Settings for birds of prey in flight: Help!

Howdy all,

If it comes to cars or equestrian stuff I'm pretty much sorted, and for the artsy I know how to play, however I have been presented a challenge that is proving just that - a challenge!

Friends of mine have a new pair of birds they would like me to photograph in action, however birds of prey are by their very nature very fast and change direction unpredictably (at least to my inexperienced eye).

My question is does anyone have experience shooting BIF on an E-M1 Mk2 with Oly 40-150 2.8 PRO, and if so any pointers for camera settings such as focus points and such or am I best sticking to centre only CAF+TR as I am currently?

This was my go to as I felt the focus speed would be paramount, and the zoom would give me flexibility to try and catch the action as it happens. Worked for me up to this point so why not birds!

What I am getting currently:

Bonus from the fabulous Oly 75 1.8

Any help offered would be greatly appreciated as I am very new to the world of birding!

Fair warning: I started out with Tri-X 400, an SLR & a Vivitar 70-210mm. I'm a gunslinger raised by feral photojournalists.

For an M10 II with a 75-300mm, handholding, I use:

• S mode at 1/250th or faster, 1/320th is better
• ISO 400 or more, depending on light
• Panning/tracking by eye, not in camera focus tracking
• Low drive speed, 2-4 fps, and
• Either all focus points active or a big diamond pattern. 

These work well with my 40-150mm as well, but I sometimes get away with P mode, center grid focus & Auto ISO there. Those are my usual walking around settings. Think chipmunks.

The M10 II program mode does not handle the 75-300mm lens settings well, hence S-mode. Beware.

The following is what I would do.

Set the shutter speed for flying birds of prey to at least 1/1600 for in flight images.  Use any shutter speed that can be hand hold for stationary birds to maintain an ISO of 200.

Since you are photographing birds that are trained, I would definitely want to use the Electronic Focus limiter. Set the maximum distance at the farthest distance the bird would fly (to try to keep the focus jumping to the background). Set the minimum distance as close as the bird will fly (limiting very close focus will speed focus acquisition).

If these distances are different for different birds or locations, setting up a couple of different Custom modes could make it easier to have different Electronic limiter settings, or assign a button to the Electronic limiter to make it easy to switch to up to three different preset distances.

If the birds change distance quickly or change direction quickly, set C-AF Sensitivity to +2.

Use the Electronic shutter, Low Sequential at 18 fps, CAF (not CAF+TR), C-AF Center Priority for the focus patterns (not C-AF Center start).  Use a focus point pattern that I could keep on the bird (may be able to use 5 x 5 or 3 x 3 if the background is more distant than you maximum Electronic focus distance - if not the 5 point cross).  Set C-AF Release Priority to ON, half press the shutter button and as the bird comes into focus fully press the shutter,  not waiting for focus confirmation.  I would expect a couple of initial unfocused images, but a many focused ones at 18 fps.

Everyone is different and many will have different ideas for sure.

For me personally (that's all it is) I don't like going over ISO 400 on m4/3, on FF ISO 1000. So I lock my settings with m4/3 on ISO 400, on Hawks / harriers in flight nothing below 1/1600 and I tend to use either the lens wide open or stopped down one stop. In my case that would be F/4.5 or F/6.3. Somewhere around that anyway.

The issue is if the bird is moving fast and flapping it's wings or just gliding. Looking at your shots (pretty good BTW) they will be moving rapidly and also at a fairly close distance, so as in your first shot, 1/2000 is a great start. Of course if you can get up to 1/2500 - 1/4000, then it improves a lot. I love being able to get 1/4000, it just works well and even for smaller BIFs.

At the end of the day, the lowest ISO with the highest shutter speed works the best. When it comes to autofocus, well I'm gone. Not much I know about that and others will have a far better idea on those settings than I ever will.

All the best and yeah, well done of the first one. A great start IMO.

Danny.

PistonPhotoUK wrote:

Howdy all,

If it comes to cars or equestrian stuff I'm pretty much sorted, and for the artsy I know how to play, however I have been presented a challenge that is proving just that - a challenge!

Friends of mine have a new pair of birds they would like me to photograph in action, however birds of prey are by their very nature very fast and change direction unpredictably (at least to my inexperienced eye).

My question is does anyone have experience shooting BIF on an E-M1 Mk2 with Oly 40-150 2.8 PRO, and if so any pointers for camera settings such as focus points and such or am I best sticking to centre only CAF+TR as I am currently?

This was my go to as I felt the focus speed would be paramount, and the zoom would give me flexibility to try and catch the action as it happens. Worked for me up to this point so why not birds!

What I am getting currently:

...

