Wildlife videos with Nikon D500 + Nikon 200-500/5.6

Very Nice ! I do the same with my D500 and 200-500 and use the 4K crop to as much advantage as I can get

Krish6102 wrote:

Very Nice ! I do the same with my D500 and 200-500 and use the 4K crop to as much advantage as I can get

Hi Krish,

That's great. I was hoping by posting here I would find other people who are also using the D500 for video. I had a look at you videos on youTube and they're really good!

Best regards,
Rudy

RudyPohl wrote:

Out of curiosity, why do you want to change your current gear for?

I'm seeing pretty good results already, friend.

EduPortas wrote:

RudyPohl wrote:

Out of curiosity, why do you want to change your current gear for?

I'm seeing pretty good results already, friend.

Hi EduPortas,

Thanks for your encouraging remark and yes, you ask a very good question. Lately I've been wondering that myself.

The one thing my gear can't do is autofocus tracking which limits the kinds of birds in flight and other action recoding I can do. I use the back button focus method on my D500 with birds on the ground and perches and as long as they stay within the horizontal focus plane everything is fine. But as soon as they move either away from me or towards me they go out of focus. When this happens I refocus with the back button and then in Davinci Resolve I cut and blend these clips together as best I can.

I have been working on my birds in flight techniques and strategies to try to mitigate this limitation. I think I have now gotten to point where I can make fairly satisfying and interesting wildlife videos with lots of action included without the benefits of autofocus tracking and I'll probably continue this way for a while yet.

That was actually the reason I was interested in looking into going mirrorless, but after doing endless research and video reviews into all three major camera producers, Sony, Canon and Nikon and seeing the staggering costs for a quality body and lenses that would match what I have now I just feel that it isn't worth it for me. Perhaps if and when the prices come down I'll look at it again. In the meantime I will work at making the best of what I've got.

Best,

Rudy

RudyPohl wrote:

Best,

Rudy

Cool, I'm thinking that specific use-case you mentioned requieres a top-tier MILC the likes of Nikon Z9, Sony A1 or Canon R3.

Don't know if the current APS-C and M43 crowd represented by Fujifilm and Olympus can achieve that level of AF "stickiness". Maybe Canon's R7?

Either way, you're paying top dollar for the body and the system change altogether.

EduPortas wrote:

RudyPohl wrote:

Best,

Rudy

Cool, I'm thinking that specific use-case you mentioned requieres a top-tier MILC the likes of Nikon Z9, Sony A1 or Canon R3.

Don't know if the current APS-C and M43 crowd represented by Fujifilm and Olympus can achieve that level of AF "stickiness". Maybe Canon's R7?

Either way, you're paying top dollar for the body and the system change altogether.

Yep, I'm going to wait until what Nikon comes up with this year. If it could produce a Z6III with the same great AF system as the Canon R6 or the Sony a7iv, I'd probably buy one.

Cheers,
Rudy

RudyPohl wrote:

I have been working on my birds in flight techniques and strategies to try to mitigate this limitation. I think I have now gotten to point where I can make fairly satisfying and interesting wildlife videos with lots of action included without the benefits of autofocus tracking and I'll probably continue this way for a while yet.

Best,

Rudy

With the D500, my videos so far, have been of perched birds (using manual focus)  - mostly because of the reasons you mention. Having seen your work, I am encouraged to try BIF.  What autofocus mode did you use for this video ? Any other tips or pointers you can share?
Krish

Krish6102 wrote:

RudyPohl wrote:

I have been working on my birds in flight techniques and strategies to try to mitigate this limitation. I think I have now gotten to point where I can make fairly satisfying and interesting wildlife videos with lots of action included without the benefits of autofocus tracking and I'll probably continue this way for a while yet.

Best,

Rudy

With the D500, my videos so far, have been of perched birds (using manual focus) - mostly because of the reasons you mention. Having seen your work, I am encouraged to try BIF. What autofocus mode did you use for this video ? Any other tips or pointers you can share?
Krish

Hi Krish,

That's really great that you're going to give birds in flight videos a try. I look forward to seeing your results.

Regarding my strategy and techniques for doing these videos here are a few points.

• I never try to focus on birds in flight, either manually or with the back button - I have made many attempts over the last year at doing this and all have been failures. Instead, I intentionally plan to record birds that are mostly flying side to side so they remain in my focal plain as long as possible.
  So in the case of my video posted above with the flying Canada Geese I positioned myself on the bank of the river so I could capture the geese flying from my far right to my far left. I make my initial focus when the geese are still sitting on the water using the back button focus and checking it in my external monitor with focus peaking. Then once they take off all I do is track them with my camera, I never touch the focus ring or back button. All my flights are done in 1080p 60fps and slowed down in post.
  I usually use very small aperture settings, typically between f11 - f22, depending on the brightness of the day. This deals with two issues: One I have no ND filter for 200-500mm lens, plus this gives my the widest depth of field possible. Here it's important to be far enough away from the birds so that you have as wide a depth of field as possible. 
  Lastly, when doing side to side bif recording it's crucial to have your tripod perfectly leveled or your horizon will progressively either rise or fall as your video proceeds and it's almost impossible to fix in post.

With the above method, that is, keeping distant from the birds and having a huge depth of field via small aperture, you are able to even record birds that are flying towards and away from you. I do this and I simply cut the clip once the birds that are coming towards me are unacceptably out of focus. As seen in the video below.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Rudy

Hi Joe,

I checked out some of your youTube videos. Very nice work indeed! Lovely colours and details  and so interesting to watch their behaviours, especially the big Moth.

