Any pet photographers in?

Garry Edwards said:
The point is, that when it comes to communicating with animals, common sense is very uncommon, and what is obvious to many of us is completely missed by owners.
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Indeed, even people who should know better. I was once shutting to a rider and standing near the horse’s head when I deployed my dog whistle to call up my dog who had gone off somewhere with results you can guess though fortunately not disastrous :(
 
Just been playing around with the S5 using AFS and AFC with human and animal auto detection on. Wasn't overly impressed with the images of my dog running back to me with her toy. Sometimes it didn't pick her up at all and a lot of the shots weren't in focus. Need to play around with it more I think, unless I have the wrong kit for my potential needs lol (wouldn't surprise me either).
 
Well having read the manual and watched some more videos online (found the Lumix academy ones) it looks like the 6k video mode is the way forward and that allows me to pull 30 FPS stills from 6k video at 18 mp. Will have a go in the better light tomorrow. Otherwise I'm at 5 FPS in AF-C which is naff and would explain why a large number of my shots were out of focus.

Out of curiosity, how big could you safely print on 18 mp compared to the cameras 24 MP? Would you actually see that much difference?
 
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Well it was on tracking and AFC. Dog had green box around her and some still came out blurry.

I watched circa 3/4 videos of "pros" on YouTube taking fast shots of birds in flight a BMX bike stunt thing and a skiing one and they all used the 6k burst mode (with pre burst switched on).

I am reading, watching, trying to have ago and learning along the way. I also watched a short Ytube video comparing a 5d shutter speed to a 1dx shutter speed (don't know the exact models) and it was night and day difference in speed.

Also went onto the DP forums and read reviews / comments there..

If I get chance tomorrow I'll do some more photos and if the members don't mind, I'll post them up here. Just remember I only have the three lenses (20-60 / 50 / 85 mm) so when the dog is at the bottom of the garden, it doesn't automatically pick her up and sometimes as she is running back towards me it just doesn't recognise her using the animal detect (she is tiny though).
 
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Photographing 'fast' moving animals is a skill to be developed.
If you are expecting instant tack sharp results you may be a little disappointed.
I'm a 'pro' and I use single point focus on my DSLRs with C-AF and a high burst rate. Did I start out getting great results all the time? No. Like any skill it takes time to improve the keeper rate.
Using 6k sounds like a spray and pray approach.
You may find better results by turning off your subject detection and trying it old school - you may be surprised.
Try something like auto ISO, min shutter speed of , say 1/1600, aperture f/4.
 
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Cheers folks, and I don't expect any new skill to come quickly :-)

I will have a play around again later all being well.

As with anything there is an element of trial and error (when you are doing things under your own supervision) and practice.

The 6k mode looks pretty cool actually (IMO anyway).
 
Chris_911 said:
If you're having problems with focus, then the frame rate is not your issue.
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Longer lenses really help with framing and tracking. And don't forget my suggestion of old 1dx. These were designed to do such work. S5 was not
 
I want to try and learn as much as I can with my current kit if I'm honest. It cost me a fair amount (not as much as some of you have spent on kit obviously) so if I can get the basic principles of the task / skill, get as good as I can within the limits of my equipment then if / when I change or decide I really need (not want) to bump up to a more suitable camera / lens combo then I will find the task even easier. That being said I did have the EOS R6 and RF 70-200 mm 2.8 in a basket yesterday (just for giggles) as it's a good £4-£5k that kit.
 
For example, I've just had a little play in my lounge. Lighting is rubbish as it's dull.

I put the camera on S, altered the shutter speed to 500 and left ISO and Ap as auto.

I selected a different focus (area detect with animal / human) cranked the size of the focus area up and each shot came out crisp (although a little dark) lens is capped at F4 at that focal length.

It's just a thing to practice. I don't have time right now to alter it and play more as getting kids to school, but what I would have gone on to do is reduce the shutter speed to keep it open a little longer and played around with finding the correct shutter speed for the image to come out crisp and correct exposure (or altered other things like ISO or the +/- box - forgot it's name).
 
