BIF camera settings?

canuck257

canuck257

Senior Member
I am finding it difficult to establish a general camera setup when using the Tamzooka on moving targets such as birds. I use M with BB focus, aperture mostly f6.3 or f8 and shutter speed 1/60 or higher with ISO at 200 or 400. Metering is either Spot or Centre weighted. Ideally I would want the fastest shutter speed possible which means increasing the ISO but I am nervous of going too high for fear of generating noise. I'm tempted to use Auto ISO with Min. shutter speed 1/125 and max ISO ??? What do you guys think?

Suggestions, advice and guidance as always is appreciated. I would very much like to achieve shots such as I regularly see on this forum from some of you guys.
 
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Kevin H

Senior Member
My goto is F8 SS 2000 I keep the camera on that in case they pop up static birds 5 dials and it 640 ISO on auto max at 800 this is with a D5100 Center point focus
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
I have had good luck with BIF.

Set camera on Manual

Shutter speed needs to be at least 1/1600 and I really prefer 1/2000 to make sure I get the wing tips still.

F 5.6 minimum and prefer f 8 to get good DOF

ISO on AUTO to get what you need.

IF you are shooting them in the sky with only bright sky in the background then you may need to use the exposure compensation to adjust for this. Set it to +1 or +2 as needed to compensate for the bright sky and auto ISO. If you don't then your birds will always be underexposed and will be grainy but the sky will look great.
 
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dennybeall

Senior Member
Every picture has a setting that must be set and others that may be chosen. For instance movement says the speed has to be set high based on the amount of movement. Personally I'm going to 800 to 1200, or higher, and only coming down if I have to if I want to stop action.
 
canuck257

canuck257

Senior Member
If I understand Auto ISO correctly then, when in M, the ISO will remain at or below the maximum limit that I set. If the exposure requires higher ISO than that limit then the camera will select a slower shutter speed down to the minimum that I set. Is this a correct interpretation?
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
canuck257 said:
If I understand Auto ISO correctly then, when in M, the ISO will remain at or below the maximum limit that I set. If the exposure requires higher ISO than that limit then the camera will select a slower shutter speed down to the minimum that I set. Is this a correct interpretation?
Click to expand...

In Manual it will not change the shutter speed or aperture. The ISO should stay at the lowest unless it needs to go higher then it will go up to the maximum you have set it for. At that is how my D7100 acts.
don_4572.jpg

This was shot on the same setting I would use for BIF.
 
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mikew_RIP

Senior Member
I notice you are using BBF and have the D7100 the same as me,i came off BBF because i like to use focus priority and BBF on the D7100 over rides that setting and uses shutter priority which in a BIF situation can lead to out of focus pictures,the high shutter speeds are the way to go.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
mikew said:
I notice you are using BBF and have the D7100 the same as me,i came off BBF because i like to use focus priority and BBF on the D7100 over rides that setting and uses shutter priority which in a BIF situation can lead to out of focus pictures,the high shutter speeds are the way to go.
Click to expand...

I rarely have that problem using BBF
 
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Blacktop

Senior Member
This is how I've been doing it lately and getting pretty good results. IMHO

D7100 camera.

Continuous focus with either a single point or D9
Metering Matrix.
Aperture Priority

Shooting Menu--ISO sensitivity 100-Auto ISO sensitivity control ON, Maximum sensitivity 1600,Minimum shutter speed AUTO (then I click ok on the "auto" and set it to 1 bar past the middle bar. Then I save these settings to U1 for instant BIF access.
If I can't get the cam to give me at least a minimum of 1/1000th of a second shutter speed with the maximum 1600 ISO, then it's too dark and I go home. Birds will fly another day.
 
canuck257

canuck257

Senior Member
Mike, I agree that the lack of focus priority in BBF can be a problem however, I really like BBF and can overlook this shortcoming at the moment. It may be, that as I learn and improve (hopefully) I too may go back to the focus priority system.
 
