Birds in Flight - On A Fixed 1D MKIII Part 2

[John Harper]

Hi There

Those of you that follow my posts will probably know i have recently purchased a sub mirror repaired EOS1D MKIII. I had held off the purchase of this because of all the issues that some cameras were having with focus problems.... but shooting birds in flight in the winter in the UK requires high ISO speeds and i wanted to make use of the better performance compared to my MKIIN

So I have posted in a previous thread some shots taken a couple of weeks ago in bright sunlight, as this seems to be the sort of conditions the camera has been reported as having the most problems with; yesterday its was also a nice sunny day so i thought i would give it another run out.

I was once again pleasantly surprised to find that the camera performed very well against a variety of fast moving birds both with and without the 1.4 TC on my 500mm F4

My take on the focus is this..... if Canon issue another recall and say they can get it even better, thats great, but if its stays as it is at the moment.... i personally would be very happy with its performance right now

John

Comments & Critques welcome

Shot 1 Lanner Falcon - Quick Turn

EOS1DMKIII
EF 500 F4 + 1.4TC
ISO 500
1/2500 @ F5.6

Shot 2 Red Backed Hawk


EOS1DMKIII
EF 500 F4
ISO 1000
1/2000 @ F4

Shot 3 Red Kite

EOS1DMKIII
EF 500 F4
ISO1250
1/2000 @ F4

 

[nicolas claris]

Hi John

these images are just beautiful!
I do particularly like the last one… could you post a 100% crop of the head so we can see the real IQ?

Thank in advance, and congrats from another 500 shooter! do you still shoot handheld?

 

[Don Cohen]

These are really nice, John. Glad the MkIII is working out for you.

After the equivocal response Galbraith had to the initial submirror fix and firmward upgrade, I was still reluctant to put out the money, and with his most recent announcement, I'll continue to wait and see what comes of that.

Like Nicolas, the 3rd shot really catches my eye, probably in large measure because the light just makes the bird glow! They look sharp, and a little more selective USM to the eyes and beak would be worthwhile.

 

[Asher Kelman]

Audubon must be trying to bribe the angels to come back right now and paint your shots.

Asher

 

[John Harper]

Hi John

these images are just beautiful!
I do particularly like the last one… could you post a 100% crop of the head so we can see the real IQ?

Thank in advance, and congrats from another 500 shooter! do you still shoot handheld?

Hi Nicolas

Thanks for the taking the time to have a look and for your comments, I post below a 100% crop of the Kite shot. Even with the 500mm on he was a fair way up in altitude so is was far from full frame. I have a couple of other shots when he was a little lower and i will post those to give you an idea as well.

90% of my shots with the 500mm are handheld, with the falcons and smaller birds they move so quickly in height and direction that even on a monopod they are just too quick to keep up with a ball head or a gimbal mount.

John

 

[James Newman]

They are all simply stunning, especially considering you are handholding in these shots. I try shots of big, relatively lumbering herons and egrets and the results I get are simply abysmal. I am in awe of your talents and abilities. That last shot reminds me of the last vision a rabbit might have.
James Newman

 

[janet Smith]

Stunning!!

Hi John

More wonderful bird shots, superb, I love the Red Kite, almost every time we drive passed Harewood House near Harrogate we see red kites, never managed to see one this close up though, just beautiful, thank you for showing us these.

 

[John Harper]

They are all simply stunning, especially considering you are handholding in these shots. I try shots of big, relatively lumbering herons and egrets and the results I get are simply abysmal. I am in awe of your talents and abilities. That last shot reminds me of the last vision a rabbit might have.
James Newman

Hi James

Glad you like the shots, a lot of it is luck as to where the birds fly relative to the light positon, and also i shoot a lot of frames... so law of averages plays a part as well

I have tended to find that i will process about 1 out of 10 of the RAW images i shoot, there may be more in focus, but I am looking for the turn of head, or eye contact so will generally only pick one frame out of maybe 3 or 4 in focus in a sequence. The other major helping factor is practice, and more practice. I have been to the Hawk Conservancy trust maybe 30 or so times since last April. I joined up for their membership scheme (only just over £40 for the whole year) so it costs no extra to go every day if i wanted too.

Over that time my pictures have improved, but so has my gear as well. Using 1 series bodies helps a lot because of their speed of focusing.

I am not saying you can't get shots with 20 30 40 D series cameras it just their focus is that little bit slower and lessens your chances that bit more.

But practice is the key

John

 

[John Harper]

Another Shot of the Red Kite

Nicolas

Another shot of the Red Kite as promised together with 100% crop

John

 

[nicolas claris]

Thanks John
Beautiful!
Though the latter looks a bit grainy…

With your permission, my take of some other kind of wings… shot with 1Ds3 and the 500 of course!