New lens but still frustrated....

H

higgy50

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Hello All,

Firstly apologies for the pictures that I'm about to post but I just can't seem to get the quality clear shots that are posted on here and now beginning to get frustrated with it all...

Got a new 400mm lens delivered today. As I was supposed to be doing family stuff I quickly stuck it on the camera and took a dozen shots through the window....

I know these were taken through double glazing in crap light and the GWP shots are heavily cropped but I would be expecting to get a slightly better result now that I have more focal length along with a half decent camera??

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What is the secret to the clear crisp shots that I see on here?

I don't want to give up as I'm enjoying the challenge but finding my lack of success frustrating!....any further help/advice appreciated???
 
You've basically bought an expensive lens with double glazing glass in it.:shrug: Better light will help your shots but you'll need to get outside to get the best from that expensive glass.
 
I think your focus point is slightly off as well. 400mm f5.6 gives a depth of field of under 4cm at 5m, certainly the first woodpecker shot the grass in front is in focus. Try using just the centre point and making sure its bang on the subject.
 
Take your time Higgy, I get quite a few shots like yours today and take as many pics as you can, be prepared to throw away a lot of pictures (90% of them or more!) and keep practising.

Its not a bad effort in your pics considering its crap light and double glazing, so keep trying, maybe try taking a few shots outdoors as well. Play around with the settings and see what works for you and good luck!
 
You definitely need to get outside, set up a tripod/monopod and take some time out to practise.

One of my wiser friends told me that while learning photography is much easier than it ever has been, the misconception that buying better gear will = better photographs is more prevalent now than back in his "film days".

I sometimes take 100+ photographs over an hour and sometimes keep maybe 2 or 3. Sometimes none. Although each one of my sessions I have learnt something new, be it an appropriate ISO setting for a cloudy afternoon for example.
 
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The main issue you have is shutter speed - its too slow. The first woodpecker is 1/250 - for handholding you need to aim for a minimum of 1/600 with a 400mm lens, as others have said shooting through glass is also doing you no favors.
 
Not a bad little set really higgy, some good advice has been given here for you, and you do need to address those points raised. There is a wealth of information out there on bird photography and a simple search such as "How to photograph Birds " is your first port of call. People have put in a lot of time to make that information available to others. Imo the very least thing you and others that are new to following the subject need to do, is spend a little bit of effort having a read of it. Last of all, and I cannot really emphasise this enough is, unless you are confined to the house then shooting through DG is a waste of time imo. Ok sometimes it works, but you have just spent out good money on a camera and lens and are doing it no justice.
 
I felt the same about my new lens, but with all the good advice to be had on here, and practice we will get better! Good luck :)
 
get yourself a monopod or a gimbal type head. I bought a Manfrotto 393 from a fellow TP member and have not looked back. Using it with the 300 f2.8 IS Lens and works a treat.
 
Yes tripod first - if you shoot through a window it will flatten the image.

You can rescue this a bit by tweaking the levels in photoshop, if you have got it, but you can try the same in other editing programs. your images will also sharpen up with a bit of unsharp mask - I gave it about 79% - radius 0.6 - threshold 0



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Regards

mike
 
I would say your focus is slightly in front in some of them and maybe you have the shutter to slow, does it have IS..? If not you will want al least 1/400th shutter speed hand held
 
Tyler138 said:
I would say your focus is slightly in front in some of them and maybe you have the shutter to slow, does it have IS..? If not you will want al least 1/400th shutter speed hand held
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That used to be the rule of thumb years ago when we all used 35mm - nowadays called Full Frame.

The rule of thumb was:

minimum exposure =1/(focal length)th sec, so using a 400mm lens meant that the minimum exposure was 1/400th sec.

But nowadays you have to take into account the crop factor where a 400mm lens on a 1.6x crop = 640mm on a Full Frame.

So in that case the minimum exposure= 1/640th sec.

.
 
petersmart said:
That used to be the rule of thumb years ago when we all used 35mm - nowadays called Full Frame.

The rule of thumb was:

minimum exposure =1/(focal length)th sec, so using a 400mm lens meant that the minimum exposure was 1/400th sec.

But nowadays you have to take into account the crop factor where a 400mm lens on a 1.6x crop = 640mm on a Full Frame.

So in that case the minimum exposure= 1/640th sec.

.
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Ah ok, didnt think about that. Will keep that in mind.
 
Test it under decent light, and practice with it, there is a learning curve to using long telephoto lenses, if it is the Canon 400 f5.6 it is a good lens (y)
 
Wow thanks for the great advice it is appreciated...