In the three flight shots you posted, the biggest issue is focus. Don't use C-AF + Tr; it doesn't work very well.

Follow drj3's advice above but one of the things that will improve your C-AF rate is your panning accuracy. The camera will do well if you can keep the same focus point over the same spot on the subject but it is very difficult to do. Use the smallest number of focus points that you can keep on the subject. If you can't keep a small group of af points on the subject, reduce the C-AF Sensitivity so that it doesn't instantly focus on the background when that happens. I think I'd start with C-AF 0.

Finally, you can get sharp shots with 1/1600 or 1/2000 but some will also be soft with motion blur because nobody's panning is perfect. These days, I start out trying to use 1/5000 and then compromise from there if there isn't enough light.

Your choice of lens is a good one. Try setting to a shorter focal length and pre-focusing at a distance slightly longer than where you want to take the shot. Then wait for the bird to get close to your target distance before you start focusing rather than trying to track it all the way in from further away. The birds will fly in a repeatable fashion so it is almost as good as if your were in control of where they are. Use that to your advantage. It rarely happens in the wild!

Here's a couple I took last week in similar circumstances (different camera). I found my lens was a bit long so I had to stand further away. In the same light as me, you should be able to get 1/5000 at f/2.8 and Iso 320.

Harris Hawk on approach

Harris Hawk at the glove

Good luck! It's good fun.

Thanks everyone for the pointers - first task will be to get the focus sorted and work from there.

I've spent plenty of time chasing birds in flight with my E-M1 over the years.

This type of shooting is the one time I sometimes use shutter priority.  I usually shoot for at least 1/2000, in brighter conditions, I'm happier to be at 1/4000

You may have to use higher ISO's than you would like, but I find that high ISO in good light is not near the problem on M4/3 that it is in poor light.  I find, in good light, that I'd rather use ISO 3200 than get obvious motion blur, but I usually don't have to go higher than 1600.

I don't use shutter priority as much anymore though, I tend to just set a higher ISO and put it in CAF (with tracking), with a broader autofocus selection instead of my usual point selection, test-metering throughout the session to make sure my shutter speed or other settings aren't drifting to less-than-ideal places as lighting changes.

I never shoot more than 1-stop from wide open, and in cases with less than bright light, I tend to shoot wide open at F4 with my 300 Pro.

Good luck, and happy shooting!

Sam

I agree with what you say except setting CAF release priority ON overrides the electronic focus limiter.  You can have one or the other but not both.  I find the electronic focus limiter to be more important most times, in which case I set release priority to OFF.

At least that's my understanding.

Mike

I've posted this before.  I found some helpful tips in this set up guide. These guys have tested a lot of settings for OMD EM1 series cameras.

Maybe there is some ideas for you in this link.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17PER3eRmdw9O2xIeE4GeJoyAfErLJ8kQ/view

I do gannets on the E-M10 II and IV-

I find shutter priority allows me to get the moving wing tips sharp. I stop shooting when they turn their tails on me.

Henry

mikero wrote:

I agree with what you say except setting CAF release priority ON overrides the electronic focus limiter. You can have one or the other but not both. I find the electronic focus limiter to be more important most times, in which case I set release priority to OFF.

At least that's my understanding.

Mike

C-AF Release Priority = ON doesn't override the focus limiter, it just allows you to take a photograph anytime you press the shutter button. The lens still will not focus beyond your set limits and it does not increase focus time required. The only downside to simply pointing the camera at a target and pressing the shutter button is more initial unfocused images, but with a fast moving target you will also get more in focus images.

The Default setting for C-AF Release Priority is ON for  CAF without the AF Limiter and as well as the Default for the AF Limiter. Default settings are those that Olympus believes produce the best performance for the majority of uses.

You can visually judge when the target is coming into focus in the EVF and fully press the shutter. The number of frames required to fully reach focus will depend on the specific lens and its focus speed.

While CAF focus on Olympus E-M1s is very fast , focus confirmation in CAF mode is not. Focus confirmation is often too slow on the Olympus cameras for fast moving targets and the predictive focus algorithm appears to require actual exposed images for best focus prediction of targets when the target does not move at a consistent speed or direction.

Thanks for the explanation. So using both the limiter and release priority ON will stop the AF jumping to the background but will not stop you taking shots when the subject is outside the range set by the limiter. Still useful.

Mike

mikero wrote:

Thanks for the explanation. So using both the limiter and release priority ON will stop the AF jumping to the background but will not stop you taking shots when the subject is outside the range set by the limiter. Still useful.

