40d & Bif? (1 Viewer)

Thanks! The streak on the Tern's bill wasn't me - I can only assume it is a specular highlight but not sure what from. Looking at this image, I really should process it again and get more detail out of the head!

Just trying to think which Eider you mean - there is one with red water and one with blue and red...no special technique, just low sun and colour reflected from boats.

mw_aurora said:

Thanks! The streak on the Tern's bill wasn't me - I can only assume it is a specular highlight but not sure what from. Looking at this image, I really should process it again and get more detail out of the head!

Just trying to think which Eider you mean - there is one with red water and one with blue and red...no special technique, just low sun and colour reflected from boats.

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............ one with blue and red...no special technique, just low sun and colour reflected from boats ...... to a beginner like me it seems very special but it's education to learn that "low sun and colour reflected from boats" can be edited in the shooting and in post (you must have cropped it, even a little bit) to produce such a delightful picture. Some day I may even be able to work out how you chose and tweaked your metering for this shot ... that'll be the day!

After following this thread on the problems with BIF on the 40D, the first thing I tried when I received my 40D at lunchtime today was BIF. At first things were a bit slow to lock on, if at all, then I found this setting in the handbook and changed it. I pre-focused as close as I could then pressed the shutter to lock on, once it was locked on it didn't miss the bird, not even following the bird passing trees. The focus seems to stop if it can't find focus in a short range so goes to the nearest thing that it can focus on, which is the bird if you are tracking it.

I then put the function back to the 0: Focus search on. It went back to losing the bird altogether unless I was spot on. I may be wrong and just been lucky but it seems to work.

Sorry I haven't any photos to post as they are grossly underexposed, Blackbirds against white clouds plus I didn't put the right compensation on. When I had a closer look in Adobe bridge I pushed the exposer right up, they are sharp but totally flat so not good as an example. It a shame I only managed to get about 20 frames before it started to rain, hopefully the weather is going to be kind this weekend then I can get out and try again.



Out of the manual
C.Fn III: Auto focus/Drive. page 157

0: Focus search on
1: Focus Search off

Prevents the camera from becoming grossly out of focus as it attempts to focus again. Especially with telephoto lenses which can become extremely out of focus.

Can I just ask a simple question here,please.I am really struggling with this camera.The shots quite often seem to be very "washed out".Not sharp decisive colours ,as is with the 30D.I have tried setting the STANDARD setting to 4 as opposed to the normal 3,I have upped the contrast by 1 point,and the little compensation bar ,which on the 20D and 30D,was always set to -1/3 .I set to + 1/3rd.Have tried the Spot metering style and the evaluative.Never had a prob with the 20 and 30D,everything worked okay.Just wondered which basic settings others are using.Not RAW,just the P mode ,which is what I always use.I have been reading the user Forums on Dpreview,and people to seem to have different opinions re the AF ,some seem to say use all 9 focus points,as the camera hunts,others say just use the 1 centre point.
any tips greatly appreciated.

Interesting, Christine (Saphire) - I'd thought about trying that Custom Function, but decided against it because - according to the manual at least - it is intended to stop pointless AF hunting when the camera can't lock on.

Still, if it works, it works.

I'm going to try C.Fn IV -1 setting 2 (page 160), which puts AF onto the <AF-ON> button instead of the shutter button: this mean that as soon as the camera focuses I can lift off the <AF-ON> button and AF will stop hunting (a bit like what you say your Custom Function does, by the sound of it) and allowing me to stop and start AF at will by pressing the button.

Actually, I'm also going to swap the functionality of the <AF-ON> and "*" buttons (C.Fn IV -2) - I keep jabbing myself in the eye reaching over for the <AF-ON> button!

@ Christine R:

I can't really think of anything to suggest about the colours, but - shooting RAW (sorry!) - I'm actually amazed by how intense and rich the colours are. Which software are you using to process your pictures?

Re: AF, I'm using centre point focus/AI Servo and it is definitely faster and more accurate than the 30D, but it's also very "sensitive" (for want of a better word) than the 30D - I have put extra effort into being accurate in positioning the AF point and keeping it there.

I read today that the 30D has a tiny built-in delay (say 0.5 second) before it will start to re-seek focus, which can be enough for the user to respond to any slight shift in position and thereby avoid the AF triggering. The 40D seems to lack this delay (probably something Canon could add to a firmware fix) so we have to try harder because we don't have that "buffer".

That's one reason why I'm going to move AF onto the <AF-ON> button - so that once I'm focused as I want to be the AF won't go anywhere unless I tell it to.

Just a different way of achieving the same end result: I'm fine with that, personally.

Thanks Keith, I am going to sit and go through the manual tomorrow, and set everything up how I like it. On my 30D I had the AF set to the back lock button. I couldn't cope with it on the shutter button, I liked having more control. The very few photos I took today look very promising and I don't see a problem with BIF's its just finding the right settings to get things right I think is all it needs and plenty of practice.

Aye, it's clearly a very different camera from the 30D, and I'm really enjoying the challenge of getting to grips with it..!

