D70+Tamron 200-500 Zoom

[Sussex bird man]

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I'm posting this in the hope that I can get some advice (or encouragement) in the use of my newly acquired Tamron 200-500. For still stuff it is excellentfor the money but for flying shots, or bascally anything in reasonable motion, I don't get sharpness. What am I doing wrong? I'm a photographer of circa 35 years but only recently moved to digital. I'd appreciate any feedback on your experiences or some tips on where I'm going wrong.

I did wonder if it is camera shake that is causing the softness - I don't use a tripod for flying shots (you can't really).

Hoping to hear!!!

[Mark43]

Hi SBM.....Just up the road from you |=)|

Be interested in seeing the replies to this having just purchased the same lens.

[gloygum]

Hi Sussex bird man,

I have the same gear & have no particular problems with flight shots. You need to get the shutterspeed up quite high though if you are hand-holding. This means using the lens wide-open & bumping up the ISO if necessary. Hand-holding, I generally start at ISO400 & work up from there until shutterspeed is >= 1/500. Images at ISO800 are still reasonable to my eye.

Also; if you are tracking flying objects, make sure you have the correct autofocus setting. Play about with this, but for flying objects, I;d go for AF-C plus "dynamic area" focus mode. You might have to dig about in the menus for these. Setting the camera up like this is equivalent to missile lock.

Finally, I would recommend moving to California, where it isn't dark like a cave for 8 months of the year!

Hope this helps.

[Keith Reeder]

Hi SBM,

could you post up an example or three, please?

My first thought is too low a shutter speed for the subject, but if we could see some pictures it would be easier to make informed suggestions.

[Sussex bird man]

undefinedHi SBM,

could you post up an example or three, please?

My first thought is too low a shutter speed for the subject, but if we could see some pictures it would be easier to make informed suggestions.


Thanks Keith. I've posted three here.
DSC3090 1/500 F11 500mm Shutter priority AF-C single mode AF
DSC3099 as above
DSC3121 1/500 F14 500mm Shutter priority AF-C single mode AF

Anything you can offer would be helpful!! Thanks. SBM

[Sussex bird man]

Thanks Keith. I've posted three here.
DSC3090 1/500 F11 500mm Shutter priority AF-C single mode AF
DSC3099 as above
DSC3121 1/500 F14 500mm Shutter priority AF-C single mode AF

Anything you can offer would be helpful!! Thanks. SBM

[Sussex bird man]

Actually Keith, the images I finally (!!) attached are not the best quality because I had to reduce the image size, in res and physical size, too much. I hope they are okay o get the idea of what I am meaning. My issue is clarity in terms of focus. As you can see, I keep a reasonably high shutter speed and the F is high too! Maybe I'm expecting too much? With film I could attain much better crispness even without AF.

[Rob Chace]

Actually Keith, the images I finally (!!) attached are not the best quality because I had to reduce the image size, in res and physical size, too much. I hope they are okay o get the idea of what I am meaning. My issue is clarity in terms of focus. As you can see, I keep a reasonably high shutter speed and the F is high too! Maybe I'm expecting too much? With film I could attain much better crispness even without AF.
You really should try using dynamic area af as already suggested & af-c. I found this by far the best combination for flying or moving subjects with this camera & lens. Also open the lens up more to increase the shutter speed as much as possible. You should get sharp results at about f8. You will also get much more consistant results if you use a tripod or some form of supprt. Just slacken off the pan & tilt & track the flying bird as normal. You could also try using the machine gun approach & fire a few frames at a time as it costs you nothing to delete the crap!
Hope this helps
Regards Rob

[DOC]

I'll try to help you out Sussex Bird man :
I have had this combo of D-70 +Tamron 200-500 for 9 months now.
Many of my shots are "In flight " or "Action " shots and they are tack sharp !
The Tamron lense is one great lense ! Don't give up.
Take a look in
My Gallery (http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/6414) - almost all the shots are hand held .
First of all - i never go down from Iso 400 .( iso 800 is not a rude word ).
Do NOT use AF-C - it may sound logical to use it but it ruins the sharpness because of motion . I use only AF-S and press the shutter as fast as i can when the bird comes in focus. Try using multiple frame per second mode - then you'll shoot 2-3 frames when in focus - one of the shots will come out SHARP !
F\8 mostly but there's no problem with F\9 or F\6.3 ( in dull light ) .I rarely shoot birds with F\14 etc . In order to crank up the shutter speed - use EV -2\3 at least . That will leave you with F\8 but with higher shutter speeds .
"In flight" shots are sharp when shutter speed is at least 1\800 but i usually prefer speeds of 1\1600 or 1\2000.


Take a look at the following examples :
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/81633/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/91235/sort/1/cat/500/page/1
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/89336/sort/1/cat/500/page/1

You have a great camera & lense - Hope i helped a bit .