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Nikon D7000 ISO Experts (1 Viewer)

I'm with Steve on this the less you use post production software the better, and I owned software you can't buy off the shelf. It's tedious.

The Nikon colour balance on the latest cameras is excellent, and requires the smallest amount of any manipulation. I'm going again to trumpet the D800, I don't touch the images apart from a slight sharpen.

With ISO Colin, don't panic, all digital images produce noise, it's in the genes. I'm not a fan of increasing ISO, there's a misconception that raising the levels suddenly turns on a light, it doesn't the light reflecting off your subject is still the same. As a photographer you have to decide whether to continue taking images in poor light, not the camera.

Noise should not be a problem with a Nikon, if you are seeing it, then you are doing something wrong, either at source or post production.

The larger Heron pic is fine, all it needed is the highlight raising a %, your aim for producing a high quality reproduction is to produce a 'soft image' which show the full extend of the colour range, stay clear of over use of the contrast controls.

You have two top quality pieces of Nikon kit which will give you images to be very proud of.

Best of luck, get out there and enjoy.
 
I shoot D7000 and 400f2.8, with and without 1.4TC.

I HATE shooting at higher ISO's, but when pushed I will go to 1600 MAX. Be carefull when you start cropping. Noise becomes more and more of an issue the more you crop.

Hope that helps a little.

Regards
 
Hi
I recently purchased a Nikon D7000 and have subsequently started bird photography. This week I have purchased a Nikon 300mm f2.8 Lens in conjunction with a 1.4 converter (wanted some versatility) so I didn't go for longer focal length lens (500mm) ~ I'm also broke!!

My question to those experts using this cameras for bird photography is what level can you push the ISO levels to without showing too much noise.

I tested this new lens yesterday in poor lighting conditions and subsequently was struggling with shutter speeds.

Went into a hide and there was a Bittern ~ 20ft away ~ had to shoot quickly as a result I only shot at 1/250th and the result was disappointing (I'll post one on the forum for you guys to have a look at)

As a novice I'm looking for any advice relating to best practices in taking birds ~ talking to a couple of guys yesterday they kindly told me where possible to shot on Aperture Priority to achieve best shutter speed and to wind the ISO up slightly

Any advice would be appreciated ~ Thank You

Regards ..Colin
Colin,
congratulations on your new lens and your heron image.
Winter light seems to peak at 11-12 in the UK and drops off rapidly after that. The 300 without TC's is probably the best way to assess your sharpness and technique. The D700 sensor is pretty high density and demands best handholding technique or good tripod and gimbal.
I used a D7000 with a 300 f2.8vr for about 18 months and preferred to not exceed iso 1600. However I didn't have Topaz denies then and would probably goto iso 3200 now if I had to. My D800 (2 D7000 sensors side by side in effect) is good upto iso 6400 if filling the frame and quite good in a crop after denoise. The 300 took the 2TCEIII very well also.
Keep your shutter speeds up until you are getting mainly sharp shots then reduce it as needed, though feather detail is easily lost with a slight wind if shutter speed is too low. I shot the D7100 from 1/800-1/1250s mainly but for still birds could go much lower.
Have fun with your gear. When the funds are restored the 2TCEIII is great for summer shooting.
 
Hi guys
Thanks for your comments and advice
I have been out again today testing my combination. Perfect conditions with good lighting
Still not happy! Example of one of my shots - located in a hide camera supported on shelf took image of ducks at distance taking care to use centre focusing (not multipoints) and ensuring focus point was on ducks eye - ISO was down at 200 good shutter speed think I shot at f6.3. Took two shots one with VR on and one off as I was resting on shelf.
Downloaded and the images are not sharp eye out of focus also feather detail recognise there will be some loss of depth of field etc
I took in excess of 80 image and most are not to the standard I expect - the remaining images have required a lot tweeting.
My camera is only 8 months old but I'm wondering if there is any problems. Going to have a go with daughters Nikon D3100.
Has anyone got any suggestions as to what basic tests I can undertake to ensure it's not an equipment related issue
Sorry if I sound a bit at a loss but, I just expected some great images especially today with bright sunshine and good light
Any advice appreciated
Regards..Colin
 
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Colin - can you post those two duck shots on here ? Then we can at least see if it is a focusing issue (have you fine-tuned your camera & lens) ? Include the EXIF as you say the SS was good but don't say what it was.

How far was the subject from you ?

Also when you are resting on the shelf, was it the bare shelf or did you have some form of support/padding underneath ?
 
Ditto what Frogfish has suggest....but

Colin, are you shooting in continuous mode?

If so try single but focus on a distinct defined object (iron wrought gate, or similar with a clear background) this way you can tell if there's a camera fault or it's down to technique.

The 300 F2.8 is a top lens but it's heavy, it's quick, but sometimes not as quick as some photographers anticipate. Slowing down your reaction time into ...focus...pause....steady....shoot, could just be the answer.
 
Colin - can you post those two duck shots on here ? Then we can at least see if it is a focusing issue (have you fine-tuned your camera & lens) ? Include the EXIF as you say the SS was good but don't say what it was.

How far was the subject from you ?

Also when you are resting on the shelf, was it the bare shelf or did you have some form of support/padding underneath ?

