Problem with 100-400 lens

[JAB1]

I need some advice...what is the best way to stop a hummingbirds wings? I am using the 10D with 100-400 lens and 1.4 telextender....ISO 400, 1/1500 sec in Tv mode....pics are way too dark...tell me how to do it...thanks...Allan

[Longwatcher]

without buying a prime lens, if you can remove the 1.4x extender, that will help by a f-stop. also, just to make sure maybe go to manual and open the lens to max aperture (lowest number). Lastly I would hope you are shooting in RAW format, that by itself could give you a couple of f-stops equivilants in photoshop.

If all that doesn't work. either get a prime 400/f2.8L or give up.

I would suggest higher ISO, but the quality goes downhill fast from where you are at already.

Just my opinion.

[PaulB]

You would be better using a flash like the 550EX with highspeed sync. set at 1/1000th. second or thereabouts; or set on manual at reduced power to up the flash speed.
A hummingbird can have a wingbeat (complete up and down stroke) of 50 to 80 beats a second.
I have seen mention of high speed strobe units of 3000Hz needed to stop a hummingbird wing so even the 550EX might struggle.

[ssim]

I had only had my 10D for a few days when I decided to try and take the hummingbirds at a friends place. At the time I only had a 100-300 but I did have the remote release.

I set the camera on tripod which was about 5 or 6 feet from the feeder. I just let it sit there for an hour or so until they got used to it. I tried shooting in just available light but they were just to fast and they were too blurred for my liking. I added some fill flash (550ex) and was not overpleased but they were acceptable.

I think that the fill flash is the way to go unless you have great natural lighting that lets you get the high shutter speed. I've never been a big fan of tele-extenders and would rather buy the right glass upfront.

Here is my first attempt at the hummingbird

http://www.pbase.com/image/18265618.jpg

I'm still not overly joyed with this but will have to do until I get another shot at them.

If your shots are too dark go to manual mode to get the corrected exposure.

[fredlord]

The only way to reliably stop a hummingbird's wings is to use highspeed electronic flash. Even at 1/4000 second in available light you will find blurring much of the time. You must light everything including the background with the flashes or the background will be dark. I cannot light the background so I use a flash fill composed of an on camera flash and a slave flash off to the side. I also use the 100-400 with the 1.4x TC. Since this won't allow autofocus with my D60, I have to find the birds while they are relatively still. I have samples of my previous hummingbird images here:

http://www.photo.net/photodb/folder?folder_id=219402

Some of the earlier ones were shot using only available light with my old 75-300 nonIS lens.

They're enormously entertaining little birds and I wish you good luck with them.

Fred Lord

[SoCal69]

They are difficult to capture, but not entirely impossible! The following was shot at 300mm f/4.5 1/1000 sec handheld, without flash and through a double-paned window at about 10-15 feet. The wings are a little blurred, but not too bad given the circumstances.

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=916075&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1

[pwagner]

I have the 100-400 also. I was wondering about the 1.4x tele extender. A couple questions for you (or anyone else who knows):
(1) Are the Canon 1.4x and the Canon 1.4x II basically the same except for weatherproofing? (I heard that the 2x and 2x II are optically different, but not so with the 1.4x verses the 1.4x II.)
(2) Have you been able to autofocus by putting tape over the 3 aperature contacts?
(3) With the tape trick of (2) do you get proper exposure or do you then have to operate in manual shutter and manual aperature mode?

[pwagner]

Here are my two favorite hummingbirds....

http://homepage.mac.com/pwagner650/Hummer/OnBranch2.jpg


Here's the SAME BIRD defending his territory from an intruding male. I call it "bad feather day": http://homepage.mac.com/pwagner650/Hummer/BadFeatherDay.jpg

These were taken with the 100-400 L IS USM @ 400mm handheld.

[JAB1]

This is excellent work....thanks for the encouragement....looks like my lens is a good one....maybe not a prime...but not bad....thanks for the tips...AB

[fredlord]

Hello again:

In my earlier post I stated that to stop the wings totally you would need electronic flash. This is still true. It's also true, however, that you can make wonderful images without strobes. I personally think the 100-400 lens is ideal for hummingbirds because of its flexible focal length capabilities. They move so fast that a fixed length lens would be a handicap in my opinion. I'm sure that those who do this for a living might disagree but I wouldn't want to try and capture them with a prime. The fact that the 100-400 focuses down to only 6 feet is also a very nice feature.

As I wrote before, they are lots of fun no matter what you shoot with.

Enjoy,
Fred Lord