getting feather detail in bird stills

[jerelee]

I am eighty five years old and i am shooting through a window into my back yard. The shot is 23 feet from the camera to birds. I have camera on a tripod. I am using a Canon M50 and a 55-250 4.0 5.6 STM lens fully extended. I have tried IS both on and off. I thought I could crop a little and get decent pics. I cannot get pics good enough to suit me. I would like sharp eyes and feather detail. What should I do or what should I change? I am shooting at F8 and 500th of a second.

 

[JasonTheBirder]

I am eighty five years old and i am shooting through a window into my back yard. The shot is 23 feet from the camera to birds. I have camera on a tripod. I am using a Canon M50 and a 55-250 4.0 5.6 STM lens fully extended. I have tried IS both on and off. I thought I could crop a little and get decent pics. I cannot get pics good enough to suit me. I would like sharp eyes and feather detail. What should I do or what should I change? I am shooting at F8 and 500th of a second.

You need to change your lens, no two ways about that. For small birds, 10-15 feet is my ideal distance on my APS-C camera (same sensor size as yours).......with 500mm.

I actually just measured 23 feet and there's no way 250 can come close to being sufficient for that. Cheapest option for you would be to either adapt one of the 150-600 lenses or get a quality superzoom bridge. Even the most budget lens, the 150-600 Sigma Contemporary, will obliterate the 55-250.

 

[Red Barchetta]

Jason is right, it's hard to get any detail at that distance @ 250mm. I have a Tamron 150-600 that would give great detail at that distance. A couple other tips, make sur your window is super clean and sometimes window glass can negatively affect a shot, depending on the quality of glass or glare on it. the 2nd tip is if you're shooting with I.S. turned off then you can try shooting with a faster s.s. than 1/500th. try 1/1000th or faster. Last tip, there's also a thing about shooting with I.S. when using a tripod, you're not suppose to, so if you're doing it, don't. It can blur an image. GL, hope you start getting the pics you want.

 

[jerelee]

Thanks so much Jason for taking time to respond and help me, I really appreciate it. Would the quality from a bridge camera be good enough for printing? Would the sensor be much smaller?

 

[drj3]

You have two problems. One can be solved by getting a longer focal length lens, the other is likely to prevent sharp feather detail.

If you are shooting through a window, you can improve your images by removing any filter you have on the lens and placing the lens as close to the window glass as possible (I am assuming single pane glass) to prevent any reflections on the inside the window glass. However, inexpensive filters, even made with good quality glass can degrade an image so window glass is very likely to have a negative effect.

A much longer focal length lens would be needed for you M50 1.6X crop sensor (400mm Full Frame (FF) equivalent field of view). Attached is an image with a 300mm lens on a 2X crop camera (600mm FF equivalent field of view) from 22 feet. It is too far away to get very good feather detail, even with a sharp prime lens.

You should consider one of the 150-600mm zoom lenses (up to 960mm FF equivalent field of view) and if possible, open the window to avoid photographing through the window glass. Getting closer would also help feather detail.







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drj3

 

[JasonTheBirder]

Thanks so much Jason for taking time to respond and help me, I really appreciate it. Would the quality from a bridge camera be good enough for printing? Would the sensor be much smaller?

The sensor is absolutely much smaller and that is why some of them make some incredible claims of equivalent 1000+mm focal lengths.

However, some people here have posted near full-sized or full-sized images from their superzoom bridge cameras and out of interest, I have looked at many of them at 100% crop. What I can say is absolutely, you could make VERY nice prints from these cameras as long as you are shooting in good light and of course, use good technique. I print a lot also and I would say from what I see at 100%, you could make some very nice 8x10 or 11x14 prints. And I say this as a very demanding pixel peeper that absolutely craves tack sharp razor files. Of course, there absolutely is a difference between them and a supertelephoto prime, but I would say those bridge superzooms are really hard to top for their price.

 

[Bobby V]

Good point above about shooting through a window. I've found that shooting through an unopened window absolutely obliterates any detail.

Likewise I agree with all that's been said above about reach. You need a lens with more magnification and/or to get closer to your subjects.

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My Website

 

[jerelee]

Thanks to all of you for your help, I really appreciate you taking time to respond with good solid advice. I have a board in a five gallon bucket of pea gravel with bare branches attached to it with zip ties, in the form of a tree. I put a bird bath in front of it and there are two small trees and various types of flowers and bushes behind it all. I have a feeder that hasn't been put up yet. Plan to put it up close in the same area. I could move the artificial tree perch and the birdbath much closer to the window, possibly within ten feet, with the feeder in close proximity. This would be very easy to accomplish and then see how things work out. I personally didn't do any of this or would do anything. I cannot walk and have to depend on a wheel chair or scooter to get around. I have family who help me get things done so I cannot take credit for it.

 

[bobgilbody]

I do most of my photo taking 8 feet from my computer. Most photographs are taken at a distance of less than 8 feet. I use mostly a Sigma 120-300 f2.8 lens with a 1.4 extender and sometimes extension tubes to get close focus, with Canon 5Ds body.

My suggestions:

1. open the window

2. set up your artificial bird park within 8 feet of your tripod. [use a tripod ]

3. Instead of seeing your lack of mobility as a problem, see it as an advantage. While others are busy moving around, you can sit quietly and gain the trust of the birds.

4. Gain the trust of the birds.

5. It might help if you gain the trust of the birds.

 

[drj3]

Thanks to all of you for your help, I really appreciate you taking time to respond with good solid advice. I have a board in a five gallon bucket of pea gravel with bare branches attached to it with zip ties, in the form of a tree. I put a bird bath in front of it and there are two small trees and various types of flowers and bushes behind it all. I have a feeder that hasn't been put up yet. Plan to put it up close in the same area. I could move the artificial tree perch and the birdbath much closer to the window, possibly within ten feet, with the feeder in close proximity. This would be very easy to accomplish and then see how things work out. I personally didn't do any of this or would do anything. I cannot walk and have to depend on a wheel chair or scooter to get around. I have family who help me get things done so I cannot take credit for it.

If you put a feeder close to a window, then put window deals on the window or hang things in front of the window. If anything scares a bird they fly in the opposite direction and the reflection of the sky in a window looks like the sky to the bird.

From Cornell Ornithology - All About Birds - the most respected group in the USA

"Place feeders closer than 3 feet to a picture window (or even affixed to the glass or window frame), or farther than 30 feet from a window. Window glass kills at least 100 million birds every year in the United States, according to estimates."

 

[jerelee]

thanks so much, i think now I can work things out.