I took a tripod out today to see if my photos would be sharper. Unfortunately the tripod was too light and would not stay locked, and the sky was white, so it wasn't a good test. I think the photos are a bit sharper, although I have cropped and re-sized them, which often makes them look less sharp. The birds are high up in a gum tree
Hi sis - what a gorgeous bird, I've never seen a live one.
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Re the use of a tripod for birding, I have pretty much decided that they are more of a hindrance than a help. I have also tried a monopod but find that is also cumbersome in the bush. My best results have relied upon the IS system, and when I can I'll always take advantage of an available support such as a tree, a fence post or a pair of walking poles to serve as a ready bipod. A single extendable aluminium walking pole can be used as a monopod.
Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour
The general rule of thumb used to be that you can hand hold a lense if you use the inverse of the focal length or faster as the shutter speed ie. a 250mm lense you can expect to hold well at 1/250th of a second or faster. With is or vr lenses you can get away with a stop or even 2 and practice/technique will improve your stability but I still have trouble leaving my tripod behind even though I often us it as a monopod with the legs closed up. What lense were you using, and what shutter speed??
See Yez
Trev
I'm not going to use the tripod I have - it's too flimsy and I lost a piece anyway. Usually with flying birds I'm using a shutter speed of 1000 or above. The lens + teleconversion lens is 712. For these photos the day was dull with a white sky. I had the camera set on aperture priority as I didn't think I would get any flying shots and I was just getting the perching shots. The first one was sheer luck - the shutter speed would have been quite low - less than 250 I think - and ISO was 200.
It's always a moot choice between Aperture and shutter Priority. With some success I have been lately choosing shutter Priority and a "stand-by speed" of 1/1000 sec @ iso400 that at a flick of the thumb can ramped either up or down. My reasoning is that for birding it's shutter speed that's critical.
Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour
Ah, good old holden v ford. I use appature priority most of the time because that's what I used to use on my old film slr so I'm used to it. I guess it boils down to what ever works for you.I asked becuse your shots are a little soft, which from your answer is probably becuse of shutter speed or maybe the teleconverter, is it a good quality converter? I used a cheap one in the old days and have resolved to not buy one for my canon till i can afford a canon converter.
See Yez
Trev
G'day Birdgirl,
how nice to have these subjects within walking distance of your place. Nice shots, regardless of the unfriendly sky. Patience will be rewarded and we'll see a future post from you that has a friendlier sky. Just check the FZ-50 manual to confirm whether the OIS should be on or off when the camera is mounted on a tripod. Many manufacturers recommend that stabilisation be turned OFF when the camera is mounted on a tripod.
Cheers,
.
George
Cheers,
George
Melbourne, VIC
HI Birdgirl
Nice shots still the same makes my 200mm zoom lens a bit out dated it just means I've got to get closer.
Thanks.
bushanwater - I have the Panasonic teleconversion lens that goes with the camera. They are too soft for my liking too, although the birds are a long way up the tree and I should be grateful for an image
George - thanks for the tip - also thanks for an earlier tip on continous focussing. I looked up the manual finally and found out that it was quite easy to turn on but felt that it was harder to get a sharp image than with tracking and focussing (which is very hard for me!)