New thoughts about shooting wildlife for newbies..

[Just Be]

I'm sure all of you more experienced shooters new this, but I didn't realize how much a sharp distance subject can be saved/cropped in Photoshop.

I use a 70-300 IS lens and I'm really happy with it.

Of course it's not as fast for moving animals. Zooming all the way in @300 is nice for filling the frame, but then I'm shooting at a high f stop with a slower shutter speed creating blur. IS is great for camera shake but not for subject movement.

I was able to crop and sharpen images better when I shot at 200mm then Photoshop with fantastic results because I started with a sharper image due to faster shutter speed and lack of subject motion.

From now on I'm going to back off on my shots a little to keep the shutter speed high enough to prevent blur and crop in Photoshop later.

[gasrocks]

Yes, higher shutter speeds will stop more action, stop you from shaking the lens (even with IS helping.) Try running up the ISO speeds as well. Unless your lens is soft at 300, it would be better to shoot at the longest mm you have than to use 200 and crop.

[dbdors]

Why not get you a good tripod and use the full 300 mm.

[lungdoc]

The spectrum of wildlife is so varied as to make the term nearly meaningless as a category. Vast difference depending on the types and sizes of animals involved, their locations (Safari? urban/backyard? etc) and their familiarity with and experience with humans - those in a park may allow you vastly closer than those in a hunting zone. If you get a bit more specific you'll get a lot better advice.

Don't be afraid to go to higher ISO's. The 300mm at 5.6 isn't all that slow and does have IS - I'd think you could handhold at 300mm with IS easily at 1/125 and maybe at 1/60. Slower than 1/60 your subjects are likely moving anyway. For birds many use a flash with a flash extender if it's darker.

Hate to break it to you but for really wild wildlife or birds most would consider 300mm pretty short and use substantially longer lenses often with extenders as well. It doesn't strike me as a cheap segment of photography!

[Familiaphoto]

Another vote for high ISO's. This will allow you to keep your apeture smaller which will allow the 70-300 to really shine at 300mm. This lens is capable of incredible photos throughout its range.

[Just Be]

Thanks everyone. I'll try the higher ISO's.