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Adamcski said:
I want to try and learn as much as I can with my current kit if I'm honest. It cost me a fair amount (not as much as some of you have spent on kit obviously)
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Then you should be exploring the studio side of things for the most part, or essentially all the static shots. There is nothing wrong with that. For some inspiration have a browse through https://www.flickr.com/photos/alicjazmyslowska/

If you want action then Panasonic won't be the right tool regardless of their self-imposed price tag. You could have a fully capable 2nd hand pro setup for probably less than £1200... Mirrorless is not all benefits, but hey it is far better at video (same AF limitations still apply).
 
Adamcski said:
Well having read the manual and watched some more videos online (found the Lumix academy ones) it looks like the 6k video mode is the way forward and that allows me to pull 30 FPS stills from 6k video at 18 mp. Will have a go in the better light tomorrow. Otherwise I'm at 5 FPS in AF-C which is naff and would explain why a large number of my shots were out of focus.

Out of curiosity, how big could you safely print on 18 mp compared to the cameras 24 MP? Would you actually see that much difference?
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In real life and at normal (up to at least A4) print sizes, 18MP is plenty.
 
LongLensPhotography said:
Then you should be exploring the studio side of things for the most part, or essentially all the static shots. There is nothing wrong with that. For some inspiration have a browse through https://www.flickr.com/photos/alicjazmyslowska/

If you want action then Panasonic won't be the right tool regardless of their self-imposed price tag. You could have a fully capable 2nd hand pro setup for probably less than £1200... Mirrorless is not all benefits, but hey it is far better at video (same AF limitations still apply).
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Such a pity that no good photos were ever able to be taken before digital came on the scene ;(,
 
Managed to get out just as it started to rain so not too many taken.

This was set on AFC, tracking, burst mode 1 (5 FPS) on shutter priority and I don't think they are too bad...shame she wanted to play with her teddy as I think it hampered the focusing a little.

1 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

2 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

3 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

4 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

5 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

6 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

7 by Adam CSki, on Flickr
 
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8 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

9 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

10 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

11 by Adam CSki, on Flickr

But these are sooo much better than yesterdays attempt, when I would say at least half were blurry and of no use. I am going to have a play with the 6k photo mode if the rain stops as that looks like another great little tool
 
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Depends on the type of images you are after. What you have will be more than adequate for 'stills'. Even action shots if you lie on the ground and get the dog to run towards you. I shoot whippet racing and most of my images are taken at 70mm. It's more important to have a really fast shutter speed. If it's just your own pet you are shooting, just treat it as another person, albeit a slightly hairy one. The trick is to shoot it at its level.
 
Well I am happier with the 'action shots' above. It is still raining heavily here so no further fun today. I will get there in the end, just got to keep pressing play and learning.
 
Adamcski said:
Just wondered if there were any folks on here that predominantly work with pets.

It's an area of photography that is appealing to me and I've had a look online at the local firms / watched a few videos online but think I may have the wrong kit for it.

It appears a lot of the photographers on the net use a 70-200m 2.8 lens, and I don't have one :-(

I like taking pictures of my family and the kids / our pets. My kit I think is aimed more towards the family side of things (50 mm and 85 mm 1.8 - Lumix) on my S5. My other camera is the G9 which I really use when just wanting to travel light with the little lens I have.

Just wondered if there were any people on the forum that could share what they use and perhaps help a noobie a little.

I will just add that I'm not a professional and not looking to make money. The Lumix Pro 70-200 2.8 Lens appears to have good reviews buts is around £2,600 and that's a tall order for me...
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If you're on twitter, I can tag someone for you
 
Thanks @Dael_Pix but I'm not on twitter or many other social media sites I'm afraid.

You fine folk are my sources of wisdom and guidance, along with YouTube videos and whatever else I can find :-)
 
Hi Adam.

