• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

40d not good for bif (1 Viewer)

alexf

alexf

UK, India, Hungary
My 20d replacement has just arrived, the 40d. I have read some reviews on DP forum where they are saying that focus tracking on a moving bird is poor as the focus quickly locks onto the background, but it will refocus back again quicker than the 20d.

I havent had time to use it yet, has anyone had problems tracking small birds in flight with the 40d. (I wouldn't be surprised if it was down to using a short lens or poor tracking skills). I use a 400mm F5.6 and have a steady arm so I was expecting an improvement over the 20d, I hope I don't regret this purchase?!

I appreciate that some people on that forum may have poor tracking skills, wrong lens types, poor copies etc so I dont always believe what I read, what do you guys (who own a 40d) think?

Thanks

Alex
 
Well I'm no great shakes at all where BIFs are concerned, and I've read the negative commentary on the 40D in this regard: but I have to say that - within the scope of my own modest expectations - personally I don't agree that it's "not good".

There's actually another thread on the subject here, Alex.

The shots in there (speaking about mine) might not prove that it's the best camera ever for BIFs, but I do think they prove that it isn't as terrible as some folk suggest.

This looks OK to me, for example.

I'd agree that it takes a bit more effort on the part of the photographer, but thats a good thing IMHO. The focus tracking seems [excellent to me, but I do agree that the focus lock will wander off with little provocation. Just means I've got to try harder to keep the focus point where it needs to be, which I'm OK with.

I know that since I've got my 40D, I've found myself more likely to have a go at a BIF, whereas I'd be more likely to shrug and think "naaah, it's not worth the effort..." with the 30D.
 
Cheers Keith,

Looks like I should give it a go then. From what I can see of it so far the other improvements look good. I hope it doesnt rain this weekend:t:
 
Keep in mind as well that if the AF operates a bit differently on the 40D, it will have a learning curve. I am always skeptical about early reports of problems, as I think most of the problem lies with inexperience of the user.

I remember first getting a 10D and 100-400mm combo. It wouldn't focus worth a damn at first, to the point I was going to return it. Funnily enough that gear not only repaired itself but became more and more accurate.
 
Last edited:
Well mine is just a personal view, and as I say I'm not really a BIF guy anyway.

I know that Romy Ocon is less impressed with the 40D for flight shots, but I suspect that's partly because his standards and expectations are much higher than mine!

;)
 
Harold Stiver said:
Keep in mind as well that if the AF operates a bit differently on the 40D, it will have a learning curve. I am always skeptical about early reports of problems, as I think most of the problem lies with inexperience of the user.

I remember first getting a 10D and 100-400mm combo. It wouldn't focus worth a damn at first, to the point I was going to return it. Funnily enough that gear not only repaired itself but became more and more accurate.
Click to expand...



I totally agree. When I first got my 20d and long lenses I was often told not to judge anything untill I had learnt how to use it and how it behaves in different conditions.

I wondered how so many people could comment so negatively on the 40d in such little time.
 
40D works fine for me.

(pic has been very slightly cropped and reduced in size for upload elsewhere, don't have the original handy at the moment)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0274-cropped-s.jpg
    IMG_0274-cropped-s.jpg
    38.6 KB · Views: 301
since i have not long had my 40d, i have only had 2 good goes at BIFS to date. this was a day at gigrin farm and another red kite feeding station. i gotta say that i was not dissapointed at all and had no real issues focussing accuratley and quickly on the red kites, and indeed i got some shots that i am quite more than pleased with. this was using the sigma 300-800 lens only mind. i have yet to try using my 100-400 is so cannot comment on that yet but on the sigma the 40d focussing performed admirably.
red kites as you know are quite big birds though so i suppose there is plenty to "lock on" to but have not tried with any smaller birds as yet. but at the moment, with my limited BIFS so far i am more than happy with the performance of the 40d
hope this helps a little at least????
 
reptilian said:
since i have not long had my 40d, i have only had 2 good goes at BIFS to date. this was a day at gigrin farm and another red kite feeding station. i gotta say that i was not dissapointed at all and had no real issues focussing accuratley and quickly on the red kites, and indeed i got some shots that i am quite more than pleased with. this was using the sigma 300-800 lens only mind. i have yet to try using my 100-400 is so cannot comment on that yet but on the sigma the 40d focussing performed admirably.
red kites as you know are quite big birds though so i suppose there is plenty to "lock on" to but have not tried with any smaller birds as yet. but at the moment, with my limited BIFS so far i am more than happy with the performance of the 40d
hope this helps a little at least????
Click to expand...



Yes, I am beggining to think that some are saying its no good with small birds because it is naturally harder to lock onto due to the size and speed of smaller birds. Its possibly got more to do with their shooting skills than the camera, maybe.
Mines got the 400mm attached and custom function 3.1 ready to go but this weekends looking a bit dodgy weather wise though :C
 
10D not bad with practice.

Took this with a 10D and a 100-400 Canon zoom out at 400 end.
Quite pleased with it for a learner.

James
 

Attachments

  • bird8.jpg
    bird8.jpg
    82.3 KB · Views: 239
Last edited:
Keith Reeder said:
Not convinced about that either, Alex.

This thread: http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=96818 contains a link (sadly now archived and the pictures not available) to some staggeringly good humming bird pictures - you can see how good they were from the responses posted on the thread.
Click to expand...

Keith
Could this because the humming birds virtualy 'hover' in position as aginst birds that are actually moving across or towards/away from the photographer and therefor not realy bif ?
2 weeks ago I was on the way into town to purchase a 40D but the 1.4TD issue frightened me off. The bif doesn't bother me to much as I don't tend to do too much of it but the 1.4 is permanently there.
 
David Smith said:
Keith
Could this because the humming birds virtualy 'hover' in position as aginst birds that are actually moving across or towards/away from the photographer and therefor not realy bif ?
2 weeks ago I was on the way into town to purchase a 40D but the 1.4TD issue frightened me off. The bif doesn't bother me to much as I don't tend to do too much of it but the 1.4 is permanently there.
Click to expand...

Hi
Can you tell me more about the 1.4 issue as i'm about to upgrade from the 30D to the 40d

Mitch
 
Mitch,

have a read of this, this and this.

Executive summary: the 40D doesn't play very well at all with 400mm f/5.6 lenses and 1.4x TCs, using the central AF point - it's essentially impossible to achieve focus lock.

It is better using one of the outside AF points, but not brilliant.

Now, one or two folk have been lucky and found that their camera/lens/TC combo is OK, but the majority view is that if using a TC on a 400mm f/5.6 is essential to you, a 30D (say) might be a better bet.

Personally, even though I'm a huge fan of my 30D/1.4x TC/100-400mm set up, I'm still glad I got the 40D, and I find I'm not missing the TC nearly as much as I thought I would - the 40D more than makes up for it by just being an all-round better camera than the 30D.
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 17 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

C
I've got a Canon R7 and need to update my lenses
Replies
15
Views
1K
Barred Wobbler
Barred Wobbler
Arbu
EOS RP with EF 100-400mm lens
Replies
3
Views
770
pdwinter
pdwinter
R
Using a dot sight for BIF on Canon
Replies
0
Views
556
RickHa
R
Z
Bought new KOWA PROMINAR 500mm F5.6FL
Replies
1
Views
898
zhanghl1698
Z
C
emergency birds in flight setup
Replies
1
Views
1K
kimmik
kimmik

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top