Novis BIF shooter needs help

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blutch
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p.1 #1 · Novis BIF shooter needs help

I have been shooting some hawks lately and haven't had much luck. I shot maybe 50 exposures today and only one came out even half way in focus and it stinks. I have included it below. I'm using a D7000 with a 300mm f/4. I had it on AF-C with 39 pts. It took forever for the lens to even find the birds as they were floating.. once it locked on I thought I had a decent focus but they were all pretty blurry. Shutter speed was 1/320th - perhaps that is just too slow? I was handheld and there is no VR on this old lens. Also, I took several of a Blue Heron sitting still at 1/1250th and those are not sharp either... Not sure what the problem is with this combo. I have gotten other sharp shots of wildlife with it. Any advice for me here?

121104-0056-34.jpg by blutcherama, on Flickr

Nov 04, 2012 at 07:04 PM

Conrad Tan
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p.1 #2 · Novis BIF shooter needs help

1/320s is too slow for a lens that has no IS (VR in your Nikon) for in-flight work unless you've got really steady hands. If its NOT sharp at 1/1250s either, then there's something wrong with the combo. Try using center AF point and focus on the eye. Use a wide enough DOF to get most of the bird in focus and see how that goes. 300mm is pretty tough to work with unless you can get really close. Good luck Mike!

Nov 04, 2012 at 07:13 PM

blutch
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p.1 #3 · Novis BIF shooter needs help

My mistake was that I had stopped down to f10 for another shot and hadn't changed it. Plus, these birds were really far away, so this is a significant crop. My first time to use multiple focus points on continuous AF. Still learning.. It is really hard to get close to these birds without trespassing.

Thanks!

B

Nov 04, 2012 at 07:52 PM

thedutt
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p.1 #4 · Novis BIF shooter needs help

I am a relative newbie, a few things that I am finding helpful

1) BIF shutter speed needs to be faster than 1/1000 more often than not; 1/1600-1/2000 preferable
2) Get closer to the birds - takes skill & luck. Dont expect far away birds to be in focus, if you have to crop anywhere near 100% pixels, more often than not, you get disappointing results
3) Good light & background make a huge difference
4) Enjoy the outdoors, the good shots are a bonus :-)

Nov 04, 2012 at 07:53 PM

blutch
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p.1 #5 · Novis BIF shooter needs help

Thanks.. I just saw the sequence in another thread of a Red Shoulder Hawk landing.. unbelievable captures... I would like to be able to do that! B

Nov 04, 2012 at 07:56 PM

birdied
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p.1 #6 · Novis BIF shooter needs help

I am no expert by any means, but I , too , shoot with the D7000 and have the 300 f/4 lens.
I find the D7000 very unforgiving of any errors in shooting style .
Try AF-C either 9 or 21 point focus. I usually use only 9 points.

As others have stated the shutter needs to be higher.
Up your ISO if needed to keep the shutter speeds up. I find I can shoot easily at 800 to 1200 ISO and do just a little noise reduction.

Be careful this becomes very addictive and you will be looking for more reach with a longer lens

Birdie

Nov 04, 2012 at 08:38 PM

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