Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Thanks for the thoughts. Ok, what is EC? What pixel enlargement software are you referring to?

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

In bright daylight I get 1/1250, f8, ISO 320 ....
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imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

EC= Exposure compensation . Pixel enlargement can be the Adobe default Bicubic smoother in all their software or stand alone specialized software like ON ONE (Genuine Fractals). When shooting Sony, I use the in camera Clear Image Zoom.

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robertjerl Loc: Corona, California

They both give very good quality images. The Canon has the edge in IQ and speed of focus under most circumstances but the Tamron has the reach. I usually use the Canon on my 7DII with hand grip for hand held shooting and the Tamron on my 80D mounted on a tripod and gimbal head for longer range. If I can get close enough the reach is not a factor I will go with the Canon, either with the 1.4x tender in good light or without. When it is cool enough I can stand to be in my popup blind and get close I put the Canon on my 5DIV.

You mentioned problems in Av mode with ISO - put ISO on Auto with limits set in the menus. I usually shoot in Manual with ISO set at Auto while I control the SS and F-stop.

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Ok, thanks again!

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

I would just add not to be afraid of higher ISOs with your camera. Although lower ISOs will always provide better DR and lower noise, the 5D4 is capable of excellent results even at 12,800. Also, I second the suggestion of loading and using a DOF calculator. After you plug-in your numbers, you may find that you have plenty of DOF at a wider aperture, which has the advantage of, lowering diffraction, allowing higher shutter speed or lower ISO, and of isolating the subject from the background (which may be distracting). For your type of shooting, I usually pick a SS to freeze the motion, an aperture to provide the DOF I desire and let the ISO float using auto ISO. You want to be in AI Servo and pick a case in the menu that suits your shooting situation. BTW, I don’t see objectionable noise in your shot of the bears - looks pretty good to my eye.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Shooting at higher ISO is sometimes necessary but it will also reduce the dynamic range of the image.

Here is a DR chart from photonstophotos.com for the 5D4.

(Download)

genocolo Loc: Vail and Gasparilla Island

To my eye, your bears and moose are pretty damn sharp.

Vlemasters

I have a similar setup only with the 77D. I have found that I really don’t use the 1.4 teleconverter. First off I lose one step of light and it always seems kind of soft. I have better results just shooting without the teleconverter and cropping. Really love my setup!

Arizona Art Loc: SE Florida

I too have found that my images are not as sharp with the TC1.4, as they are with using the 100-400 MII alone.

I photograph mostly birds and wildlife with a Canon 6D MII and Canon 80D. I shoot in shutter priority mode with a shutter speed of 2000. I have shot thousands of photos with other shutter speeds and have found that 2000 minimum works best. I only shoot handheld. I use the full frame 6D MII in dim light situations (sunrise, cloudy days or sunset) and ISO to 6400 yields quite sharp results. The 80D is for shots with ISO to say 1600 under certain circumstances. Above 1600, grain noise is noticeable.

The reason for the high speed is to minimize blur due to camera shake. The further away the subject is, the greater the risk of blur due to camera shake! Picture won’t look sharp and you’ll think its a lens or camera issue. But, If the subject is close, you can lower the shutter speed since the camera shake blur won’t be as noticeable. DOF is rarely an issue when shooting subjects far away at 400 mm setting. I won’t worry about it unless I’m shooting something close.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you’ll need the subject to fill at least 1/3 of the view finder height to get a respectable final image after cropping.

I would be happy to chat with you if you like. PM me and we can schedule a time to chat. I found talking to folks was quite helpful when I was dialing in my skills / settings.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/154389185@N07/


Art

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

First let's look at the other photographer's image that you referenced earlier... the lion. That photographer is using a $10,000+ 400mm f/2.8 lens at f/7.1 on a 46MP full frame camera (Nikon D850). This combination of lens/camera and settings gives a lot of separation from the background and foreground, drawing attention to the subject and making them stand out even though the lion's coloration is close to that of the grasses around it.

Here's an even more extreme example of this where I used a Canon 500mm f/4 lens wide open for similar effect:



You have similar opportunity with the 100-400mm II, which works quite well wide open, although it's a little more limited with it's f/4.5-5.6 variable aperture. You are correct that doing this is a bit "risky", since parts of a 3 dimensional subject might not be fully in focus. In fact, large lens apertures on telephotos and the shallow depth of field effects they can render require careful focus and planning.

At a distance, DoF can be enough to get everything you need in focus, as in this case where I used 300mm f/2.8 lens wide open....



But closer to the subject, you've got to choose what part to have sharply focused and what can be allowed to "go soft", but remain recognizable, as in this image that was shot with the same lens...



Here's a close shot with a shorter focal length (200mm) and smaller f/5.6 aperture, where I used selective focus...



Practice using this technique with your 100-400mm. It's a very sharp and capable lens.

As much as possible, I would recommend you use Single Point focus with your cameras. That puts you in charge of where camera and lens focus. When you use any multi-point focus pattern, that leaves it up to the camera to decide where to focus, using any of the active AF points. It will usually choose to focus on the closest object that's covered by an active AF point. In several of the images I posted above, you can see where that would have caused problems.

