raytrace75
Ray
Dear fellow Birders,
I just took the leap in to DSLR photography, from a super-zoom camera.
The intention is to learn the techniques and have fun at the same time doing it.
After a lot of research I finally decided to start with a Nikon D7200 and a Nikon 70-300MM 4.5/5.6G ED VR lens.
My first trip was to a lake where there are many species present at this time, not to forget flocks and flocks of wild ducks.
I took a lot of pictures in Shutter priority mode but most of them turned out to be quite unpleasing. When I reviewed the images on my laptop at home later, the images I took had many different problems.
One of the issue that kept repeating itself over in many images was bad exposure. By that I mean that the bird(s) in flight kept getting blacked out against the sky, even though the sun was at my back or to the right in all shots. I have come to the conclusion that the selection of Spot Metering Mode was the primary mistake here. Any comments on that ? (Image attached Fourducks)
Secondly, I keep finding the lack of sharpness in the shots over and over again. Even with the slower flying birds, where I had a good chance to get follow the bird easily came our rather blunt. Could it be that I'm expecting more out of this mediocre lens or could it a lacking on my own part?
The worst issue I have experienced is the noise i keep seeing specially in the sky. The ISO was mostly set to 1250 (by the camera) and yet I am seeing noise close to that of a (tiny sensor) super zoom camera.
Am I expecting too much from a crop-sensor body or, again, am I doing something wrong? (image attached bird_d7200_is01250_sp2000)
I have attached a cropped pictures:
1) White bird in flight: ISO 1250, Shutter 1/2000, Aperture F13, Spot metered
2) Four ducks in flight: ISO 1250, Shutter 1/5000, F18, Spot
I would really appreciate comments and advise on the above mentioned issues. Also, please ID this bird :t:
Thanks!!
I just took the leap in to DSLR photography, from a super-zoom camera.
The intention is to learn the techniques and have fun at the same time doing it.
After a lot of research I finally decided to start with a Nikon D7200 and a Nikon 70-300MM 4.5/5.6G ED VR lens.
My first trip was to a lake where there are many species present at this time, not to forget flocks and flocks of wild ducks.
I took a lot of pictures in Shutter priority mode but most of them turned out to be quite unpleasing. When I reviewed the images on my laptop at home later, the images I took had many different problems.
One of the issue that kept repeating itself over in many images was bad exposure. By that I mean that the bird(s) in flight kept getting blacked out against the sky, even though the sun was at my back or to the right in all shots. I have come to the conclusion that the selection of Spot Metering Mode was the primary mistake here. Any comments on that ? (Image attached Fourducks)
Secondly, I keep finding the lack of sharpness in the shots over and over again. Even with the slower flying birds, where I had a good chance to get follow the bird easily came our rather blunt. Could it be that I'm expecting more out of this mediocre lens or could it a lacking on my own part?
The worst issue I have experienced is the noise i keep seeing specially in the sky. The ISO was mostly set to 1250 (by the camera) and yet I am seeing noise close to that of a (tiny sensor) super zoom camera.
Am I expecting too much from a crop-sensor body or, again, am I doing something wrong? (image attached bird_d7200_is01250_sp2000)
I have attached a cropped pictures:
1) White bird in flight: ISO 1250, Shutter 1/2000, Aperture F13, Spot metered
2) Four ducks in flight: ISO 1250, Shutter 1/5000, F18, Spot
I would really appreciate comments and advise on the above mentioned issues. Also, please ID this bird :t:
Thanks!!