I would agree with those that have said already technique is all-important. I have always handheld for flight shots with my bigma (might have to change with the 500mm prime though!). My technique is as follows - AV exposure mode, with compensation already set (To get this right, meter on a midtone such as grass in the same light as your subject, check the settings, then meter on the sky/sea where your subject will be and dial in the compensation to get back to the previous settings.) Then set AI servo, continuous shooting. I tend to use centre spot on smaller birds, but for bigger/nearer subjects keep all the focus points active. AF sensitivity set on 3 or 4 out of 4 (IE highest sensitivity). Oh yes - shutter speed; it depends on what you are after - crisp sharp shots with all movement stilled, something with a bit of blur in the wings, or an out-and-out panning shot - but as a rule of thumb, quicker is better to still subject movement and minimise camera wobbles. This will have a knock-on effect on your exposure settings. (Out of interest, does anyone use shutter priority instead of AV?)
Hold the lens at the balance point in one hand, with the body up to your eye in the other, elbows in, feet well placed and in balance. If I can, without restricting my movement, I will brace myself against something handy, eg a fencepost. Keep the camera still in relation to your upper body, pivot from the waist. I find it very useful to make some trial runs following the birds flight paths - easy enough on seacliffs where they are coming in on regular tracks but not possible everywhere. Pick up the bird some distance out and start to track it. I use the focus screen marks to help me keep the bird in the same spot in the frame - try lining them up with part of the bird, and keep them there; it will greatly improve your focus lock. I then start shooting just before the bird gets to where I want it, and keep my finger still on the shutter button until it has gone through the 'zone' I had previsualised. Inevitably, the start and end of the sequence of shots will not be what you are after, but I have found that using this technique I get one or two technically adequate shots from most attempts - whether they work aesthetically, or if the background is obscurred by annoyingly just-out-of focus gulls is another matter!
The other thing I would advise is to go somewhere where you can guarantee some good oppurtunities, such as Bempton Cliffs, to practice. Being able to relax because you know you will get another shot at it really helps you move fluidly with the bird.

Which camera, Gordon?

I ask because you can't adjust the AF sensitivity on the 40D and it's the sensitivity of the AF on this camera that seems to be tripping people up.

Keith Reeder said:

Which camera, Gordon?

I ask because you can't adjust the AF sensitivity on the 40D and it's the sensitivity of the AF on this camera that seems to be tripping people up.

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Good point - 1DsII. At it's highest setting, it does quickly snap away from the subject if you let the focus point drift using a single focus point, but when using multiple points (either all 45 or a cluster of selected points) can be a real advantage as it quickly regains focus on another point.

To reiterate, I think the most important thing is to keep the subject in the same place relative to the focus points - using the focus screen markings as a guide. That way you are quite literally giving the camera something consistent to aim at, and can therefore expect a good result from a highly sensitive focus mechanism.

Just to keep the ball rolling...

I freely admit I'm no great shakes with BIFs, and I also know that gulls in flight aren't considered to be the biggest BIF challenge.

Even so, the attached is definitely the sharpest, most in-focus flying gull I've taken, and it was taken with the 40D.

If it proves anything, it proves that if I do my bit, the camera will return the compliment..!



I'm quite encouraged by this.

Very nice Keith. Was that with a TC in?

BIF ! This link will take you to a photo I took in Spain from a moving car on a narrow winding mountain road, I managed one good shot while hanging half out of the window out of about 6 that where taken.

PS. It's not recomended, but my dad took over the steering and handbrake.


Canon 20D 100-400 IS


http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=483754507&context=set-72157600175539724&size=l

'Fraid not Tim - this was the bare lens (the 100-400) at 400mm, hand-held.

The 40D's AF characteristics are causing some discussion at the moment, so I'm keeping life simple for now by just using the camera and lens without the extra complication of a TC, while I evaluate the camera.

Whilst this has probably nothing to do with the original post (40d) I thought I would share my tecnique anyway.My method with flight shots are-against the sky all autofocus points activated A1 autofocus.With a background centre focus point only and A1 servo.
Attached pics were with 300d,Sigma 135-400,Kenko pro 1.4x.The juvi Herring Gull was A1servo and the BH Gull was A1 autofocus.

Yeah, using all AF points is always an option Mike, and many people happily use the central point on their cameras.

The specific issue here is the 40D's AF sensitivity: some folk are arguing that it's too sensitive, and my last post is intended to indicate that sensitive or not, we can use the 40D for BIFs (easy ones, at least! ) with a bit of effort on our part.

I should probably mention that the gull in my picture isn't hanging around either, but going at a rate of knots towards a fishing boat that had just docked and was sluicing the deck clean of bits of the day's catch.

mike from ebbw said:

Whilst this has probably nothing to do with the original post (40d) I thought I would share my tecnique anyway.My method with flight shots are-against the sky all autofocus points activated A1 autofocus.With a background centre focus point only and A1 servo.
Attached pics were with 300d,Sigma 135-400,Kenko pro 1.4x.The juvi Herring Gull was A1servo and the BH Gull was A1 autofocus.

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Nice shots Mike. :t:

christineredgate said:

The shots quite often seem to be very "washed out". Not sharp, decisive colours ,as is with the 30D.I have tried setting the STANDARD setting to 4 as opposed to the normal 3,I have upped the contrast by 1 point,and the little compensation bar ,which on the 20D and 30D,was always set to -1/3 .I set to + 1/3rd.Have tried the Spot metering style and the evaluative. any tips greatly appreciated.

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Why the change from -1/3rd to + 1/3rd with exposure?
That means you are overexposing by 2/3rds of a stop compared to your previous setting, which will make colours seem washed out and less saturated. Try setting it to -1/3rd as before and see how you like the results.
Also, changing the "standard" setting 3 to 4 is actually just increasing in-camera sharpening, so will not effect colour. I would tend to reset it to 3, or photos may look over-sharpened and unnatural. You need to change the 3rd option "saturation" (with the 3 small circles), try changing it from 0 to 2 or 3.
Oh, and make sure the Colour Space (just above picture style on the main menu) is set to sRGB, not Adobe RGB.

Cheers,
Matt