Sports / Wildlife - shooting - 1/8000th sec, SD1M (Merrill)...

Lin Evans wrote:

ELSOK4ME wrote:

Hello:

As I think more about my SD1M (Merrill) camera, and "limitations" (or 'perceived') short comings, I was thinking, for the camera being able to shoot at the high shutter speed of:

1/8000th of a second, (which is pretty FAST to me), wondering WHY (myself of course included), there are NOT many - hardly any "sports / wildlife" actions types of shots, with that camera?

If the camera's designs are providing us (owners / users) - doesn't it seem "logical" that we should be able to (would be), using this camera for those types of scenes / subjects?

We also have the ability on the other end of the spectrum, to (default) shoot - B (Bulb) = 30 secs, and IF we enable the "Extended Mode" - up to 120 secs (2 minutes).

Now, as previously discussed, shooting with the Higher ISO (beyond) ISO 800 - there is a mix bag of opinions on the IQ capable - as the resulting noise levels are too "unusable".

So, just thinking, nothing at all scientific - IF all these potential "settings" are available for us to choose from, must be (perhaps), the Foveon sensor, IS NOT quite able to (designed to), adequately capture things / photos - at those extremes of settings?

Sort of a sad bummer, per se, in that IF the engineer's included those available setting, I would tend to think then, we should reasonably produce decent photos.

Any thoughts? (Examples)?

Thanks for your time,

Have a nice day / evening -

Ed

~ ~ ~

Hi Ed,

I don't have an SD1 Merrill, but I've been shooting wildlife very successfully for years with everything from the first Sigma dSLR to the SD15. I have to smile when I hear people say that it's just not feasible to shoot wildlife with a Sigma because of slow autofocus, etc. I shot wildlife for well over 50 years with manual focus and ASA 25-100 film just fine. In fact, none of my wildlife film images were ever made with even ASA 400 film.
Yes, my many high frame rate Canon and Nikon dSLR's are very handy with mostly excellent autofocus and great high ISO performance, but my very best wildlife images have rarely been at higher than ISO 400 and for the most part have been ISO 100 and ISO 200. The small buffer is sometimes problematic, but rarely are any of my better wildlife images made of a fast moving subject. I find the Sigma's do fine for me when shooting wildlife.

The photographer's skill and experience are to me more important than the tool in getting those great shots. I suppose if I were making a recommendation for someone who was just beginning to shoot wildlife, it would probably be for a camera such as my Nikon D7200 with a Sigma 150-600 sport lens. But for an accomplished photographer who understands the capabilities and limitations of his equipment, the SD1 Merrill should make a fine all-around tool including wildlife photography. No, as Larry correctly points out, you won't be shooting Sandhill Cranes at Bosque Apache in the dim early morning light, but you could shoot bears, cougar, wolves, coyotes, deer, etk, buffalo, squirrels, chipmunks, pika, lions, all types of African safari animals, sitting birds, soaring birds, etc, in reasonably good light. I've shot all of these critters sucessfully with Sigma dSLR's.

Best regards,

Lin

Thanks Lin, for your encouraging words of experience.

I do feel that (as you've mentioned), in essence, "learning the limitations" of our gear, and work appropriately using it taking (creating) our photos.

Appreciate your comments and discussion.

Have a nice day -

Ed

~ ~ ~