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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Want to hear from 1-2 year photographers (1 Viewer)

I think before you do anything you would be well advised to test your gear on a static subject such as a ruler which is angled at say 45 degrees away from you at a distance of about 10ft. Set your camera at f5.6. (preferably on a firm tripod) Aim for a specific point on the ruler and take about 5 shots using single shot AF. Ask yourself if you think the image in the view finder is sharp. You can then try say 5 shots using manual focus but do not move the camera. Take another 5 shots but between each shot go out of focus then manually adjust so that you are in focus then take a shot. Repeat 5 times. Load the results onto your computer and check for sharpness. If for the images where you have used AF mode you have shots which are not sharp the you may have a fault with the camera or the lens....for instance you might have a lens which is front focusing.
If the AF shots are OK and you find your manual shots are not in focus you may have to check your diopter setting i.e. the tiny wheel which is next to the view finder. To set this correctly go back to AF mode and focus on the ruler with the red light showing in camera (confirming focus lock) and tweak the diopter till you are absolutely sure that the image in the view finder is as sharp as it can be. Repeat the tests. If everything is sharp then you know that you and your gear are performing well. Remember always that you must focus on the same spot on the ruler and you must not move the camera even by a tiny amount otherwise you loose consistency.

In the field , or indeed with the test do not snatch the shutter release button. This will only cause shake and image stabilisation won't correct that.


If you find that you do not get sharp shots after testing out on static objects ask someone else with experience to check your camera and lens out for you. If there is a problem then you may need the camera and lens recallibrating. If you do not feel confident with your gear then it will put you off photography.

Have a look at your custom settings for sharpness....make sure it is set at 0. I do not shoot RAW but believe the images in RAW are a bit soft to begin with (I may be wrong)

Remember AF can be confused by different conditions and shooting birds with twigs in the way can be quite demanding. In those conditions I would not use al-servo....in fact I rarely do though I know many do. I don't think you can focus lock and recompose when al-servo is used.....though I may be wrong.

I hope this helps.

Good luck.

No point in testing out on birds if you cannot get static subjects sharp. When ever you buy gear you should test it out...never make the assumption that everything is OK because very often it is not.

Well I tested the lens out on some static objects tripod mounted and the images look pretty sharp. Thanks for all of the ideas for testing the lens and camera further. I suspect it was my fault all along though because I have had some hits, just not getting the higher hit rates I am after.
 
Sorry we seemed to have uploaded similtaneously...ignore my suggestion....now go out and knock the pants off Art Morris and come back with that prize winning shot! 8-P
 
Sorry we seemed to have uploaded similtaneously...ignore my suggestion....now go out and knock the pants off Art Morris and come back with that prize winning shot! 8-P

:-O

Oh man no pressure right!

He is who I got the idea to use AI Servo. In his book, The Art of Bird Photography he mentions that he did not start getting good shots of Warblers until he took a friends suggestion and switched to AI Servo mode.
 
Indeed that is true. I don't get to shoot warblers that often with a 600 lens and a 1.4 converter and extension tubes. I do like the option of recomposing in camera and getting habitat shots with my shorter lenses and lack of extension tubes. I don't for one moment dismiss al-servo...it's just that it does not suit me and my style of photography...but that could be a bad thing!
 
I have been having this problem were I get close to a bird, but it is in the foreground of a messy twiggy tree or bush and the auto focus wants to go back and forth between the mess of twigs in the background to the bird that is 10 feet away right in my face practically.

I do a lot of photography of fast moving passerines in dense brush. I never us AF. It is not capable of reliably distinguishing between different objects at different depths in a complex 3 dimensional space. Only your brain can do that.

Go to manual and be done with it.

SF
 

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I do a lot of photography of fast moving passerines in dense brush. I never us AF. It's just is not capable of reliably distinguishing between different objects at different depths in a complex 3 dimensional evironment. Only your brain can do that.

Go to manual and be down with it.

SF

Yeah your right going to have to become one with the manual focus. Just hard to hold the end of the lens and turn that GD ring on the lens. Amazing photos btw considering those conditions! Amazing!
 
Hi CCRII.
Another point which I dont think anyone has covered on here yet is the aperture.Modern autofocus lens focus rings only have to be moved a fraction for the subject to be way out of focus.A small aperture can also help in getting a sharp shot.A bird would only have to move its head slightly after locking on to be out of focus with the lens wide open (ie f5.6).Ideally I try to shoot at either f 7.1 or f8 if the light allows of course.This gives you a greater depth of field and therefore some leeway if the bird moves slightly giving you more chance of a sharp shot.
Going to your original question.I have only been taking my photography seriously for about a year since going digital.My keeper rate is about 45-50% at the moment but its getting better all the time.I am still using entry level gear but when my keeper rate goes up a bit more I will be looking to upgrade.Hopefully within the next year.You are using gear that is more than capable of taking great pics so keep at it.
Hope this helps,Mike.
 
The Center focus Point Adjustment has been a really big deal!! I have not really got close enough to get any sharp shots yet but I have noticed that even if say the bird only takes up 25% of the photo space it is noticeably sharper.

I did get this female cardinal that is okay but a big improvement. I left the twigs in to show that even in a twiggy busy environment I was able to get a much improved sharper shot.
 

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The Center focus Point Adjustment has been a really big deal!! I have not really got close enough to get any sharp shots yet but I have noticed that even if say the bird only takes up 25% of the photo space it is noticeably sharper.

I did get this female cardinal that is okay but a big improvement. I left the twigs in to show that even in a twiggy busy environment I was able to get a much improved sharper shot.

With close ups you want to consider using your limited DOF as efficiently as possible.

For instance in this picture the tip of the beak is further away from the camera lens than the tip of the tail. The conventional wisdom is to focus on the eyes but in this case the actual focus point was at the base of the tail to split the DOF between the beak and tail...

Taken at 38x at about 60 feet
 

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I had some more mild successes today. I finally was able to get close to some birds, but I noticed that the IQ was much improved with just this little change. I did up to f6.7 as well. Unfortunately as is common here in Mich the lighting was crap and I had to use ISO 800.

I did get close to a fresh male Downey woodpecker, but upon close review on the computer I had to reject most of them because apparently there was a very vignetted soft focused brand that partially obstructed the belly. Aside from that though the images were sharp.
 

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I had some more mild successes today. I finally was able to get close to some birds, but I noticed that the IQ was much improved with just this little change. I did up to f6.7 as well. Unfortunately as is common here in Mich the lighting was crap and I had to use ISO 800.

I did get close to a fresh male Downey woodpecker, but upon close review on the computer I had to reject most of them because apparently there was a very vignetted soft focused brand that partially obstructed the belly. Aside from that though the images were sharp.
Looks like you are now focusing on the bird instead of the twigs or branches :t:
 
Looks like you are now focusing on the bird instead of the twigs or branches :t:

The chickadee was relatively low shutter speed too 1/350 Sec. So it clearly shows that this is changing everything. Maybe now I can concentrate on exposure compensation and the other 15 things I need to juggle.
 
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