sparrow on fence: It's been a couple of weeks since I got my first auto focus lens for my D3100. I was lucky enough to get a nice used Nikkor AF-S 55-200 VR on ebay. I think this is my...

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

It's been a couple of weeks since I got my first auto focus lens for my D3100. I was lucky enough to get a nice used Nikkor AF-S 55-200 VR on ebay. I think this is my first half way decent shot with the lens. It was taken in the late afternoon at a distance of about 50 - 60 ft. Sparrows are fast and small, a real challenge for me. I'm slowly learning to avoid rookie mistakes and starting to understand how to get something captured in the camera.

Bob

Nikon D3100 - Nikkor AF-S VR 55-200 - 200mm - f5.6 - iso 100 - 1/1000 sec.

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RE Loc: California

Nice, I look forward to seeing your future posts with your new lens!

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Thank you!

RE wrote:

Nice, I look forward to seeing your future posts with your new lens!

birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania

Nice, Bob. As you gain experience you will learn to relax a little and wait for the bird to turn his head to the left. With the sun on his face and a highlight in his eye you would have had a much more interesting pose.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Thanks Birdpix. I do get too excitted when I see a bird. The other day I forgot to switch from 55mm to 200mm. A rookie mistake!
Bob

birdpix wrote:

Nice, Bob. As you gain experience you will learn to relax a little and wait for the bird to turn his head to the left. With the sun on his face and a highlight in his eye you would have had a much more interesting pose.

birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania

Bobspez wrote:

Thanks Birdpix. I do get too excitted when I see a bird. The other day I forgot to switch from 55mm to 200mm. A rookie mistake!
Bob

We all make mistakes but what is important is what we learn from them.

UntamedImages Loc: Utah

Keep taking shots and keep posting them for us to see :-)

I can't tell you how many times I still will think I captured a good shot in the field and then get home and find some small thing that just ruins the shot. It's tough to think of everything but every know and then we all get lucky and the more you shoot the less luck you will need :-)

Thanks for sharing

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

O_S_O_K,
Thanks for the encouragement. I'm usually out every day and come up with nothing great. Today I got this one at about 60 ft. trying for some more reach with a 210mm manual focus lens and a 2xTC. Taken at f4 (which probably was an f8 with the TC), 1/500th sec. and iso 400 with the D3100. Needed a little more light and better focus.

As one of the other members this group said, shooting manual will be frustrating. But my Nikkor 55-200mm AFS VR lens doesn't reach more than about 30 to 40 ft.

Don't want to spend the money for a good AF VR zoom lens like the sigma 150-500 or the new tamron 150-600. Thinking about one of those super zoom bridge cameras. In the meanwhile I'll keep fishing for birds with the equipment I have.

Bob

O_S_O_K wrote:

Keep taking shots and keep posting them for us to see :-)

I can't tell you how many times I still will think I captured a good shot in the field and then get home and find some small thing that just ruins the shot. It's tough to think of everything but every know and then we all get lucky and the more you shoot the less luck you will need :-)

Thanks for sharing

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Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Ah,
Just went on ebay and bought a used finepix HS10. There's some great bird and macro shots on flickr with that camera. Hopefully it will give me some good results!
Bob

UntamedImages Loc: Utah

Bobspez wrote:

Ah,
Just went on ebay and bought a used finepix HS10. There's some great bird and macro shots on flickr with that camera. Hopefully it will give me some good results!
Bob

I think you understand the challenge. It's tough to get really good shots without spending some $. A "Bridge Camera" may be a good option for you.

Good luck Bob and please post some pics with the new camera!

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

O_S_O_K,

Thanks for the encouragement. I could use it. I got the HS10 camera but for some reason the birds seem scarce the last few days. Looks like rain today. As soon as I get a decent shot I will post it here.

Bob

O_S_O_K wrote:

I think you understand the challenge. It's tough to get really good shots without spending some $. A "Bridge Camera" may be a good option for you.

Good luck Bob and please post some pics with the new camera!

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Well, it seems like the HS10 bridge camera will not make it for birding either. The auto focus is not very accurate at full zoom, and the big killer is that the camera takes about 3 seconds to save a file in jpg and raw. If you use the option to fire off three shots, it is close to 10 seconds before you can take another shot.
This has narrowed my options with my current telephoto equipment on my D3100 to my Nikkor 55-300AFS VR lens if I can get closer than 30 ft. My wife says I probably need to put up a bird feeder in the back yard. My other option is an old 500mm f-mount manual focus f8 lens used on a tripod. This takes great shots with a tripod given enough daylight and time to focus manually. Perhaps a bird feeder in the yard is the only option I have to get nice shots with either of these two lenses.
Bob

Bobspez wrote:

O_S_O_K,

Thanks for the encouragement. I could use it. I got the HS10 camera but for some reason the birds seem scarce the last few days. Looks like rain today. As soon as I get a decent shot I will post it here.

Bob

birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania

Yes, a feeder would be a great help. You can make one out of an old log. Drill holes in it and stuff bird feed in it. Position it so that the food is just out of sight and you will get more natural looking shots. You can put it on a stand horizontally or hag it vertically. Smear crunchy peanut butter on the bark of a tree, again, just out of sight and you will get nuthatches and woodpeckers coming to it. There are lots of ways to get natural looking photos at feeding stations.

If you spend tome sitting quietly near the feeders, the birds will get used to you. Start at a distance they feel comfortable at and gradually, over the course of several days, work your way closer. Make slow, deliberate movements. You would be amazed at how close some species will let you get.

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

Thanks birdpix, and O_S_O_K and RE to for all the info and encouragement.

After trying for several weeks now, I finally got some luck yesterday. Maybe it was the cooler weather, but it seemed like the first time all summer, there was a bird convention in front of my house around 3:30Pm. I was able to get within 25 to 30 ft. without spooking the birds and got some nice shots with my Finepix HS-10 bridge camera with the 30x zoom (720mm FF equivalent). All pics were handheld at full zoom, and all are unprocessed jpg. files right out of the camera. They are attached.

P.S. birdpix, I took your advice and waited for them to turn their heads before shooting.

birdpix wrote:

Yes, a feeder would be a great help. You can make ... (show quote)

f5.6, 1/640 sec, ISO-800

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f5.6, 1/400 sec, ISO-800

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f8, 1/800 sec, ISO-1600

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UntamedImages Loc: Utah

Those are great pics!!!

Nicely done. Like said before, there is no substitute for getting as close as possible.

I think your off and running.

PS - as you probably have already figured out its a really good idea to listen to the advice of birdpix. He is a wise one :-)