rcfees

New to this. Any suggestions on settings for a NikonD7200 camera? Tried using tripod, a variety of lenses, a remote but images are either blurred or very grainy. Thanks.

jsfphotos Loc: New York, NY

Raise the ISO and raise the shutter speed—1/5000 of a sec for hummers. Can also try flash. It’s not easy.

rcfees

Thanks

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

rcfees two thoughts here...
Become intimately familiar with your subject... Word!

Ignore any advice you receive on UHH from those who don't corroborate their inferences with imagery.
UHH is overrun by trolls that seem to have a compelling need to jump in and spew their undocumented thoughts on subjects they have virtually no first hand mastery or knowledge of...

Best advice? Patience Grasshopper...
"your first 10,000 images are always your worst." Henri Cartier-Bresson

(Download)

gpro111 Loc: Floral City, FL, formerly Tampa /Saint Pete

A fast lens will help, use a higher f stop like f8 or higher depending on the light , shutter speed higher, more importantly if it's your own yard, plant something where they will linger.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

It helps sometimes, to show us some of your failures. That way, we can provide actionable suggestions, actionable and relevant to your camera, and your lens, and your lighting, and your shooting mode. These examples need to be unedited JPEGs and stored as attachments to access the EXIF data.

Blurred and graining are two different issues, first too slow a shutter and the latter is underexposed.

Your D7200 supports both a 1/8000 sec shutter and high-speed sync with a capable external flash. These may / may not be applicable ideas, something best assessed from your current examples.

fredpnm Loc: Corrales, NM

1/5000? I think that's a bit much, try 1/2000, you want to keep noise down so don't push ISO too far. Don't go beyond f/8, lower if you can.

Once you see how that works make small changes, one adjustment at a time until you see what works best for lighting conditions.

davidrb Loc: Half way there on the 45th Parallel

The only setting we can offer that we know will be accurate begins with turning your camera to the "ON" position. From this point forward the settings required too make a proper exposure will vary widely. ALL SETTING WILL BE PROPER if the lighting provided is adequate. Forget the idea that there are settings that cover a situation. All situations are different and so are the settings. Blurred images are usually a result of improper shutter speeds. Grainy images usually are caused by ISO setting being too high. Your post begins with "New to this" and it appears photography is the subject, not hummers. If true, you need to spend serious time learning the basics before you try birds. Photographing birds is similar to brain surgery, damned difficult. The best exercise is photographing an egg. Begin with still life, progress at your own speed. Good luck, practice breeds experience which breeds success which breeds new challenges which breeds new success. It really is a vicious cycle, but lots of enjoyment.

David Martin Loc: Cary, NC

Depends on lighting conditions.
Use Manual mode or Shutter priority.
Experiment.
Two examples, both taken hand-held:

Canon R5, 500mm, f/11, 1/3200 seconds, ISO 12,800, -1/3 EV


Canon R5, 500mm, f/7, 1/2500 seconds, ISO 500, -2/3 EV

frankraney Loc: Clovis, Ca.

There is so much that can cause this. Take a couple of pictures upload them so that we can see what's happening storm so that we can see the settings as Paul said. There's a lot involved, like shutter speed you need a high shutter speed to freeze the motion at least 1/2,000, maybe a higher ISO to get that shutter speed depending on the light. Distance to subject and lens used. Also a flash may be helpful in freezing motion.

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

"...Experiment..."
Thank you for sharing your hummingbird imagery (and wisdom from actual experience) David Martin

LMG Loc: Arizona

F8 iso 1600 1/3200 sec.

Biggest tip I ever got was "dont chase the birds". With humming birds I found hand holding and letting the bird fly into frame has given me the most keepers. I place a feeder in an area which limits the choice of path the hummers can take. Being able to predict where they are coming from eliminates trying to keep up with the bird, and less blur. Also having your ISO on auto and limiting the upper range to whatever your camera can handle, one less thing to worry about.
I have done flash in the past but most cameras are limited to 1/200 to 1/250 sec, the A1 will do 500 in crop mode but that usually won't freeze the action if just using to fill, but have gotten some pretty sharp but ended up with a black background. Also there was less activity when I was firing off flashes. That said for this summer I am going to try high speed sync with a mono light and strobes and attempt 1/8000.

(Download)

Thomas902 Loc: Washington DC

Good stuff Larry... Thanks for sharing...
"..."dont chase the birds"... a.k.a. Become intimately familiar with your subject...

The image below was taken a decade ago when I was coming up the curve on these fascinating gems.
Had been feeding this juvenile for over a week and we kind of "bonded" to the point he would hover motionlessly only a foot or so from my face... I simply remained absolutely still...

btw I would make little chipping sounds that mimicked what I've heard them do... That worked also...
He became very interested in me thus I was able to capture him virtually motionless in mid-air at 1/1250.

Fast Glass? Nope, not required... just knowledge of your subject...
This shot was with an AF 200mm f/4 at f/16 ISO 3200 (Nikon D3) taken a decade ago...
btw, any flash totally freaks them out, especially iTTL BL pre-flashes...

Know your subject intimately..

(Download)

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

I photograph a lot of hummers from my front porch. I have two feeders set up and I sit in a chair and wait, with my camera set up and ready to go. I most often use 1/2500 to 1/3200 as a shutter speed but have shot them at a much lower shutter speed as well, depends if you want a "frozen" wing look or a moving wing look. If you are a bit unsteady go for a high shutter speed. I normally shoot at f/5.6 to get the best exposure and background but sometimes I'll move the f/stop a bit, depending on light and background. Sometimes the wings can look pretty weird and the wing placement does not make a nice shot so it's important to keep shooting while the bird is in motion so you can pick one you like. I hand hold the camera with a long lens, in my case a Nikon 500PF lens, and listens and watch for their approach then simply focus and start shooting as they fly to and around the feeders. Getting sharp shots of animals in motion also depends on the innate skill of the photographer and how good his or her reflexes are but practice and preparation helps. I've included a couple of shots. I use LrC to process, and I will shoot in higher ISO's and use Topaz DeNoise to smooth the image out, and PS to take out feeder parts. I enlarge the subject in LrC with the Transform Panel. Sometimes I'll use Topaz Sharpen if needed. Good processing of the image to highlight it is also important to the overall image.

LMG Loc: Arizona

The biggest issue I deal with is the harsh light, I am in AZ, and having the feeder in shade helps with eliminating the shadows, these were taken with flashes, the humming birds oddly seemed not to react, (it may be because there is a bit of meth in the sugar water which keeps them coming back (jking). You can blast it and eliminate the BG and Isolate the bird. Sorta like shooting smoke. I can turn off the preflash on my equipment when using manual mode, could be a waste of time but won't know till I try.

Flash balanced with bg (you can see the 3 light sources in the eye ball.

(Download)

Over powering the bg

(Download)


(Download)