1. I have now sorted out the centre point focus setting (was user error I'm afraid!) haven't had chance to try it yet.

2. No it doesn't have IS and isn't a Cannon lens, it's a Sigma (Nikon fit)

3. Don't have photoshop but was given a free complementary copy of 'Serif photoplus X3) by a neighbour but just can't get the hang of it!?

4. "Unsharp mask 79% , radius 0.6 - threshold 0" apologies double Dutch I'm afraid? the only editing that I have been doing is with the jpegs in windows...(told you I had a lot to learn!!!) I do shoot with the Raw+jpeg setting so have the Raws saved but haven't been able to edit them yet.

5. Shutter speed and exposure - absolutely 100% listening and I have been trying to shoot with a fast speed but found with the crap light recently that my pictures just black out, I have therefore reverted back to concentrating on exposure to get a picture I can actually see...not quite getting this somehow?
If I was shooting in bad light with the 5.6 400mm lens what typically would be the settings I should be trying to work from? Currently I can't seem to get the balance between all the components quite right?

6. Apologies for my naivety but I am keen to get this right and will always try and to listen to good advice and try my hardest to take it on board and use it!
 
6. Apologies for my naivety but I am keen to get this right and will always try and to listen to good advice and try my hardest to take it on board and use it!
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Whats to appologise for your a learner on a very steep hill. Just keep trying.

I will tell you that if a use my 100-400L on my 5d2 through a double galzed window I get some real shockers :D
 
Looks like the main problem could be your lack of post processing by what you just said?

There arent many people who post the pictures you are thinking about that wont have run the image through editing and sharpened the pictures and tweeked the levels,it really is night and day simply by running a sharpen filter over the image to begin with.

As others have said give it time and I`m sure before long you`ll be getting results your happy with,I have a 500mm lens and still have lots of shots I aint happy with but the ones I am,well boy I love em!

Get yourself a good Tripod or if money is an issue start of with a monopod with a good head on it,really does make all the difference.

Ross
 
tigerfast said:
Looks like the main problem could be your lack of post processing by what you just said?

There arent many people who post the pictures you are thinking about that wont have run the image through editing and sharpened the pictures and tweeked the levels,it really is night and day simply by running a sharpen filter over the image to begin with.

As others have said give it time and I`m sure before long you`ll be getting results your happy with,I have a 500mm lens and still have lots of shots I aint happy with but the ones I am,well boy I love em!

Get yourself a good Tripod or if money is an issue start of with a monopod with a good head on it,really does make all the difference.

Ross
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Ross is correct higgy, just remember that any sharpening you apply should be the last adjustment you make prior to resizing the image.
 
I'd also argue that a tiny amount of sharpening is necessary after resizing too as it does rob some sharpness. I usually apply a small amount of smart sharpening [amount 30-50%, radius 0.3] after resizing images down to 1024 pixels for web use.
 
u8myufo said:
Ross is correct higgy, just remember that any sharpening you apply should be the last adjustment you make prior to resizing the image.
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Rich (u8myufo) started a thread on tips for editing bird photographs LINK ... post #14 covers sharpening for the web (y)
 
The advice keeps coming!....it is appreciated and as stated above I am trying to take it all in and use what I can.

I have already found that the single point focus is starting to make a difference and I will be ditching the Serif for Photoshop I think.

Is Photoshop Elements ok or should I be looking at anything else? Amazon have it for sale for about £60 at the moment?

My current tripod which I have been using is a bit 'skinny' in the leg department and doesn't take too kindly to me being a little 'active' with the camera! Can anyone recommend a good and more substantial one which won't break the bank please?

As always a very big thank you...
 
higgy50 said:
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Is Photoshop Elements ok or should I be looking at anything else? Amazon have it for sale for about £60 at the moment?
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I find Photoshop Elements good value for editing images, I use it (y)

Redsnapper tripods are a popular choice if you are a budget, they advertise on here, and I believe offer a discount to TP members.
 
Register with adobe and download the free 30 day trial, that way if you find its not for you and you want something more full fat like CS5 or Lightroom then you can download the 30 day trial for those before you part with your hard earned.

+1 for Redsnapper. I will be ordering one when I have some spare, spare cash. The Jessops Velbon range are a similar price but imho the redsnapper quality is miles ahead. Don't know if you have one or not as I'm not good with knickon kit but with a big lens a tripod ring is best for balance.
 
Cheers Caleb, I will look at that 30 day trial that makes a lot of sense.

As for the tripod....already been on the RED SNAPPER site and liked the look of them (and the price)....

Ordered myself a tripod and a monopod (for when I'm out and about)....oh and a window mount!!!!....

Got my discount also!!

Don't hang about do I!!! hehe:LOL:
 
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