is it me or my lens

npinks

npinks

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Nick
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This morning I saw a bird, quite new out of the nest, in my front garden, so as part of my learning process I thought I'll snap a few photos from the lounge window, as it was still in the "if i sit still in the grass he won't see me mode" instead of flying off

The garden is about 40ft long so i swapped to my Tamaron AF 70-300mm 1:4-5.6 lens, which does not have the VR setting my kit lens does and on full zoom it was shaking a little hand held and even propping it against the window frames has resulted in out of focus photos, which are no where near good enough to post on here for critique, even it you throw composition out the window:thumbsdown:

I was shooting auto focus aswell, which was showing the focal dots on the bird and maybe a couple of the grass next to it.

In hindsight i might have been better changing to a single point focus or going manual with it sitting still :thinking: or a multitude of other settings that i don't know

I want to be able to capture longer distance shots, although that will be the kids playing in the park/garden, more than a bird sitting, but at 300mm the photos were bad quality, I think a tripod will have helped with this one to take away camera shake due to having no VR system, but i can't set one up each time i want to capture that moment with the kids as i'll miss it

Is there a knack to using a 300mm lens, as i haven't a clue on what settings to use with it been my first DSLR, should I increase the shutter speed or do something with the aperture to improve a shot:help:

anyway this is the best of the bad bunch

bird by npinks, on Flickr
 
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Stability would, i think, be a very important part of using such a lens.
 
Were you shooting through the glass window or did you have the window open?
Autofocus can often get confused when shooting through glass windows and may explain your out of focus shots. I would've gone for manual focus.
 
I agree, even with my Kit lens at full zoom you notice the difference in the view finder with VR on & off

Might have to use my legs and keep to the kit lens with VR, but i think sometimes the distance from me and the kids means a better shot:thinking:
 
Difficult to comment properly as the pic is set as private (so I can't read the exif or see bigger than the postage stamp size image you have posted).

Might be any number of things, what was the shutter speed and aperture? Remember as well, your Nikon kit lens is pretty good quality (with or without VR) while your Tamron is only an average IQ lens at best.

Could be user error (depending on settings) or you are just expecting too much from the lens.
 
I was shooting through the opened window which opening made it just sit down in the grass and just had its head visible in other photos, made sure at least one of the many focus dots were on the bird before taking the picture,

so it was three central dots lit, left grass, bird, right grass or similar variations
 
Dave1 said:
Difficult to comment properly as the pic is set as private (so I can't read the exif or see bigger than the postage stamp size image you have posted).

Might be any number of things, what was the shutter speed and aperture? Remember as well, your Nikon kit lens is pretty good quality (with or without VR) while your Tamron is only an average IQ lens at best.

Could be user error (depending on settings) or you are just expecting too much from the lens.
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Sorry i'm new to flickr also, but i have edited my photo in the first post and i think you might be able to read the data now

I don't know what i'm expecting out of the lens, as i say im new, I suppose i thought it might have been a little better though hence the thread:D

this photo was taken in the cameras 'AUTO' setting 1/500 F5.6 400iso
 
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Looking at a bigger pic, (though I'm on my iPad so only an opinion), it looks like you missed focus, the pot planter looks more in focus, I would also suggest trying to get your aperture up to f8, the lens isn't high quality and wide open (especially at 300mm) will be its weakest point.

Try some pics at various settings, your optimum quality will be around 200mm at f8.
 
i will have a look at a similar shot at 200mm f8 if i can, what ISO would you suggest?


The bird lives in the conifers behind the fence as i have seen mum flying worms in for the past few months, It not a interesting subject, but good enough to try things out:)
 
I wouldn't even consider using multi point focus for a shot like that. The camera doesn't know there is a bird there, so it's unlikely to focus on it. Stick it on single point so you know for sure the focus point is on the subject you want and not a plant pot.
 
i realised that thr multi point wasn't the best when i pop them on my computer

I 'thought' that having one of the multi points on the bird will have been sharper, but now i know for next time:lol:

I see my learning curve been a long one :bonk:
 
npinks said:
i will have a look at a similar shot at 200mm f8 if i can, what ISO would you suggest?
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The lower the better, but unless the sun comes out you were probably already at optimum at 400. (remembering you need to be at least 1/focal length to combat camera shake).
 
