Decisions Decisions....Advise Needed (Page 2): You have to look at his lighting too. Very bright, and there is something behind the bird so it has a good focusing point. Erv...

Erv Loc: Medina Ohio

You have to look at his lighting too. Very bright, and there is something behind the bird so it has a good focusing point.
Erv

rmcquese wrote:

Was that pic hand help or on a tripod?

With a pic like this then Im sure it is my settings. I will shoot some at 1/1000 sec wide open and see what happens.

Thanks For the comments everyone. This is really helping me.

jimmya wrote:

I shoot a t1i and have a 75-300. I'm not having the problems you're describing - settings? Could be I don't know.

I shot this with this setup at 1/1000 and allowed the camera to set exposure - it was wide open. ISO-200.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Try a tripod. Lower shutter speed for starters. Maybe a little EC for that shot. I am guessing -2/3

thefunxtr Loc: Atlanta

rmcquese wrote:

Here is the image I was referring to. Both were shot with a tripod with a 2 sec delay.
Both were at 1/500sec / F8 / ISO 200 RAW exported to JPG for UHH

Maybe it was my settings

Lots of good comments here already. One other thing to consider ... if you look closely at the second image you can see that there is a cluster of small branches directly in front of the bird. I'm not an expert on this, but I suspect that at that distance those branches would have an effect even if spot focus is selected.

Wabbit Loc: Arizona Desert

rmcquese wrote:

Was that pic hand help or on a tripod?

With a pic like this then Im sure it is my settings. I will shoot some at 1/1000 sec wide open and see what happens.

Thanks For the comments everyone. This is really helping me.

jimmya wrote:

I shoot a t1i and have a 75-300. I'm not having the problems you're describing - settings? Could be I don't know.

I shot this with this setup at 1/1000 and allowed the camera to set exposure - it was wide open. ISO-200.

I lightened it up a bit

GDRoth Loc: Southeast Michigan USA

I'm wondering if the branches around the bird caused focus issues.....do you have other examples of this problem where you know you were focused on the subject?

dasloaf

before you buy rent a lens, try the 70-200mmF2.8, with and without IS. This is the best sports lens I have tried especially in school gyms. Lens Giant is a great place to rent a lens, try before you buy.

jpims

Look into the Tamron 18-270 lens. It will cover almost anything that you want to shoot. I have it and find it to be a good lens.

rayford2 Loc: New Bethlehem, PA

Erv wrote:

Looks like the lighting was against you too. And the weather. Do you use spot metering and focus?
Erv

A couple of days ago "MTShooter" posted something interesting about spot metering.
I lost the post, but according to him spot metering is very difficult with long focal lengths. Use center weighted instead.
I have a high respect for his posts.

anotherview Loc: California

Yes: "sell the 75 x 300 and replace it."

Replacement candidates:

Canon 70-300 L f/4-5.6 IS lens

Canon 70-200 L f/4 IS lens

Lens Review Web Sites

http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/

http://www.dpreview.com/

http://www.lenstip.com/

http://www.photozone.de/

You may wish to rent to try before buying:

www.lensrentals.com

oldtool2 Loc: South Jersey

There have been some very good recomendations given here. A bad copy of your lens is always a possibility. I had the Canon 70-300 L f/4-5.6 IS and could not get a sharp shot out of it no matter what I did. Finially tested it and sent it back to Canon and found I had a bad lens. They repaired it and it worked fine after, but I had replaced it in the meen time so sold it.

IS is a must for hand held shots at that distance but usless if using a tri-pod. If using spot focus at that distance change it as was suggested. Take some test photos as explained and post them here for review is a good place to start. That lens has not had the best reviews as for sharpness.

Jim D

Wabbit Loc: Arizona Desert

rayford2 wrote:

Erv wrote:

Looks like the lighting was against you too. And the weather. Do you use spot metering and focus?
Erv

A couple of days ago "MTShooter" posted something interesting about spot metering.
I lost the post, but according to him spot metering is very difficult with long focal lengths. Use center weighted instead.
I have a high respect for his posts.

He's 100% correct. The longer the distance the more difficult it is for a bulls eye.

GDRoth Loc: Southeast Michigan USA

Just remembered: when using tripod, turn off the anti-shake...

rmcquese Loc: NW Georgia

I did read that too on UHH. But that was after I took this particular shot...lol

I know that now. Guess its a lesson learned.

Guess I could get some field mice from the pet store and see if I could get that hawk to pose again for me...lol

ole sarg Loc: south florida

IMO and many on this thread will disagree and that is fine too.

Think how much better Hemmingway would have been if he only had an electric typewriter!

It is not the lens, it is as mentioned you did not have enough light.

Want to get to Carnige Hall - practice, practice, practice.

Five months is not a long time - some on this string have been at it over 50 years and are still learning and learning and practicing and practicing.

The first thing I learned was the value of light.

You got a great shot (look at the hawk's tail feathers) the lighting was bad.

When critiquing our work first look to see what the conditions were and what we wanted to achieve and what we did to achieve it, why we were succesful and why we failed - the last thing to look at is the equipment we have.

rmcquese Loc: NW Georgia

I too think that that small branch in front of the hawk did play a big role in the image quality as well as the weather. I will take all of these great comments and apply them next time the hawk comes to visit.