I am not sure I have any of the originals now. I usually trash them. I will do some more and I will post a full size here uncropped. What happens to the image if I post a full size here? Does it get resized and lose info?
My bird shots are just horrible! I need some help!
- Thread starter Mike D90
- Start date
I am not sure I have any of the originals now. I usually trash them. I will do some more and I will post a full size here uncropped. What happens to the image if I post a full size here? Does it get resized and lose info?
Mike, I'm not asking to have the full size image with full definition, but just to see the proportion of the original you've posted.
You could resize the original to 1200x1200 with to make it smaller size but we'd be able to judge what percentage of the original image was cropped out.
You could resize the original to 1200x1200 with to make it smaller size but we'd be able to judge what percentage of the original image was cropped out.
Got it. I will take some more just like those and post an original. I can tell you they were cropped a lot but I have no idea how to tell just how much now.
Well Mike, the "crop a lot" that you mention could easily be the biggest part of your dissatisfaction. If you take out 70% of a 12mp image, you end up with 3.6 mp image and, you magnify the grain and digital noise present in a 1600 iso file. It's a fact of life. You will have to get closer to the birds and fill that frame. I understand that when we look through the viewfinder, our brain can concentrate on our main subject and we forget about the rest, but, once that image is printed, the "rest" could take too much space in the image. So, then you crop and loose quality that was there at the beginning.
dramtastic
Senior Member
Hi Mike. What F stop and speed did you set the last lot of photo's at?
I actually shot is A priority so the shutter speed was chosen for me I guess.
Settings were f/6.7 and EXIF show shutter speed of 1/30th ISO 320.
I know that is too slow a shutter speed.
This is something I am struggling with. I cannot keep aperture, shutter speed and ISO in a "good" range. Evenw hen I think I have good light. It has to be that lens with a minimum aperture of f/5.6 when zoomed full 200mm. If I don't use full zoom I cannot fill the frame with the bird. I can't get any closer. I am within 15 to 18 feet now.
What the heck else does it take?
dramtastic
Senior Member
Mike you should be able to set the minimum shutter speed in the menu so even in aperture priority it won't shoot slower than that speed. ISO auto will then choose the ISO speed rating for that shutter speed. It doesn't matter what the maximum aperture is on the lens at full zoom, you need to stop down on the camera. By the sounds of it and correct me if I'm wrong, you think that the fastest aperture on the lens is the limiting factor. I have a fixed F4 zoom, F5.6 with the teleconverter on and I still stop down for sharpness. The only reason to leave it at 5.6, your lens or mine, is if the light is really poor. I do not believe it is the crop as you are standing close enough to the subject. Heavy cropping is normally only and issue if the lens is at it's, or close to, maximum zoom and the subject is a long way away.
Shot at 6.30am this morning. AF-C. 39 Points. Single Point AF. Aperture Priority. ISO auto. Back button Focus. 420mm. F8. 1/4000. ISO speed Rating 2800. Cropped.
Shot at 6.30am this morning. AF-C. 39 Points. Single Point AF. Aperture Priority. ISO auto. Back button Focus. 420mm. F8. 1/4000. ISO speed Rating 2800. Cropped.
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quit fu.ckin around with ISO set you camera to S set it too 400 leave the Iso at 100 and find a nice sunny day
I am not messing with ISO. I set minimum allowable ISO, in the camera, to be 800 and leave it. I do mess with A-priority or S-priority. I shoot in one or the other. My camera will not set ISO 100. I can only choose as low as 200 or as high as 3200. I have my ISO set to 200 and let the camera choose the ISO. Today was a nice sunny day and the sun was brightly lighting these birds.
I have tried that yes. I know where to set minimum shutter speed.
How do you stop down a fixed aperture lens?
dramtastic
Senior Member
But what are you setting the minimum shutter speed too? You stop down a 'fixed lens' whether a prime of a zoom just like you do on any other lens, with the camera. They're not fixed in the sense that the aperture cannot be changed. If I stop down to F8 it means the camera will shoot at F8 across the zoom range. Just google stopping down a fixed aperture lens. Here's a couple.
