirable anyway, no matter how long the lens.

These are nice shots, but just lacking the sharpness and definition we're all striving for.

I can't see why you opted for a 1/6400th shutter speed and shooting wide open when stopping down a few stops would have given you more than enough shutter speed but would no doubt have increased the dof and resolution too?
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Hi CT,

thanks for the reply to my pics, only had the lens a week and having had no sun at all to speak of for days I was just trying out all the options, ie: shutter speed, aperture ISO etc, to find out what the best combination is, hence the 1/6400th. I tried everything from ISO 100 @ 1/500th to ISO 800 and 1/6400th all with varying apertures.

Never thought about the reduced DOF when looking at this purchase, bit of a pain really, you buy more reach to fill the frame and prevent cropping but in order to get full depth of focus you have to retreat and the crop :bang: Checking the DOF calculator link that Bill sent me I would need to be using F22 to get 3 inches of DOF at minimum focus distance (4m), jeez F22 :eek:

Ah well, it's another learning curve I will have to tackle, now if only we could get some light :bang:



Venomator said:
Very good shots Mike ... (y) ... although of all of them I think the so-called 'cooled' one is better for two reasons imhgo ... :cautious: ... the orange background is too bright and over-powering in the others and the colouring in the middle shot is definitely closer to life than the other two ... :shrug: ... I also think the head could do with a little lightening up top bring out a bit more detail ... ;)


:p
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Hi Ven,

glad you liked the shots, I think the 'cooled' one works better too for the same reasons you mentioned above. Mind you the heads on these ain't easy with the deep black and then the white cheeks especially in bright sunlight. Will keep trying :D

See ya,

Mike.
 
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