Case Study: Frankman on birding

Thanks for the response, Frank.

Thank you for taking the time to write this down.
You have some great birds shots, congratulations

A somewhat belated note of thanks for this articulate explanation Frankman. I haven't made many attempts on BIF, so now I know exactly what I do wrong .

Those are great pictures, Frank. Thanks a lot for sharing your techniques. I could have used some of them (as well as a longer lense!) on a herd of pronghorn that sprang from behind a hill I was hiking on the other day. They circled me at about 50-75 meters, steadily gaining speed, always seeming to be a bit ahead of me. I kept having to shift my feet. It would have helped greatly, I now think, to have positioned my feet more toward the direction they were heading and then follow them by turning my waist. Since i didn't anticipate them being there, I really hadn't any time to play around with various settings. Everything was shot on auto. A few are ok, but none are outstanding. I can hardly wait to go to the nearby lake and try some birds.

Steve

Richard - as you've experienced, good light is essential. Hang in there - it's not that toughonce you get the hang of it. Pigeons move pretty fast, so they're a real challenge.

chthoniid - the morephotos you take, the luckier you get. THe secret to success is to take LOTS of shots.

XRM - the 5D is a good performer. It taught me a lot. Once I got the A700, I was glad that I had leant so much using the 5D.

Steve - sounds like you found a great location. It's always hard when something "springs" up on you. I've sworn under my breath many times as I'm taking photos of a bunch of tail feathers. There's always a next time - that's what keeps me going back for more.

Octupi. To set the focus limiter on the 300/4, undo the screw knob, set your camera to manual focus, then turn the thick black focus ring to say 5 meters. Then turn the thin white metal ring anticlockwise until you hit some resistance. Then tighten the screw knob. All done. BTW, don't forget to put the camera back onto AF-C. I've forgotten on more than one occasion - I think I've leant my lesson!

And to everyone else - it's my pleasure to share my experience with you all.

Frank

After testing Cekaris big white lenses I can only say that I´m even more impressed with your BIF-shots
Thanks for sharing

Actually I am also a fan of AF-wide for BIF - the a700 (unlike the 7D IMO) is quite trustworthy in this setting also :)

Mind you if AF-single is working well for you (as it obviously is!) then perhaps its just a case of different strokes for different folks!