Action shots with K3

Capturing diving pelicans is more challenging that I originally thought. I am using K-3 with either the Bigma 50-500 or the DA* 60-250. With ISO800 at 1/1000 and up on a tripod the impact comes out soft. Further, getting AF to follow the flying fishing machine is almost impossible, so any tricks, features or direction will be appreciated.

post some photos with exif intact and WITHOUT CROPPING - just resized. Preferably the whole sequence. Having uncropped photos will help people see what focus points were active and where the subject was and how large/small in the frame the subject was. And, of course, we'll see what aperture/shutter speed etc. was used.

From my experience with the 50-500 (Pentax and Nikon versions), the sweet spot for sharpness is f/8. Start with f/8 and make your adjustments around that. With the K3 you should have plenty of high-ISO latitude. On the K5 I had best results in TAv mode. Set the f-stop at F/8, as I mentioned, and set your speed to at least 1/1600 (to start - you may need more speed, perhaps less). Let the camera decide the ISO. Stationary (perched) birds shouldn't need nearly that much shooting speed. In that case I'd be more likely to shoot @ 1/400 - 1/500 of a second (but keep you f-stop at f/8), and then the ISOs wouldn't need to be so high. However, with the K3, you should be able to get clean enough results up to ISO 3200.

TAv mode is really a great mode for this type of shooting.

Also - are you using the AF button on the back of the camera to focus? Because of earlier versions (k5, K7 etc.) the AF button on the back of the camera was so small and poorly placed no one used it. With the K3 I would urge you strongly to use back-button focusing so the AF system can continue to track while you're hitting the shutter release button. Once I got used to back-button focusing I never looked back. It's also great for stationary birds, since you can lock focus, take your thumb of the AF button and re-compose. The camera won't re-focus unless you touch the AF button again, so it's like having single-point focus and continuous focus at the same time.

Hope that helps.

pete

eyalbc said:

Capturing diving pelicans is more challenging that I originally thought. I am using K-3 with either the Bigma 50-500 or the DA* 60-250. With ISO800 at 1/1000 and up on a tripod the impact comes out soft. Further, getting AF to follow the flying fishing machine is almost impossible, so any tricks, features or direction will be appreciated.

Click to expand...

This sequence is of the same bird diving - at ISO800 with 1/1600, 1/1000 and 1/800

To load it here, and as requested to be as close as possible to the way it was taken, I opened the original raw file with CR6, and saved it without any manipulations as jpg at "high 10" quality.











the following images are from the same day with various of other settings. Even at 1/6400 it is not sharp.













This one is motionless....

These seem pretty good to me. I think the problem is that you are shooting from so far away, that any cropping to enlarge the birds will result in a perceived lesser quality.

Thought the K-3 isn't great with capturing action, it seems to have done the job here just fine. With birds you should aim to fill 1/3-3/4 of the frame with the subject. That takes a lot of practice. If this is one of your first times shooting moving things like birds or sports, then patiently allow yourself to grow your skills.

M

Thank you Miguel, I have been shooting for a while, including moving objects. However, these birds are like rockets splashing into the bay. Sometimes they fish closer, so I can get better coverage, but when they do they move so fast, I lose them as they dive.

When they float or rest is a different story.... here is a lucky shot...cropped as it was few hundred feet away...

To me it looks as if there was some serious back focusing in shot three (the bird entering the water). If you check out for the water behind the bird you may see it. The waves are much sharper than the bird itself. I guess the K-3 has picked up the wrong spot for focusing in the beginning of the sequence. Even with AF-C the focus before the first shutter actuation is absolutely critical for shooting with the K-3. Shooting action with the K-3 needs some practice. Just try again, and be careful about your focus point.

I shoot normally at AF-S, and will definitely switch to AF-C for next series....

Yes, most certainly use AF-C. But it's not a set-and-shoot situation. You will have to experiment with the tracking configurations.

M

Do you have the camera stationary on the tripod or are you panning with the bird?

Sorry, may be a silly question but trying to capture a fast moving bird diving with a stationary camera would be a big ask...

I've always hand held and panned with the subject. I could imagine using a panning head.

Agree, without following the bird it will be to much to ask unless you shoot at 1/3000 or less. I set the camera on the tripod but with lose head, so I can pan the camera vertically with the bird. I find that with the bigma it is an easier way to track the birds - the lens weighs about 4+ pounds (~2Kg) and it will be tough to manage.

My last Pelican sequence was a while ago with my K-x. I used AF-C and 1/2000s, f7.1, which seemed to freeze the action nicely as the shots came out sharp. That being said, they were not diving but flying into a landing on the water.

The speed makes the difference.... both in freeze the moments and in tracking the birds

eyalbc said:

This sequence is of the same bird diving - at ISO800 with 1/1600, 1/1000 and 1/800

To load it here, and as requested to be as close as possible to the way it was taken, I opened the original raw file with CR6, and saved it without any manipulations as jpg at "high 10" quality.







the following images are from the same day with various of other settings. Even at 1/6400 it is not sharp.







This one is motionless....

Click to expand...

As said above, you took images too far away.

You need to practice fast moving shots of subject with predictable distance.

Initially try out picture of fast moving vehicles on a highway. For that you can secure focusing. And when you are confident, you can do BIF (birds in flight).

Or you can do the old way


--
Daniel, Toronto

Easy subjects before handling unpredictable wildlife


Daniel, Toronto

Look at this,


This was my first try with BIF's.

The K5 and the DA 18-135 (very quick AF-lens) with AF.S because they dive straight down AF.S and panning is the way to do it imo. , After this I find out that the speed was a little bit to low.

Now I have a few weeks the K3 and the AF is much quicker than the K5.

I hope this will help

cheers

****

You're too far away from your subject for a start. For certain in the first 3 photos. Too much cropping necessary and too much other subject material for focus system to hit on (water with contrast vs. blue sky for example).

That's the tough thing about wanting to shoot wildlife - you have to be a lot closer than you think. For a bird that size, think of filling 1/3 of the frame in-camera as a goal.

Here are my recommendations for BIF;
TAv mode:
- Set aperture for sharpest MTF - f/5.6 with the DA*60-250, f/8 if you're also using the TC. I don't know about the Bigma, but I'd assume around f9.5.
- Shutter speed according to conditions. I find 1/1000s works most of the time. Don't be afraid to push ISO. Noise is correctable, motion blur is not.
AF-C focus mode, Hi-Speed continuous burst:
Center AF point, with 27 point expansion
For dark coloured birds, add 0.5EV compensation, fine tune in p-p

Turn off SR for panning. You could try the Bigma's panning mode, but not if you're on a tripod. Stabilization is not needed at these shutter speeds, so I would just leave it off.

Custom Menu Parameter Settings:
16. 1st frame action in AF-C - Focus priority (make sure focus is on the target before shooting, or you'll have a string of misses)
17. Action in AF-C Continuous - Focus Priority
18. Hold AF status - Low (bump up to Medium or High if there will be interrupted line of sight to the target.









The pelican was pretty close, these are only mildly cropped. The backlighting was a complication. This tern series was more demanding due to the distance and higher speed of the drop:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/55076484

--
Dan