Shooting birds in flight (Page 3): A shutter speed of 1/350sec is 3 milliseconds, 1/1000sec is 1 milliseconds. The extra 2 ms per shot does not affect the number of shots you can get...

amehta Loc: Boston

MT Shooter wrote:

Your so called burst rate is entirely dependent up... (show quote)

A shutter speed of 1/350sec is 3 milliseconds, 1/1000sec is 1 milliseconds. The extra 2 ms per shot does not affect the number of shots you can get in 1 second (1000 ms).

Yes, the shutter speed will affect the actual burst rate, but only when the shutter speed gets much slower, like 1/30 or 1/15.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

amehta wrote:

A shutter speed of 1/350sec is 3 milliseconds, 1/1000sec is 1 milliseconds. The extra 2 ms per shot does not affect the number of shots you can get in 1 second (1000 ms).

Yes, the shutter speed will affect the actual burst rate, but only when the shutter speed gets much slower, like 1/30 or 1/15.

I suggest you grab a 7D and try it, you can easily count the shutter clicks.

Bill MN Loc: Western MN

MT Shooter wrote:

I suggest you grab a 7D and try it, you can easily count the shutter clicks.

:thumbup:

amehta Loc: Boston

MT Shooter wrote:

I suggest you grab a 7D and try it, you can easily count the shutter clicks.

Using a D700, about 50 shots took 10 seconds with both 1/250 and 1/1000 shutter speeds. The buffer started to fill in the 9th second in both cases, so I don't have the timings more accurate. But shutter speed did not affect the burst rate to a factor of 2.

And the "laws of physics" support that this makes sense.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

amehta wrote:

Using a D700, about 50 shots took 10 seconds with both 1/250 and 1/1000 shutter speeds. The buffer started to fill in the 9th second in both cases, so I don't have the timings more accurate. But shutter speed did not affect the burst rate to a factor of 2.

And the "laws of physics" support that this makes sense.

this thread is not about a D700 Nikon, its about a 7D Canon.

washy Loc: Dorset UK

Spiceman wrote:

I don't photograph birds much, but had the change ... (show quote)

Why shoot at F11 why not f5.6 or wider with that lens, which would automatically give you a faster shutter speed , then if not fast enough to get sharp pics the 7d would allow you to go much higher on the ISO. Possibly also you were moving more than the stabilisation would allow at the lower shutter speed. If it was poor light a tripod or monopod would have helped.

washy Loc: Dorset UK

washy wrote:

Why shoot at F11 why not f5.6 or wider with that lens, which would automatically give you a faster shutter speed , then if not fast enough to get sharp pics the 7d would allow you to go much higher on the ISO. Possibly also you were moving more than the stabilisation would allow at the lower shutter speed. If it was poor light a tripod or monopod would have helped.

Oh and when shooting birds and/or bif use "spot " focusing on your 7D

amehta Loc: Boston

MT Shooter wrote:

this thread is not about a D700 Nikon, its about a 7D Canon.

If the 7D has the behavior you describe when shooting 1/350 instead of 1/1000, with the highest fps cut in half, it loses a lot of cachet as a good action camera.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

amehta wrote:

If the 7D has the behavior you describe when shooting 1/350 instead of 1/1000, with the highest fps cut in half, it loses a lot of cachet as a good action camera.

No doubt. It will give the proper results in manual mode with AF turned off, but not in Av with AF active, especially with a slow lens and small aperture.

amehta Loc: Boston

MT Shooter wrote:

No doubt. It will give the proper results in manual mode with AF turned off, but not in Av with AF active, especially with a slow lens and small aperture.

Agreed, AF is a big factor.

I know it's not a D700 topic, but FWIW, Nikon stops AF after the first shot in the highest continuous drive rate. It wouldn't surprise me if Canon doesn't do that, but some time to AF is needed.

DaveHam Loc: Reading UK

From the setup you describe I think that you are shooting too slow.

Try a setup based on auto - speed with a minimum exposure time of about 1/1250. To get to this you may need to increase ISO; the problem arises if the increase in ISO results in excessive noise. If you don't want to shoot based on speed then set the aperture wide open; depth of field on a bird in flight against a plain sky is not going to be a major issue.

Aim to get the focal length out to the maximum so the bird fills a greater portion of the frame and try to get the focus point on the birds eye for maximum sharpness.

legion3 Loc: Deer Park Long Island

Spiceman wrote:

Thanks for your reply. F11? Because that's what I got in AV mode when I set shutter at 350, given the ISO of 400, which, if I was thinking, I would have moved back to 100. I did have other shots at focal lengths up to 400, but they were even less sharp. And, perhaps for someone who is experienced at birds in flight, making sure you're in focus is easy, but with those eagles moving pretty fast, auto-focus seemed the best bet for me.

if you are using a 400 mm lens you shutter speed should be at least 400. For birds in flight I would go for 1200 +

mainshipper Loc: Hernando, Florida

On my 7D w/100-400 L, I set the ISO to 800 and shoot TV using the highest speed I can get for the conditions. I shoot a lot of moving birds down here in Florida and it works for me.

Add Loc: S.W.Florida

Go to the setting on your camera that sets focus and exposure on a very narrow point,crank up the ISO to a point for a fast shutter speed and try again.

Add Loc: S.W.Florida

Go to the setting on your camera that sets focus and exposure on a very narrow point,crank up the ISO to a point for a fast shutter speed and try again.