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

One quick test you can do is to tape a magazine or newspaper page to a wall or door and get back 30-50 feet and see if you can get a sharp shot of the page. Is the text sharp and readable? Can you set a button to be BBF on the T3? Don't use One Shot for moving subjects. AI Servo is the way to go. I use it 99.99 percent of the time. There are YouTube videos on One Shot and the problems it can cause. Get yourself an app for DOF. How far are you from the subject bird when you are shooting? DOF can be very short with long lenses at short distances and even medium apertures.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

MikWar Loc: Chicago, Western Suburbs

Thanks for the suggestion for a test. I'll try it if the sun ever comes back out here (Chicago). In these pics I was generally 30 feet away. I understand DOF and realize that in order to move the SS up to the speeds others have suggested I'm going to have to bump up the ISO to 1600 or higher and the aperture below 8 and hope the bird is in focus. That being said, some of these picts don't look like a typical out of focus shot but seemed blurred.

Leitz Loc: Solms

If more people bothered to read your original post you wouldn't have to keep repeating. My question is, how sturdy is your tripod? Also, are you using a remote release? It's very possible you could be introducing movement to the tripod. You should not be getting camera vibration even as slow as 1/30 second with that lens and an adequate tripod.

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

Bump the iso anyway. Iso will create noise but not blur. You will be able to get a better sense of the issue if you clear out any camera shake impact which shows up as you extend the focal range . The fact you shot on a tripod (is or not), would cause me to lean towards an equipment issue. Did you squeeze the shutter or use a trigger release? You may be introduing a little shake as you press the shutter button.
Others have suggested using a test pattern target at some distance....you will want to convince yourself about technique vs equipmeny and advice posted in the this thread contains good suggestions ...

When i went from shooting at 200mm to 600mm, i needed to make some changes in how I shoot to get consistently sharp photos. Its amazing how little movement at the camera/lens can show up in the picture at 600mm. In the end, at 600mm to get consistent photos in a Fast action situation, i use a monopod. For BIF....handheld but have to jack the shutter even more. Anything below 500ss needs a monopod or some really calm patient shutter presses...other nerves of steel folks will be able to do better.
Good luck!

Bob Boner

My 100-400 II is one of the sharpest lenses I own. It is hard to determine where you have focused in the images you submitted. If you are shooting at 400 you need fast shutter speeds.

MikWar Loc: Chicago, Western Suburbs

Agreed on your first point. The tripod is brand new - Sirui N-3204X with a Promaster GH-25 gimble head. Seems pretty stable. No, I don't use a remote release. It would be difficult to use one when trying to track the bird in a bush and manually refocusing (auto-focus doesn't know what to do when staring in a bush).

MikWar Loc: Chicago, Western Suburbs

Good advice. I'll try it out.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

The majority of AF problems are operator's fault.

MikWar Loc: Chicago, Western Suburbs

That's why I bought it - from reviews such as yours. I'll bump up the SS and see what happens.

TheDman Loc: USA

You're way too far away and the background is way too busy. Get closer, isolate the bird. One of your shots is 1/100th at f/10. If you opened the aperture to 5.6 you would increase your shutter speed which would help eliminate the motion blur and narrow your DOF which would help clean up the busy background.

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Leitz Loc: Solms

Well, as long as you have everything locked down properly, I think we may safely eliminate the tripod as an issue! Which narrows it down to the lens and ... operator??

K-dee Loc: South Carolina, USA

The one with the snow is amazing - I love it. If you do greeting cards, this shot should definitely be made into some.

cthahn

It should be very obvious that you're trying to take pictures of birds too far away. You will never get any good photos.

TheDman Loc: USA

Thanks! No greeting cards yet, but it has been ripped off by the Russians.

cmc65

This statement is not accurate. This lens is very capable of taking a great capture to crop. The op will get his bugs worked out.