[missbirdphotos] Re: intro
- From: Larry Pace <larrypace64@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "missbirdphotos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <missbirdphotos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 9 Mar 2012 14:01:10 -0800 (PST)
Very helpful judy. Now with yours and all of the great info that has been
provided, with practice, maybe i will see an improvement in my photos.
Thanks a bunch to all of you for your help.
Larry
________________________________
From: Judy Howle <howle@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: missbirdphotos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, March 9, 2012 1:53 PM
Subject: [missbirdphotos] Re: intro
It’s not razor sharp but looks quite acceptable to me. I use a 100 – 400
hand-held most of the time and that’s about what I get a good bit of the time
as I don’t use it often nowadays and that makes it a lot harder to hold it
steady. I do shoot a lot from the vehicle and propping on the window opening
helps. Also distance makes a big difference in sharpness especially hand held.
I’m attaching one I made last week from the vehicle. First time I’d used the
lens since January. The bird was probably 80 ft away so it was cropped a fair
amount.
Good image processing makes a lot of difference too. Not just for sharpness,
but for “punch” i.e. appearing to have more mid-tone contrast mostly and
saturating the colors a bit from the original Raw capture. I used Lightroom 4
(highly recommended!) and Photoshop CS5. I do capture sharpening of 25 amount
on the Raw image and then after I size it for the web/print in Photoshop I use
Smart Sharpen or Nk Dfine Ps plugin which is excellent. Photoshop Elements has
the same smart sharpen available. Lightroom can also add output sharpening to
your jpg or other format images when you export them after conversion.
As for tips for razor sharp images, of course using a tripod with stabilization
turned OFF and using a wired or wireless remote shutter release (or 2 second
timer) to reduce shake is the optimal way and you should at least try that to
determine if the lens is sharp or not.
When hand-holding I find that if I grasp the tripod collar foot with my left
hand instead of just supporting the lens I get much sharper images. Other tips
are to place one foot ahead of the other to get better balance and holding your
breath when you press the shutter helps. I also discovered that if I sort of
roll the flat part of the end of my finger across the button instead of just
pressing the end down on it it shakes the camera a lot less.
I did a search at birdphotographers.net photography forum and found this info
for you:
I have the 100 - 400 lens as my main workhorse and it is plenty sharp. Although
there are reports of soft copies out there, most problems are user error or
tweakable adjustments. Check the following:
- Have you checked for the need of micro adjustments? [on cameras that have
micro adjustments - he was replying to someone with a 7D]
- Do you have a filter on...if so, I know this lens isn't very happy with one
on (especially cheap generic ones) [I never use a filter on mine other than a
polarizer when needed]
- When handholding with IS on, are you using proper handholding techniques?
- Are you using a tripod, and if so is IS turned off? (it should be)
- If used on a tripod with IS off, are the images sharp or sharper?
- Are the images sharp when stopped down (say, f/7.1 or f/8)? Some copies are
reputed to be soft wide open, but sharp stopped down... [mine is softer wide
open]
Another guy said:
I also believe there are variations in quality of the 100-400. Mine is softer
than a friend's at 400 and tested identically (on tripod with mirror lock up,
daylight fast exposure).
Be sure to remove any filter, even expensive ones. The large aperture combined
with the long focal length will magnify any imperfection, which means even the
best filter will likely cause some distortion.
A moderator said:
Yes, distance to subject can be another factor. When cropping, if I end up with
anything less than 75% of full-frame I just won't post it or put it on my
website (I could crop more in many cases, but that is just a personal thing
that I have). If you do crop heavily, yes, your images may appear soft if they
aren't critically sharp to begin with.
Two guys sent theirs in to Canon and they were fixed. One was lens alignment,
cost $350 but now tack sharp. He said: I sent the lens to Canon, explaining
what seemed to be happening, and $350 and 2 weeks later (it was out of
warranty, of course) I received what works like a brand new lens. Now my
100-400 is sharper at 300mm that my 300mm f4L. It is also sharper than my
70-200.
Another sent his in and they found it was back-focusing.
Hope this helps!
Judy Howle
Southern Exposures
http://southernexposure.zenfolio.com
Digital Photography Class; Resources for Photographers
http://digitalphotographyclass.net
From:missbirdphotos-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:missbirdphotos-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Larry Pace
Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2012 6:48 PM
To: missbirdphotos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [missbirdphotos] intro
Hi guys
This Mid-Delta (Cleveland and surrounds)photographer needs some really good
advice on bird photography. I thought that I was progressing fairly well over
the last couple of years, but looking at really good bird photos on several
online galleries (Ronnie Gaubert, now deceased, from Prairieville, La being
one) quickly proved that to be WRONG.
I shoot with a Canon 50D and a Canon 100-400 zoom . The biggest problem I have
is sharpness and the shots never seem to have that punch I see in other photos.
From all the experience that you all have had, I need suggestions. What works
for you?
I am looking forward to sharing photos and info about places to photograph,
etc. with everyone.
Help me with this photo--advice anyone.
Larry Pace
Other related posts:
