PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Hi. I'm hoping you can help me. I recently bought the new 100-400mmL lens to go with my 7d mk ii. I do love the new lens, very fast to focus and has been sharp with most pictures. I do have a question that I'm hoping you might be able to help answer. I took some bald eagle pictures a couple days ago and I was a little disappointed in the sharpness of many of them. They were a fair distance away from me, so when I crop them to a size that I want, they aren't sharp. It may be that I'm expecting too much with the cropping result, but I was wondering what your experience has been with this lens and camera. I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing wrong and how to improve, or if my expectations are unrealistic. I will post a couple uncropped photos. I've tried to take pictures of BIF, but the sharpest photos were of the eagle flying overhead, which would have also been a little closer. I appreciate any thoughts or suggestions you might have to help me learn.

Thanks,
Patty

bald eagle

(Download)

bald eagle

(Download)

bald eagle in flight

(Download)

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

Hi Patty. I think from looking at your pictures you are really pushing it with the lighting you had and the distance you were working with. If you have some trees around the house go out and shoot on a nice day and see how sharp the branches are. You might have to fine tune the lens to the camera. I shoot Nikon and they make it pretty easy to do. You can also make a target and see if the lens is back or front focusing. I use a yard stick and mark the center with a dark line. Put it 45 degrees from the camera on a tripod and shoot a few shots. Then look to see where it is really focusing. If you need help just give me an email.:)

rwilson1942 Loc: Houston, TX

It is hard to judge how far away you were but distance can make a big difference in IQ/focus. The first image is definitely soft but the others don't look bad assuming a fairly significant distance and poor light. While generally not an issue with newer cameras and lenses, as Erv said, you might want to check back focus just in case.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

For the eagle in flight. EXIF shows that you were shooting in manual. There just may not be enough time to get a good manual focus. If so, try auto focus and spot focus as well.

Jim Bob

How far were you from the eagles?

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Thanks, Erv. I will wait for a brighter day to try that in natural lighting. I will email you, if I have trouble. I google a lot of things when looking for answers, but sometimes it just helps to have direct communication. Thank you!

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

If you cropped as much as you imply then you are way too far away.
#1 doesn't seem to be sharp at all any where in the frame and 1/400 at 400 mm is iffy anyway.
#2 & #3 the eagle is fairly sharp considering the circumstances as near as can be told from these resized images at only 72 dpi.

Try posting a full frame Out Of Camera shot without the resizing and we can tell more.

It is a 400 mm telephoto, not an observatory.

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

I was wondering that too, Rick. I'm not a very good judge of distance, but I was all the way zoomed out at 400mm, and the eagles still looked pretty small. I'm not used to shooting in full Manual mode, so I think I made the mistake of doing that instead of my normal AP mode. I just think I made a lot of mistakes at once, so it's probably harder to tell exactly where I went wrong. Thank you for your help. I will be trying check the focusing later, also.

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Thank you, boberic. I don't remember switching to manual focus for the eagle in flight, but I probably did because I had to shoot through a chain link fence. For the rest of the images, I was shoot in Manual mode, but I did have auto focus on, and some of my later pictures I made sure to use spot focus. Those weren't sharp, either. Good advice to remember. Thank you.

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Jim Bob, I'm not really sure how far away I was. The images I downloaded were the original jpeg files, and I would have been zoomed out to 400mm, if that helps any. I'm sorry I can't be more exact.

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Thanks, Jerry. I was the furthest away in #1 and the closest in #3, which is also why I think it is the sharpest image. The biggest problem with #3 is my own ineptitude as I try to learn how to photograph BIF. This was my first time, ever. It will be fun to learn, but I need to better understand my limitations beyond my own abilities, and realistic expectations. I only posted the original jpeg file, so you could see the distance and also so that my re-sizing the photo didn't distort your being able to help. Maybe I should have sent RAW files. Can I do that here?

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Jerry, I also meant to mention I agree with your last comment. This is where I'm just trying to learn my limitations and be realistic in my expectations. I've only had this lens around a week, so I'm getting used to using it and learning.

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

I started trying BIF with an EF 70-300 IS USM, not long enough, then I got a Tamron 150-600, still not long enough and I don't like to carry the tripod/gimbal head combo around, but when able to set up in one spot it is what I use. I also have the 100-400 mark I with a pistol grip attached. I get closer, I have learned to find a spot where the distances won't be so much and I have something to hide me so I can get closer. (won't work well at a spot like you seem to find your eagles) This morning I tried the 100-400 with a 1.4X, few keepers because it is so hard to keep the center point for AF on the birds. Maybe with the tripod and gimbal head it will work better. But after about 30 minutes I took the extender off, the keeper rate went up and then I noticed sparrows and other small birds in a tree right by the observation platform I was shooting from. Bonus, it is just coming into bloom with reddish pink blossoms! And the birds are used to people, one landed on the railing too close to focus. I need the mark II!

Keep trying, I found that as with most things when I started I couldn't think and do things fast enough to get many keepers. After a while muscle memory and the sub conscious took over a lot of stuff and it is getting easier with a higher keeper rate.

So:

get closer

keep at it

use high shutter speeds (turn IS off for high shutter speeds for sitting birds, use the IS panning position for following flying birds) If light is fair to good I now use at least 1/1000, for hummers or in very good light I go to 1/2000.

try a tripod or monopod to help with the weight, it also helps keep the camera & lens steady and smooths out your movements, I don't like monopod much and my tripod has a gimbal head on it more or less full time. (NEST from MT Shooter here on the hog http://www.cameracottage.com/)

Sun light through the window woke me with just under 6 hours, I am going to take a nap, then PP and post some of today's pictures. Or take more, sparrows, house finches, hummers, 2 kinds of doves and one type of wild pigeon plus the squirrel in the yard after the bird feeders while I typed this. The mockers have to be nearby also, I can hear one singing.

PattyW60 Loc: Northwest Illinois

Sounds like you live in a beautiful area! I bet you get some awesome pictures of those birds surrounded by pink blossoms! What a burst of color!! Thank you for the encouragement. I think it will be fun trying to learn, and when I do finally get a decent shot, I'll be so excited!! LOL It's be 1 our of 50,000!! Not a great batting average...haha

By the way, I also wasn't using a tripod or monopod, so maybe it's just too hard to get a sharp image at that distance without one. Like I said, I think I did a lot wrong....I'm learning, thanks to guys like you on this site. Thanks, again! Patty

robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

Did an edit and added stuff to my entry, dozed off over the keyboard, going to take a nap, NOW.