D7000 BIF what would have you done....?

WTarcher77 said:

WTarcher77 wrote:

Or how would have you done it?

I was taking pictures this spring with my d7k and my sigma 50-500. I was concentrating on Pintails that were busy with their mating flights. I was also experimenting with AFC-3d tracking . I got a number of excellent shots throughout the late afternoon. However, probably the best shot was blown...... And I knew it was going to happen.

I was following a group of them as they flew past, then they turned and landed right in front of me. I KNEW that the tree stump was going to throw things off with the focus..... and it did. Any thoughts on how I could have handled the situation better...??

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Your "focus tracking with lock-on" setting could help. On the D7100 it's menu a3. The ducks couldn't possibly have been in the air and directly between you and the stump for very long unless they were flying directly at you. That menu item I mentioned controls how long the camera waits before focusing on a different object. So in this case, a longer time would have helped you.

I had the focus lock set at ZERO (or the shortest setting) they did pretty much fly right at me as you can see, so a longer focus lock time would not have helped either.

I KNOW there probably is not a magic bullet to this scenario...... just curious if someone else has had success doing something different.

This picture is about 1 1/2 seconds before they took a hard left, and landed right in front of me.

iPad strips the data when I upload.... this pic was taken ISO 1600, 500mm, @ 1/1000. I did a slight amount of PP on my ipad. Not too bad for ISO 1600 IMO....



and why this picture doesn't show up ..... I have no idea....?

WTarcher77 said:

WTarcher77 wrote:

I had the focus lock set at ZERO (or the shortest setting) they did pretty much fly right at me as you can see, so a longer focus lock time would not have helped either.

I KNOW there probably is not a magic bullet to this scenario...... just curious if someone else has had success doing something different.

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I think you have this backwards. The longer the focus lock is the longer the camera will wait before refocusing.

lsdec said:

lsdec wrote:

lsdec said:

WTarcher77 wrote:

I had the focus lock set at ZERO (or the shortest setting) they did pretty much fly right at me as you can see, so a longer focus lock time would not have helped either.

I KNOW there probably is not a magic bullet to this scenario...... just curious if someone else has had success doing something different.

Click to expand...

I think you have this backwards. The longer the focus lock is the longer the camera will wait before refocusing.

Click to expand...

If something is flying right at you... and you have the focus set at anything besides the shortest setting, most of your pics will be OOF.

I have found with erratic flight of most birds, "zero" is what your lock on should be set at. Page 209 of my iPad app for the D7000 book.

I shoot many BIF with several cameras. I've gravitated to single point focus but still experiment with various settings. This happens to me all of the time , I can get shots , maybe 8 out of ten of a Raptor coming in on the hunt and then suddenly the BG changes and I get this type of shot for maybe three or four before I pick the bird up again (using Af-on) sometimes I never catch up with the focus.

I gave 3D a good try and it works well in a clear sky or with clean BG and at distance, also works well for track meets .



I think you have to experiment and find out what works for you.

Cheers,

WTarcher77 said:

WTarcher77 wrote:

WTarcher77 said:

lsdec wrote:

WTarcher77 said:

WTarcher77 wrote:

I had the focus lock set at ZERO (or the shortest setting) they did pretty much fly right at me as you can see, so a longer focus lock time would not have helped either.

I KNOW there probably is not a magic bullet to this scenario...... just curious if someone else has had success doing something different.

Click to expand...

I think you have this backwards. The longer the focus lock is the longer the camera will wait before refocusing.

Click to expand...

If something is flying right at you... and you have the focus set at anything besides the shortest setting, most of your pics will be OOF.

I have found with erratic flight of most birds, "zero" is what your lock on should be set at. Page 209 of my iPad app for the D7000 book.

Click to expand...

They look like they're flying across in front of that stump, not directly at you. Regardless, I'm fairly sure a longer setting would have helped greatly, assuming you were tracking them accurately before they crossed the stump. Focus lock doesn't prevent you from tracking objects moving directly at you. I've never had issues with mine set to the default value of 3. Nikon explains it (albeit for the D3) here . Starting on pg. 9

I'm not much of a bird fan. I never really shoot any bird until about five months ago. I did it because ... Well, that's another story. I'll offer you what I experienced and the possible reasons behind it.

For Focus Tracking w/Lock On settings. I tried them all and none worked well - at least not for those in-front-of-your-eyes fast-zipping-thru bird.

Sigma 50-500 at 500mm -> f/6.3. For D7000, when mounting a lens of f/5.6 or slower, only the central 9 cross-type focus points are effective. The other 30 focus points are next to nothing. When enabled, AF-C with 3D Tracking uses all 39 points - strong 9's in center and weak 30's surrounding them. If your bird flied into those weak area, focusing may hesitate, hunting, picked wrong target or simply lost.

From my short experiences, I would suggest you to try:

Enable AF-ON (AE-L button). AF mode and area: AF-S, 11 points. AF-S priority selection: Focus.

What really works: Keep the bird in the center all the time. That's easy said than done. I have problems just keep them inside my viewfinder at all. :-D


P.S. For D7000 and Sigma 50-500, ISO 1600 and 500mm is a bit stretching. Just my 2 cents.

With A3 set to off. You have to keep the bird under the central focus point which it claealy isn't. This is very hard and takes a lot of practice. Otherwise it will seek out a better contrast target like the post. That is why A3 normal or short is quite useful for panning shots.

The D7000 has not the most reactive AF. In truth I used AFA for birds in flight with it and that got me many more keepers. The D7100 is an entirely different beast. So much faster aquisition and tracking. Why I got rid of my D7000.

Brandon birder said:

Brandon birder wrote:

With A3 set to off. You have to keep the bird under the central focus point which it claealy isn't. This is very hard and takes a lot of practice. Otherwise it will seek out a better contrast target like the post. That is why A3 normal or short is quite useful for panning shots.

The D7000 has not the most reactive AF. In truth I used AFA for birds in flight with it and that got me many more keepers. The D7100 is an entirely different beast. So much faster aquisition and tracking. Why I got rid of my D7000.

--
Cheers, BB
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon_birder/

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I have been indicating to my wife that I really should upgrade to the D7100...... Thanks for giving me another good reason !!