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We've got a pair of nesting Bluebirds in the yard and their 3rd clutch is about ready to leave the box and the parents are on constant food delivery, which makes for a great opportunity to shoot - and test the R5II's pre-shot capture as they pause on a nearby tree before diving for the box.
Long post-short, I'm shooting with my 200-800mm at 800mm, wide open. As expected I'm getting great shot as they pose on the branches, and now with the 1/2 second of pre-capture I'm finally getting them leave the branch on the way to the nest. My first shots show that I'm way too slow on the shutter speed so I ramp it up to 1/3200s, then 1/4000, and higher. This shot is from the 1/3200s shots but the results ramping up are the same - the bird off the branch is not sharp.
You can see the branch is still in focus, so the question is am I shooting too slowly (remember, I got up to 1/5000s) or is the lens just not maintaining focus?
That's an open question for you all, but I'm thinking it's the latter, which has me asking a new question - at least to myself. When reading lens reviews I hear things about it being fast or slow focusing, and I've always taken that as the time it takes to obtain focus. But now I'm thinking it also speaks to the speed with which it maintains focus on a moving subject. And with that in mind, I'm starting to wonder if my great new camera body is too much for my current lens(es) (the 200-800mm and 100-500mm)?! If so, am I going to need a "faster" prime to get this?
I'll be testing this again today with the 100-500mm as well, hoping the sun is out so I can ramp up the shutter speeds. But if you have some insight it would be appreciated.
Long post-short, I'm shooting with my 200-800mm at 800mm, wide open. As expected I'm getting great shot as they pose on the branches, and now with the 1/2 second of pre-capture I'm finally getting them leave the branch on the way to the nest. My first shots show that I'm way too slow on the shutter speed so I ramp it up to 1/3200s, then 1/4000, and higher. This shot is from the 1/3200s shots but the results ramping up are the same - the bird off the branch is not sharp.
You can see the branch is still in focus, so the question is am I shooting too slowly (remember, I got up to 1/5000s) or is the lens just not maintaining focus?
That's an open question for you all, but I'm thinking it's the latter, which has me asking a new question - at least to myself. When reading lens reviews I hear things about it being fast or slow focusing, and I've always taken that as the time it takes to obtain focus. But now I'm thinking it also speaks to the speed with which it maintains focus on a moving subject. And with that in mind, I'm starting to wonder if my great new camera body is too much for my current lens(es) (the 200-800mm and 100-500mm)?! If so, am I going to need a "faster" prime to get this?
I'll be testing this again today with the 100-500mm as well, hoping the sun is out so I can ramp up the shutter speeds. But if you have some insight it would be appreciated.