Bird photography,lens,subject size,crop and working distance for beginers

mikew_RIP · Nov 14, 2015

When we get some one asking about getting into bird photography we mostly try to point them at the longer lenses,lots of times they struggle to see why,after all the 70-300 they are thinking about buying is a lot longer than the 18-55 they got with there camera.
It would be nice if others would contribute to this thread with examples showing full image,crop,format,subject distance and focal length,or as much of this information as they can.

My first one is a stonechat,the bird is 11-13cm,i was at about 10ft with a 600mm lens on DX giving the field of view equal to 900mm on FX.

First the full image.

Next what would have been a nice crop

Now what i like to end up with as far as a crop is concerned

Bird photography can be done with a lot less in lens length,if your working from a blind or at a feeding station,if you work like i have too stalking ie walking around the patch then the longer the lens the better,hope this shows why we talk long lenses.

mikew_RIP · Nov 14, 2015

Just to add to this post,when using a telephoto zoom at full zoom close up they mostly suffer focus breathing,this is the fact the focal length will reduce when at its closest focus distance,unfortunately its mostly guess work unless you can find a review that has carried out this test.
Some thing like my Sigma 150-600 will be 600mm most of the time but get down to 8 or 10ft and it could reduce drastically,i have read of some long zooms losing 150mm off the long end in this situation.

wev · Nov 14, 2015

This is a spotted sandpiper from yesterday. They are usually very skiddish, but this one let me get about 15 feet away. They never stop moving, so you have to get them in good light and shoot at 1/640 or faster. This is at 600mm with my Tamron and 5300.

Full frame

Cropped

aroy · Nov 14, 2015

I have no telephoto lens, but find that cropping especially for WEB posting works perfectly

This is an 800x800 pixel crop from the 6000x4000 frame. Though a longer lens would be nice to have, you can still get excellent images (though highly cropped) from the kit lens.

mikew_RIP · Nov 14, 2015

Next one is a Chaffinch,about 6 inches,taken at 9ft lens at 600mm,it would just about have made a image not cropped but i do like them larger.

These small birds that are not used to people will only let you get so close,the birds in a populated area may be a bit more forgiving and allow you to get closer but you may soon run out of subject variation.

Blacktop · Nov 14, 2015

I'm about to leave out to shoot some sandhill cranes. These are big birds, and at the bird sanctuary there is a fence around, so you can't get real close. I only have a 70-300mm lens at the moment, so I will try to post a few examples as well when I get home later.

Another example that would be useful for beginners, is what to do (or maybe even what not to do) when you are in fact too far from your bird.
In my opinion (and personal taste) I would not crop in so much. (way too much quality loss for my money). I would however try and make the surrounding areas as part of my bird shot.

For example. This shot was taken with the 70-300mm lens. I would say about 10-12 feet away. It is already cropped, so cropping more to get the bird to fill the frame would be futile. So I try to make the surrounding area look interesting as well. The branches, the snow and what have you. Give it a feeling so to speak.

Kevin H · Nov 14, 2015

Blacktop said:
I'm about to leave out to shoot some sandhill cranes. These are big birds, and at the bird sanctuary there is a fence around, so you can't get real close. I only have a 70-300mm lens at the moment, so I will try to post a few examples as well when I get home later.

Get them to come to you

nikonpup · Nov 14, 2015

more infor for the fire" The Nikon AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4E PF ED VR lens review for birding | Nikon Rumors

Roy1961 · Nov 14, 2015

a yellow-rumped warbler, sparrow size, about 25 feet up in the trees, Iso 320 F8 1/800 @ 500mm

uncropped verison

cropped version

Don Kuykendall_RIP · Nov 14, 2015

Don Kuykendall_RIP · Nov 14, 2015

Shot with my 70-300 on my d7100

Date Time Original	2015:03:08 13:27:09
Exposure Time	1/2000
F Number	f / 9
Exposure Program	Manual
ISO Speed Ratings	500
Metering Mode	CenterWeightedAverage
Flash	Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode
Focal Length	300mm
White Balance	Auto white balance
Make	NIKON CORPORATION
Model	NIKON D7100

Lens	70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

Vincent · Nov 15, 2015

I have to go through some 70-300mm f4-5.6G pictures.

One point already go to a place where there are a lot of birds that are used to people close by.
Gardens/parks/parking lots and feeders are great, but also water (see, channels, rivers, nature reserves,...).

This is at a channel, did not expect a Cormorant there.
Here using an expensive 600mm f4D AF-S (first AF-S second hand, bought at 25% of the f4E version), distance about 30m, on tripod.

