Papou Loc: Ottawa, Canada

Hi folks,

I have been reading you for the last couple of years. Great insights. Now, I have a D500 + 200-500mm + 1.4 TC from Nikon. Took this picture handheld at F14 1/400 at 700mm 1800 ISO. Any suggestions to achieve cleaner, more crisp, sharper picture ?

Regards

Eric

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SkyKing Loc: Thompson Ridge, NY

…I would bring the f-stop down to about 6.3…that should allow you to increase your shutter speed to over 1000 and reduce your ISO to maybe 800…

Papou Loc: Ottawa, Canada

Quick update. There is no post processing on this picture.

Éric

kpmac Loc: Ragley, La

Why f14? No need to use that f/stop with a long lens like that and a t/c. Birds in flight require a higher shutter speed than 1/400 making f14 push your iso way too high. And your sensor is quite dirty, too. I don't mean to be harsh, but you asked.

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

From the brightness of the sky I would say you were photographing the eagles looking into the sun or in that general direction. The birds are in shadow. If possible I would have moved around to an angle where the sun was falling on them rather than behind them. They are fairly small in comparison to the overall size of the photo and maybe you were not all the way out to 500mm. If not you should tighten up your shot even if you have to focus on only a single bird at a time. The positioning of the birds is rather awkward also and the birds are competing with all the tree limbs for space in the photo. Best to wait until you have a bird in a more open position where it can become the only focus of attention. F14 is overkill on f stop. You would have gotten a sharper image by dropping down to f8, maybe even f6.3 and increased shutter speed accordingly. You say you were at 700mm but is that including the 1.4? If not, with the crop sensor of the D500 you can already get up to 750mm without the extender. Loose the extender unless the subject is otherwise out of range. A 1.4 extender is a good tool but just remember that while it amplifies the image by 1.4, it also increases the movement by that amount. It makes handholding just that much harder. Keep shooting those eagles though, they are wonderful subjects and I'm sure with some practice you will have some great shots!

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

A smaller f-number (larger f/stop) will reduce the visibility of the sensor spots. (PS: cleaning is fairly easy and is worth learning how to do it yourself).
The camera is determining the exposure from the sky, which is fairly bright. Consequently the dark birds are underexposed. A bit of push up on exposure compensation can take care of that.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

I looked only at the exposure. It seems you've captured the bird's eye in sharp focus, so the primary issue seems to be the exposure settings.

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Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Thanks for answering his question and doing a better job than I did. I took for granted that his shutter speed was 400 as he said while it was actually 4000! That changes a lot and while I recommended lowering the f-stop and increasing the shutter speed, now everything could be lowered -- f-stop, shutter speed, and ISO resulting in not only a better exposed photo but with lower noise to boot.

lukevaliant Loc: gloucester city,n. j.

to the right?

Papou Loc: Ottawa, Canada

Thank you so much for the answer. The way you did explained it make so much sense. The F14 was a trial error. I usually shoot f8 with the TC on. For the 1/4000, it was after reading Steve Perry book. I know he did suggest 1/3200 for fast bird but I just went a bit overboard ! I have ISO on automatic mode. I will now take a closer look at the white balance. Usually, I try to stick to 0.

I have been shooting for a few years with D5600 mainly into the sports mode. The D500 has a learning curve shooting full manuel ! I love the speed of the D500 but from far away, my pictures seems to be granulor. From closer range, like shooting flowers, colors are stunning. I was just wondering what I was doing wrong !

Thanks again for your time to answer and if you have any suggestions to make me a better shooter, I am open to ideas !

Éric

Papou Loc: Ottawa, Canada

Thank you for your comment ! I really appreciate ! Will lower the F, ISO.


Regards,

Éric

Papou Loc: Ottawa, Canada

Thanks for your reply. I will have to learn how to clean a sensor. Any site to follow?

Regards,

Éric

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

You want to use <quote reply> to make specific responses to specific comments. Start with a cheap, but effective, blower such as the Giotto Rocket-Air, shown in this demonstration:

An exercise in sensor cleaning

The small aperture made the sensor dust more obvious. A wider aperture will help in this situation too.

Papou Loc: Ottawa, Canada

Hi again,

Thank you for the tip and the site !

Regards,

Éric

Papou Loc: Ottawa, Canada

Hi sir,

Thank you for your reply. I would have to add the 1.4 to it so 980mm was the distance if I do calculate correctly. I was shooting from roadside on a somehow cloudy morning before 10 am with snow on the ground. I might send tomorrow the previous shot that led to this one. It was from a distance and since the tree was on a private property... I did'nt want to tresspass...

regards

Éric