Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken at 2:04 PM.
Looking at an Immature Tricolored Heron.
Cropped from the left and the right, supported hand held out car window 200-600mm G set to 588 mm and A7rIII; silent shutter.
ISO 200, f8.0, 1/800 second.
Exposure corrected +0.39 Stops.
January 2, 2020
Along Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, FL.
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken at 6:26 PM.
Looking at a Great Egret in breeding plumage.
Cropped; tripod mounted 100-400mm f4-f5.6 GM set to 189mm and A7rIII; silent shutter.
ISO 200, f5.6, 1/400 second.
May 11, 2019
At Gatorland, Orlando or Kissimmee, FL.
Photo cross posted in the Sony FE Image Thread and taken at 12:29 PM.
Looking at a Snowy Egret in breeding plumage.
Cropped from the left and the right, tripod mounted 200-600mm G set to 200mm and Sony A7rIII; silent shutter.
ISO 100, f6.3, 1/1600 second.
Exposure Corrected +0.29 Stops.
January 6, 2020
At Gatorland, Orlando or Kissimmee, FL.
Can I lean on you experts here for a moment and get your feedback? I picked up a 100-400 and 1.4x extender to try and get some great bird shots like you all, but haven't spent much time birding (or shooting anything with a long lens) in the past. Obviously there's going to be a learning curve and I get that I won't have awesome "Eagle eats a fish" shot on Day 1.. so I started slow and went after a duck.
Below are 100% crops.. I'm not loving the IQ here, and my guess is this is a combination of high ISO, camera movement and lack of technique. Would just like to confirm that with you all and perhaps get some suggestions on how to re-do this and get better IQ (to me that would be sharper, more details, less blur..).
A7R3 / 100-400 + 1.4x
AF was set to AF-C and "Wide", drive was set to Hi mode, exposure set to Multi. Auto ISO. IBIS was engaged, 100-400 was in image stabilization Mode 1. I think I bumped the EC dial accidentally, so it was set to +1/3. These are 100% crops.
It was bugging me so I went back in late afternoon and negotiated with the duck for a reshoot. I think these are better but seems to primarily be a function of ISO. These still are not what I would consider passable, but it's an improvement over this morning.
Let me ask you all.. is birding an area where you often see people crank up clarity quite a bit? I don't normally use it, but when playing around with the clarity slider it really seems to be effective at bringing out the detail on the birds.
BrandonSi wrote:
It was bugging me so I went back in late afternoon and negotiated with the duck for a reshoot. I think these are better but seems to primarily be a function of ISO. These still are not what I would consider passable, but it's an improvement over this morning.
Let me ask you all.. is birding an area where you often see people crank up clarity quite a bit? I don't normally use it, but when playing around with the clarity slider it really seems to be effective at bringing out the detail on the birds.
These are good for a start. But, I am going to be brutally honest with you. You are too far away and if you are cropping at 100%, then you will never get great shots. I am not an expert by any means but take a look at the 200-600 image thread, and also the 600mm image thread. The photos in those threads are what you are shooting for (no pun intended). Getting close is the key. These are Mallards, you should be within 20-30 ft at least. Please take this comment in the spirit which is was intended. I too am working to improve my wildlife photography.
BrandonSi wrote:
Can I lean on you experts here for a moment and get your feedback? I picked up a 100-400 and 1.4x extender to try and get some great bird shots like you all, but haven't spent much time birding (or shooting anything with a long lens) in the past. Obviously there's going to be a learning curve and I get that I won't have awesome "Eagle eats a fish" shot on Day 1.. so I started slow and went after a duck.
Below are 100% crops.. I'm not loving the IQ here, and my guess is this is a combination of high ISO, camera movement and lack of technique. Would just like to confirm that with you all and perhaps get some suggestions on how to re-do this and get better IQ (to me that would be sharper, more details, less blur..).
A7R3 / 100-400 + 1.4x
AF was set to AF-C and "Wide", drive was set to Hi mode, exposure set to Multi. Auto ISO. IBIS was engaged, 100-400 was in image stabilization Mode 1. I think I bumped the EC dial accidentally, so it was set to +1/3. These are 100% crops.
