MtnMan Loc: ID

I often have to use ISO 3200 on wildlife because they tend to be out in weak light. Also with wildlife you need to meter on the critter and Bison are very dark.

The OS on the Sigma 150-600 is likely good. It is pretty good on my older 150-500. But even with my Nikon 200-500, which has awesome VR and fixed max aperture of 5.6 I have found that to get sharpest pics handheld It works best if I keep the shutter speed up to 1/500. In this case ISO 1600 and 1/500 would have likely yielded sharper images.

I now mostly use M mode and auto ISO on wildlife (handheld) with my Nikon 200-500, with the f-stop set to 5.6 and the min shutter speed set to 1/500. Spot or center weighted metering. I usually use it on my D5300 for the crop factor but use the same settings when I use it on my D800. ISOs range from 200 to 6400.

BeaverNewby Loc: Memphis, Tn

I have been looking(dreaming(wishing)) at a D500 also, not so much for the low light performance but all the things the D3300 doesn't have (even the D3300 can easily do -3 under exposure not in the same class as the D500 though!). Namely, the really high resolution tilting LCD screen, The 153 Focus Points, The high speed focus acquisition, the 14 bit uncompressed Raw file capability vs the 12bit compressed Raw D3300 to start. At ~$1,900.00 body only, compared to the D5 ~$6500.00 body only, appears to be a steal. It would be the last camera body I would probably want\buy (No disrespect to Canon, Sony, Leica, Fuji and every other manufacturer).

I am still working on my wife though!

BeaverNewby Loc: Memphis, Tn

Hi MtnMan
I have had others tell me the same thing. Just getting around to trying it out.
The one major problem I have with the D3300 is with critical focus (no auto fine tune either), it seems hard for me to tell when the focus is bang on thru the viewfinder or even on the LCD (It Lags when using live view). It may just be my ageing eyesight.
Thanks MtnMan for the great info.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

You actually have quite a good camera, but you're not getting the best out of it. As twr suggested, in the scenes as shown, 1/60 would probably have been fast enough. The only thing that might have necessitated a faster shutter speed is foreground vegetation swaying in the wind, but in these shots there isn't any. Wind-blown fur can be a problem, but these guys have short, wiry fur, so not much of a problem there, and they're not prone to quick, unexpected movements either (just don't forget that they can run surprisingly quickly - faster than you ).

Rongnongno's suggestions for PP sound very masterful, but if you're not at that level yourself, or if you're looking for something a bit simpler and more straight-forward, making the right adjustments to Contrast, Clarity, Blacks, Shadows, Brightness, Highlights and Whites (with possible tweaks to WB, Saturation, Vibrance and colour in the HSL section) would be enough to lift the shots to another level. Soft light can provide many advantages for shooting, but one thing it won't do is give you contrasty images. Your first shot in particular is in need of some more contrast/clarity - just watch out for the blacks, and to a lesser extent the shadows, becoming too dark and heavy. It's perfectly legitimate to use the Blacks slider to adjust the general level of brightness at the dark end of the luminosity scale. However, if you do use it to lift the dark end you might find that you need more contrast to counteract the resulting flatness (it's a balancing act, but it can yield good results if you do it properly).

Not forgetting that raw files should always get some kind of sharpening and denoise. Whenever there's a lot of ISO noise I always make my sharpening edge-oriented to avoid aggravating the graininess, and if there are specific areas that would benefit from general sharpening (e.g. fur), you can apply it to those areas with the Adjustments brush (or whatever your editor's equivalent is). The same thing applies to any areas that might benefit from extra denoise, for example to reduce the ISO graininess. I often use extra denoise to soften backgrounds. If you have Lightroom you'll find that images taken at high ISOs usually benefit from some Colour Denoise to clean them up a bit.

MtnMan Loc: ID

You should be able to set your camera so it will only release if it has achieved focus. It is called focus priority.

Also there should be a little green light that comes on in the lower left of your viewfinder to tell you when it is in focus.

bigwolf40 Loc: Effort, Pa.

Here is a fix that took less then 30 seconds in PSE 14. Hope you don't mind that I did this....Rich

(Download)

MtnMan Loc: ID

Really nice job to show the detail in the hair.

I feel it shows the OP had good focus and camera stability. So the high ISO was the chief cause of lacking tack sharpness.

Would you outline the steps?

bigwolf40 Loc: Effort, Pa.

MtnMan. And any one else that might be interested in a quick and easy way to improve their photos...>>> If you have PSE go to Enhance at the top and click on it and go from there into the drop-down. Now click on the following one at a time. This might sound long but it only takes seconds to do. start with auto smart fix, auto levels, auto contrast, auto haze removal then at the bottom unsharp mask, then back up to auto sharpen and auto smart tone. It sounds like a lot but it is only one click on each. Very fast. You can once you use it you then go further and adjust each on to your liking but most of the time you will be right away. If there is something that you don't like you can go to the very bottom and click on the undo to get rid of it or click on the redo to get it back. This is the simplest and fastest way to improve any photo. Just write down the steps I mentioned and try it. I know you will love this simple method and be using it all the time on all you photos....Rich

Emp Loc: new york state nassau county

They look good to me!!!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

All done using Basic sliders, HSL work, sharpening and denoise, plus some brush work as described in my last post (and a little clone work to tidy up).

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(Download)


(Download)

MtnMan Loc: ID

Thanks!

I use Lightroom and Photoshop but can translate the steps.

MtnMan Loc: ID

Very nice! You too have shown that the OP's images were fine...just in need of some post processing sprucing up because of the high ISO.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

And all done with basic adjustments and some brush work. I'd say it wasn't just the high ISO - the soft light contributed as well.

phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York

Why were you at ISO 3200 0n a tripod?

BeaverNewby Loc: Memphis, Tn

The first image was 120 yards approximately. The second was so close that I swapped lens (Nikkor 55-300mm@78mm). I would have been scared if there was no fence between us.



I don't use light room yet. I am playing with NIC filters though, I agree with you on every point you have made.
Thanks for taking a look.