shutter speed advice

denn · #1 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 10:28 PM

hi all, i finally had the opportunity to get out and use my new lens the bigma, ( my shoulder still hurts). i feel i did ok with it with some reasonable still shots, what i would like to ask is, i seemed to struggle freezing the flight shots, (please note i am a complete novice). i tended to use av. awb. 100-400 iso. the problem i think was, i did not get a fast enough shutter speed, how can i rectify this. many thanks
denn.

wildlifesnapper · #2 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 10:37 PM

Hi,

the only ways really are to go out on brighter days or crank up the ASA.

neil

Geoff F · #3 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 11:20 PM

For flying birds I prefer to use Tv with a shutter speed of at least 1/1000. You will have to increase the ISO (ASA) to suit. With most of the better quality modern cameras you can go to 800 without too many problems. Keep an eye on the aperture as well so as to have sufficient depth of field.

Does your camera have an auto focus setting for moving objects? Like AI Servo. I like using just the centre autofocus point but some people get on better by using all autofocus points.

glsammy · #4 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 11:34 PM

I don't change from AV mode, but I do watch what the shutter speed is.
Take this shot I took today.

I'm annoyed with myself for chopping off the end of the birds wing,

The settings were: AV mode, AIservo, Centre point focus. 1/1600sec shutter @ F8.0 ISO 640.

Ollie · #5 (**permalink**) 19-03-2008, 11:56 PM

Like Graham I stick to AV mode for in flight shots and A1 servo.

One other thing you can do as well as upping the ISO is to dial in a bit of - exposure compensation, say 2/3rds of a stop. This will up the shutter speed a bit although it will add a little more noise to the image but it is manageable especialy if you use Neat Image.

Otherwise try on a brighter day.
Roger

denn · #6 (**permalink**) 20-03-2008, 10:03 PM

hi all,thanks a lot for the advice, i will try out this weekend, light conditions permitting,

I'm sure i will get there, it is just a case of listening to advice , and practicing, i love my bird watching, i just didn't realize how much more exiting it would be with a decent camera and lens in hand, amazing.

thanks again.
denn.