bull drink water Loc: pontiac mi.

since I don't want to drop the big bucks, it's either a monopod or hand held.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I shoot birds in flight all the time here in south Florida, in fact, every day, seven days a week. My personal recommendation, especially if you want GOOD shots. DO NOT USE A TRIPOD. You will miss the majority of birds in flight. My minimum shooting speed is 1/1600. If my lens is f4, I shoot at a minimum of F5.6, one stop down. I use continuous auto focus and on my Nikon I use group auto focus. I use central metering instead of matrix and for white birds I use -1.0 exposure compensation. I use 10 frames a second so I can get JUST THAT RIGHT MOMENT. I do not use back button because I have that assigned to single spot focusing for those birds in heavy cover. If I am shooting nesting birds, only then will I go to my tripod with remote release cause I am around 1200 mm equivalent. My go to lens is a full frame with a 200-400 f4 lens.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

Check out Dave Reinking's eagle shots on his Facebook page. He may also have a website, but I know he posts shots on his Facebook. He is a Nikon shooter IIRC.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

mborn Loc: Massachusetts

I use the Nikon D500 and the Nikon 200-400 handheld and also on a Gimble-headed Tripod

taken on a tripod


handheld

par4fore Loc: Bay Shore N.Y.

* birds in flight.
* using a tripod
Sound like a bad idea to me, I would think you would be panning as the bird(s) fly so hand hold only.
Birds sitting on a perch it is nice to use a tripod and a remote but no BBF for me in that case.

NikonCharlie Loc: Kansas USA

I use gimbal head on tripod for geese or pelicans landing or taking off type shooting, or eagles sitting in trees watching for fish or eating their catch. Actual BIF I hand hold the Nikon's, even when using the 500 f4G. Crank the shutter to 1/1600th and man-handle the gear.
Having owned a couple, I dislike and will not use the 200-400 f4 lens, I can't get sharp photos with it past 25 yards distance.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I, on the other hand, have gotten NOTHING but tack sharp photo's with mine regardless of how far the bird is away from me. Especially when they are ONLY 25 yards or less away. Sorry to hear about your troubles with this fine lens. I use GROUP AUTO FOCUS and use the center spot and then the camera puts four spots around that one focus spot for a total of five focusing points. Once focus is locked as long as one of those five focus points is on the bird it remains TACK sharp. And the colors are so great with that lens.

NikonCharlie Loc: Kansas USA

I read about that lens being so good. I can't make it work for me. I am fully aware of the focus setting, tried them all. Happy you are happy with it and it's TACK sharp images.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

One of the issues with this lens has been it's focusing motor and gears, they have been known to fail and have to be replaced. Two friends of mine own this lens and one had the VR go out and the other the focusing system. Both were replaced by Nikon and the lenses are both operating normally. I might suggest contacting Nikon from their on line site Nikonusa.com. I have worked with them over the years, after discussing problems with them they send me a form that I fill out with a work order number. I send in the problem and they fix it. There service has worked well for me. Good luck.

NikonCharlie Loc: Kansas USA

I no longer have that lens and will never have another, as mentioned. The end for me with the 200-400, I guess I like the long primes better.
Good day

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Frankly, for birds in flight I usually hand hold my camera and lens.

Most often I also use shorter focal length lenses for BIF, that are lighter and more "hand holdable" and don't call for a tripod. For example, 70-200, 300/4 and 100-400mm, about the heaviest of which is 3.5 lb.

Occasionally when I do use a tripod... such as when shooting an extended session with one of the above lenses and my arms get tired, or when using a bigger, heavier lens such as 300/2.8 (6.5 lb.) or 500/4 (8.5 lb.)... I'll use a tripod either with a ballhead and a gimbal adpater or with a full-size gimbal head for BIF.

At those times, when using a tripod with gimbal... No, I don't use a remote release. I hold the camera normally. (And I too use BBF.)

Yes, a monopod is a good alternative for BIF... somewhere in between hand holding and using a tripod with a gimbal.

A remote release is mostly used along with slow shutter speeds and the camera/lens rig "locked down" on a tripod (i.e., no panning or - hopefully - any movement at all). Then it might be best to not to touch the camera at all, in an effort to avoid any vibrations that handling it and pressing the buttons it might cause, resulting in camera shake blur in images. Hence, the remote release. (And then it differs by camera.... I know with some you need to cancel BBF temporarily when using a remote release. Others you can leave BBF set up even with a remote release.)

BIF are simply moving too fast for slow shutter speeds like those. Subject movement blur that would occur at slow shutter speeds will make images unusable. And the faster shutter speeds necessary in turn make it unnecessary to use a remote release.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

To be honest with you, I've never had good luck with BIF using my tripod. I've done it a lot, but found that I'm much better hand holding my camera/lens, even my 500mm lens. But for birds that are mostly static, or swimming, on the ground, in a tree, etc., I find that a tripod with gimbal head works great. On the other hand, I know 2 other guys that are experts at BIF using their tripods. But they use heavy duty video tripods, with a heavy duty fluid video head and both of those guys use a wired remote taped to the long handle used to pan the fluid head. I've never tried this combo, but have looked into the prices for this and find that it's more than I'm willing to pay to try. Every once in a while I go to Craigslist to see if anyone is selling this setup cheap. If I find one for the right price I'll pick it up and try it myself.

A good tripod like a Gitzo carbon fiber will run about $800 or so and a good gimbal head about $300-650. Good luck.

RRS Loc: Not sure

Just got to ask,do you shoot BIF and have you ever used a gimbal, or is that just your thoughts? I do agree somewhat with your bird sitting on a perch but then I like live view. Why you say, well I do shoot BIF and with long primes with a pro body not a 150-600 that are not bad but just aren't as heavy as a prime. It's nothing for me to spend 6 to 8 hours out at a time in all kinds of weather. It helps me to use a gimbal head and a very good tripod. As Gene 51 said do you want to really get THE shot, then use a tripod. There are a lot of good BIF shooters here on this site but not many great BIF shooters. Look at Regis, he hand holds and doesn't use a tripod and does very good work but he doesn't shoot BIF. It's nice to see people making advances with their BIF shots but maybe I'm too critical. I've almost stopped replying on shots as I see so many reply's that say "this is great, wow and etc" when in fact it's not even in focus. Maybe some don't even see the difference but you are not doing the individual any good with such remarks either. Saying what could be done to improve a shot is the way to help. To be fair it will also depend on what access you have to the birds you are photographing and what they are doing. If I had to trek through the swamps of Florida I wouldn't want to carry a tripod either because I'd need both arms and hands free to swat all those bugs. I just can't swing up a 600mmf/4.0 with a 1.4 extender and get any kind of shot that I would want to print. So I'd say to at least try shooting with a gimbal, learn how to set it up and then if you trip over the legs or feel trapped then it's not for you. BTW, this was not meant for you but as a general statement.

Bob Boner

I live in the east and was unable to travel far in the spring and fall so birds were about the only wildlife I could photograph. I found the canon 400mm f/5.6 lens to be quite good. It is light weight and quite sharp. The hardest part, I found, in shooting birds in flight was finding them in the viewfinder. The 300mm f/4 was easier, but I didn't get as many frame fillers with it. When I got a longer lens I began to shoot with a tripod and gimbal head. I seemed to get more keepers that way.

Notorious T.O.D. Loc: Harrisburg, North Carolina

If anyone is interested I have a Gitzo CF monopod, Sirui K-40 ballhead and a Wimberly II gimbal for sale. The first two are listed in the classifieds and the gimbal will be going up this week. PM me if interested in any or all...good stuff.

Best,
Todd Ferguson