The proper ISO for photographing flying birds
Mar 15, 2019 11:12:41 #
Imagemine wrote:
I am mostly an urban & street photographer don't have much experience with wildlife. Can anyone tell me a good ISO for flying birds in cloudy conditions without getting noise I'm using a Nikon d500
The important thing is shutter speed and high frames per second. I use a Canon 5D Mark IV and the lens was a 70-200 f2.8 with a 2X Extender which gave me a 140-400 f5.6. I also used a Olympus red dot sight which attaches to the hot shoe on any camera and makes it easier to follow fast moving subjects. The attached photos were all shot at ISO 1000, a 1/2000 sec shutter speed at 6 frames per second and I let the camera select the aperture which usually was f11 to f14. These photos were less than 300mm. I live in South Florida so have many chances to photo birds both in flight and on the ground
Walt B
Mar 15, 2019 11:29:25 #
While several folks have provided excellent information on this thread I would like to offer this thought. While many high end lenses are very sharp when they are wide open (F2.8 or F4) if you are shooting a large bird it is hard to get the full wing spread sharp from wing tip to wing tip with the lens wide open. Generally raising the fstop to around f8 and thus raising the ISO to compensate for this will result in sharper images.
Mar 15, 2019 11:37:01 #
Imagemine wrote:
I am mostly an urban & street photographer don't have much experience with wildlife. Can anyone tell me a good ISO for flying birds in cloudy conditions without getting noise I'm using a Nikon d500
There's not a "good" ISO for photographing birds. You have to use whatever works the best under the conditions you're faced with at any given time.
Mar 15, 2019 12:09:11 #
Imagemine wrote:
I am mostly an urban & street photographer don't have much experience with wildlife. Can anyone tell me a good ISO for flying birds in cloudy conditions without getting noise I'm using a Nikon d500
Its the one that gives you a fast enough shutter speed in the circumstances with the least noise, and every circumstance is different, so there is no ONE Iso setting for everything!
Mar 15, 2019 12:23:04 #
jerryc41 wrote:
Also, the higher the bird, the higher zoom you might need.The higher the bird, the higher the ISO? 
Mar 15, 2019 12:24:18 #
Imagemine wrote:
I am mostly an urban & street photographer don't have much experience with wildlife. Can anyone tell me a good ISO for flying birds in cloudy conditions without getting noise I'm using a Nikon d500
There is no specific ISO.
A crop sensor camera will work fine in broad daylight at ISO 200, 1/1000 @ f/8. For cloudy conditions you could use ISO 800 and not worry about noise. For a heavy overcast, use f/5.6.
Each time you open the aperture by one stop you can double the shutter speed and get pretty much the same exposure. Pretty soon you will find yourself having to reduce the ISO.
Mar 15, 2019 12:27:22 #
RRS
Loc: Not sure
Imagemine wrote:
I am mostly an urban & street photographer don't have much experience with wildlife. Can anyone tell me a good ISO for flying birds in cloudy conditions without getting noise I'm using a Nikon d500
I think a better question would be how much exposure compensation should I dial in. That being said you'll find that often when you have everything setup for a normal exposure and if you then point to the sky your subject, bird, will come out as a silhouette. As for shutter speed it all depends on how fast the bird fly's or what is the speed of the wing flap. As has already been pointed out lenses, mostly fast primes, are sharpest wide open. Another good point is to let the ISO float, auto, at least until you gain some experience and then you can change to get what you want. One very important point is to know your prey, flight pattern, speed and etc. Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is a good wildlife or BIF (birds in flight) photographer. One good thing that you have going for you is that film (digital) is so much cheaper today then when I started. Best of luck, it's not easy but it is a lot of fun!
Mar 15, 2019 12:31:34 #
I do not believe there is such a thing as a perfect ISO for photographing anything. It depends on how fast the Islanders are moving, the length of your lens, the shutter speed you need to use, the depth of field you want, and then noise you are willing to accept. Lots of things to consider. I usually like to shoot flying birds at approximately 1/15 hundredths of a second or shorter. If I'm using a lot of shallow depth of field then I have to have a faster shutter speed based on a given ISO.
Mar 15, 2019 14:28:40 #
Kozan
Loc: Trenton Tennessee
Imagemine wrote:
I am mostly an urban & street photographer don't have much experience with wildlife. Can anyone tell me a good ISO for flying birds in cloudy conditions without getting noise I'm using a Nikon d500
I would use AUTO ISO with a maximum set at about 6400 or 8000. You want a shutter speed of about 1/1000s or faster.
Watch videos by Steve Perry. He has some good videos on settings for BIF and nature photography in general.
Mar 15, 2019 14:46:32 #
Imagemine wrote:
I am mostly an urban & street photographer don't have much experience with wildlife. Can anyone tell me a good ISO for flying birds in cloudy conditions without getting noise I'm using a Nikon d500
Shutter speed, and aperture are primary for moving objects, ISO is secondary. Use the lowest ISO that supports the shutter speed and f-stop that you need to get sharp photos.
You might want to consider using auto-iso with limits set accordingly.
Mar 15, 2019 14:59:26 #
Ched49 wrote:
Don't thing there's any such thing as a perfect iso for flying birds. Getting the right exposure for iso and shutter speed is more important.
Mar 15, 2019 15:43:11 #
Imagemine wrote:
I am mostly an urban & street photographer don't have much experience with wildlife. Can anyone tell me a good ISO for flying birds in cloudy conditions without getting noise I'm using a Nikon d500
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As low as possible depending on how light it is. I would try 100 first in a test shot. If you can't get a fast enough shutter speed try 400 and if necessary 800. I usually can get by at 400 or lower.
Mar 15, 2019 18:17:58 #
Mar 15, 2019 19:27:33 #
Imagemine wrote:
I am mostly an urban & street photographer don't have much experience with wildlife. Can anyone tell me a good ISO for flying birds in cloudy conditions without getting noise I'm using a Nikon d500
f/5.6 generally works well to provide light and depth of field and gives you a fast shutter speed. You will need to use your ISO as the variable if you want to use aperture. If using shutter as the set priority then use about 2000 and still use ISO as the variable.
Mar 15, 2019 20:25:24 #
jerryc41 wrote:
The higher the bird, the higher the ISO?
Yep, and if you lock in the ISO they will fly staight and level. 🤣
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