J

J-see

Senior Member
I use the D7200 with the Tam but rarely shoot BiF below 1/1600s. I stick to 420mm at f/8 which delivers the sharpest shot for my lens-cam combination.

I don't use ISO at all but try not to underexpose more than 3 stops. BBF AF-C d9 unless I'm shooting very tiny and fast birds which require d21 or even d51. Manual shooting, Matrix metering. No VR.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
canuck257 said:
Don, what would you recommend as a maximum ISO for the D7100?
Click to expand...

Depends on what you are willing to accept for grain. I have shot at 6400 and gotten good shots. It all depends on what you want to do with the photos. For BIF I also have U2 set up so I can go to it fast when I see a bird take off. I have never gotten consistently good results with anything less than 1/1600sec. Even then the wingtips tend to blur a little form movement. I guess that depends on what kind of bird you are shooting. Some soar so you could get by with a slower speed. Some of them are flapping their wings as fast as they can so you need a faster speed. I assume that is the case ans set up for it. I do my know the D5300 so not sure how the Auto ISO is set up. You may not have the setup that Blacktop is talking about so that might confuse you. I know my D7000 does not have it. The D7100 does. It sets the shutter speed based on the zoom. The longer the lens the faster the shutter speed. Absolutely wonderful feature. But you may not have that so you will have to set your shutter speed for yourself.
 
canuck257

canuck257

Senior Member
Blacktop said:
This is how I've been doing it lately and getting pretty good results. IMHO

D7100 camera.

Continuous focus with either a single point or D9
Metering Matrix.
Aperture Priority

Shooting Menu--ISO sensitivity 100-Auto ISO sensitivity control ON, Maximum sensitivity 1600,Minimum shutter speed AUTO (then I click ok on the "auto" and set it to 1 bar past the middle bar. Then I save these settings to U1 for instant BIF access.
If I can't get the cam to give me at least a minimum of 1/1000th of a second shutter speed with the maximum 1600 ISO, then it's too dark and I go home. Birds will fly another day.
Click to expand...

Thank you, that's a great help, it gives me a foundation to learn from.
 
canuck257

canuck257

Senior Member
Don Kuykendall said:
Depends on what you are willing to accept for grain. I have shot at 6400 and gotten good shots. It all depends on what you want to do with the photos. For BIF I also have U2 set up so I can go to it fast when I see a bird take off. I have never gotten consistently good results with anything less than 1/1600sec. Even then the wingtips tend to blur a little form movement. I guess that depends on what kind of bird you are shooting. Some soar so you could get by with a slower speed. Some of them are flapping their wings as fast as they can so you need a faster speed. I assume that is the case ans set up for it. I do my know the D5300 so not sure how the Auto ISO is set up. You may not have the setup that Blacktop is talking about so that might confuse you. I know my D7000 does not have it. The D7100 does. It sets the shutter speed based on the zoom. The longer the lens the faster the shutter speed. Absolutely wonderful feature. But you may not have that so you will have to set your shutter speed for yourself.
Click to expand...

Thanks Don more very useful information. I have the D7100 so I should be able to set it up the same as Blacktop describes. I didn't/don't know about the zoom/shutter speed linking which does sound absolutely wonderful. I guess I will be checking that out tomorrow.
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
canuck257 said:
Thanks Don more very useful information. I have the D7100 so I should be able to set it up the same as Blacktop describes. I didn't/don't know about the zoom/shutter speed linking which does sound absolutely wonderful. I guess I will be checking that out tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Did not know you had the D7100. If shows D5300 in your profile. This makes a big difference. The setting about auto shutter speed under the auto ISO is set on my camera all the time. It is fantastic.
 
B

Blacktop

Senior Member
canuck257 said:
Thanks Don more very useful information. I have the D7100 so I should be able to set it up the same as Blacktop describes. I didn't/don't know about the zoom/shutter speed linking which does sound absolutely wonderful. I guess I will be checking that out tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Don knows a lot more about this then I do, so if [MENTION=6277]Don Kuykendall[/MENTION] advises you on something different, then I would go with his suggestions over mine. I am still learning this as well.
 
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