Canon Mark 3-House martin in flight

I have just returned from a week in Devon. Just before we left i received my Canon EOS 1DMark III and took the camera with me to have a play. Near the cottage where we were staying i was able to try out the AF on the local House martins.I believe swallows are very difficult birds for flight shots. They fly erratically and it is a tough test for the AF and for my neck. Many images went straight into the garbage bin but i must say that i have more keepers than i would have expected. I know a lot has been written about the AF issues i must say that i haven't witnessed any of the reported problems.....yet

I have tried the Mark 3 with my 70-200, 5.6/400, 4.0/500, converters etc etc and i must say that i am very pleased with the camera.

Rene de Heer

Canon EOS1DMark III/5.6-400/Handheld/ISO 400/Lightroom/CS2/slight crop.

Its a fine shot Rene!!

I agree that swallows are fairly erratic, but i find that these chaps are often faster flyers, so either way, you have pulled off a result

Although i dought that my skills are up to either of these birds, i would be interested to know what AF modes/settings etc you used {even though i use a nikon}

Alan

Wow - getting a shot of such a difficult bird to get in flight is superb!

Mark

It is difficult to tell on a web-sized image, but I'm not sure that the image posted is critically sharp. I've seen many instances where people claim that their 1D3 is a good one, but when you check their files at full resolution, a high percentage of the images that they thought were sharp, are not. I could post loads of images from my 1D3 that would look sharp on the forums, but do not stand up to scrutiny when viewed at 100 percent and compared with shots from my 1Ds2 or my 1D2N.

Good point Phil!!

To my eye, the angle of the bird suggests that the head is in the same band of focus as the leading wing { although tele-compression can decieve}. The wing does seem slightly sharper than the head, although 'primary feather' edges often appear sharper than softer plumaged areas.

I agree web sized images are of little use for comments on precise/absolute/vital focus points, and it would be good to see a tighter crop, or 100% view.

I hope those users that are suffering from the AF problems are able to get a quick fix {i would be extremely frustrated, if it were me}.

Alan

Hi Rene, a difficult target you got here, but still a target that I think MarkIII do find when the BG is clear. Good job, maybe a tad softness in the head ?

I see what you are saying Phil, maybe a bit soft. To be honest i do not think you can judge the softness on either malfunction of the AF or secondly, the fact that it is just very difficult to keep these erratic flyers spot on in focus....read operator error.
Rene de Heer

Got to be one of 'THE' hardest subjects to nail-small and missile fast, I think you have done well here, it looks pretty sharp on my monitor certainly the wings

Hi Rene

I know Phil's a hard task master and very demanding (as can be seen by the quality of his images), but I do think he is being a little harsh here. Maybe it is not pin sharp on the head but this is a very small bird that's as fast as any creature you are likely to put your lens in front of.

To be able to track one in flight is an achievement in itself, to photograph it is something else and I think Rene has done exceptionally well (particualrly hand held too!). I would take a lot of convincing that ANY camera could have nailed this better

Barrie

Hi Barrie I don't know if it's any better as I haven't bothered trying that often with my cameras, taken with my D2x and 300f2.3 handheld this image only took me about half an hour of practice to get.

Phillip.

Ps nice image Rene

OK Phillip you win - but I bet it's stuffed

Great photograph