Show your Bird Portraits

[scyrene]

Thanks Alan,

Having been reintroduced to photography via a Nikon crop and then my 6D FF I have seen both the reach advantage and the large pixel advantage. Funny you should mention ISO 640 because that's the highest I'd prefer to shoot with the 1D4 but I am almost always getting forced to at least 800 and sometimes 1250.

I clearly feel shortchanged relative to my 6D at ISO 1250 - simply not satisfied. I tried to stay away from ISO 1600 with the 6D but clouds and end of day and winter all would tend to press me into it unless I was willing to sacrifice shutter speed - not possible with BIF and even some forest shots in sunlight.

That has a poor guy like me getting gas over a new 1DX MII. Any comment?

Jack

I'm surprised by this. I use the 5D3 and by all accounts the 6D is slightly better at high ISO. And I will go up to ~ISO 6400-8000 in extremis, and definitely ISO 3200.

Attached: 1. BIF in deep shade, ISO 8000 (noisy but still IMHO acceptable given the circumstances - would clean up with more work, too), 2. two birds at ISO 4000.

 

[Jack Douglas]

I don't want to give the wrong impression. The problem lies with me and my personality. I am generally pretty tolerant of what other people do or choose to do and don't impose my personal fussiness in being overly critical. On the other hand, once I've achieved to a certain level, I really don't like dropping back to a lower level. I made the "mistake" of getting into prop shots from my "observatory" and of course from 6 or 8 feet in good lighting the results are great. However, when I get a shot like the previous posting that is natural and wild I wish it could be better. That's just me. Never satisfied.

Here is another "prop" shot that spoils me.

Jack

 

[Northbird]

Canon 7D II, 600 F4 II (Willow Flycatcher)


Willow flycatcher (Empidonax traillii) by Tony Varela Photography, on Flickr

 

[Click]

Canon 7D II, 600 F4 II (Willow Flycatcher)

Very nice shot, Tony.

 

[HankMD]

Hank, I thoroughly love the 300 2.8 II except for the weight, which I gladly accommodate but that still is borderline in cases that you site. However, I have only mastered DPP and so do not have the advantage of what other software allows. Last winter I got moose shots that ended up at ISO 1600 and 2000 and I was so disappointed. The subject and how full the frame is, is critical to a quality photo in that case, and moose hide and 50% cropping left me annoyed.

Jack, I wish I had Lensrental or similar to try out a few Big White lenses. Weight is always a concern whenever the subject's behavior tends toward the erratic (e.g. in bushes 95% of the time but will hop out at any time). This is where a -pod, and maybe some birding wisdom, would be helpful.

I looked again at your woodpecker shots, and it seems to me they're a bit soft, though well-framed and always interesting. Could it be that more AFMA is needed or is it the way the 1D4 handles focusing in low light? The shots don't look that grainy.

Yes, we have been spoiled by the quality we get from the likes of the lowly 6D and higher level cameras and it seems to me we are on the edge where just a little more high ISO capability and we'll get a lot more good shots in the bush of small subjects (birds). I'm going to sell my 1D4 and wait.

I suspect a newer, FF body would suit you better, coming from the 6D.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Hank, thanks for the feedback. At ISO 640, which is where I had gravitated to whenever possible, I wasn't dissatisfied with the graininess. In Haida Gwaii with the eagles I needed 10 fps so I used the 1D4 primarily but when subjects were stationary and I had the 6D it was then hard to go back to the 1D4 because the 6D was giving a more pleasing image. I'm sure a 1DX would have suited me better but so far I've resisted since its days are numbered and it's a lot of money so why not 1DX II (once in this lifetime purchase since I'm not that "well heeled" ).

I had been using X2 III exclusively and have noticed that with my recent shots moving to X1.4 III that it is not AFMA'd, so thanks for the reminder.

Jack

 

[AlanF]

Jack
The loons have gone, so I am really happy I caught them on the first day. Sandpipers visited our jetty. There are lots of birds hiding and few are tame enough to find. I saw my first black and white warbler - in front of the house, and a song sparrow, which we don't have in the UK.

