I know this is my fualt how do i fix it ?

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Okay here in IL is the second largest gathering of eagles every year next to Alaska (near 3000 this year)

I love eagles so i gabbed my gear and drove out!!

D40
70-300mm Nikon VR lens
UV filter
Polerizer filter

i have been frustrated because these shoots looked good until i got home and put them 100% then they are blurry

Using "A" Mode

1/320 @ F11 ISO 200 @ 300mm
http://www2.turbov6camaro.com:443/eagle/eagle.jpg (full size out of camera no editing)

1/250 @ F11 ISO 200 @300mm
http://www2.turbov6camaro.com:443/eagle/eagle2.jpg (same thing as above)

see how blurry the eagle is ? (mostly the head)

I tried everything i could on the spot, ISO 800, lower F stop, VR off, filters off and all the combos i could try they all look the same.

I realize the sun is on the wrong side but i also have some shot of one a tree and the was behind me and i got the same results

So is it me or the lens? need longer lens? or need less dumb me?

just to check the lens i snapped this with (are these good, i think they are really good wish i would have taken a few more now )
1/125 @ F11 @ ISO 200 @ 70mm
http://www2.turbov6camaro.com:443/eagle/lighthouse.jpg

http://www2.turbov6camaro.com:443/eagle/lighthouse2.jpg (some minor editing)


thanks for any help

 

[Iron Flatline]

A good rule of thumb is that your shutter speed should exceed your focal length... so if you're shooting at 300mm, you'd want to be at least 1/500th of a second. VR should help, but unfortunately it doesn't always.

You will need to raise your ISO another stop, to 400 or possibly even to 800 and shoot faster. Also, f/8 might be good enough, thus also giving you another stop.

 

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

A good rule of thumb is that your shutter speed should exceed your focal length... so if you're shooting at 300mm, you'd want to be at least 1/500th of a second. VR should help, but unfortunately it doesn't always.

You will need to raise your ISO another stop, to 400 or possibly even to 800 and shoot faster. Also, f/8 might be good enough, thus also giving you another stop.

the one from the tree i shot at ISO 800 but it didn't seem to help (did 3 shots) was was 2x the distance of the one on the ice tho

thanks for the input

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I agree with Mr. Flatline...a faster shutter speed will help when shooting at 300mm. Also, many zoom lenses show their worst performance at the extremes. Most lenses in the 70-300mm range are their worst at 300mm...and that maybe be part of your problem here, because that shot at 70mm look a lot better.

 

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Welcome to the forum.

I agree with Mr. Flatline...a faster shutter speed will help when shooting at 300mm. Also, many zoom lenses show their worst performance at the extremes. Most lenses in the 70-300mm range are their worst at 300mm...and that maybe be part of your problem here, because that shot at 70mm look a lot better.

yeah i know 300mm is bad for this lens but I have gotten great shot from it before at 300mmm (but i wasn't 30-40 feet away lol)

I figured 300 would be better than cropping a 200 shot. I mean look how much "extra" is there on a 300 shot, 200 would be black bird with a white blob on its head

he is one shot i got from 300mm (at the zoo), keep in mind i was shooting through the fence, came out very nice considering, IMO (out of camera no editing yet)

 

[Lyncca]

I also think that the exposure may have something to do with it. It looks like it is exposed for the background instead of the eagle. The eagle is underexposed, which will cause it not to look sharp too.

 

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

I also think that the exposure may have something to do with it. It looks like it is exposed for the background instead of the eagle. The eagle is underexposed, which will cause it not to look sharp too.

maybe i should have had it on center weighted vs matrix?

 

[Lyncca]

It might have helped. I think you had a number of factors coming into it (the others already mentioned).

 

[MikeBcos]

I don't know if this would have anything to do with your problem, but if that image is full size you are shooting very small. Increase your jpg size to the largest it will go. Quite often a large picture will look sharper when you reduce it in size, this can sometimes save an otherwise bad image. Also, if you shoot full size you could back off the zoom slightly then crop the image, a full size D40 image is very large, you can crop it quite a long way and still have enough resolution for decent prints.

 

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

well I think it was more the lens then anything

I just picked a tree branch out side my window that seems to be about the same distance

I tried 1/1600 @ 300mm @ 1600 ISO blur even

try many differen focus modes and exposure modes too :thumbdown:

 

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

I don't know if this would have anything to do with your problem, but if that image is full size you are shooting very small. Increase your jpg size to the largest it will go. Quite often a large picture will look sharper when you reduce it in size, this can sometimes save an otherwise bad image. Also, if you shoot full size you could back off the zoom slightly then crop the image, a full size D40 image is very large, you can crop it quite a long way and still have enough resolution for decent prints.

i reduced it for the sake of any member with a slow connect

i shot in RAW and they look like crap cropped

 

[MikeBcos]

Looking at your eagle picture the lens obviously used to be capable of very high quality. Have you tried shooting with the VR both on and off to see if there may be a problem with that?

 

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

Looking at your eagle picture the lens obviously used to be capable of very high quality. Have you tried shooting with the VR both on and off to see if there may be a problem with that?

yes tried that also

the last eagle pic was at the zoo i was 10 feet away at most this egale pic was in the wild like 40-50 feet ish

 

[TwoRails]

Also, something not often mentioned, is that VR lenses need a moment / second or two to stabilize. Hold steady, press halfway down, and wait until the image smooths out / becomes steady in the view finder. That'll be the best that happens for given settings and any handshake. That's why VR mode isn't the greatest for action shooting.

 

[LarryD]

I think that you needed more light on the subject...... The ice and water will skew your camera readings...

The polarizer lost you a stop or two, and didn't really help with the eagle... Also, you should have been in spot meter for that shot, or bracketed a couple of stops either side... or both if it was an important shot.

I would have manually focused to ensure I had the bird.

I'm not sure about Nikon products...is that lens Image Stabilized ? At that length, a tripod would help if not..

Your through the fence head-shot rocks, although you might think about a bit of photoshop fill flash and a touch or contrast.......:thumbup: