Post Your 5D Mark III Bird shots (cropped or uncropped) here

[revup67]

This is an American Avocet taken at the San Joaquin Marsh lands in Irvine CA.  Image is uncropped and barely post processed.  Saved from RAW to JPG.

See EXIF data for more details


IM5D1211 American Avocet_AG by Revup67, on Flickr

[Kernuak]

About 45% of original.


Great White Egret by Kernuak, on Flickr

About 85% of original


Mute Swans by Kernuak, on Flickr

[nonac]

100-400L, ISO 640, 1/400 @f/7.1, cropped to be about 6% of the original frame.

[revup67]

San Joaquin Bird Sanctuary - visit on 7-25 located some fairly uncommon birds such as the is Dunlin who's searching in the mud with his beak to seek out its prey. It's diet which consists of insects, marine worms, small crustaceans, snails, and small fish. Wades in shallows and uses its bill to probe and pick up food; probes with a rapid up and down stitching motion.   Canon 5D MarkIII and Canon 400mm 5.6 L prime lens


Dunlin in the Mud by Revup67, on Flickr

[keithfullermusic]

I've got nothing nearly as cool as what has been here so far, but these are just taken from off my porch with the 100-400L.  I still can't get over the fact that I can shoot at ISO 2000 and still get great shots.

• The first one is a gold finch (ISO 640)
• The second is a Chickadee (ISO 2,000)
• The third is a woodpecker (ISO 2,000)
• The last one isn't a cool picture at all, but I'm amazed that I can track birds this small zooming (and I do mean zooming) through the air.  And you can see the bug its going after.  It's a barn swallow (ISO 2,000).

[revup67]

San Joaquin Reservoir, Irvine , CA caught on 10-4-12. This is an American Kestrel (verified, not a Merlin as originally considered). Though common, I don't recall seeing one of these before. Caught him way up high on a perch above the water basin near Pond C. Very skittish .. each time I got within 20-25 yards this bird would scatter. Taken with a 400mm Canon lens 5.6 L and Canon 5D Mark III.  Settings were:  1/1600s, F 6.3, Manual Mode, ISO 320, EV 0.00, AI Servo, Zone AF, AWB, Handheld.

[revup67]

The last one isn't a cool picture at all, but I'm amazed that I can track birds this small zooming (and I do mean zooming) through the air.  And you can see the bug its going after.  It's a barn swallow (ISO 2,000).

I think this is the Magnificent Frigate Bird.  They are most unique with their wing shape. 

http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/398/_/Magnificent_Frigatebird.aspx

[revup67]

Here's the American Kestrel about 30 minutes later after he was frightened off by the lengthy 400mm lens.  Was glad to see he came around again as I was gasping for a BIF shot of this cool falcon

[Kernuak]

Here's the Merlin about 30 minutes later after he was frightened off by the lengthy 400mm lens.  Was glad to see he came around again as I was gasping for a BIF shot of this cool falcon

I'm yet to even have a chance of photographing a merlin let alone manage it. The smaller the bird, the harder BIF shots are, particularly fast moving raptors. The closest I've come is the slightly larger hobby, whcih are also a challenge. I have been trying to get a better shot for a few years now, but still haven't surpassed the shot I got with a 40D, although I've got some others to compare a bit further away with the 7D.

[Slashp]

Here is one from me

[revup67]

Kernuak - what difficulty are you having?  I have the 7D and 400mm 5.6 L - it took awhile but I go the technology down where My concerns have been mitigated.  Since I upgraded to the 5D MKIII I think the shots are even better (sharper with less noise) and crop factor a non issue.  PS I corrected my two Merlin shots to reflect these are actually American Kestrels.  Also a smaller bird than most hawks (as you say larger is easier for BIF shots)

Slashp - do you have any ID on this bird?  How about locale.  It doesn't look familiar to me other than perhaps in the geese / goose family

Here's two more shots of a Forster's Tern.  There were two of them doing straight down nose dives.  The vertical shot is exactly as I took it.

[Slashp]

Added two more (5DIII + 135L F2):

[killswitch]

Added two more (5DIII + 135L F2):

Holy details and colors! is that 100% crop on the first image? If not, is it possibe to share the 100% crop on the subject! I'd like to see how crazy detail 5dIII paired with 135 looks like! If this is it, its already nice and sharp! Kudos!

[Slashp]

Here is the 100% crop

[Kernuak]

Kernuak - what difficulty are you having?  I have the 7D and 400mm 5.6 L - it took awhile but I go the technology down where My concerns have been mitigated.  Since I upgraded to the 5D MKIII I think the shots are even better (sharper with less noise) and crop factor a non issue.  PS I corrected my two Merlin shots to reflect these are actually American Kestrels.  Also a smaller bird than most hawks (as you say larger is easier for BIF shots)

Mostly too much stress at work, access and reach . I haven't been out photographing wildlife much this year, as work has been a nightmare. Also, the past couple of summers, I've either not been about at the right times or the hobbies haven't been in such numbers as previous years. This summer has been a complete washout, resulting in very low dragonfly numbers. Beyod that though, the 7D can be very twitchy with birds in flight and I've never been happy with the IQ in higher contrast situations. This past week, I've had some chance to play with the 5D MkIII for wildlife and the 7D has barely seen the light of day, despite its extra reach. The hit rate is so much higher than I could achieve with the 7D (in fact it rarely misses if I set it right). One thing I have noticed though, is how important using the right AF scenario is, otherwise it is just as twitchy as the 7D. In short, the AF on the MkIII is a revelation, I even focused on a roosting treecreeper by torchlight, while juggling a flash on a cord in the other hand.