RKnecht wrote:
I think it would help if I wasn't practicing my BIF technique with house finches They are tiny and fast little buggers.
Wait until you get near some water with dragonflies buzzing around. Then put it in animal eye AF and track those little buggers darting around and watch how it picks up on them. Takes a little time to get the hang of it, but it will lock on them as far away as 50-75 yards away so long as your settings are good and you have reasonable light. Of course at that distance they are too small in the frame to do anything with but I've found it fun and almost mesmerizing to witness this crazy AF tracking feature.
lighthound wrote:
Wait until you get near some water with dragonflies buzzing around. Then put it in animal eye AF and track those little buggers darting around and watch how it picks up on them. Takes a little time to get the hang of it, but it will lock on them as far away as 50-75 yards away so long as your settings are good and you have reasonable light. Of course at that distance they are too small in the frame to do anything with but I've found it fun and almost mesmerizing to witness this crazy AF tracking feature.
I'm leaving for a 2 week vacation in Maine on July 9. We stay on a lake and I go out in the kayak ALOT. Loons are plentiful and there is a resident pair of bald eagles I see every year. I also sit by the water lilies and wait for dragonflies and king fishers. Hopefully the critters will be cooperative this year.
Yesterday, I was getting frustrated trying to get a good BIF shot. I tried all different kinds of settings before I just gave up. So, in the Case settings, I returned all the settings to their default position and got our little terror Pixel, a Lakeland Terrier, out in the yard to try tracking on her. It seems my technique is OK, I just need to find a bird other than a tiny house finch to practice on. Here is just one (of MANY) that I was happy with. I don't usually take running shots like this wide open, but I wanted to see how it tracked with a thin DOF.
RKnecht wrote:
Yesterday, I was getting frustrated trying to get a good BIF shot. I tried all different kinds of settings before I just gave up. So, in the Case settings, I returned all the settings to their default position and got our little terror Pixel, a Lakeland Terrier, out in the yard to try tracking on her. It seems my technique is OK, I just need to find a bird other than a tiny house finch to practice on. Here is just one (of MANY) that I was happy with. I don't usually take running shots like this wide open, but I wanted to see how it tracked with a thin DOF....Show more →
Fantastic action shot! I wish we could let our little Westie monster loose so I could try to get some shots of her like that. The trouble is if she sees a tree rat then we'll never see her again.
I'm getting to old and fat to keep up with her.
Although she is catching up with me on both counts pretty quickly so maybe in another year or so.
RKnecht wrote:
Yesterday, I was getting frustrated trying to get a good BIF shot. I tried all different kinds of settings before I just gave up. So, in the Case settings, I returned all the settings to their default position and got our little terror Pixel, a Lakeland Terrier, out in the yard to try tracking on her. It seems my technique is OK, I just need to find a bird other than a tiny house finch to practice on. Here is just one (of MANY) that I was happy with. I don't usually take running shots like this wide open, but I wanted to see how it tracked with a thin DOF....Show more →
Rich ... try these Animal Eye AF settings with Initial AF Point set to Auto. Works well for most situations except when you have a busy background. Tap the shutter once and the AF will lock and track on the eye/head w/o you having to hold down the shutter continuously. The A1 can’t t do this. Hah!
Passerines in flight has been a new fun venture that was essentially impossible with any of the previous Canon DSLRs I've used, although the Sony bodies have been able to do this for a while now.
They are tiny and fast little buggers.