Looks like your on the right path with those.
As mentioned above get down low on the floor find a non distracting background add some bright light and you'll be away.

Good luck.

Gaz
 
Cheers Gaz.

I've been watching loads of videos on YouTube about the settings on the Lumix cameras and it can be done :-)

I've also been watching some of CatsDog videos on YouTube which are great for pet photography and don't involve action type shots.

I just want to learn how things work and practice them. No point having cameras with all these features and not trying to learn how it all works.

And although the S5 may be limited to 7 to 5 FPS my G9 can do 20 -12 FPS in APC so that's something :-)
 
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Well I am out the back, nice sunny day and trying to get the dog to run around. I am at ground level sat on my decking with the S5 and G9 out. Both set on burst 1, AFC and animal tacking on. WOW this G9 is super fast compared to the S5. Looks like the majority of these are all in focus (will load onto laptop later and check). I just have the shutter speed set to 500 and rest in auto. G9 has an advantage as it has a 12-60 mm lens on (Leica) so appears to pick up the dog at greater distance than the 85 mm on the S5
 
I've won two awards for my pet photography, A national competition with a shot taken with a Samsung DSLR & "kit" 18-55 and the other a readers choice award shot with an Olympus Pen F and 17mm lens. in both cases it was single shot AF and one single shot for each, I knew what I wanted and luckily got both first time.
It really is a case of "its not what you've got but how you use it".
 
I would agree with you there @magicaxeman and I'd just see the camera as a tool in achieving it. Some cameras have better functionality than others for specific things, which could just make the job a little easier. But people were taking sports, wildlife and pet pictures before human / animal / eye autofocus and so on. Just the tech makes things (probably) a lot easier now.
 
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Adamcski said:
But people were taking sports, wildlife and pet pictures before human / animal / eye autofocus and so on. Just the tech makes things (probably) a lot easier now.
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Not to mention that it's a lot cheaper too!
 
I've been watching some vids of CatsDog on YouTube and prior to her recent upgrade to the Sony A7r iv she was / is using a 5D of some form, and I don't believe these have mega high FPS either. So it's all about using the tools and making them work for your needs I suppose.
 
A high frame rate helps gives you more options to choose from, but if you get the shutter speed right, you could use singlephoto mode and come away with a usable photos. FPS does not equal shutter speed. As others have indicated, try shooting with a shutter speed of over 1/1000th of a second.
 
I haven't had the need to increase further than 500 at the moment. My dog is an imperial shih tzu, so not typically the most 'action' orientated breed, she sometimes gets a little skip going as shown above, but rarely breaks into a full sprint lol
 
Adamcski said:
I haven't had the need to increase further than 500 at the moment. My dog is an imperial shih tzu, so not typically the most 'action' orientated breed, she sometimes gets a little skip going as shown above, but rarely breaks into a full sprint lol
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How are your panning skills? Some dramatic results can be obtained by slowing down even to 1/60 second or so, thus avoiding those cliche frozen-in-time static shots.
 
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I'm pretty new to photography on the whole, so need to practice all my techniques/ skills. It's having the time to dedicate serious hours to practice that's stopping me at the moment. It's been a busy weekend, and my dog is relatively lazy lol. My son wants to go and watch some banger racing, so may see what / if anything is on somewhere and take the cameras there. Most of the time my photography is stills and macro stuff, but it doesn't hurt to learn and try other areas also.
 
Adamcski said:
But people were taking sports, wildlife and pet pictures before human / animal / eye autofocus and so on. Just the tech makes things (probably) a lot easier now.
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To put some meat on these bones, I first shot motorsport with a manual focus camera the only way of getting an action shot was by using trap focus, the tricky bit about which was finding something to pre focus on at exactly the right distance. My hit rate was less than 10%., by the time I was using an AF film camera, my hit rate had more than doubled. By the time I got a 7d, my hit rate was well over 50%, and the R6 will get me close to 100% in focus shots.

