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Canon 7d settings (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter foxydave
- Start date
Roy C
Occasional bird snapper
Hi Dave, there is no one set of definitive settings as much depends on the lens you are using, the type of bird photography you are doing and the situation you are shooting in.
The biggest difference for the bird photographer compared with lesser non one series cameras is the extra AF options like single point expansion, spot AF and zone AF, also AI servo tracking sensitivity. Auto ISO is also very good on the 7D.
Here are a few few things to try to begin with, a lot of which are common for any Camera.
Image Quality: Always the best (RAW is better than jpeg but if you have never used RAW then maybe best to start off with best quality jpeg)
Shooting Mode:
For hand holding with a non IS lens I would suggest shooting in Tv mode and Auto ISO - auto ISO and Tv mode on the 7D will almost always return a aperture which is wide open so it is far better to control the shutter speed IMHO (this works great with a lens like the 400/5.6 which is pin sharp wide open).
If you use Auto ISO in Av mode the shutter speed returned will be around focal length x 1.6 so with a 400mm lens it will be around 1/640 sec.
I am great believer in auto ISO for bird photography and it performs great on the 7D (unlike the 40D auto ISO which was crap). You can limit the highest ISO used in auto ISO if you want.
AF Mode: I use AI Servo just about all of the time (with back button focusing) but other people are more comfortable with one shot for stationary birds and AI servo for flyers
AF area mode: Single centre point is best with AF point expansion for flyers with a busy background (set the AI servo sensitivity to slow for flyers).
For Flyers against a clear background then zone AF with a fast AI servo sensitivity works very well - the 9 AF points in the 'zone' makes it ridiculously easy to stay on the bird.
For stationary birds single point is OK but there are times when single point expansion is useful. For precision shooting (like on a birds eye) then spot AF can be brilliant but use with caution as it can fail to find focus if the focus area of the spot is lacking in contrast.
Drive mode: I recommend using high speed continuous shooting all of the time
Metering Mode: This is no different than any other Camera, I would suggest 'Evaluative' or possible 'Partial' either way there will be situations where you will need to dial in some exposure compensation, This is probable the most difficult part of bird photography to master e.g. knowing what amount of compensation is needed in different situations.
The 7D has many custom functions and settings you can set but here is a few essential ones for bird snapping:
Auto Light Optimiser: OFF
Highlight Alert: ENABLE (this shows you if you have clipped the highlights on the Camera preview).
Highlight tone priority: DISABLE
AI Servo Tracking sensitivity: SLOW (but fast when using Zone AF for flyers).
Another little tip Dave, The best/fastest way to change the various AF options while shooting is by pressing the right hand of the three buttons (the one that enables you to change the AF point with the joystick) and then toggle the M Fn button (near the shutter button). You can easily change AF modes on the fly while still looking through the viewfinder - very useful for birds!
The best of luck
The biggest difference for the bird photographer compared with lesser non one series cameras is the extra AF options like single point expansion, spot AF and zone AF, also AI servo tracking sensitivity. Auto ISO is also very good on the 7D.
Here are a few few things to try to begin with, a lot of which are common for any Camera.
Image Quality: Always the best (RAW is better than jpeg but if you have never used RAW then maybe best to start off with best quality jpeg)
Shooting Mode:
For hand holding with a non IS lens I would suggest shooting in Tv mode and Auto ISO - auto ISO and Tv mode on the 7D will almost always return a aperture which is wide open so it is far better to control the shutter speed IMHO (this works great with a lens like the 400/5.6 which is pin sharp wide open).
If you use Auto ISO in Av mode the shutter speed returned will be around focal length x 1.6 so with a 400mm lens it will be around 1/640 sec.
I am great believer in auto ISO for bird photography and it performs great on the 7D (unlike the 40D auto ISO which was crap). You can limit the highest ISO used in auto ISO if you want.
AF Mode: I use AI Servo just about all of the time (with back button focusing) but other people are more comfortable with one shot for stationary birds and AI servo for flyers
AF area mode: Single centre point is best with AF point expansion for flyers with a busy background (set the AI servo sensitivity to slow for flyers).
