Birds of Prey in Flight with R5 and RF 100-500

So, first I'll say, nice photos taken under demanding lighting, and of course beautiful birds.

I waited to see if anyone else commented on something I noticed: there is substantial "rolling shutter distortion" in the first photo of the Harris's Hawk. It is the apparent disparity in the size of the wings and wing tips. It's something I've noticed in my photos of Peregrine falcons when using the electronic shutter. I think I also see less of it but still some in a couple of the other photos where the posture and position of the bird kind of hides it.

So, this is not a criticism but a comment. My Peregrine falcon photos have been limited in recent months (since shortly after getting my R5) due to the loss of our long-standing local breeding pair. However, a new pair is eying the eyrie and is around some days for a little R and R and a little flying around. I started shooting using the electronic shutter and then started noticing the rolling shutter effects.

I'm open to more education about rolling shutter effects but it must be dependent on the the speed and direction of the image motion across the image plane of the sensor during electronic exposure. That of course can be dependent in sometimes complex ways to the direction of motion of the bird, the speed of the bird and the size of the bird's image on the sensor. Once I started noticing it in images I began to see lesser versions in other images.

An example of a Peregrine taking off from a standing position:

This bird was slow moving for a Peregrine since it is not yet in typical Peregrine fast flight. Nonetheless, both wings appear exaggerated in length and in the width at the tips. The bird's left wing shows more of the distortion but essentially both show the effect. In looking at several similar photos I think the exaggeration is at least partly due to the movement of the wing being considerably swifter than the overall movement of the bird.

Don