All of those cameras are perfectly valid tools, but if you treat it as a results based business, why would you buy frustration rather than precision?

And of course the other option is, if you're going to be frustrated shooting action shots of animals, why not aim to get interesting static shots instead?
 
Adamcski said:
I'm pretty new to photography on the whole, so need to practice all my techniques/ skills. It's having the time to dedicate serious hours to practice that's stopping me at the moment. It's been a busy weekend, and my dog is relatively lazy lol. My son wants to go and watch some banger racing, so may see what / if anything is on somewhere and take the cameras there. Most of the time my photography is stills and macro stuff, but it doesn't hurt to learn and try other areas also.
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Life needs to come first, of course. Take your time, you'll get there!
 
Phil V said:
To put some meat on these bones, I first shot motorsport with a manual focus camera the only way of getting an action shot was by using trap focus, the tricky bit about which was finding something to pre focus on at exactly the right distance. My hit rate was less than 10%., by the time I was using an AF film camera, my hit rate had more than doubled. By the time I got a 7d, my hit rate was well over 50%, and the R6 will get me close to 100% in focus shots.

All of those cameras are perfectly valid tools, but if you treat it as a results based business, why would you buy frustration rather than precision?

And of course the other option is, if you're going to be frustrated shooting action shots of animals, why not aim to get interesting static shots instead?
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Fully appreciate that Phil and again thanks for your words of wisdom.

I am perfectly happy with my S5 and G9, I think they are great. Most of my photos are stills and macro stuff, but learning how to use what I have for other types of photography (say action) can't hurt. They may not be the best cameras for xyz purpose, but as I'm not making anything from photography I am not overly worried.

That being said, I'm a bloke and do suffer from GAS, so if I make a purchase moving forwards (wouldn't be a sure thing and not until the photography show) I would take these additional consoderations into account :-)

For example. The R6 shoots up to 20 FPS (as does my G9) and the R5. The new Sony A7R IV is 10 FPS (and less I believe in certain settings). What they do have (currently) that appears to be leagues ahead of the Lumix stuff is the AF and eye detection for animals and such. Perhaps Panasonic will catch up, who knows.
 
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Winslowe said:
Life needs to come first, of course. Take your time, you'll get there!
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No rush I've not even finished my intermediate course yet lol.

I'm just exploring and seeing what my current cameras can do, how they work and can they work in other areas that may interest me such as action, etc.
 
Adamcski said:
Fully appreciate that Phil and again thanks for your words of wisdom.

I am perfectly happy with my S5 and G9, I think they are great. Most of my photos are stills and macro stuff, but learning how to use what I have for other types of photography (say action) can't hurt. They may not be the best cameras for xyz purpose, but as I'm not making anything from photography I am not overly worried.

That being said, I'm a bloke and do suffer from GAS, so if I make a purchase moving forwards (wouldn't be a sure thing and not until the photography show) I would take these additional consoderations into account :)

For example. The R6 shoots up to 20 FPS (as does my G9) and the R5. The new Sony A7R IV is 10 FPS (and less I believe in certain settings). What they do have (currently) that appears to be leagues ahead of the Lumix stuff is the AF and eye detection for animals and such. Perhaps Panasonic will catch up, who knows.
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I’ve said this before but the eye focus on the latest canon (and Sony) cameras is tantamount to witchcraft.
 
Phil V said:
I’ve said this before but the eye focus on the latest canon (and Sony) cameras is tantamount to witchcraft.
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I have watched a few videos about it and of certain photographers out there making a living in the world of pet photography. They don't use Lumix lol.

One lady does funky dog photos and shoots blind using the R6 as she is that confident in the autofocus.....

I won't get rid of my S5 or G9. I'd keep my G9 and two lenses for my holiday / travel set up. Wife could inherit the S5 and three lenses and I could play around with another make in the future, who knows lol
 
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