Home · Register · Join Upload & Sell

Moderated by: Fred Miranda
Username  

FM Forum Rules
Nature & Wildlife Posting Guidelines
  

FM Forums | Nature & Wildlife | Join Upload & Sell

1
       2       end
  

Archive 2017 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF

  
 
bs kite
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


1. What shutter speed(s) do you shoot on BIF ?

2. Does this vary according to bird size, speed or direction of flight?

3. What are your thoughts on this?

Robert



Jul 21, 2017 at 08:13 AM
morris
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


Hi Robert,

My goto shutter speed is 1/1000 and I do not care if I blur some of the wings and actually think it is good to show some blur as it indicates movement. 1/1000 is good as it will freeze the body producing the feel of a sharp image and provide feather detail.

My other preferred shutter speed is 1/125 and slower to do blurs with 1/60 to 1/15 the sweet spot.

I do not account for size speed or direction.

Many bird photographers should have a long talk with aviation photographers that work very hard to blur the prop.

Morris

Morris



Jul 21, 2017 at 09:05 AM
Keiththom
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


The size of the bird and how fast they fly makes a huge difference. My typical shooting is done on Raptors chasing prey. I need 1/2000 to freeze the action. 1/1600 will give me blurring of the wing tips, which is not bad except that the overall shot may not be as sharp either.


Jul 21, 2017 at 09:19 AM
sk66
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


Can't usually predict the direction of flight reliably, but the size/speed is typically predictable for a certain behavior you want to capture. There's also the consideration of gear/technique... i.e. is it going to be high magnification handheld? And how good are your handholding/panning skills?

I generally start around 1/800 and go up from there (typically 800mm handheld using the SharpShooter Camera Mount). But I prefer faster (1/1600+) if I can get there w/o too many penalties.



Jul 21, 2017 at 09:35 AM
arbitrage
Online
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


I do vary it depending on subject. Bald eagles I'll go 1/800-1/1250. If I'm trying to track a swallow or a kingfisher I will get to 1/2000-1/4000. Ducks would be aiming for 1/1600-1/2500. If flight motion is very predictable and I will have time to track through the VF before firing then I will lower SS a bit to gain back ISO or DOF.

Using much slower SS can work for certain subjects to get the wings blurred and background streaking as you pan but you have to be ready for a low success rate. I've mostly tried this on Trumpeter swans and had to get down to like 1/100 to even make the motion blur worth it in making the shot interesting. I like the effect of blurred tires on race cars and blurred props on planes but I still prefer a nice sharp wing in most cases with BIF. Even things like an Osprey doing its head spin after a dive look better frozen with a high SS vs blurred most of the time IMO.



Jul 21, 2017 at 09:45 AM
Imagemaster
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


I shoot mostly at 1/2000 sec., regardless of size or speed. Wing blur indicates blur to me, not movement. Since the bird is airborne, I can figure out that it is moving. I have yet to see an airborne bird that is not moving.

Art Morris is widely recognized as the person most responsible for making blurred BIF shots "artsy" and popular. I find 99% of such shots to be garbage, but that is just my personal taste. My blurred shots go into my Trash.

The most common cause of blurred BIF shots is from too slow of a shutter speed, not missed focus. IMO

P.S. Many blur effects can be applied in post-processing, but you can't remove blur in pp.







Jul 21, 2017 at 09:59 AM
Christian H
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


1/2000-1/4000 is ideal, but I can get away with 1/1600 in a pinch (D500 & 500 mm VR handheld).

Christian



Jul 21, 2017 at 01:12 PM
Bobg657
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF



It depends on how fast the bird files, anywhere from 1/1000 to 1/3200

Small birds are often faster requiring faster shutter speeds, I usually use at least 1/2500 or so for things like swallows.

BOB





Jul 21, 2017 at 01:40 PM
jdc562
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


The strength of the advice in these replies is in combining the information across posts to fit your tastes, equipment, circumstances, panning abilities, acceptable loss-benefit trade-offs, etc. Put all this together, and it is very comprehensive information. Something I would add: if you are using a big, heavy, long lens, such as an f/4, 600mm, with added TC, any equipment jiggle will be more pronounced in the image. So, unless you are strong, a very sturdy tripod with a good quality gimbal mount will really increase the smoothness of your panning, ease of tracking, and steadiness of your gear, thus increasing your keeper rate. The trade-off is cost, portability, and agility. Consequently, this kind of heavy combo is best suited for locations where the birds have fairly predictable flight patterns so you don't have to be continually roaming. For steadiness in hand-held telephoto work, practice bracing your arms and elbows against your torso and your camera against your face, then holding your breath as you shoot. The gun-stock style mounts like SK66 describes also helps in hand-holding long lenses.


Jul 21, 2017 at 01:58 PM
elkhornsun
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


I will use a minimum of 1/1000s but I get better results and sharper images at higher speeds. With higher resolution cameras any motion blur is more evident than with older 12MP cameras and it means faster shutter speeds.

