[Theme] Show Birds

[Peter Connan]

Colin, the shots you do post are pretty magnificent, so obviously it CAN lock accurate focus.

Speaking for myself only, I shoot a lot of birds in flight, and have been there for several years. Yet, my success rate is still pretty low. And those whom I have shot with, report the same thing. Are you perhaps expecting too much?

Anyway, I also use a D500, although with a longer lens than yours (500mm f4 G). My settings are pretty involved, but basically:
Exposure mode manual, but with auto-ISO. Lens typically wide open unless there is LOTS of light, and I definitely find that a higher shutter speed increases the percentage of sharp photos. Under 1/1000th, I get almost no sharp shots except with very large, slow birds. The tiny lightning-bolts like the smaller Kingfishers need more than 1/3200th when moving.

My AF settings are very intricate, and in this regard I love the user-customiseability of the D500. I use back-button focus exclusively, set up as follows:
The AF-on button gives me 25, 72 or 153 points (selecting between them as conditions change).
The pressing the joystick gives me single-point AF. I use this for stationary targets (perched birds), as it allows me the fastest way to also move the focus point around while focussing.
The Fn1 button is set up to change the AF area mode to Group Area, but not to focus. Thus I change the mode using my middle finger, and focus using the AF-on button.

The setup is used as follows:
For perched birds and general wildlife, I focus and control the position of the focus point using the joystick.
For birds flying against an even background (the sky or smooth water) I use the AF-on button on it's own.
For birds flying against a busier background, I use two fingers to get Group Area.

In this way, I can change between those three basic focus modes seamlessly as the bird swoops above or below the horison.

I do still want to experiment more with 3-D tracking, as I have not really tried it on birds with the D500. With the D750 and D7000 I used to have, it was effectively useless, but on the D500 I have used it with face detection on models in studio, where it worked very well.

I hope that rather long-winded explanation helps somewhat?

[ColinM]

Thanks for the prompt and detailed reply Peter

Colin, the shots you do post are pretty magnificent, so obviously it CAN lock accurate focus.

Speaking for myself only, I shoot a lot of birds in flight, and have been there for several years. Yet, my success rate is still pretty low. And those whom I have shot with, report the same thing. Are you perhaps expecting too much?

Thank you - so the ones I post are ones I'm pleased with.
It's interesting to hear you say about a low overall success rate. My expectations were certainly higher than what I achieve, but mainly I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing anything to restrict my chances

However after reading about the high standards the AF module in the D500 achieves and the performance of the 300mm PF, I did expect more.
Static subjects are generally fine, so it's moving ones where the issue lies (I really love taking shots of birds leaping into flight, turning mid-flight and also landing)

Exposure mode manual, but with auto-ISO

I definitely find that a higher shutter speed increases the percentage of sharp photos. Under 1/1000th, I get almost no sharp shots except with very large, slow birds.

Yes I shoot in manual but haven't yet got Auto-ISO behaving the way I'd like.
I don't lose many shots to incorrect exposure, but will have a look into this, especially as a way of keeping the shutter speed high.

One flaw you've helped me confirm is shutter speed. I'm now aiming for around 1/1000th but have shot lower than that before. However the ones I was unhappy with are generally out of focus, rather than showing blurred wingbeats etc

My AF settings are .....

There are many points I need to investigate here - that might take me a few weeks (with the current lockdown!)
I haven't yet applied much customisation to my D500 and you've pointed out some ways I can quickly adapt to different conditions - thank you

I hope that rather long-winded explanation helps somewhat?

Yes it's really good food for thought.
I appreciate the time and thought you put into writing this Peter

[ColinM]

I've wanted to collect a series of "good" and "out of focus" shots, then compare the settings used.
Of course what I wouldn't have are the conditions, speed of flight etc
I haven't yet compiled this series yet...

