Monday, April 13, 2009

How to photograph birds in flight!


From my previous postings, you would have known that I had a recent weekend outing in the London Zoo.
My main aim was bird photography as they are difficult creatures to shoot.
So I thought shooting birds in a zoo would be easier.
But I was wrong!
It is easier (as they are tame) but I have yet to get the pics that I expect.
I tried the following strategies:-

Equipments: Canon 70-200mm f/4 IS USM L
Canon 350D


Focus
I put my Canon 350D into AI Servo mode.
These modes let the cameras track moving subjects.
I then set the camera to use all the focus sensors (Unfortunately, there's only 5 in the 350D).
This mode let the camera use different AF sensors as the bird flies around in your frame.

It's tough to get into focus if it's flying in front of a background, and even tougher if the bird is flying in between trees.

I am going to the Wildlife photography exhibition next week in London to find out more.

But is it the limitation of the camera?
Would a 5DII or 1 series help??
Or is it just pure lack of skills?
What's the best shutter speed to use?

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I think that definitely a 5DII will help tremendously.

I think (I may be mistaken) for birds in flight you will need at least 1/500 to 1/1000 to freeze the action. But if you can pan, it will be nicer and an special effect is to keep the eyes of the bird sharp but the wings in motion...

What is your exif?

Dr YW Chow said...

Brother... You must teach me how to pan! Can't seem to do it very well.

Can't achieve 1/500 shutter speed without increasing iso to 800/1600 on that day (as very cloudy).
But if 5DII- then better position to increase ISO to 800/1600 without much problem.
But most wildlife photographer from what I can see from their exhibitions in London use the 1 series.
350D- can forget about it..

Unknown said...

What aperture are you shooting at?

I am sure with the higher series cameras, the autofocus points are more and that helps with the tracking. I am sure they can shoot above iso 1600 as well. This is Canon!

Time to get a new body for your 24-70/70-200 and get a new 16-35? Haha..poison.

Dr YW Chow said...

I was shooting at around 5.0-6.3 aperture. I think the main problem is the lack of autofocus points and the focusing is slow compared to the higher end one. Apparently, users have commented that 5DII is still relatively slow compared to the 1 series (in terms of AF).
What would you buy?-

5DII of 1DIII. 1D111 comes with DIGIC 3 only vs 4 in 5DII, 10MP, not FF (would be helpful for wildlife photography) and no HD movie. But 1DIII gives a burst rate of 10fps with very fast AF. Really don't know.... Need to discuss with you guys before making up my mind.