Spot Focus/Single Point is another focus "pattern" on some Canon (your 5DIV, but not your 70D). It's a high precision mode, that uses a single, smaller AF point. It's great for things like portraiture where you want to focus upon a person's eye instead of their eyelashes or my first image above, the fawn in the tall grass. This is good and can work too, but it's a little slower and slightly less capable of tracking movement than standard Single Point, so I use it sparingly and in certain situations, but not all the time.

If you aren't already using it, you also might experiment with "Back Button Focusing" (BBF). It's a popular setup for sports and wildlife photographers because it allows you to leave the camera in AI Servo (continuous focus) mode all the time and use it for all types of subjects... both moving and stationary. You simply use your thumb to start and stop focusing, as you see fit. BBF is actually already partially set up on your cameras, with the "AF On" button on the back. However, to fully set it up, you need to go in to the menu, navigate to the button assignment screen and change how the shutter release button works... Set it to the middle selection "Meter", so that it no longer activates AF. That way ONLY the rear button starts and stops AF. Then just select AI Servo focus mode and you're ready to go whether subjects are holding still and posing nicely, or racing past you. It takes a little practice and time to get used to using BBF, but many people like it and never go back to "the old way". (Note: "One Shot" focus mode is ONLY for stationary subjects. Don't use it when subjects are moving. And, "AI Focus" isn't really a separate focus mode. It's automation where the camera is supposed to detect whether or not the subject is moving and choose the focus mode for you. It slows things a bit and doesn't always choose correctly, sometimes gets fooled if a subject stops or starts moving.)

You didn't specify which 1.4X teleconverter you use. I've used the Canon 1.4X II on the 100-400 II and been pleasantly surprised how good that combo works! I understand the Canon 1.4X III works just as well on it. I have not tried any other combos, third party 1.4X, so don't know if they work as well with that lens.

I also don't have the Tamron 150-600mm G2... but from what I can see in the magnified test shots here https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=1079&Camera=979&Sample=0&FLI=5&API=0&LensComp=972&CameraComp=979&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=5&APIComp=2 it appears that the Canon 100-400mm II is sharper throughout the focal lengths they share, even when the 100-400mm II is fitted with one of the Canon 1.4X Extenders! For that reason, plus it's overall build quality, robustness, fast focus and reliable IS, I'd take the Canon 100-400 II to Africa and leave the 150-600mm at home.

HOWEVER, you might want to consider upgrading from 70D to 80D. The reason I suggest that is because your 70D is "f/5.6 limited". I'm sure you know, it's 19-point AF system can't autofocus the 100-400mm with a 1.4X added, (making it an effective 140-560mm f/7.1-f/8 lens). The lens/1.4X combo just doesn't pass enough light for the 70D's AF system to work. Your 5DIV, on the other hand, is able to focus the 100-400 II and 1.4X combo. It has "f/8 capable" autofocus. So does the 80D with it's 45-point AF system.

In fact, where some Canon cameras are only f/8 capable at one AF point in the center of their array (7D Mark II), the 80D with 100-400 II and 1.4X III is able to focus at 27 of it's 45 points! I believe your 5DIV is f/8 capable at all 61 AF points, isn't it? So you are already familiar with this, to some extent.

There are a number of other reasons to consider an 80D, but the top one is that using it on your 100-400, with or without 1.4X, is like having another 1.6X teleconverter on the lens (compared to using it on your 5DIV), but without the loss of light the way an actual teleconverter does. What I mean is that the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens on an 80D (or 70D, for that matter), will "act like a 160-640mm f/4.5-5.6" would on your 5DIV. OR with the 1.4X added to make a 140-560mm f/7.1-f/8 combo, on 80D (but not on 70D, since it cannot autofocus), it will "act like a 224-896mm f/7.1-f/8" on your full frame camera. The point is, using the 100-400mm with or without teleconverter on an APS-C camera such as the 70D or 80D gives you more reach "for free", without loss of light the way real teleconverters do... but it would be more practical on 80D which can autofocus the combination.

In addition, the 80D has a number of other improvements over 70D. It introduced the excellent new 45-point AF system (now in use in 6DII, 77D, T7i too). Compared to 70D it's got 20% higher resolution (24MP versus 20MP) and DXO has rated it to have higher usable ISO and over a full stop additional color depth and around 1.5 stops more dynamic range. You can see how it compares at various sites online, including https://cameradecision.com/compare/Canon-EOS-70D-vs-Canon-EOS-80D https://www.imaging-resource.com/cameras/canon/70d/vs/canon/80d/ https://www.apotelyt.com/compare-camera/canon-70d-vs-canon-80d https://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EOS-80D.aspx and more.

FYI, the 80D is on sale right now. You can buy it new for $1000 (or $800 refurbished from Canon USA). Likely there will be even deeper discounts soon, as Canon is expected to announce a 90D in a week or two. No doubt that will effect the price of the 80D.