Cheers,
Rudy

RudyPohl wrote:

• I never try to focus on birds in flight, either manually or with the back button - I have made many attempts over the last year at doing this and all have been failures. Instead, I intentionally plan to record birds that are mostly flying side to side so they remain in my focal plain as long as possible.
  So in the case of my video posted above with the flying Canada Geese I positioned myself on the bank of the river so I could capture the geese flying from my far right to my far left. I make my initial focus when the geese are still sitting on the water using the back button focus and checking it in my external monitor with focus peaking. Then once they take off all I do is track them with my camera, I never touch the focus ring or back button. All my flights are done in 1080p 60fps and slowed down in post.
  I usually use very small aperture settings, typically between f11 - f22, depending on the brightness of the day. This deals with two issues: One I have no ND filter for 200-500mm lens, plus this gives my the widest depth of field possible. Here it's important to be far enough away from the birds so that you have as wide a depth of field as possible.
  Lastly, when doing side to side bif recording it's crucial to have your tripod perfectly leveled or your horizon will progressively either rise or fall as your video proceeds and it's almost impossible to fix in post.

With the above method, that is, keeping distant from the birds and having a huge depth of field via small aperture, you are able to even record birds that are flying towards and away from you. I do this and I simply cut the clip once the birds that are coming towards me are unacceptably out of focus. As seen in the video below.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Rudy

That's what I have been doing wrong !! Trying to focus on flying birds and making a mess of the clip. Thanks so much. I'll give this a try.
What's the external monitor you use? I am feeling the need for one but, having never used it, I have no idea how to begin looking for one. One that is suitable for my D500.

Krish6102 wrote:

RudyPohl wrote:

• I never try to focus on birds in flight, either manually or with the back button - I have made many attempts over the last year at doing this and all have been failures. Instead, I intentionally plan to record birds that are mostly flying side to side so they remain in my focal plain as long as possible.
  So in the case of my video posted above with the flying Canada Geese I positioned myself on the bank of the river so I could capture the geese flying from my far right to my far left. I make my initial focus when the geese are still sitting on the water using the back button focus and checking it in my external monitor with focus peaking. Then once they take off all I do is track them with my camera, I never touch the focus ring or back button. All my flights are done in 1080p 60fps and slowed down in post.
  I usually use very small aperture settings, typically between f11 - f22, depending on the brightness of the day. This deals with two issues: One I have no ND filter for 200-500mm lens, plus this gives my the widest depth of field possible. Here it's important to be far enough away from the birds so that you have as wide a depth of field as possible.
  Lastly, when doing side to side bif recording it's crucial to have your tripod perfectly leveled or your horizon will progressively either rise or fall as your video proceeds and it's almost impossible to fix in post.

With the above method, that is, keeping distant from the birds and having a huge depth of field via small aperture, you are able to even record birds that are flying towards and away from you. I do this and I simply cut the clip once the birds that are coming towards me are unacceptably out of focus. As seen in the video below.
Hope this helps,
Cheers,
Rudy

That's what I have been doing wrong !! Trying to focus on flying birds and making a mess of the clip. Thanks so much. I'll give this a try.
What's the external monitor you use? I am feeling the need for one but, having never used it, I have no idea how to begin looking for one. One that is suitable for my D500.

HI Krish,

I use the Atomos Shinobi 5". I tried a Feel-world Lut6 monitor first and was not happy with its very flimsy build quality and returned it. The Atomos Shinobi is very solid and very reliable and full-featured.... and a single Sony alternative NP-550 battery from Amazon last for hours.

I'm pushing 73 years old and have some significant vision issues and I can't really see the little rear LCD screen on the D500 very well, so the external monitor with focus peaking helps me confirm that I have critical focus. Also, I am able to point my camera at certain spots on a lake, river, or in a tree and just leave it and the monitor on and watch what's happening in real time... then, when something interesting looks like it's about to happen, I just press the record button.

One of the really rewarding benefits to this kind of photography/videography is that you can sit there for quite a while and just watch the interesting animal and bird behaviors that you normally don't see when you're just walk along a shoreline or forest or field and opportunistically shooting some things as you spot them. This way you get to spend lots of quality time with your subjects and learn about them.

Cheers and good luck,
Rudy

RudyPohl wrote:

HI Krish,

I use the Atomos Shinobi 5". I tried a Feel-world Lut6 monitor first and was not happy with its very flimsy build quality and returned it. The Atomos Shinobi is very solid and very reliable and full-featured.... and a single Sony alternative NP-550 battery from Amazon last for hours.

I'm pushing 73 years old and have some significant vision issues and I can't really see the little rear LCD screen on the D500 very well, so the external monitor with focus peaking helps me confirm that I have critical focus. Also, I am able to point my camera at certain spots on a lake, river, or in a tree and just leave it and the monitor on and watch what's happening in real time... then, when something interesting looks like it's about to happen, I just press the record button.

One of the really rewarding benefits to this kind of photography/videography is that you can sit there for quite a while and just watch the interesting animal and bird behaviors that you normally don't see when you're just walk along a shoreline or forest or field and opportunistically shooting some things as you spot them. This way you get to spend lots of quality time with your subjects and learn about them.

Cheers and good luck,
Rudy

Thanks so much, Rudy, I'll check out the ATOMOS Shinobi