Canon 7D MKII and Tamron 150-600

[davholla]

I have had this combination for about a year and for good conditions it looks fine
EF7A0347shagonnest by davholla2002, on Flickr

However in less than ideal it looks noisy any ideas?
Two big issues birds in flight and poor light (the below was both)
EF7A2775eiderducks by davholla2002, on Flickr

Birds in flight in good light is ok but I live in the UK so that is many months of the year out
IEF7A04783cranes by davholla2002, on Flickr

Any tips on how to make it better would be appreciated. Sadly a shoulder injury caused me to miss some of the summer.

 

[zombiesniper]

Using f9 in bad lighting is going to limit the already diminished light that the sensor can use. In bad light try and use the lower aperture you can to maximize the light available.

 

[davholla]

Thanks I think that was a case of fat finger that I hadn't noticed before.

 

[ZombiesniperJr]

The birds in the last pic are glossy ibis not cranes

 

[AKUK]

I feel your pain. I have the Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary so understand where you are coming from. While having the ability to zoom in that much is fantastic, the f/6.3 max aperture at that distance is a limiting factor. I live in the South East of England and it's a real PITA when you're out shooting birds or wildlife and the clouds roll in. Your shutter speed can drop from 1/2000 sec to 1/100 sec in a matter of seconds, resulting in motion blurred images, unless you raise your ISO up to compensate. This is obviously going to deteriorate image quality once you start going higher and higher. Noise creeps in and the sharpness of the image is reduced, or you're forced to use noise reduction software, which invariably results in the same.

Other than limit yourself to shooting on bright, sunny days, the only real solution is hardware related unfortunately. Either get a faster aperture lens, like the 600mm f/4 IS, a flagship DSLR like the 1DX MKII which has superior ISO performance, or introduce more light through something like a Better Beamer, JJC flash extender or a Magbeam wildlife kit, which are much more wallet friendly options.

For static subjects these devices can certainly add a "pop" to the image and help balance exposure of the bird against the sky and reveal the colours of in more detail. Ideally you want to get the flash off-axis to the lens, otherwise you run the risk of getting a metallic looking eye. For moving subjects, you'd have to use the flash's HSS ability, as you'd still want to raise your shutter over the normal sync speed of around 1/200 sec. Using HSS significantly reduces the output of the flash but may help with exposure somewhat, depending upon the distance to the bird and the guide number of the flash itself. The flash multipliers are essentially fresnel lenses that concentrate the light to travel in a more linear direction.

That's pretty much all you can do to be honest.

 

[davholla]

Thanks for that, I do have a flash extender and I will start using it.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

I would hang out at the first bird's nest night and day until perfect light came my way. That creature is absolutely beautiful. The unusual colors it has makes it just amazing! I envy the potential it presents.

 

[spiralout462]

The golden hours are your friend! After dawn and before dusk. Soft directional lighting benefits bird photography just as much( if not more) as people shots. We can choose when to shoot. That's what I try to do unless it's for documentation puposes.

See, the man...... coastalconn

 

[davholla]

The golden hours are your friend! After dawn and before dusk. Soft directional lighting benefits bird photography just as much( if not more) as people shots. We can choose when to shoot. That's what I try to do unless it's for documentation puposes.

See, the man...... coastalconn

Good point, although sadly work and wife does slightly change the rules about when we take photos.

 

[weepete]

How much are you cropping and are you using any noise reduction software?

While I like my 150-600 it's not the sharpest and heavy cropping can add to the issue. A little NR combined with some masking can help, but really you just need good light.