Preferred small bird camera settings

[Tobyh]

I've had a bit of a rearrange in my garden to allow me to take shots from my spare room window of birds visiting a feeding station. As this means that the shot is angled down it is naturally a bit darker pointing towards the bushes than the sky. What settings are you comfortable with to get the shot you want?

I've been using D50, Sigma 70-300 with a 1.4 TC. I'm shooting from the window sill with a beanbag for support. The station is around 20 feet away. At full zoom a bird such as a collared dove is full screen. I'm finding that at ISO400 at times I'm still having to go down to 1/80 sec shutter speed which, in my opinion, leaves my shots too soft as I guess im still moving ever so slightly. I'm wondering If i'm expecting too much with a slowish shutterspeed and a beanbag. I'm normally trying for shots around 4.30 - 5pm at moment the weather has been mainly cloudy which hasn't helped.

Also - is ISO400 as high as you would want to comfortably go? I see many in the Gallery are using the same and they seem to be ok noise wise.

Is there a light level (or ISO / SS) at which point I should just not attempt a shot unless its for recording purposes?

I appreciate theres alot of variables here but am open to suggestions or experiences

Thanks!

[matt_xyz]

I assume you're using the largest aperture of the lens? Presumably f5.6 or thereabouts?

I will sometimes use ISO 800, you can still get good shots particularly if you apply some noise reduction, but I wouldn't want to use it on all of my shots. I agree that images will often be soft when you drop below a shutter speed of 1/100 with a long lens, although it is possible to take sharp shots at 1/80 or 1/60 but you'll probably need a tripod (and a very still subject). If ISO 400 won't keep you above 1/100 at f5.6 then you have no choice but to either use ISO 800 or to give up until the sun comes out!

this one was taken in my garden in poor light using ISO 800 (and 1/160 at f5.6)



Matt

[DaiTheDragon]

Don't forget you don't have to jump fromm 400 to 800, there are ISO settings inbetween. So just turn your ISO settings button or dial until you get the desired shutter speed.

Dai

[matt_xyz]

Originally Posted by DaiTheDragon

Don't forget you don't have to jump fromm 400 to 800, there are ISO settings inbetween. So just turn your ISO settings button or dial until you get the desired shutter speed.

Dai

The Nikon D50 only has 4 ISO settings Dai, 200, 400, 800 and 1600. The same is true of the Canon 400D, although this has 100 as well. I think many of the entry level DSLRs are the same in this regard.

Matt

[glsammy]

My garden condition are very similar to yours so you have my sympathy.
I often have to use ISO 800, I've even used 1600 as an experiment and it wasn't too bad. That can vary of course between camera makes, so perhaps ISO 800 could be your acceptable limit.
Depending on the bird, the slow shutter shouldn't be too much of a problem, blackbirds for instance I can get a reasonable shot down to 1/60, as the bird is often pretty still. I never use a tripod, but I will use any support I can either my monopod or a shelf in my hide for instance.
Don't be afraid of using some negative exposure compensation as well to increase your shutter speed. I can use -1 to help raise the speed, and there's usually plenty of room to get the shot I want in software.

Here's a couple of low shutter and high iso shots:

This one 1/60sec ISO 800:



This one 1/100sec ISO 800:

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

The Nikon D50 only has 4 ISO settings Dai, 200, 400, 800 and 1600. The same is true of the Canon 400D, although this has 100 as well. I think many of the entry level DSLRs are the same in this regard.

Matt

even the 20D has pretty much the same - though it does have expansion settings for 50 or 3200 as well.

I think the settings between the standard points are only available on the high end pro cameras like the 1D series and the D2X

[Tobyh]

Thanks for the replies some good pics there.

Yes I am using F5.6 which is as wide as the lens will allow.

Dialling in some -EV I hadn't even thought about, thats a good idea. I guess i can compensate for that during processing anyway.

Thats given me a few ideas to start, many thanks.

Just need the weather to behave now

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Tobyh

Thanks for the replies some good pics there.

Yes I am using F5.6 which is as wide as the lens will allow.

Dialling in some -EV I hadn't even thought about, thats a good idea. I guess i can compensate for that during processing anyway.

Thats given me a few ideas to start, many thanks.

Just need the weather to behave now

I always shoot with some EV compensation! For normal shots I use -2/3 of a stop, mind you that may well be again a specific camera make quirk.

[Kev Lewis]

A good beanbag, properly used, will let you get away with ridiculously low shutter speeds even on the big lens. If I had too I wouldn't be afraid to shoot down to 1/4 or 1/2 second for the right image. You will find subject movement is more dominating at speeds less than say 1/60-1/100 sec.

If you can shoot in manual exposure mode as it sounds like the background will tend to be darker than the subject and will tend to give you a longer exposure than needed. Probably -1 stop from the metered value would be a good starting point. Iso 400 or 800 is ok but if you underexpose at these iso ratings and correct the exposure in software the noise will be more noticable.

[Blackdog]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

I assume you're using the largest aperture of the lens? Presumably f5.6 or thereabouts?

I will sometimes use ISO 800, you can still get good shots particularly if you apply some noise reduction, but I wouldn't want to use it on all of my shots. I agree that images will often be soft when you drop below a shutter speed of 1/100 with a long lens, although it is possible to take sharp shots at 1/80 or 1/60 but you'll probably need a tripod (and a very still subject). If ISO 400 won't keep you above 1/100 at f5.6 then you have no choice but to either use ISO 800 or to give up until the sun comes out!

this one was taken in my garden in poor light using ISO 800 (and 1/160 at f5.6)



Matt

Cracking shot Matt - you might have asked her to wipe her beak though