[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by JeffH

That's a really nice shot Roger.

For those interested in using high ISOs, Wildlife/Nature Pro John Devries (of 'Ophrys Photography') has an excellent article in the hints and tips section of his website -

Wildlife and nature photography hints an tips - working at high ISO

Jeff

an interesting article, luckily it confirms what I already do (and said above). But it's interesting that he tries to keep his shutter above 1/500 for small birds. Unless I'm shooting in full sun I think I would nearly always need ISO 1600 to get these sorts of shutterspeeds at this time of year.

The other top tip which he failed to mention was to use a 500mm f4 lens with a 1.4 converter. This gives you so much reach that the bird will be large in the frame and hence packed full of detail. If the bird is smaller in the frame it obviously needs cropping but I tend to find that images are far less 'croppable' when using a high ISO since the fine detail just isn't there.

Mat