Out of focus (Page 4): You are right there Gene51 as the only birds I get to shoot are in my back yard. Sure wish I could go beyond that. I much prefer hand held camera and with...

PJHHobbit Loc: Kansas City, Missouri

You are right there Gene51 as the only birds I get to shoot are in my back yard. Sure wish I could go beyond that.

I much prefer hand held camera and with stabilization and can do that out to 500mm (750mm) easily. But on a heavy tripod, no matter how carefully I press the shutter with no stabilization I get some motion blur. My lens has two different types of stabilization but manual says to turn it off when on a tripod.

That is one beautiful shot by the way........

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Gene51 wrote:

You must not do much bird photography with a long lens . . .

This should clarify things a bit - in case you don't believe that it is ok to put your hands on the camera and lens.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8HVPrPzpR4

FYI - I never use a remote release - or a shutter delay - and I take about 8,000 images of birds every year. Took this a few years ago - pressed the shutter with my finger - motion blur is the subject. Keep in mind it was a 12 mp D300.

I agree. I will often sit behind the camera and tripod and use my left hand to put tension on the shutter release cable and anchor that hand on my knee. And the my right hand holds the shutter release.

The added tension really deadens the shakes and vibrations. And I can really see this with live view and focus magnifier on. Before I add tension, I can see lots of shake. With tension, it disipates real fast.

Another trick is to hang something heavy under the tripod such as camera bag. But don't let it sway around. I keep part of it on the ground. But the tripod now appears as having more mass, and camera+lens is a smaller percent of the total mass of the system.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

PJHHobbit wrote:

You are right there Gene51 as the only birds I get to shoot are in my back yard. Sure wish I could go beyond that.

I much prefer hand held camera and with stabilization and can do that out to 500mm (750mm) easily. But on a heavy tripod, no matter how carefully I press the shutter with no stabilization I get some motion blur. My lens has two different types of stabilization but manual says to turn it off when on a tripod.

That is one beautiful shot by the way........

Thanks!

Unlike many bird shooters, I tend towards low ISO and wide open - the 600 is sharp at F4 and doesn't get any sharper stopping down, unless I am using the extender. Then the only improvement in stopping down is in the corners and edges on a flat subject - DoF does improve though.

My Feisol CT3472 tripod weighs 4 lbs without the head (no center column) which is not terribly heavy. I use either a Manfrotto 393 which weighs 3.5 lbs, or an Arca Swiss Z1 Ball head which weighs 1.4 lbs.

I used to have a Bogen 3051 with a 3047 3-way pan tilt head - it weighed about 16 lbs. My Feisol is considerably more stable - the Bogen, with all of its weight, was not as stable with a 200mm lens as the Feisol is with the 600mm.

I can get about 2 shots off while hand holding the 600 before my arms start shaking uncontrollably. And I used to bench 365 and do sets of one-armed pushups. (can't do that anymore, though) :)

John Howard Loc: SW Florida and Blue Ridge Mountains of NC.

Tim Stapp wrote:

There is a learning curve with long lenses. I might suggest looking at Moose Peterson's website. He has some very good tips for using long lenses.

Thanks for advice re Moose. I too have been having issues with my 200-400, and sometimes with a TC1.4. I don't suspect the lens as I think it is me. I've tried high shutter speed and aperture for adequate dof. I push the ISO also.

I use heavy tripod and gimbal head, VR off unless I am letting the head be loose. The gimbal head helped.

Then I got the idea to take my bean bag (3 pounds) and rest it on top of the lens. This showed a remarkable improvement reducing shutter vibration in mirror up mode.

georgevedwards Loc: Essex, Maryland.