Hi Kevin
Sorry cannot attach images you have requested as I have erased them so disappointed. When supporting the camera it is on a wooden shelf ~ I have noted other wildlife photographers use like a gel bag ~ will the use of this device help?
No I have not fine tuned my camera not sure how to undertake this tuning operation ~ I'll have a look on the Nikon forum.
I took some test shots both with my D7000 and the daughters D3100 and the results appear to be the same ~ having said that I took buildings etc not wildlife.
I tested the lens using the 1.4 TC and without and the results appeared very similar
The images appeared to be sharp which makes me think the issue is probably due to the centre point focusing which I use when trying to take birds etc. The images of the ducks which I mentioned earlier were 10 metres away ~ ensured I hit the focusing point on ducks eye ~ but when you looked at the image it wasn't 100% and when slightly cropped in was U/S

The testing process goes on!!
Regards..Colin
 
Hi Kevin
Sorry cannot attach images you have requested as I have erased them so disappointed. When supporting the camera it is on a wooden shelf ~ I have noted other wildlife photographers use like a gel bag ~ will the use of this device help?
No I have not fine tuned my camera not sure how to undertake this tuning operation ~ I'll have a look on the Nikon forum.
I took some test shots both with my D7000 and the daughters D3100 and the results appear to be the same ~ having said that I took buildings etc not wildlife.
I tested the lens using the 1.4 TC and without and the results appeared very similar
The images appeared to be sharp which makes me think the issue is probably due to the centre point focusing which I use when trying to take birds etc. The images of the ducks which I mentioned earlier were 10 metres away ~ ensured I hit the focusing point on ducks eye ~ but when you looked at the image it wasn't 100% and when slightly cropped in was U/S

The testing process goes on!!
Regards..Colin

Colin
If you have VR on and resting on a wooden shelf the lens can bounce a bit as the VR kicks in. Best to switch it off if shutter is fast enough ( eg over 1/600th ).
I notice with my 300/4 ( no VR) resting on a wooden window ledge that there is a little sideways movement from the vibration from the D800. So I jam it against the pillar supporting the roof and the results are much sharper. I also rest my hand on top of the lens to damp any movement.
Neil.
 
Hello Neil and Perigin
Many thanks for your comments
I'll bear them in mind when next out and see if there is any improvement
Regards..Colin
 
Hi Kevin
When supporting the camera it is on a wooden shelf ~ I have noted other wildlife photographers use like a gel bag ~ will the use of this device help?
No I have not fine tuned my camera not sure how to undertake this tuning operation ~ I'll have a look on the Nikon forum.
I took some test shots both with my D7000 and the daughters D3100 and the results appear to be the same ~ having said that I took buildings etc not wildlife.
The images appeared to be sharp which makes me think the issue is probably due to the centre point focusing which I use when trying to take birds etc. The images of the ducks which I mentioned earlier were 10 metres away ~ ensured I hit the focusing point on ducks eye ~ but when you looked at the image it wasn't 100% and when slightly cropped in was U/S
Regards..Colin

Hi Colin,

Well there's a lot to work with there.

1. The lack of dampening could absolutely be an issue. You need to rest your lens on something that absorbs vibrations not something that reverberates.
Those gel packs work well but to be honest anything such as scarf or your jacket does pretty much the same thing. A bag that you can fill with sand also works well if you are near/on the beach. Gently resting your hand on top of the lens can also help as Neil suggested.

2. You must fine tune your lens/camera. There are a number of ways to do this but it's not difficult. There is an excellent article by Lens Rentals in the USA (who keep in stock 30-100+ lenses of each model) whereby they show that due to manufacturing tolerances of both cameras & lenses, a lens can be perfect on one camera, show +20 (or more) on another and -20 (or more) on yet another !
You could be doing everything right and still getting OOF shots due to the incompatibility (or the lack of tuning) of your lens/camera. Those are extreme examples but most tuning will result in somewhere between a -10 to a +10 adjustment.

3. Buildings are not going to show you much. And at 10m focus on ducks should be absolutely spot-on.
 
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I just came across this thread - I am a D7000 user, with 300 f4 and 1.4 or 1.7TC. I use the same settings as Frogfish in his Dec. 1 post, and it works even better if the lighting conditions allow you to use spot metering on the bird - then if the overall lighting conditions change, the rapidly changing ISO with stable ss and aperture work well. I also use auto-ISO with max. set at 1600.

Noise is always worse if you have to lighten an underexposed image, or part of an image, so try and expose to the right. (This is where p&s and mirriorless systems have an advantage over the D7000 and other Dslrs - there is a live histogram on them, so you can set the exposure up to the right before hitting the shutter).

There is also a way to minimize noise and optimize sharpness in post-processing. I use Lightroom, and occasionally Photoshop Elements if I want to remove objects or clone out oof bits in the background etc.

In Lightroom, do the following steps - on a raw image --

1. Crop, and adjust WB, colors, exposure etc. as needed
2. L. hand panel, Sharpen for Faces
3. Click the cursor (now a plus sign) to enlarge the image to 1:1
4.Go the Noise Reduction box in the R.hand panel. Inspect the image very carefully for color noise, and if present, slide the Color slider to the right till it disappears
5. Now look very carefully for luminance noise, and if present, slide the Luminance slider right till it disappears.
6. In the Sharpening panel, with the alt. key depressed, the image turns monochrome. Move the Masking slider left or right till a few white spots appear in smooth areas (sky etc.), then back off a tad.
7. Export the file, resize if nec., as a jpeg.
8.Only then, sharpen the downsized version (use Preview on a Mac, or any other simple image program on a PC).
9. If you can still see much noise, import into PS or Elements and use a noise-reduction program like Noise Ninja.

Seems to work well, and if there is still noise present, ditch the pic unless it's something like the only image of a rarity.

Hope this is useful info to somebody - there are probably other ways of doing it too.

Richard
 
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