"I do also notice that the first few frames of the launch (more so with straight on launches) more often lag behind but then it catches up. I had a couple launches where it did keep up right away but the majority took a few frames before it caught up. I certainly don't have entire sequences that are all sharp on the head for every frame. Sometimes focus is lagging just a little bit on the body but with such narrow FOV that ruins the head sharpness."
corresponds exactly to my experience. Just after take-off, when the bird is coming towards me, I regularly get a few shots with the focus on the back of the bird. What's more surprising is that on the camera I see the focus on the eye, when in reality it's on the back. It's very clear when you review the images on the camera.
jannw wrote:
corresponds exactly to my experience. Just after take-off, when the bird is coming towards me, I regularly get a few shots with the focus on the back of the bird. What's more surprising is that on the camera I see the focus on the eye, when in reality it's on the back. It's very clear when you review the images on the camera.
But this is not unique to precapture. I have had the same observation simply by guessing and taking lots of frames. I discussed it here with much more experienced birders than myself, and nobody could point me to settings that would reliably have the bird take-off all frames in focus. The camera simply needs time to react. It's just that now it's more visible.
A small bird launching in your direction at full speed is a tough case, for sure. From my experience what helps increase the success rate is a larger distance to the bird. In other words, if you are "greedy" and want to get close to the bird, the rate of success is less. So, give the bird a little more "breathing room" and you will notice a higher keeper rate. That's where a high MP sensor comes in for cropping.
17 images unedited ISO 3200. R1 + 400mm + 2x. I did not do great with tracking but the camera held focus. I did a quick edit of one of the frames also.
I wish these purple finches would use some of my cleaner perches with cleaner backgrounds but they prefer to perch and launch from the messy Pacific Dogwood. Oh well....other species will arrive soon that prefer my better perches....
ILCE-1M2FE 300mm F2.8 GM OSS lens300mmf/2.81/5000s4000 ISO0.0 EV
I hate to be the one, but someone needs to do it ...
Folks, the point of precapture is not to capture a burst of images that could be turned into a time-lapse video. With cameras supporting 20, 30, or more fps, we could do that before precapture. It's to capture the one or two critically timed images that our human reflexes would otherwise be too slow to capture. Please pick those "perfect" images and post them (like the previous couple of posts did), not the entire burst. Nobody wants to scroll through your entire burst looking for the great image.