Camera	NIKON D7000
Lens	600.0 mm f/4.0
Focal Length	600mm
Exposure	1/1000
F Number	f/7.1
ISO	800

This is a crop I shot in landscape and did not take the time to change, not to miss the shot.
%

grandpaw · Nov 15, 2015

This may not go along exactly with this thread but I think it is still relevant to beginners or people new to using longer lenses

#1 the longer the lens the shorter the depth of field

#2 The closer you are to your subject the less depth of field you will have

#3 If you combine a long lens and a short distance the depth of field will be even smaller yet.

#4 The longer the lens you use the larger numbered F stop you will need

#5 The closer you are the larger number F stop you will need

#6 The longer the focal length lens you shoot handheld the higher shutter speed you will need

#7 As a rule of thumb, you need at least as fast a shutter speed as the focal length or higher Example 300mm shoot at 1/300 sec or higher on a crop sensor it is 1 1/2 times or 1/450 or higher. Higher the better

#8 use a tripod when you can and you can use slower shutter speeds

#9 Use image stabilization if your lens has it. VR, VC, IS or whatever your brand of lens calls it.

#10 Turn off stabilization when using a tripod. Remember to turn it back on when not shooting on a tripod

When I use my Tamron 150-600mm I will set the ISO to 500 on my crop sensor D7000 camera and at long distances use F6.3 to F8. At closer distances I use F8 or F9 to get enough depth of field and the shutter speed usually is fast enough to stop camera and subject movement.

mikew_RIP · Nov 15, 2015

grandpaw said:
This may not go along exactly with this thread but I think it is still relevant to beginners or people new to using longer lenses

#1 the longer the lens the shorter the depth of field

#2 The closer you are to your subject the less depth of field you will have

#3 If you combine a long lens and a short distance the depth of field will be even smaller yet.

#4 The longer the lens you use the larger numbered F stop you will need

#5 The closer you are the larger number F stop you will need

#6 The longer the focal length lens you shoot handheld the higher shutter speed you will need

#7 As a rule of thumb, you need at least as fast a shutter speed as the focal length or higher Example 300mm shoot at 1/300 sec or higher on a crop sensor it is 1 1/2 times or 1/450 or higher. Higher the better

#8 use a tripod when you can and you can use slower shutter speeds

#9 Use image stabilization if your lens has it. VR, VC, IS or whatever your brand of lens calls it.

#10 Turn off stabilization when using a tripod. Remember to turn it back on when not shooting on a tripod

When I use my Tamron 150-600mm I will set the ISO to 500 on my crop sensor D7000 camera and at long distances use F6.3 to F8. At closer distances I use F8 or F9 to get enough depth of field and the shutter speed usually is fast enough to stop camera and subject movement.

My thoughts where to get all the info in one thread we could,so it fits nicely

Blacktop · Nov 15, 2015

Ok so I have a question.
This shot (uncropped un-edited.) was taken at 300mm with a DX camera {according to the EXIF data} 9.4 feet away.

How much closer would the FOV be taking this same shot at 500mm at the same distance? (Same camera)..

Here is a final edited and cropped shot. Would I get this close with a 500mm focal length?

mikew_RIP · Nov 15, 2015

Pete i have no idea how to judge that,what i will do though first chance i get is take the same bird from the same position @ 600,500.400 and 300mm.

mikew_RIP · Nov 16, 2015

Pete first apologies as you have no for editing but i couldn't get my head round it any other way (if i have that is

)according to my calculations there is approximately a 1.67% difference in angle of view between a 300mm and a 500mm lens,if i apply that as a factor on your original edit and compare that with your crop the crop looks to give a larger image than the 500mm equivalent;

Original edit

My upscale

If you had used 500mm though you obviously could have used the same crop factor and had a larger image,could you bring the 1.3 inbuilt crop into play just to help you see what lens you want,i know you wouldn't want to use it.

aroy · Nov 16, 2015

Blacktop said:
Ok so I have a question.
This shot (uncropped un-edited.) was taken at 300mm with a DX camera {according to the EXIF data} 9.4 feet away.

View attachment 187126

How much closer would the FOV be taking this same shot at 500mm at the same distance? (Same camera)..

Here is a final edited and cropped shot. Would I get this close with a 500mm focal length?

View attachment 187127

A 300mm lens has 5.33 degree FOV for DX
A 500mm lens has 3.16 degree FOV for DX

Which gives us 0.87 feet width for 300mm and 0.52 feet width at 500mm. (W = R x Theta). 500mm is 1.67 times less in width (or same in magnification)

OT. The bird is around 1/9 the full width so either it is 1 inch long, or most probably the distance is more like 30 feet