I used to use a Tamron 28-300 on my Canons for years, always had probems at maximum range. All the advice so far was beyond my knowledge at the time, so it might be fixable. I see double imaging on the 600mm range, so it should be a motion problem and not just the soft focus problem I had.

donroe wrote:

I have a Tamron 150-600mm and a Canon 70D. Anything over 500mm will not come out focused I've tried tripod, high shutter speed, and have sent it to tamron twice and they say there is not a problem with it. What else can I do?
Any thing under 500 is fine

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

John Howard wrote:

Thanks for advice re Moose. I too have been having... (show quote)

Yes, that 3 pound bean bag will certainly dampen down vibration. The high freq component of the vibrations will definately be affected. And lower frequencies will be shifted even lower.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

John Howard wrote:

Thanks for advice re Moose. I too have been having... (show quote)

I did find something out this Memorial day. Shiny reflections, like from a B17 Superfortress, will totally confuse AF systems. I took over 1000 shots, using two different bodies and a 600 F4 and a 100-300 F4, and only the WWII planes were almost impossible to get sharp - I could count the wisker stubble per sq inch on the pilots' faces in most of the other shots, but the shiny planes looked I was shooting with a cheap lens that had been dropped numerous times. :) Next year, I will be manually focusing for those. (just like the old days)

jimmya Loc: Phoenix

donroe wrote:

I have a Tamron 150-600mm and a Canon 70D. Anything over 500mm will not come out focused I've tried tripod, high shutter speed, and have sent it to tamron twice and they say there is not a problem with it. What else can I do?
Any thing under 500 is fine

I had a similar problem with a Tamron lens some time ago so I don't use them at all. I own only Canon lenses with no glitches at all. In fact one of the Canon lenses I own is berated by many as terrible yet I get clean, crisp results with it - the 75-300.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

jimmya wrote:

I had a similar problem with a Tamron lens some time ago so I don't use them at all. I own only Canon lenses with no glitches at all. In fact one of the Canon lenses I own is berated by many as terrible yet I get clean, crisp results with it - the 75-300.

That is a great lens - and the consumer version is as sharp as the L model. Only someone who has never used it would have negative things to say about it.

Not sure about universally dismissing Tamron, though. I have had great results from their products through the years - even with my film cameras. Until recently their products seem to be built a little better than Tokina and Sigma. Of course their consumer grade stuff was universally awful, just like Sigma. I happen to have gotten great results using the Tamron 150-600 on a D800, and I am a real PITA when it comes to sharpness and detail rendition.

Sprocket Loc: Upstate New York

donroe wrote:

I have a Tamron 150-600mm and a Canon 70D. Anything over 500mm will not come out focused I've tried tripod, high shutter speed, and have sent it to tamron twice and they say there is not a problem with it. What else can I do?
Any thing under 500 is fine

I am in agreement with the majority that it is camera movement.

I understand that you most likely will not be using a remote shutter release or maybe not even a tripod for wildlife photos. However you can rule out, or confirm that your issue is movement and not focus by stabilizing your camera and shooting a stationary object.

Put a beanbag on a rock as your camera cradle and go 600 mm out with your lens and shoot a fire hydrant, or something with very defined edges with a single point focus. Turn off vibration reduction even if your particular lens doesn't require this. Might as well rule that out as well.

Then after you do all of that and you discover that it is in fact camera shake, then you can start working on stabilization at a faster shutter speed.

:lol:

jaddottart Loc: Florida

Crank up the ISO AND get a rock solid tri-pod.........use the timer to take the pic or a remote.....Good Luck

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

jaddottart wrote:

Crank up the ISO AND get a rock solid tri-pod.........use the timer to take the pic or a remote.....Good Luck

Timer & remote are completely unnecessary if you have a high shutter speed and a solid tripod. Just sayin'

bigwolf40 Loc: Effort, Pa.

Gene51 wrote:

Timer & remote are completely unnecessary if you have a high shutter speed and a solid tripod. Just sayin'

Really like this quote since it is so true....."Consulting the rules of composition before taking a photograph is like consulting the laws of gravity before going for a walk.".....Rich

Bushymonster Loc: Oklahoma City. OK.

So you need to turn off stabilization setting to shoot on a tripod? I am fixing to buy a tripod but will have to settle for a low cost one.
-Bushy

bigwolf40 Loc: Effort, Pa.

Bushymonster wrote:

So you need to turn off stabilization setting to shoot on a tripod? I am fixing to buy a tripod but will have to settle for a low cost one.
-Bushy

You will be wasting your money. You get what you pay for.,,,,Rich