Depending upon when you plan to travel, you might want to wait for the 90D, which likely will be available in Sept. or Oct. It will have a substantial increase in resolution (32.5MP vs 24MP 80D or 20MP 70D), a faster frame rate (10 fps vs 7 fps in 70D & 80D), as well as 4K video capability. Remains to be seen what it will cost. There is some thought that it will replace both 80D and 7D Mark II... I don't know. In many ways the 90D matches the 7DII, but in other ways it doesn't. We'll have to wait and see.

On the other hand, the 80D is well known to be a good performer, so may be a "safer" camera to get now and take on a trip in the near future.

This 32+MP resolution in an APS-C Canon camera suggests what we might expect in a future full frame model... Doing the math, a similar density sensor in FF would be 80MP. There have been rumors of a replacement for the 5DS/5DS-R coming with something like that level of resolution.

If it were me, I would also take my full frame camera to Africa, mostly to use it with wider lenses for scenic shots or for closer portraits or macro. It also might be handy for low light shooting.

Before you go, get a copy of Bryan Peterson's "Understanding Exposure", read it, learn it. That will answer your questions about camera settings. I often shoot in Aperture Preferred Auto Exposure (AE) mode.... or "Av" as Canon labels it. When I'm shooting sports and wildlife I sometimes use Manual mode (M) with Auto ISO, which your 5DIV certainly can do. Not sure how well implemented Auto ISO is on 70D (it wasn't very usable on original 7D... but works just fine on 7D Mark II I use now). Av mode gives you auto exposure, though you still control the aperture and the ISO... the camera just chooses a shutter speed to make a "correct" exposure. The advantage to that is control over depth of field.... allowing you to choose larger apertures (lower numbers) when you want shallow DoF or smaller apertures (higher numbers) when you want greater DoF.

M with Auto ISO isn't manual, it's also an auto exposure mode. You choose both the aperture and the shutter speed, allowing the camera to choose an ISO that it thinks will make a correct exposure. This can be useful when shooting moving subjects and wanting either fast shutter speeds to freeze movement or slower ones to cause deliberate motion blur effects, as well as control DoF with the aperture. The tricky thing is to still keep an eye on what ISO is being used, to avoid it getting too high where there would be too much image noise. (This is the case with all AE modes... you need to keep an eye on what's being auto selected to be sure it's okay.)

How high ISO you feel okay using is up to you. I've used as high as ISO 16000 with my 7D Mark IIs. But when I do that I shoot RAW and post-process my images with fairly advanced noise reduction software (Noiseware, a Photoshop plug-in). I don't need to worry very much with 7DII or my older 5D Mark II, up to ISO 3200 or even 6400. Some, but not a lot of more mundane noise reduction is needed with those. But I also know not to be overly critical of my images.... not to expect them to be "noise free" when viewed at ridiculously high magnifications like "100%" (which is like making a four or 5 foot wide print, when viewed that large on a typical monitor).

Simply working with your camera, understanding how these things work together and learning what to expect, how to control it all comes with time and practice. Peterson's book might help you make that leap in understanding and feel more comfortable about what you're doing.

Hope this helps!

Finally, I hope you don't mind. I took the liberty of downloading your cute bear cub photo, opening it in Photoshop, slightly sharpening the cubs themselves and then adding background/foreground blur. This simulates what you might see with a larger lens aperture (shallower depth of field).... and can be emulated pretty easily in post-processing software that can do selective editing, such as Photoshop, Elements, etc. (It's less possible in s/ware like Lightroom). Here is the image after a bit of selective sharpening and blurring. See how the bear cubs seem more sharply focused when other parts of the image are more strongly blurred?

(Download)

jteee Loc: Montana

You've received many very good and detailed responses. So hopefully something will help. I also shoot a 5D IV, 100-400 II with and without the Canon 1.4III telex. I also have experienced some of your similar problems with regards soft focus. I have found that use of a tripod (with the 1.4 attached) improves my keepers over two fold. I have had very limited success handholding this combo (I'm kind of an old guy, and probably shake too much). Shutter speed has also helped reduce the soft frames. With the 5D I'm not afraid to go to ISO 6400 in order to gain adequate shutter speed in excess of 1/800 (which for birds and some moving animals is necessary). With this combo I also go to single point focus in an effort to increase sharpness (typically focusing on the eye of my subject). Unfortunately it hunts for focus quite a bit, and is kind of slow (i.e. frustrating), but does lend to sharper images. The reality is that the 100-400/1.4 combo (giving you f8) isn't a particularly good low light combo unless you can lock everything down really solidly. Even at that probably plan on a 1/6 or 1/10 keeper rate (not scientific, just my experience as to what to expect). On the other hand the 100-400 by itself is one of the sharpest lens I've ever used. If in doubt, go without the 1.4 and then crop to your satisfaction.
If you really get frustrated, do what I did and find a good used 600 II, f4 lens and your low light issues are greatly reduced, LOL. Good luck and just keep shooting.

Photolady2014 Loc: Southwest Colorado

Thanks for your input! I now have lots of useful tips!

genocolo Loc: Vail and Gasparilla Island

Thanks very much for the detailed and helpful explanation and recommendations.