Hides/Blinds... how close do birds get? (1 Viewer)

[wrogers]

Hi there...
I am thinking of getting a hide to get closer to the birds in my garden...
and I want to buy a camera lens to match the sort of distance that the birds will be at...

all I wanted to really know was... how close do the birds get to you on a regular basis?
normally I can get to within 5 metres from my window at home... would I get any closer with a hide?

also more specifically has anyone with the Canon 400mm 5.6 L found the birds get too close as it focuses to 3.5m as a minimum

any help would be great

Will

 

[beakgeek]

I have had birds land at the entrance to the hide numerous times. I have shot images with both a 600mm f/4 and 300mm f/2.8 and have various birds get too close to photograph.

 

[wrogers]

I have had birds land at the entrance to the hide numerous times. I have shot images with both a 600mm f/4 and 300mm f/2.8 and have various birds get too close to photograph.

thanks for the quick reply!

I think that with a MFD of 3.5m the 400 5.6 might not focus close enough for some birds...

 

[Jaff]

Get an extension tube and it'll shorten the MFD. Easy as pie!

Depends how good the hide is for how close you can get to the birds. One with a black interior and with small window(s) is best.

 

[Roy C]

If you can get within 3.5 to 5 metres then the 400/5.6 should get you some cracking images. There is not any one lens that will cope with birds pitching within a foot and also up to about 10 metres as far as I know, one solution is to have a small zoom like the 70-200 handy on another body.
Like Jaff says, if you find birds constantly under 3.5 metres then just add an extension tube.
Attached is a table of min/max working distances with the 400/5.6 and extension tubes. You will see that by just adding a single 13mm tube will reduce the min distance to almost 2.5 metres.

 

[wrogers]

thanks for the advice on extension tubes

I think a nice 13mm tube will solve my problem!

I will do a coke can test...
as a coke can is a similar size to a bird, I will set it up at 3.5m and 2.5m with a 100-400 in a shop and see if it is a good size in the final picture...
(a coke can is about 12cm tall, and a bird is about 12cm tall... a perfect stand in for tests!)

I am now leaning towards the 400 5.6 with 13mm extension tube, or a 100-400

thanks again for the help... now I just need to save up a little for an ext tube!

 

[D. Taylor]

I use a hide, a one man chair blind, and have it within 8 feet of my feeder log. Most of the time I use a 300, f4 and it is right at minimum focus. As Jaff said
an extension tube works well to get closer and I use my 12 or 20 mm Kenko quite often. I have had Hummingbird come right up to the blind an peep in, don't have anything for that close. Get a blind or hide and you will enjoy it.

 

[stevo]

For shots like your hoping to achieve I would recommend a zoom lens because it makes framing so much easier + have an extension in your armourement would be good too.

Steve.

 

[Cardamom Pod]

I have an Ameristep Doghouse Blind, and a 400mm f5.6, and only rarely do birds get too close for me to focus. With a little thought about where I want to set up, it almost never happens.

 

[Neil-T]

I have 2 portable hides in my garden. The first one is just an home-made wooden box covered in cammo netting (a bit like a regular hide but a lot smaller) with a window cut in the front. The second is a bag hide which I just throw over myself. I have had Bullfinches land only 2 feet in front of me. You can determine where the birds feed in your own garden (all my feeders, and the whole feeding station are portable) by placing them in the best possition for the lighting conditions, you can get the birds coming very close indeed. I can now stand within 6 feet of my feeders, (not in my hide) and as long as I keep still, the birds will still come and feed. I get a lot of finches in the Winter, mainly Lesser redpolls and Siskins. This shot was taken with a Nikon D300/Sigma 500mmf/4.5 with a 12mm extension tube at f/6.3 and only 1/60th of a second shutter speed at around 3 meters distance. When I photograph birds in my garden I always pre-plan it, I will take down all my feeders apart from 1 and set props and perches up around that feeder, when the feeder has no more space for the birds they will land on your perches to wait for their turn, thats when you have to be ready to snap away. Just try it and you will, with time get them close.