Sony RX 10 iv for Birds in Flight? The grandson of a friend of mine is a birder and has become interested in photography. My friend wants to buy him a Sony RX 10 iv as a present. He...

berchman Loc: South Central PA

The grandson of a friend of mine is a birder and has become interested in photography. My friend wants to buy him a Sony RX 10 iv as a present. He got the idea for this camera from an article by Bob Krist in Bird Watching Magazine in which Krist praised the camera. Does anyone here have experience with using this camera to photograph birds in flight?

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Hi,
I just purchased the RX10 IV for a European river cruise. Leaving today! Love the camera. 24 frames per second!! He may find a tripod helpful to shoot birds in flight. It's an awesome camera. He may find this article helpful. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/60301878 or this one: https://www.provideocoalition.com/sony-rx10-iv-worlds-fastest-af-speed/

I suggest he buy a book to learn the camera. It's menus are voluminous. I purchased the one by White on Amazon.
Mark

berchman wrote:

The grandson of a friend of mine is a birder and has become interested in photography. My friend wants to buy him a Sony RX 10 iv as a present. He got the idea for this camera from an article by Bob Krist in Bird Watching Magazine in which Krist praised the camera. Does anyone here have experience with using this camera to photograph birds in flight?

a6k Loc: Detroit & Sanibel

BIFs were the reason that I upgraded from the previous model. The camera has a semi-hidden trick that allows an instant change of certain parameters as long as the designated button is kept pressed. In my case, for BIFs I use the central button in the wheel/hat switch on the back because I can press and hold it while tracking a bird. The phase detect focus is very fast and accurate. With some diligence this can be found in the manuals.

The trick is to use the wide area focus and the highest frame rate and the highest practical shutter speed in that configuration. This is somehow different from the two memory settings. Once you have the camera set up for that you can instantly go from point focus for stationary objects to wide focus for a bird in the sky. In wide mode the camera will find the bird and focus on it even if it's not perfectly in the center. Then just hold down the shutter AND the designated button (customizable) and use up a lot of MB's on the SD card!

berchman Loc: South Central PA

a6k wrote:

BIFs were the reason that I upgraded from the prev... (show quote)

Very useful tip. Thanks.

berchman Loc: South Central PA

markngolf wrote:

Hi,
I just purchased the RX10 IV for a European river cruise. Leaving today! Love the camera. 24 frames per second!! He may find a tripod helpful to shoot birds in flight. It's an awesome camera. He may find this article helpful. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/60301878 or this one: https://www.provideocoalition.com/sony-rx10-iv-worlds-fastest-af-speed/

I suggest he buy a book to learn the camera. It's menus are voluminous. I purchased the one by White on Amazon.
Mark

The dpreview shows that the camera can be good for BIF. Helfpful link. I have neither experience nor interest in photographing flying birds, but it seems to me that one would need the freedom of motion of the camera to one's eye and not on a tripod. Besides, one is using a high shutter speed, making a tripod unnecessary.

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

I agree. I said, "a tripod may be helpful".
Mark

berchman wrote:

The dpreview shows that the camera can be good for BIF. Helfpful link. I have neither experience nor interest in photographing flying birds, but it seems to me that one would need the freedom of motion of the camera to one's eye and not on a tripod. Besides, one is using a high shutter speed, making a tripod unnecessary.

dpullum Loc: Tampa Florida

Ms Stokes a pro birder, recommends the Canon SX50.
http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/canon-sx-50-hs-for-bird-photography-i.html

PeterDragon Loc: Harlan, KY - Kona, HI - Phoenix, AZ

dpullum wrote:

Ms Stokes a pro birder, recommends the Canon SX50.
http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/canon-sx-50-hs-for-bird-photography-i.html

Good looking photography. She must have a better SX50 than I have.lol..
Jim

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

dpullum wrote:

Ms Stokes a pro birder, recommends the Canon SX50.
http://stokesbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/canon-sx-50-hs-for-bird-photography-i.html

It can work, but as the focal length increases you get close to F6.5 - making it harder to use. The aperture at max zoom on the RX10M4 is F4. If you shoot jpeg, the medium burst rate of 10 fps (not 24), and don't mind "some" image deterioration, Clear Image Zoom will cut the angle of view by half when using the Large image size (20 mp) - effectively providing the same as a 1200mm lens, and still F4. I am not a fan of shooting jpeg, and I don't care for the artifacts it creates in the image, and hand holding any camera with an effective 1200 is a challenge. I am happier shooting raw and cropping, where I can manage the image quality a little better and end up with an equal or often better result.

The RX10M4 is totally awesome for sports and flying birds and such.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

berchman wrote:

The grandson of a friend of mine is a birder and has become interested in photography. My friend wants to buy him a Sony RX 10 iv as a present. He got the idea for this camera from an article by Bob Krist in Bird Watching Magazine in which Krist praised the camera. Does anyone here have experience with using this camera to photograph birds in flight?

I like it. I will post some images soon.

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

markngolf wrote:

Hi,
I just purchased the RX10 IV for a European river cruise. Leaving today! Love the camera. 24 frames per second!! He may find a tripod helpful to shoot birds in flight. It's an awesome camera. He may find this article helpful. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/60301878 or this one: https://www.provideocoalition.com/sony-rx10-iv-worlds-fastest-af-speed/

I suggest he buy a book to learn the camera. It's menus are voluminous. I purchased the one by White on Amazon.
Mark

ENJOY!!! Be Safe

Blaster34 Loc: Florida Treasure Coast

markngolf wrote:

Hi,
I just purchased the RX10 IV for a European river cruise. Leaving today! Love the camera. 24 frames per second!! He may find a tripod helpful to shoot birds in flight. It's an awesome camera. He may find this article helpful. https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/60301878 or this one: https://www.provideocoalition.com/sony-rx10-iv-worlds-fastest-af-speed/

I suggest he buy a book to learn the camera. It's menus are voluminous. I purchased the one by White on Amazon.
Mark

Sorry, forgot.....Post lots of Photos!!!

Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

I don't shoot with one but read raving reviews about the RX10 IV. Ken Rockwell say's, there "isn't anything this camera doesn't do well." I think it will be a great camera for birding.

seagull5

berchman wrote:

The grandson of a friend of mine is a birder and has become interested in photography. My friend wants to buy him a Sony RX 10 iv as a present. He got the idea for this camera from an article by Bob Krist in Bird Watching Magazine in which Krist praised the camera. Does anyone here have experience with using this camera to photograph birds in flight?

…….…………...Here you go.....You have a tremendously quick Auto focus of .03 sec.....You have a shutter speed ot I believe 1/25000 sec. You have a a burst speed of 24fps and one beautiful lens. I have not has a better camera for birds and just sayin it does everything well. Just give it some time as the menu is deep...I did also want a back up camera and had a difficult time figuring out another camera. There wasn`t .The Sony A6 and A7 are too expensive.and you have to buy lens. Mine is set at 1200mm and gives me images I am proud of./ So my second camera is also a M4.

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Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

berchman wrote:

The grandson of a friend of mine is a birder and has become interested in photography. My friend wants to buy him a Sony RX 10 iv as a present. He got the idea for this camera from an article by Bob Krist in Bird Watching Magazine in which Krist praised the camera. Does anyone here have experience with using this camera to photograph birds in flight?

I like it for birds in flight.

Uncropped image below.

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