Also the image magnification of the lens will magnify any subject motion blur so the longer the lens (or use of a teleconverter to change the effective focal length and image magnification) the faster the shutter speed should be. A 600mm lens produces an image size that is more than double that of a 400mm lens on the same camera and so any problems with subject motion or camera and lens motion are twice as likely to be evident.

There is a tendency to be overly concerned with high ISO noise and to try to minimize the setting by using a slower shutter speed and this is a mistake. Having shot film and then DSLR cameras with their very noisy sensors (like the D2x at anything above ISO 640) I have to force myself to use a faster shutter speed and not worry about the ISO setting with BIF shooting.



Jul 21, 2017 at 02:19 PM
Mike Jacks0n
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


I shoot as high as the conditions allow, but if I were to say a base number as a goal, its 2000th of a second. As its been stated flight path, speed, and predictability all play a part, but you also have to account for your own skill level. Holding the camera well enough to shoot a moving target at 800th of a second isn't a guarantee (at least with long lenses).


Jul 21, 2017 at 02:31 PM
bs kite
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


Ok, I read all of them. And thanks

So I shoot BIF at a minimum of !/2000...sometimes down to 1/1600. But I like going up to 1/3200 (at this time anyway).

I shoot Manual mode at ISO 400 to 650 if in sunlight and 1/2500 to 1/3200. When it gets cloudy I just shoot the ISO that allows me to reach those shutter speeds. Sometimes those ISO's are high....too high for the D500.

Last winter I found I was shooting seaducks and loons at ridiculous numbers: 1/4000 to 1/8000 at 1250 ISO....a little much don't you think?

At this time, I agree with those who indicated that shooting for wing blur does risk softening the entire animal (BTW..birds are animals). I like to absolutely freeze everything with those higher shutter speeds we mention....because I want to give myself every chance to achieve tack sharpness ..... And that only if I have done everything else right.

That all can change next month.

thanks and looking forward to other's responses.

Robert



Jul 21, 2017 at 05:37 PM
Steve Perry
Offline
• • • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


I like the 1/2000th - 1/4000th range. I can certainly do it with less, but my keeper rate is higher at faster shutter speeds, especially with high pixel density crop bodies.


Jul 21, 2017 at 06:46 PM
Keiththom
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


Often, you have to weigh some trade-offs. I want to keep the shutter speed at 2000 or more, but if I have to bump ISO too high to achieve it, I'll drop down to 1600. Below 1600, I very seldom get usable images on flying raptors.


Jul 21, 2017 at 07:01 PM
Photozack81
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


The shutter speed depends on how good you are at tracking more than anything else.

If you are really good at it, you can shoot at shutter speeds that are well below the normal recommended minimums. This is a trick that the aviation guys use for prop blur. It's also how the race car shooters get that good blurred look behind the very sharp car.

The normal recommended shutter speeds as mentioned above work great for most circumstances.

I've gotten sharp shots of egret sized birds at 1/400 and 1/500 of a second. There's some wing blur of course, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.




Jul 21, 2017 at 08:57 PM
tfoltz
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


So much depends on what bird and what it's doing... an osprey in an 80 mph dive, a peregrine chasing prey, a tiny humming bird or a speedy teal. As Morris said on some shots a bit of wing blur is beneficial, like on hummingbirds, that way they don't look like their hanging from a string, an osprey dive I prefer a higher shutter speed to catch every bit of detail. All things said it amounts to preference and the look your going for, don't be afraid to experiment and practice, practice, practice.

-Tim



Jul 22, 2017 at 01:09 AM
viczig
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


For me SS is dependent on what I can get a clean looking image at. I shoot manual with auto ISO 99% of the time and I strive for the highest SS I can squeeze out of the situation, ideally it's in the 1/2000 or higher but when lighting conditions warrant I'll lower the shutter speed to get the shot. Sometimes after driving quite a distance I'm not going to stop shooting because I can't shoot at a high shutter speed. I'll drop it down to 1/500 or 1/750 and live with the wing blur as long as I keep the eye sharp I'm happy.


Jul 22, 2017 at 06:50 AM
Ted ellis
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


Robert, my preference is as fast as the available light will allow. I am not a fan of blurred wings. I will jack my ISO to achieve the fastest possible SS.

Good luck!



Jul 22, 2017 at 02:54 PM
lorac
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off
p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


Ted ellis wrote:
Robert, my preference is as fast as the available light will allow. I am not a fan of blurred wings. I will jack my ISO to achieve the fastest possible SS.

Good luck!


That would be my answer. I understand wing blur not being desirable, but with hummers pretty difficult to avoid unless you're using flash set-up. Sometimes you get lucky.



Jul 22, 2017 at 03:37 PM
Ted ellis
Offline
• • • • • • •
Upload & Sell: On
p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Preferred shutter speed for BIF


lorac wrote:
That would be my answer. I understand wing blur not being desirable, but with hummers pretty difficult to avoid unless you're using flash set-up. Sometimes you get lucky.


11 years help, no luck.









Jul 22, 2017 at 04:09 PM
1
       2       end




FM Forums | Nature & Wildlife | Join Upload & Sell

1
       2       end
    
 

You are not logged in. Login or Register

Username       Or Reset password



This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.