i have been working on small bird in flight last several days. I seem to catch sparrows, jays, female cardnals and red belly woodpeckers prretty well but the male cardnals just don't seem to turn out sharp. They seem to be on the same plane and in the DOF area. Not sure if it is the color, camera, lens, or what. Any ideas? I am posting a shot with two that didn't turn out too bad.
Shot with Olympus E5 Sigma 50-500 lens 348mm eq F8 1/2000 iso800
Posted by Luke Ormand on January 13, 2015 at 9:31 AM
Kendall,
You will have to give us some more information, like other shots where you think the cardinals should have been sharp but weren't. They look great here. You're asking a lot from the camera and lens to correctly autofocus when you have small birds moving quickly with very a very busy background. All of the branches and tree trunk and stump are competing for the focal point when you depress the shutter - so it's likely you will just miss the focus a lot. If the background was a clear blue sky, the camera would have a much easier time focusing.
Posted by Loren Fisher on January 13, 2015 at 10:56 AM
If you are shooting an area where you know the birds will be flying and landing, then think about manually zone focusing. You set your focus and DOF from the front of the stump to the back and wait for the birds to come to your predetermined area. You can shoot much tighter and get more detailed shots. I lock the camera down on the tripod and use a remote shutter cord so I don't have to look through the camera. That way I can see incoming birds and fire the camera as they are coming into the camera's view. It is better to anticipate than try to react to quick movement.
I posted exposure but it is probably more focus. I will post a couple of examples. This first is examlpe of the problem. Head & face not sharp. I am pre focusing and I am trying to shoot when they are in the DOF area.
Here is a shot from same series that is sharper. Both are cropped to about the same amount.
Posted by Luke Ormand on January 13, 2015 at 5:54 PM
Uncropped versions would help - but I really think it just comes down to way too much going on in the scene for the camera and lens to decide where to autofocus.
Posted by Keith Bauer on January 14, 2015 at 12:07 PM
Kendall:
I would not try to pre-focus and hope to catch the birds in the area that you believe will be within the DOF. I'm not familiar with the capabilities of the Olympus system but I'm sure the concepts are the same for all manufacturers.
I would be shooting this in AI Servo (Canon lingo), Continuous focus (Nikon lingo) to allow the camera the ability to lock on and track a moving subject. Yes, this is demanding of the AF system, but that is what it is for. Clearly you have to be quick to pull this off. I would do everything I could control to help the situation. Pre-focusing in the zone is a good idea so the camera doesn't have to move the lens as far to acquire critical focus. Use the focus limiter on the lens to narrow the focus range, use good long lens technique to stabilize the 50-500.
I think trying to get this with basically manual focus, pre-focused is a recipe for very few critically sharp images. DOF with a 500 at the distances I'm guessing you are shooting at is VERY small. Allowing the camera to focus is the only viable option in my opinion. I know that is what I'd do if I were trying to capture this with either my 5D Mark III, or my 7D Mark II and my 500mm.
Discussion
6 repliesShot with Olympus E5 Sigma 50-500 lens 348mm eq F8 1/2000 iso800
You will have to give us some more information, like other shots where you think the cardinals should have been sharp but weren't. They look great here. You're asking a lot from the camera and lens to correctly autofocus when you have small birds moving quickly with very a very busy background. All of the branches and tree trunk and stump are competing for the focal point when you depress the shutter - so it's likely you will just miss the focus a lot. If the background was a clear blue sky, the camera would have a much easier time focusing.
I would not try to pre-focus and hope to catch the birds in the area that you believe will be within the DOF. I'm not familiar with the capabilities of the Olympus system but I'm sure the concepts are the same for all manufacturers.
I would be shooting this in AI Servo (Canon lingo), Continuous focus (Nikon lingo) to allow the camera the ability to lock on and track a moving subject. Yes, this is demanding of the AF system, but that is what it is for. Clearly you have to be quick to pull this off. I would do everything I could control to help the situation. Pre-focusing in the zone is a good idea so the camera doesn't have to move the lens as far to acquire critical focus. Use the focus limiter on the lens to narrow the focus range, use good long lens technique to stabilize the 50-500.
I think trying to get this with basically manual focus, pre-focused is a recipe for very few critically sharp images. DOF with a 500 at the distances I'm guessing you are shooting at is VERY small. Allowing the camera to focus is the only viable option in my opinion. I know that is what I'd do if I were trying to capture this with either my 5D Mark III, or my 7D Mark II and my 500mm.