I'm certainly no expert, as I just started dabbling in bird photography, but maybe you can try it without the TC, bump up your shutter speed to at least 1/2000, and put your OSS mode to 2. I might also try using flexible spot S or M and try to get the bird's eye.
On my A7RIV, I have my AEL button assigned to switch between crop mode and full frame, giving me the option to quickly "zoom" into a subject, once acquired.
These are good for a start. But, I am going to be brutally honest with you. You are too far away and if you are cropping at 100%, then you will never get great shots. I am not an expert by any means but take a look at the 200-600 image thread, and also the 600mm image thread. The photos in that thread are what you are shooting for (no pun intended). Getting close is the key. These are Mallards, you should be within 20-30 ft at least. Please take this comments in the spirit which they were intended. I too am working to improve my wildlife photography. ...Show more →
Hodie wrote:
I'm certainly no expert, as I just started dabbling in bird photography, but maybe you can try it without the TC, bump up your shutter speed to at least 1/2000, and put your OSS mode to 2. I might also try using flexible spot S or M and try to get the bird's eye.
On my A7RIV, I have my AEL button assigned to switch between crop mode and full frame, giving me the option to quickly "zoom" into a subject, once acquired.
---------------------------------------------
Thank you both! Very helpful!!
I didn't provide 100% crops as a presentation of the final image, it was more of a mechanism to diagnose lack of sharpness, especially in the first two and figure out what was going wrong.
The thought here is that I'm going to try and sort out the basics with my mallard buddy and then move on to actual birds in flight, whenever I find them..
I would love to get some images similar to the 200-600 thread! That is the goal for sure.. It's just hard to figure out certain things without any initial guidance (such as distance to subject.. thank you on that!). As to how people are 1)finding these birds and 2) getting that close to them without them leaving (my mallard was high-tailing it away from me when I got within 100 ft) I am guessing I have a bunch of YouTube videos to watch.
BrandonSi wrote:
It was bugging me so I went back in late afternoon and negotiated with the duck for a reshoot. I think these are better but seems to primarily be a function of ISO. These still are not what I would consider passable, but it's an improvement over this morning.
Let me ask you all.. is birding an area where you often see people crank up clarity quite a bit? I don't normally use it, but when playing around with the clarity slider it really seems to be effective at bringing out the detail on the birds.
Also, in your 2nd and 3rd shot there is a lot of noise. Get Topaz Denoise AI, this program is almost magical in how it gets rid of noise but maintains detail.
I didn't provide 100% crops as a presentation of the final image, it was more of a mechanism to diagnose lack of sharpness, especially in the first two and figure out what was going wrong.
The thought here is that I'm going to try and sort out the basics with my mallard buddy and then move on to actual birds in flight, whenever I find them..
I would love to get some images similar to the 200-600 thread! That is the goal for sure.. It's just hard to figure out certain things without any initial guidance (such as distance to subject.. thank you on that!). As to how people are 1)finding these birds and 2) getting that close to them without them leaving (my mallard was high-tailing it away from me when I got within 100 ft) I am guessing I have a bunch of YouTube videos to watch.
BrandonSi wrote:
It was bugging me so I went back in late afternoon and negotiated with the duck for a reshoot. I think these are better but seems to primarily be a function of ISO. These still are not what I would consider passable, but it's an improvement over this morning.
Let me ask you all.. is birding an area where you often see people crank up clarity quite a bit? I don't normally use it, but when playing around with the clarity slider it really seems to be effective at bringing out the detail on the birds.
What everyone else said about getting closer and using higher shutter speeds.
I am still a beginner too. It took some practice and luck before I got halfway decent results. I learned the same harsh lessons with the 600mm zoom. A landscape or portrait image cropped that heavily would not be expected to have great detail either. A 600mm lens doesn't mean you can crop more and retain the same detail. More pixels on target equals more detail. The farther away the subject the more likely atmospheric conditions will mess with the detail of the fewer pixels on target. If you fill the frame ISO can be much higher. Topaz or other noise reduction software works wonders for high ISO noise.