But just to illustrate the puzzle, here are some examples
They were part of a series of around 7 shots, taken as the Black Kite flew away from me, turned, then flew back in

- All were shot at 1/640th wide open F4,  ISO 400 (these crops represent around 1/3 of the original frames)
- These were shot within a few feet of each other as it turned
   the second shot was the sharpest
   the third shot is again unsharp

[ColinM]

And here is some of the AF information showing how close (or not) I was to framing my shot against the AF area

Incidently NX-D shows what appears to be a single AF focus square, however these were shot using an area of 25 points
I've compared using single and area points and NX-D displays them in exactly the same way.
Thus I think there's a chance the bird may have fallen within the AF area on each shot....

[Peter Connan]

From your explanation, you are concentrating on birds which are effectively accelerating relative to your position. In that situation, un-sharp photos may look un-focused rather than just wingtip blur. Next time you get into a situation where you can try, just use two widely different shutter speeds and see if it makes a difference.

As for auto-ISO, I often switch it off in stable light conditions. If you are happy with your exposure, leave it off.

Lastly, if you want, I can mail you a spreadsheet with my settings. Just send me your e-mail address via PM if you want it.

[Bent Hjarbo]

Got a new chance to photograph the common kingfisher.
This time with the Nikon V1 mounted on the 200-500mm.
It is still very small 

[Peter Connan]

Grey Go-away bird. Shot in my garden during lockdown due to Covid-19

[Brute]

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[fentriss]

Some very nice colored bird "Hausrotschwanz", Black Redstart, male. Seen with d850 AF-S 500/f.4 D. sunlighted, no flash used, the backround was very dark. Distance was at least 6 - 7 meters. byebye,richard

[Bent Hjarbo]

For the last couple of days I have tried to get pictures of the Great tit and the Blue tit nesting in our garden.
I wanted to get pictures of them leaving the nest, but the are very fast when leaving, so this is one og the very few that was reasonable sharp.
I did try both with AF and MF, as the AF on my 200-500 and 300PF might not be fast enough to follow them on the way out.
D500 300mmPF @f5.0 1/3200 sec ISO 1600 Cropped slightly. Not sure if this is AF or MF

[Øivind Tøien]

For the last couple of days I have tried to get pictures of the Great tit and the Blue tit nesting in our garden.
I wanted to get pictures of them leaving the nest, but the are very fast when leaving, so this is one og the very few that was reasonable sharp.
I did try both with AF and MF, as the AF on my 200-500 and 300PF might not be fast enough to follow them on the way out.
D500 300mmPF @f5.0 1/3200 sec ISO 1600 Cropped slightly. Not sure if this is AF or MF

Excellent timing of capture, Bent! I like the slightly blurry win tips. You did very well with sharpness on the head of such a fast moving target. I have tried many time to catch the US version of the great tit, the black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) when leaving bird feeders but find that if one start firing off a series when the first movement of the bird is detected, it will already be out of the first frame or just catch the tail.

[golunvolo]

Very good action Bent

[Bent Hjarbo]

Excellent timing of capture, Bent! I like the slightly blurry win tips. You did very well with sharpness on the head of such a fast moving target. I have tried many time to catch the US version of the great tit, the black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) when leaving bird feeders but find that if one start firing off a series when the first movement of the bird is detected, it will already be out of the first frame or just catch the tail.

I was also amazed by the speed, so I triggered the camera when I saw the bird in the hole, but even with a D500, I often only got one or two frames with a bird on, and then unsharp too. Used MF and guessed where the bird would be, and then hopped the best 

Paco glad you liked it.

[beryllium10]

Bent, I like the action and the framing in your photo.  Here's one for the thread from a warm Spring day in Seattle.  Ducks and geese were enjoying the cool water.  (D810, 300mm f/4 with 1.4 TC, 1/2500 @ f/8 ISO 720).  Cheers,  John

[Bent Hjarbo]

Thank you John
The way you “froze” the water makes it look like a swimmer just came out of the water, nice.