For Flyers against a clear background then zone AF with a fast AI servo sensitivity works very well - the 9 AF points in the 'zone' makes it ridiculously easy to stay on the bird.
For stationary birds single point is OK but there are times when single point expansion is useful. For precision shooting (like on a birds eye) then spot AF can be brilliant but use with caution as it can fail to find focus if the focus area of the spot is lacking in contrast.
Drive mode: I recommend using high speed continuous shooting all of the time
Metering Mode: This is no different than any other Camera, I would suggest 'Evaluative' or possible 'Partial' either way there will be situations where you will need to dial in some exposure compensation, This is probable the most difficult part of bird photography to master e.g. knowing what amount of compensation is needed in different situations.
The 7D has many custom functions and settings you can set but here is a few essential ones for bird snapping:
Auto Light Optimiser: OFF
Highlight Alert: ENABLE (this shows you if you have clipped the highlights on the Camera preview).
Highlight tone priority: DISABLE
AI Servo Tracking sensitivity: SLOW (but fast when using Zone AF for flyers).
Another little tip Dave, The best/fastest way to change the various AF options while shooting is by pressing the right hand of the three buttons (the one that enables you to change the AF point with the joystick) and then toggle the M Fn button (near the shutter button). You can easily change AF modes on the fly while still looking through the viewfinder - very useful for birds!
The best of luck
Last edited:
Roy C
Occasional bird snapper
BTW Dave, to enable all the AF options (or to just select the ones you want to use) you will need to go into C.Fn III option 6 'select AF areas' as they are not all selected in the default settings.
AI servo sensitivity is found in C.Fn III option1.
Other options I would advocate for birds are:-
C.Fn I 1 = 0 (I prefer 1/3 stops)
C.Fn I 2 = 0 (note if you select option 1 full stops then auto ISO will still use 1/3 stops)
C.Fn II 1 = 0 (but user preference)
C.Fn II 2 = 0 ( I find this works well but you can use whichever takes your fancy)
C.Fn II 3 = 0 (this is a must for bird snapping)
C.Fn III 2 = 0
C.Fn III 3 = 0
C.Fn III 4 = 0
C.Fn III 11 = 0
All C.Fn IV 1 = go through each option and set-up how you feel most comfortable with.
The other C.Fn IV functions are very much a personal choice.
AI servo sensitivity is found in C.Fn III option1.
Other options I would advocate for birds are:-
C.Fn I 1 = 0 (I prefer 1/3 stops)
C.Fn I 2 = 0 (note if you select option 1 full stops then auto ISO will still use 1/3 stops)
C.Fn II 1 = 0 (but user preference)
C.Fn II 2 = 0 ( I find this works well but you can use whichever takes your fancy)
C.Fn II 3 = 0 (this is a must for bird snapping)
C.Fn III 2 = 0
C.Fn III 3 = 0
C.Fn III 4 = 0
C.Fn III 11 = 0
All C.Fn IV 1 = go through each option and set-up how you feel most comfortable with.
The other C.Fn IV functions are very much a personal choice.
Last edited:
Roy C
Occasional bird snapper
Dave, I would use the 400/5.6 in Tv mode and auto ISO (dialing in the shutter speed). For the 600mm I guess you will be using on a tripod so Av mode would be no problem. It is the extra AF options that are of interest to the bird photographer. You will also find that the 7D is around a stop better than the 40D for high ISO noise and another 'biggy' is that the extra MP's will allow a lot more cropping if required.
Ptarmi
Dick Glasgow
Thanks Roy for those tips. I just traded up from a 600D to a 7D, which just arrived this week. I'm already getting one or two quite nice shots around the garden, but my bif shots are, so far, hopeless, so I've applied your settings & I'll keep my fingers crossed & see if things improve.
Here are a few of my first shots of static birds, with 400mm f/5.6l, plus a bif shot of a Raven.
Cheers,
Dick
Here are a few of my first shots of static birds, with 400mm f/5.6l, plus a bif shot of a Raven.
Cheers,
Dick
Attachments
Love the shot of the robins :t:
