Uzay wrote:
First day with A1+200-600, results are terrible, mud like pictures, hardly in focus, total disappointment, i kbow it's my fault but i used to shoot with Nikon D750+200-500 using 3D tracking with more keepers, wish guys like arbitrage, molson, davev, billintexas, douglasl would be next to me so that i could learn few things. I had watched many videos on youtube, i mean i studied but appearently i need more practice. Only birds around were sparrows so i had many troubles mostly AF and tracking, eye AF, zone, wide i tried everything
.1
We can certainly try to give some suggestions but it would help to see some examples of the muddy shots and any shots you felt worked out. At this time of year most muddy photos are a result of atmospherics and not the camera/lens.
Were these sparrows just perched or were you trying to get them in flight? Were the AF points dancing over the subject? Was Eye-AF icon activating?
My most used mode is Wide without Tracking but with Eye-AF for birds on. Zone without tracking but with eye-af is also one I use. For birds that are surrounded by messy sticks I then go to a Small or Expand Flex Spot usually with Tracking and eye-af but sometimes with tracking off.
Douglas L wrote:
Sorry to hear that you are having issues with this combo. If you could post a few pictures and settings we may able to give our opinion.
A few from yesterday with the same combo.
arbitrage wrote:
We can certainly try to give some suggestions but it would help to see some examples of the muddy shots and any shots you felt worked out. At this time of year most muddy photos are a result of atmospherics and not the camera/lens.
Were these sparrows just perched or were you trying to get them in flight? Were the AF points dancing over the subject? Was Eye-AF icon activating?
My most used mode is Wide without Tracking but with Eye-AF for birds on. Zone without tracking but with eye-af is also one I use. For birds that are surrounded by messy sticks I then go to a Small or Expand Flex Spot usually with Tracking and eye-af but sometimes with tracking off....Show more →
Here are some samples that i'm not very happy about
Sharpness seems fine as is evident on the first 2 shots. On the flying sparrow the belly and wings are plenty sharp. The second sparrow is nice and detailed o the eye. The crow also looks nice and sharp.
I think what is distorting your perspective is the harsh light and steep shooting angles that these shots were taken with. That kind of light makes everything look muddy, the shadows are too dark and the lighter areas lose detail. I would highly encourage you to find subjects at eye level and photograph them when the sun is low in the sky (early morning and late evening) and then see how the results change. Make sure the birds are nice and close so you get a good idea of the kind of sharpness and details that you are getting. Even go to a local duck pond or spot where gulls are fed and photograph them in nice and soft light and I think you will be very pleased with the results.
I make it a rule to never shoot in harsh light when the sun is high in the sky. I also make it a rule to never shoot unless the bird is at eye level with me. Selective shooting goes a long way in producing better outcomes. I used to own the 200-600. It is plenty sharp and when used within those parameters will produce excellent results.
Thank you very much for the detailed answer, actually i don't shoot harsh light but i was in a hurry to try my equipment.
My concern was if i shoot in the correct AF modes.
aboutthelight wrote:
Sharpness seems fine as is evident on the first 2 shots. On the flying sparrow the belly and wings are plenty sharp. The second sparrow is nice and detailed o the eye. The crow also looks nice and sharp.
I think what is distorting your perspective is the harsh light and steep shooting angles that these shots were taken with. That kind of light makes everything look muddy, the shadows are too dark and the lighter areas lose detail. I would highly encourage you to find subjects at eye level and photograph them when the sun is low in the sky (early morning and late evening) and then see how the results change. Make sure the birds are nice and close so you get a good idea of the kind of sharpness and details that you are getting. Even go to a local duck pond or spot where gulls are fed and photograph them in nice and soft light and I think you will be very pleased with the results.
I make it a rule to never shoot in harsh light when the sun is high in the sky. I also make it a rule to never shoot unless the bird is at eye level with me. Selective shooting goes a long way in producing better outcomes. I used to own the 200-600. It is plenty sharp and when used within those parameters will produce excellent results.
Uzay wrote:
Thank you very much for the detailed answer, actually i don't shoot harsh light but i was in a hurry to try my equipment.
My concern was if i shoot in the correct AF modes.
Ok you mentioned results mostly mud so I thought you were referring to IQ. To reiterate I would not draw any conclusions based off of some quick grab shots in far less than optimal conditions.
I have my A1 set with shutter set to expand spot, af/on set to zone no tracking and AEL set to wide no tracking. All with bird eye AF ON. AF/ON and AEL set with recall custom functions. This way I am ready to use any mode I need in an instant. Hope that helps
berimbolo wrote:
This thread is completely broken for me. I'm not sure what happened, but after Uzay's posts, something broke.
Happened for me too on my desktop but not on my phone.
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