Humble Coal Tit
- Thread starter dougan
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- Adam
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Thank you! I've tried shooting birds recently and have been having trouble getting them sharp at 300mm with a 1.4x Sigma teleconverter. I've heard different things about shutter speed being the slightly higher than your focal length, and I see this is not what you've done and it's come out fine.
I guess it's just trial and error, so just as well I have a bird table waiting for Christmas and 2 weeks off work
OP
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- Dougie
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As you say, ideally the shutter speed should be equal or greater than the focal length.
In decent light this is fairly easy to achieve, not so on dull and ovecast days.
The Sigma 150-500 has a very good image stabiliser built into it, which obviously helps with less than ideal shutter speeds.
In decent light this is fairly easy to achieve, not so on dull and ovecast days.
The Sigma 150-500 has a very good image stabiliser built into it, which obviously helps with less than ideal shutter speeds.
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- Rich
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Not been able to get out for a while, so restricted to the garden.
The light was awful as per usual!
I like that one Dougie
Thank you! I've tried shooting birds recently and have been having trouble getting them sharp at 300mm with a 1.4x Sigma teleconverter. I've heard different things about shutter speed being the slightly higher than your focal length, and I see this is not what you've done and it's come out fine.
I guess it's just trial and error, so just as well I have a bird table waiting for Christmas and 2 weeks off work
You are right in believing what you have heard Adam, however as Dougie mentions sometimes you are forced to use lower shutter speeds. As with anything it is about practise and technique
It is possible to let go of the handlebars when riding a bike but you would not recommend it to someone who is just learning Not for small birds such as coal tits and blue tits you shouldn't. You may need to go down a stop to get better resolution, and a bit more depth of field if you're using a large aperture lens, but mostly the higher shutterspeed the better. Going higher than base iso can help too unless the light is perfect. Given the conditions the above shot is a very nice photo, helped by some decent technique but I'll bet this wasn't the only shot taken, with others thrown away. Image stabilisation won't help here because it can't freeze the subject, only correct for camera shake.
Robins are a good bird to practice with as they tend to move-freeze-move-freeze etc, and you can get away with surprisingly low shutterspeeds. You just have to wait for the right moment.
I suppose what I'm trying to say, is that using the focal length vs shutterspeed ratio, is only half the story. With birds, small birds especially, it is they that dictate how you shoot.
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