Dave1 said:
(remembering you need to be at least 1/focal length to combat camera shake).
Click to expand...

going to have too Google that rule to refresh my memory as i have read something about it :thumbs:
 
npinks said:
going to have too Google that rule to refresh my memory as i have read something about it :thumbs:
Click to expand...

It's quite simple, always use 1/focal length or higher to avoid shake. So if you are using your lens at 300mm, you want at least 1/300. Some people say you should take crop factor into account so would make it 1/450 or more simply 1/500 (of course the higher the better, especially at long zoom lengths).
 
Even with VR you still need to keep the shutter speed up when shooting birds as they "twitch" a lot and rarely sit perfectly still.

I use shutter priority (TV mode) with a shutter speed of at least 1/400th second, I also use auto ISO when the light is changeable as it has been lately.

I found that shutter speed worked fine with the tamron you have and still applies to the VR one as though it counters camera shake very well it does not counter subject movement.

For shots of birds flying I would double that speed to 1/800 th minimum if I wanted to "freeze" the action.
 
As the auto setting decided to use 1/500 then I guess it must have worked out that he was using a long lens and was taking a picture of a bird. I keep saying modern cameras are pretty clever :)
 
Thanks again to all giving their input, it's been very helpfull

And thanks for explaining the shutter speed to length:rules:
 
npinks said:
Thanks again to all giving their input, it's been very helpfull

And thanks for explaining the shutter speed to length:rules:
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No problem, at least with digital photography you can just keep trying till it gets better :thumbs:
 
Also, if you have time, I'd be tempted to use the camera on the 2sec timer. At that range even teh slightest movement can throw the photo out and a lot of that movement can come from simply pressing the shutter release. Spot focus and up the shutter speed to at least 1/300 and I reckon you're there...
 
I think people talking about shutter speed have missed the point where Nick stated it was at 1/500.
Looks to me like expecting too much from the lens combined with not actually being close enough so the bird is still too small in the frame.
 
I would use a tripod/bean bag/rolled up towel to reduce shake too.

What about a wired/wireless remote so you are not jogging the camera when pressing the shutter?

.....and feed the birds so they come closer!

Heather
 
Also taking the crop factor 300mm become an 450mm,it take a bit of practice hand holding at that range.

You could use an monopod,a try and push the shutter speed up to 1,000th :)
 
I agree with Tom. The focus is off because you did not use single point focus. You can have all of the setting correct and it will not matter if you let the camera pick where to focus most of the time, it has no idea what you are pointing at.
 
shaylou said:
I agree with Tom. The focus is off because you did not use single point focus. You can have all of the setting correct and it will not matter if you let the camera pick where to focus most of the time, it has no idea what you are pointing at.
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^^^This.

What you've done by using all focus points, is pointed the camera in the direction of the bird and said to the camera "I don't care what you focus on. You're smarter than I am. Just get me something in focus in that direction somewhere"

The camera can't read your mind and doesn't know that it was actually the bird you wanted in focus.
It did what you told it to do and focussed on "something".
When it does this it's usually the first thing that it locks onto and is usually something that has the greatest contrast.
 
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Try taking pics of flowers and vegitation, that way, it doesnt move (except for wind) plus you'll be able to practice focussing on certain parts of the vegitation. i.e. specific flowers, petals and so. Its great practice and the plants dont complain! :)
 
All in all Nick not a bad effort considering the distance. As mentioned single point focus is your best option as is using as fast a shutter as possible. Even handheld you may find yourself struggling at the best of times. Looking at the larger image on your flickr it appears to me that the body is pretty well in focus and probably just losing a little sharpness due to it being hosted, the head looks more like motion blur imo. If you take a look at the back of the birds neck you can see where there is a gap in the feathers, suggesting to me it was moving it`s head in a forward direction just at the precise time the image was being captured. With most bird shots you need to focus directly on the eye and observe when they are motionless before squeezing the button, handholding will make this more of a hit or miss affair as you need to concentrate more through the viewfinder to note when the subject is still rather than concentrating on keeping the camera still. Yes you can capture one from a distance and have plenty of dof so the subject looks pretty sharp, but you will then struggle to crop the image to a decent size for presentation purposes. So if you want to try this again then you need to be looking at a shooting distance of around 4mtrs minimum, and make use of a tripod or a beanbag.
 
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