I for one am completely baffled by the noise level in the first two of your last post. On my A7iii, an iso of 400 or 800 would give a dead quiet background area, but I see a huge amount of noise there (more recently my A9, although a bit noisier than the A7iii, is also *very* quiet at the iso's.) It would be helpful if you got out a tripod and shot just some water and foliage at various iso's (don't need a bird in it for this test), just to see what may be going on. I regularly shoot at iso 3200 to get the needed shutter speed, and it's not nearly as noisy as I see here. Maybe you cranked the sharpening and clarity sliders super high to try to get detail in the feathers, and that amplified the noise? I'd suggest checking your system without the stress of getting a bird in it thoroughly to see where the issues may lie, and then progress to the birding.
photonoclast wrote:
I for one am completely baffled by the noise level in the first two of your last post. On my A7iii, an iso of 400 or 800 would give a dead quiet background area, but I see a huge amount of noise there (more recently my A9, although a bit noisier than the A7iii, is also *very* quiet at the iso's.) It would be helpful if you got out a tripod and shot just some water and foliage at various iso's (don't need a bird in it for this test), just to see what may be going on. I regularly shoot at iso 3200 to get the needed shutter speed, and it's not nearly as noisy as I see here. Maybe you cranked the sharpening and clarity sliders super high to try to get detail in the feathers, and that amplified the noise? I'd suggest checking your system without the stress of getting a bird in it thoroughly to see where the issues may lie, and then progress to the birding....Show more →
Both had exposure pushed ~ 1.25 stops, and it's the A7R3, so not a standout noise performer to begin with.
Here's a link to two of the RAW files for review.. I think given the image out of the camera, noise levels are what I'd expect. I think the noise is really a by-product of me torturing the images.
As others said... get closer and if you are still seeing a lack of sharpness/definition go to MF and ensure that you are tack sharp on the eye by using focus assistant and then pixel peeping in camera. If you are not seeing barb level detail no amount of post processing is gonna make a difference. Assuming you are closer, the 100-400GM + the 1.4TC should produce very sharp images with your current settings. The ISO is not a problem either. I'm shooting at 1600-2000 and 1/3200 for BIF at f4-5.6 on the 600GM a lot and getting excellent sharpness in average light. That was the case when shooting the 200-600mm G as well. When you add Denoise + minor contrast the end result is quite good. For waterfowl try to get lower too if possible. It makes all the difference.
It takes time and practice to get the images that you often see posted on the 200-600mm and 600mm GM threads.
149113 wrote:
As others said... get closer and if you are still seeing a lack of sharpness/definition go to MF and ensure that you are tack sharp on the eye by using focus assistant and then pixel peeping in camera. If you are not seeing barb level detail no amount of post processing is gonna make a difference. Assuming you are closer, the 100-400GM + the 1.4TC should produce very sharp images with your current settings. The ISO is not a problem either. I'm shooting at 1600-2000 and 1/3200 for BIF at f4-5.6 on the 600GM a lot and getting excellent sharpness in average light. That was the case when shooting the 200-600mm G as well. When you add Denoise + minor contrast the end result is quite good. For waterfowl try to get lower too if possible. It makes all the difference.
It takes time and practice to get the images that you often see posted on the 200-600mm and 600mm GM threads....Show more →
Thank you, much appreciated! I think my main problem today was absolutely distance to subject, you all hit on that pretty quickly and it makes sense now. I need to be filling much more of the frame, otherwise the detail just don't be there. The fact that I did a 100% crop multiple times with just 1600 pixels on the long side and it fully captured the subject illustrates that.. If I were searching Google for a high-res photo of a duck I'd probable breeze past anything 1600px in size because it wouldn't have the resolution or detail.. not sure why I expected something different here.
Got some practice in, learned a few things from you all, so that's a good day in my book. We'll see what the next outing brings!
