bird pic's help !!!

[meat]

Hi can anyone help me out ?? i got my first camera at xmas a D200. and i have just got myself a 100-300 f4 lens for taking some bird shots.only thing is i just cant seem to get any were.. is there any one in the hartlepool area that could take me out for the day to tell me were i'am going wrong. cheers ..

 

[Mike V]

when you say you cant get anywhere mate what do you mean? trouble focusing? etc

 

[seriousrikk]

FOrums a great for helpingunderstand where you are going wrong.
Give us a rundown of what you do and what the results are and advice will come flowing in.

 

[meat]

yea it is to do with me focusing.. just cant seem to get them sharp. i use a tripod and a shutter cable. and they still come out fuzzy???? :-(

 

[Alzibiff]

Any chance of you posting one of your fuzzy pics as it comes out of the camera - the embedded EXIF data and look of the photographs should help forum members to offer an opinion on how to improve.

Alan

 

[seriousrikk]

yea it is to do with me focusing.. just cant seem to get them sharp. i use a tripod and a shutter cable. and they still come out fuzzy???? :-(

What shutter speed?

 

[CT]

We need a pic mate to really be able to comment.

I know that using a cable release is automatically associated with tripod shots, but that tends to go out of the window with bird shots, they just don't sit still long enough.

With longer lenses, what happens is that as you press the shutter, the mirror flies up creating vibration which travels along the lens to the front and then travels back to the camera manifesting itself in blurry images at the sensor. The problem gets worse the longer the lens, but I use long lens technique on a tripod with my 500mm, 100-400L and the 70-200 2.8 - even the 180 macro if I'm shooting birds.

You need to have a hand on top of the lens to damp this vibration and a cable release really isn't necessary for these shots as the shutter speed has to be fast enough to freeze the bird's movement anyway. I'll find you a link to the long lens technique.

What sort of tripod head are you using? A gimbal head makes tracking birds in the viewfinder and keeping that AF spot on the head a whole lot easier. I always use a single AF point and servo AF for continuous focus all the time.

 

[CT]

LONG LENS TECHNIQUE

 

[dreameruk]

i always put my hand on top of the lens when mounted on a tripod and push down, somthing an old pro taught me.

lol just like in the picture in that link

 

[reddeathdrinker]

Ah well, just off MSN to meat, he won't be around for a day or two - he's getting married tomorrow!

He will return at the weekend!

 

[walls]

I found that when the birds don't cover a decent part of the frame the AF likes to focus on the twigs or anything else more interesting...until I get a camera with better AF or much longer lenses I visit http://SPAM/buq8ur

 

[CT]

I found that when the birds don't cover a decent part of the frame the AF likes to focus on the twigs or anything else more interesting...until I get a camera with better AF or much longer lenses I visit http://SPAM/buq8ur

That's where the gimbal head pays off and it's pretty well essential for wildlife togging. Coupled with a tripod it gives you a smooth mount to keep that AF point where you want it very accurately.

 

[HoppyUK]

...You need to have a hand on top of the lens to damp this vibration...

Good tip, but I find that I can't hold my hand still on longer exposures, so I use a bean bag dumped on top. It really helps.

Although this doesn't apply to faster speeds used for birding, I have found that 1/8sec to 1/15sec can be quite hard to get really sharp on tripod pics. It's all down to mirror slap, and while this theoretically affects all pictures taken to some extend (usually invisible) at these speeds it can be really noticeable*. So I use the bean bag again to dampen it down - it's almost as good as using mirror lock-up. In hand-held use, your hands are very good natural dampers!

Richard.

* Speeds shorter than 1/15sec and the exposure is pretty much over before the slap has time to take effect. At speeds longer than 1/8sec, the camera has steadied itself before the end of the exposure, so it only effects the first part of it. Does that makes sense?

Sorry, going a bit off topic

 

[meat]

thanks all i will have ago at putting sum pic's up 2more... and i think the gimbal head is a bit out of my price range....

 

[CT]

thanks all i will have ago at putting sum pic's up 2more... and i think the gimbal head is a bit out of my price range....

Well you can get by without one - I did for ages. If you have a ball head, then slack it right off so the ball is free to move in all directions and you effectively have a gimbal head. Obviously, you have to keep a firm hold of the camera/lens, and don't forget that that if you let go of the camera for any reason you need to tighten that ball or the lot is going to tip forward and stop with a hell of a thud!