The more I use the 100-400 II + 1.4xTC on the 7DII, the more I like them. My 5DIII and 7DII are set at iso 640, where the noise is basically photon limited and there is not going to be much improvement with sensors. There is better acutance on FF and lower noise, but in reasonable light I get better performance on the 7DII for birds. The 100-400 II + 1.4xTC on the 7DII is on a par with the 300/2.8 II + 2xTC on my 5DIII and better than the big lens at 600mm on my 7DII. The 300 + 1.4xTC on the 7DII is spectacular.

 

[Jack Douglas]

Thanks Alan, I know you are "particular" so I trust your judgment. Still, ISO 640 is pretty low for the situations I often find myself in.

Jack

 

[AlanF]

I once had a rush of blood to the head and caught a kingfisher in flight at iso 1600, 1/4000s f/8, 300/2.8 II + 2xTC on my old 7D. It's OK for an action shot but I would have much preferred using a 600mm II f/4 at iso 400 on the 7D.

 

[Click]

Very nice! Well done Alan.

 

[Jack Douglas]

What I'm posting is not a bird. Wayne was a great shooting buddy and a week last last Thursday he came to my place to sit in front of the stump props I have (his health wouldn't allow any walking). He was very pleased and captured many including his first ever pileated woodpecker. This last Thursday, he passed away of a heart attack at his computer, I'm sure he was editing photos. I hadn't received an email for a couple days and was wondering why. He was my primary critic and will be sorely missed. We both moved over to Canon not too long ago, he a little later than me, going for the 1DX instead of the 6D.

We are all very blessed to have the freedom, health and the finances to afford whatever equipment we have and need to remind ourselves of just how fortunate we are in this troubled world. Here today gone tomorrow. Make the best of it and spread good will as Wayne did, big time.

Alan, I've been trying and failing to this guy in flight all week.

Jack

 

[ejenner]

Coot and chicks. There was another coot chick pic earlier in this thread where the chicks were very colorful with red and orange. I'm guessing these are older with one just hanging onto a bit of red coloring. Not sure if they then go grey or what, but the other chicks were all that light grey color.

A pretty good crop of a 600mm shot with the sig 150-600 C

 

[lion rock]

Sorry that you lost a friend. And one that shared similar interest.
-r

 

[Jack Douglas]

Thanks lion rock. Guess I'll have to get back to posting more images here. It hits home how the most fun is sharing when you lose the primary person you shared with. Thanks to Wayne I'm back into photography and it's a highlight in my life.

Hank the AFMA did help, it was front focusing.

Jack

 

[Jack Douglas]

ejenner, nice detail and cute photo.

Jack

 

[IslanderMV]

Coot and chicks. There was another coot chick pic earlier in this thread where the chicks were very colorful with red and orange. I'm guessing these are older with one just hanging onto a bit of red coloring. Not sure if they then go grey or what, but the other chicks were all that light grey color.

A pretty good crop of a 600mm shot with the sig 150-600 C

Great shot - what camera did you use with the sig 150-600 C ? I am thinking of getting one.

 

[AlanF]

As much as I love my 7DII with the 100-400 II, it's difficult to beat the the 300/2.8 II + 2xTC on the 5DIII. Here is a great cested grebe chick with a fish I took with them last summer at f/7.1. The red patch on the chick's head changes colour according to its demand for food.

 

[rpt]

Jack, sorry to hear about your friend.

 

[ejenner]

Coot and chicks. There was another coot chick pic earlier in this thread where the chicks were very colorful with red and orange. I'm guessing these are older with one just hanging onto a bit of red coloring. Not sure if they then go grey or what, but the other chicks were all that light grey color.

A pretty good crop of a 600mm shot with the sig 150-600 C

Great shot - what camera did you use with the sig 150-600 C ? I am thinking of getting one.

7D. ISO was 800.

 

[ejenner]

I'm not sure what chick this is. I saw him/her in the surf (northern CA) getting pounded by small waves and thought he/she might be injured. Turned out not to be, but I haven't figured out how it got there or where its nest might have been - it couldn't fly yet. Ran back up the shore and hid in a crevice after getting out of the surf.