Correct setting for birds in flight (1 Viewer)

Hi
I have a D300 camera and I want to start taking photos of birds in flight. Also of birds at a feeder which hover momentarially before landing. Can anyone who takes these kind of pictures give me some idea of what settings to put my camera at to get a good picture. The lens I have is a 70-200 f2.8 VR. Thanks Tony

Start in Manual Mode with Aperture set to F8 and shutter speed 1/800sec. Let ISO "float" to maintain exposure using Auto ISO. If pics still seem a little blurry, increase shutter speed. If you can get within 15m for feeder shots, try using your SB-600 as fill flash.

good luck,
Rick

I have a D70 + 300mm f4 prime. For birds in flight—in fact for most shots with this lens—I generally set up the camera as follows:

Exposure mode: Aperture preferred
Aperture: maximum (f4)
Metering: Spot
ISO: 400

With these settings the shutter speed floats, but except under the most abominable lighting conditions should be fast enough to stop most birds in flight. Since you’re using a zoom, which is unlikely to be at its best wide-open, you might want to stop down the lens a bit if the light permits, say to f4 or f5..

Not how everybody does it, but it works for me. . ..

Me, a D300 and either a 300mm or 500mm sigma prime

Aperature mode
I try to keep to f8 if light allows but stop down to keep the Shutter speed up
centre weighted metering
dynamic area focus
51 focus points
Iso 400 with AutoIso set up to 1600

The hardest past I find is actually tracking the birds and maintaining a good composition but that can always be corrected at home. Fire off loads of shots and then start praying and hopefully some will be good.

Best of luck.

Ian
PS. Birds in flight can be addictive so be warned......

Aperture priority for me with just the centre focus point selected. If conditons are bright then I prefer ISO200 else ISO400. Generally I use f5,6 but if conditions warrant I'll go higher - especially with a zoom lens.

Main thing for me is to make use of the Exposure Variation/Compensation. Usually around +1.00 EV but can vary more or less depending on brightness of the sky and/or bird and how much illumination there is from below. An Egret against a bright sky doesn't need any EV adjustment but a Heron does. Vice-verca against a dull sky.

Best policy I find is to take a few test photos when I arrive at a location, even if it's just of tree tops and check the results on the LCD. If exposure looks good for the tree tops then it's about right for the birds as well.

With my zoom I usually switch off the image stabilisation for birds in flight as I suspect it slows down autofocus.

A 200mm lens is pretty short for any bird photography though I dare say it depends on size of bird and how close they are. I'd definitely start with ISO 200 and maybe f8 as there'll be plenty of light entering the camera to give a decent shutter speed.

Hi thanks for the replys. I just took some photos in the manual mode. Settings were: F 8
S 1/200
exp. comp 0v
metering--centre-weight
but I forgot to look at ISO which was at 1000.
It was a horrible dark cold day and very late in the afternoon. I used my flash, is this high ISO and a flash the reason the brown bird looks gray and it looks like a night shot?
Regards Tony

When using a flash, you need to set White Balance to "Flash" symbol. You can also tweak the Flash or Auto White Balance color temperture (make them warmer or cooler) to reflect your taste. If you are still not getting the colors you want you can also adjust them with a custom Picture Control.

Also, you need to enable Auto FP, e5 in the D90 Menu settings. This will allow for flash at higher shutter speeds than 1/250sec and also reduces flash power somewhat. You can also adjust flash compesation power for a more naturally look.

Generally you need 1/800sec or faster to get really sharp pics while setting your aperture at F8 allows for enough DoF to get the whole bird in focus. At this point, don't fret over the ISO. The D90 can still produce very nice prints at ISO 1600. High ISO "noise" can/may be fixable in processing. But there is nothing that can be done for a blurry out of focus pic caused by a too slow shutter speed and/or too little DoF from using a fast aperture setting.
good luck,
Rick

I would think that F-8 in flight wouldn't capture the movement too quickly but redtail has some good shots there. I will have to give it a try. Why f-8 and not F-5.6 or there abouts?

Most variable aperture dSLR zoom lens are generally sharpest and with less faults at F8. More importantly, for on-the-fly shots in uncontrolled environments with birds flying unknown direction/angles/distances at fast speeds I think it is best to maximize depth of field to minimize focus errors.

For example, DoF with a 500mm lens;
F8 at 40m DoF is ~2m and 50cm at 20m.
F5.6 at 40m DoF is ~1.5m and 37cm at 20m.
F4 at 40m DoF is ~1m and 26cm at 20m.

Really not much room for focus error, especially if you want wingtip-to-wingtip sharpness, even if you can judge the distance precisely. Post-processing can fix many image problems but poor focus can never be fixed.

In controlled environments and when you can have time set up a shot to minimize the unknowns (like at the feeder above) then by all means shoot fast apertures if that is what is required for artistic or technical reasons.

cheers,
Rick