Birds in the garden

fernface

fernface

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Brian
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This may have been asked before but if has i cant find it:)
I believe it is generally accepted that zoom lenses (mine for instance is a 80-400) produce a softer image at the longer end, so if i am shooting blue tit size birds from a distance of seven metres should i:-

a. Stay at around 300mm and crop more to get a reasonably sized image

b. Shoot at 400mm and accept the softness then sharpen in elements 7

or is 7 metres not close enough to expect a good image

Really would appreciate some advice:)
 
Why not try and see which gives better results?

That said, 7m isn't really close enough - you need to be filling the whole frame with the bird, which with things the size of blue tits isn't easy. Most people who take great bird pics talk about fieldcraft.
 
Yep i know about the fieldcraft bit to be honest, but just dont know just how close the guys who produce great shots in the bird forum actually are to the bird, still leaves the question of 400mm and less of a crop or 300mm and more of a crop:), oh and thanks for the input:)
 
I generally try and keep to a maximum of 4 to 5 metres is possible and less if i can get away with it.
 
It's true that many zooms are softest at the long end, but not all. TBH I think a lot of complaints have got more to do with technique than the lens, especially when you're close. Depth of field gets very shallow so focus is critical, and you need a fast shutter speed to avoid shake.

However, I think you will always get a better result by shooting at the longest focal length rather than pulling back and enlarging in post processing. Generally speaking it is better to get as much of the sensor covered as possible, rather than a smaller area even if the pixel count is similar. Of course, it's nice to have both.

With small garden birds, robins, tits etc, you need to get closer than 7m - more like 3m to get a frame filler, even with a D300 and 400mm lens. Bear in mind that when you get that close, at f/5.6 you will have just 11mm of DoF :eek:
 
Always try to get as close as possible. Fieldcraft, patience all have their part to play. Don't worry too much about how zooms degrade IQ until you have tried them at different zoom settings and apertures. Generally it is better to zoom in and lose a bit of IQ from the lens than throw IQ away by cropping the shot. At the end of the day HAVE FUN!
 
Right guys thanks a lot for that, i had thought that i was close enough, now know differently. Shall be putting up my fishing bivvy(tent to the uninformed) up close to my feeders draped with a camo net - how sad is that:D Must source a silencer for the shutter on the D300:)
 
DonnaM said:
Always try to get as close as possible. Fieldcraft, patience all have their part to play. Don't worry too much about how zooms degrade IQ until you have tried them at different zoom settings and apertures. Generally it is better to zoom in and lose a bit of IQ from the lens than throw IQ away by cropping the shot. At the end of the day HAVE FUN!
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Cant fault me for patience:), i can spend 10 days at a time down the lake catching nothing, did once get a shot of a kingfisher perched on one of my rods though!!
 
fernface said:
Cant fault me for patience:), i can spend 10 days at a time down the lake catching nothing, did once get a shot of a kingfisher perched on one of my rods though!!
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You have done better than me then
 
DonnaM said:
You have done better than me then
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Hoping for a repeat this year, different lens hopefully better pic, you get to know the time of day they will be around when you are doing long sessions
 
Always a good idea to get as close as you can, as already said use the length that you have, get as many pixels on the target as possible. #1 rule with birds is, the lens is always too short :D
 
That is an excellent shot, don't decry the humble sparrow, watching their behaviour can be quite fascinating. The biggest thing with birds is patience.
 
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