50mm prime lens: 1.4 stopped down or slower lens? - Photo.net Classic Manual Cameras Forum
You Can Increase Sharpness a Lot by Stopping Down Just a Little
50mm prime lens: 1.4 stopped down or slower lens? - Photo.net Classic Manual Cameras Forum
You Can Increase Sharpness a Lot by Stopping Down Just a Little
dramtastic
Senior Member
I can't remember if you said your lens has VR? If it does trying turning it off and setting the minimum shutter speed to 1/1000. My lens does not have VR/OS and I never think about wishing it had.
On these last shots I posted I did not set minimum shutter speed while in A-priority. Some of the others previously I had set min shutter at 1/320th sec. That drove the ISO into the 1600 range.
I do understand now. Stopping down is actually making the aperture smaller even on a lens that can achieve maximum aperture of f/4 at any zoom length. Correct?
So stopping down gives more DOF and a sharper image over all?
But, that too drives ISO into the higher numbers just like a faster shutter speed does. Higher ISO seems to be bad for my images? Am I still missing something?
My 55-200mm lens is a VR lens, yes. I actually have never used it with VR turned off :grey:
Hmmm, just thought about this. VR may be a culprit here. This is a used lens, came with my camera, and VR may be trashed possibly? Both of my other lenses seem to not have this noise/blurry issue at any zoom length. I have not used them for bird photos though from longer distances (on small birds). I will turn it off and give her a go.
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dramtastic
Senior Member
Don't worry about the ISO, it's more likely to produce some background noise than reduce the sharpness of the subject and a lot of that noise can be reduced in LR or PS. Set a minimum shutter speed of 1/1000/1250/2000/4000 and stop down to F8 or F11. If all else fails get a better lens. :greedy_dollars:
This minimum shutter speed you advise is only when doing these type shots right? I don't want to leave it there for everything do I?
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
The rule of thumb for minimum shutter speed is that the shutter speed sound be the same at the focal length you are shooting at. Example = 60mm should be no slower than
1/60 120mm hould be no slower than 1/120sec
Those are the basic place to start. You can go slower but you run the risk of movement that would soften the shot. Objects that move you will have to take into account how fast they move. Get your calculator out sometime and see how far an object moves when it is moving 5MPH. How far does it travel in 1/60sec. Now change it to 10mph. I think once you do this you will see what you are dealing with with slow shutter speeds. A falcon can fly from 50MPH all the way up to 242MPH. The common seagulls we all like to shoot on the beach can fly up to 47MPH
1/60 120mm hould be no slower than 1/120sec
Those are the basic place to start. You can go slower but you run the risk of movement that would soften the shot. Objects that move you will have to take into account how fast they move. Get your calculator out sometime and see how far an object moves when it is moving 5MPH. How far does it travel in 1/60sec. Now change it to 10mph. I think once you do this you will see what you are dealing with with slow shutter speeds. A falcon can fly from 50MPH all the way up to 242MPH. The common seagulls we all like to shoot on the beach can fly up to 47MPH
dramtastic
Senior Member
Only for birds. They move erratically and they are generally small. The photo I posted in automotive shot's was a Ferrari travelling at around 50MPH and the shutter speed was 1/125 and taken with a $380 Sigma travel lens by my partner who had never used the camera before. Landscapes/portraits I'll go to 1/60-1/125. Waterfalls 1sec. With birds, general rules go out the window in my experience and they make up 99% of what I shoot.
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Here are the best of the 108 images I shot. All are from large JPEG as I cannot figure out how to get my NEF files to my computer. I cannot see them on the drive anywhere.
Are you using view NX,mine created a folder Nikon transfer in my pictures and automatically puts raw files in there
Here are the best of the 108 images I shot. All are from large JPEG as I cannot figure out how to get my NEF files to my computer. I cannot see them on the drive anywhere.
Are you using view NX,mine created a folder Nikon transfer in my pictures and automatically puts raw files in there
dramtastic
Senior Member
I started with NEX then moved onto LR5.2. I have only ever shot raw with my D7000 as it allows me more adjustability in post, however.....................this can only enhance what is already a fairly decent shot. It cannot turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.
There is one thing that some people forget about VR usage. It is written in the lenses manuals that when you use VR, you have to half press the shutter and wait for the image to stabilize. If you're too fast just pressing the shutter without the little wait, you could get that fuzziness. It is written that it's normal with VR to see some jarred movement in the viewfinder while the VR adjusts itself.
You might have found part of your problem here.