Need some AF tips

[coastalconn]

That's the post I was waiting on! !!

I was chomping at the bit all day at work and couldn't wait to get home and respond in this thread

 

[Ornello]

Everybody gets lucky once in a while.

 

[MSnowy]

don't forget dragon flies with 5oom w/1.4 tc. I know lucky

 

[Ornello]

don't forget dragon flies with 5oom w/1.4 tc. I know lucky

Nice.

 

[jcdeboever]

Geez, those are nice pics.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[gckless]

Not sure you have an arguing point anymore.

I don't?

I have always done a lot of 'action' photography, from high school sports to every imaginable kind of activity (lacrosse, anyone? Just try to find the lacrosse ball in the air!). Birds are tough, too, but birds as a subject don't interest me. I am very good at action photography. The problem with birds is that they are small, requiring huge lenses, and it's hard to keep them in the frame when diving and swooping in flight, with or without autofocus. Ever notice that most 'bird in flight' photos are of large birds? Their larger size makes them easier to photograph, since they can't change direction so quickly, and they glide more. Sparrows are almost impossible to capture in flight (other than just taking off from a perch). As you can see here, almost every one of these sparrow photos is of a bird perched. The very few that show them in flight are almost certainly taken with the birds approaching or leaving a known nest or feeder.

So, yes, I am more than qualified to offer advice. If anyone can take a 1000mm lens hand-held and follow sparrows in flight, I'll eat my words.

Perhaps if you want to see Sparrows in flight you should google "sparrows in flight" sparrows in flight - Google Search The problem with sparrows is they don't free fly very often. There really are no native 1000MM lenses on the market

Show me anyone who can track a sparrow zooming around with a lens of 500mm or greater. Impossible, manual focus or autofocus!
You have to be realistic. You have to know what can and cannot be done practically.
'In flight' is ambiguous, because birds sometimes hover, and slow down when coming in to land.
Here is a rugby player crossing the goal line, and a skateboarder, both in mid-air:

OK, I say possible, here are some swallows and martins that are much faster and way more unpredictable then swallows, also some other smaller birds......All with my 500 F4 handheld and AF. Again experience and skill comes into play here and of course good equipment...

I wasn't directly quoting you, you were just in the chain when I quoted. But great photos

 

[JacaRanda]

Not sure you have an arguing point anymore.

I don't?

I have always done a lot of 'action' photography, from high school sports to every imaginable kind of activity (lacrosse, anyone? Just try to find the lacrosse ball in the air!). Birds are tough, too, but birds as a subject don't interest me. I am very good at action photography. The problem with birds is that they are small, requiring huge lenses, and it's hard to keep them in the frame when diving and swooping in flight, with or without autofocus. Ever notice that most 'bird in flight' photos are of large birds? Their larger size makes them easier to photograph, since they can't change direction so quickly, and they glide more. Sparrows are almost impossible to capture in flight (other than just taking off from a perch). As you can see here, almost every one of these sparrow photos is of a bird perched. The very few that show them in flight are almost certainly taken with the birds approaching or leaving a known nest or feeder.

So, yes, I am more than qualified to offer advice. If anyone can take a 1000mm lens hand-held and follow sparrows in flight, I'll eat my words.

Perhaps if you want to see Sparrows in flight you should google "sparrows in flight" sparrows in flight - Google Search The problem with sparrows is they don't free fly very often. There really are no native 1000MM lenses on the market

Show me anyone who can track a sparrow zooming around with a lens of 500mm or greater. Impossible, manual focus or autofocus!
You have to be realistic. You have to know what can and cannot be done practically.
'In flight' is ambiguous, because birds sometimes hover, and slow down when coming in to land.
Here is a rugby player crossing the goal line, and a skateboarder, both in mid-air:

OK, I say possible, here are some swallows and martins that are much faster and way more unpredictable then swallows, also some other smaller birds......All with my 500 F4 handheld and AF. Again experience and skill comes into play here and of course good equipment...
Blue Jay in flight 10_14 3 by Kristofer Rowe, on Flickr
Purple Martin 6_30 by Kristofer Rowe, on Flickr
Swallow in flight 6_28 1 by Kristofer Rowe, on Flickr
Tree Swallow Splash 9_14 by Kristofer Rowe, on Flickr
Tree Swallow in Flight 6_8 by Kristofer Rowe, on Flickr
Barn Swallow in Flight 6_29 by Kristofer Rowe, on Flickr

I'm with Ornello. These are pure luck and probably Photoshopped.

 

[wfooshee]

Ooh, dragonflies I got!!!

But gee, less than 200mm so probably not acceptable to Ornello.......

You want small, how about what we in the South call love bugs?

which is a crop of this, autofocused against that busy background, 240mm:

 

[soufiej]

Ooh, dragonflies I got!!!

But gee, less than 200mm so probably not acceptable to Ornello.......

You want small, how about what we in the South call love bugs?

which is a crop of this, autofocused against that busy background, 240mm:

"But gee, less than 200mm so probably not acceptable to Ornello......."




Not much is unless he either said it or owns it.

 

[DanOstergren]

Everybody gets lucky once in a while.

As if skill and experience have nothing to do with that...

 

[mcap1972]

I would use AF Servo mode. Keep the subject in the focus target.

 

[coastalconn]

Everybody gets lucky once in a while.

Speaking of lucky, here is a great BIF article by an incredibly talented bird photographer that I follow, and yup, he mentions luck as well, but states luck alone does not complete the equation...
BIF

 

[soufiej]

Everybody gets lucky once in a while.

Speaking of lucky, here is a great BIF article by an incredibly talented bird photographer that I follow, and yup, he mentions luck as well, but states luck alone does not complete the equation...
BIF

Hmmmm, doesn't seem to mention at all the aspect of virgin sacrifice in obtaining that "luck". What good is that?!

 

[thereyougo!]

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