Mike

My quick solution for situations where the bird flies beyond the Electronic limiter maximum or minimum and I still want the camera to focus is to move the lens limiter switch (on the 300mm f4) to the minimum or maximum position.  The lens switch overrides the Electronic limiter.

I often move the lens switch to the maximum position when a more distant bird flies by as I am photographing flying swallows with the Electronic limiter (set for 250 foot maximum).

drj3 wrote:

Since you are photographing birds that are trained, I would definitely want to use the Electronic Focus limiter.

This is the one software feature I would love to have on the M10 II. I'd gladly trade all those silly modes & gimmicks for it. In camera cross-process (for example) is probably never used by anyone. Hell, when I shot film, I never cross-processed.

That is a great idea - thank you!

Hi,

I just went on a photographic workshop day at the Hawk Conservancy in Andover UK with Oliver Smart, professional wildlife photographer - Smart Images Home Page -Highly recommended, it was amazing!

He taught us a technique for BIF with bird handlers...

Pretty simple really, Have the bird perched ready to fly towards/past you - so bird handler is behind you. Find a focus point halfway between you and the starting bird perch, e.g. a tree, ground object, somebody's hand.

*** Then use manual focus on that halfway point ***

When the bird is released jam down the shutter button on continuous capture. As the camera is not hunting AF you should get 1-2 shots that are in perfect focus as the bird passes through your manual focus plane.

In the workshop we did this 6-8 times and I managed to capture a couple of shots below (note lighting was poor, so ISO, etc, not ideal).

It was a real learning experience and this is a really neat pro wildlife photography trick He also uses this to capture jumping squirrels, stick the food behind you and capture the squirrel jumping through the manual focus plane to get to the food!!!

Good luck Piston sure sounds complicated with this camera.

SmilerKT wrote:

Hi,

I just went on a photographic workshop day at the Hawk Conservancy in Andover UK with Oliver Smart, professional wildlife photographer - Smart Images Home Page -Highly recommended, it was amazing!

He taught us a technique for BIF with bird handlers...

Pretty simple really, Have the bird perched ready to fly towards/past you - so bird handler is behind you. Find a focus point halfway between you and the starting bird perch, e.g. a tree, ground object, somebody's hand.

*** Then use manual focus on that halfway point ***

When the bird is released jam down the shutter button on continuous capture. As the camera is not hunting AF you should get 1-2 shots that are in perfect focus as the bird passes through your manual focus plane.

In the workshop we did this 6-8 times and I managed to capture a couple of shots below (note lighting was poor, so ISO, etc, not ideal).

It was a real learning experience and this is a really neat pro wildlife photography trick He also uses this to capture jumping squirrels, stick the food behind you and capture the squirrel jumping through the manual focus plane to get to the food!!!

The second image is very nice.

This technique should generally get you a reasonable shot if you use your fastest frame rate and the bird is not flying too quickly and directly at you.  It may be the only way to get the image if the flight distance is too short for the camera to get sufficient information to predict focus.  You could use this with any camera with a fast frame rate.

If you have another opportunity to do this, you might want to try the following.

If the distance is not too short, you could use PreMF to determine the distance to the start point and set that as the maximum distance for electronic focus and then using PreMF again set the minimum distance somewhat closer than the halfway point.  Next pre-focus with the snap focus ring to the something a little farther away than the halfway point and return the focus ring to the forward position.

Wait until the bird just begins flight and fully press the shutter as the bird takes flight.  You may be able to get more images with your choice of bird/wing positions.  If the distance is too short or the birds flight is too fast for the camera to focus and predict focus, this may not work.

A second thing you might try, since you know exactly where the bird is and how it will fly is to set your maximum and minimum distances as above, then use Low sequential with half press focused on the bird just before takeoff.  As the bird takes off, full press the shutter and hold it for the full flight.  This would also work for photographing the bird from the side, if you set the maximum electronic shutter distance to the farthest distance in the birds flight path and the minimum distance to the minimum distance of the flight path (always base the distance settings on the PreMF distances, not measured distances).

One trick I used to do with shooting small birds in motion with my Pentax K10D and 300mm (not a particularly great focusing by today's standards) was to preset the focus ahead of the assumed subject's distance in between shots because the lens first focused out, so that it would catch the subject during the first run (focus goes forth and back on that camera to narrow down the subject's location), hence not wasting time focusing all the way to infinity and back. This cut my focusing time by 1/2 or more.

Zedex10R wrote:

I've posted this before. I found some helpful tips in this set up guide. These guys have tested a lot of settings for OMD EM1 series cameras.

Maybe there is some ideas for you in this link.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17PER3eRmdw9O2xIeE4GeJoyAfErLJ8kQ/view

Brilliant. Thanks for sharing