Hummingbirds; round 3 (different camera)

[Crimzon]

So I figured I would give my wife's camera a try. It's a Power Shot A650 IS.

A bit of a nicer day partially cloudy with a bit of sun.


#1 Spd-1/400 Ap-4.8 focal length-44mm ISO-100
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3322/3513855795_d3919a176b_b.jpg

#2 spd-1/500 Ap-4.5 ISO-100 FL-37mm
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3664/3514662476_c400cbb8c0_b.jpg

#3 Spd-1/250 Ap-5 FL-29mm ISO-80
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3514660452_965d028f01_b.jpg


So things are coming out much clearer. I tried replicating the exact settings and I get completly different results. But the only thing I can't replicate is the focal length. Is that what is making a difference? Is it basically the lens?

[tonydee]

Yes... your dSLR has a 1.6x crop factor, so the 18-55mm lens works like a 29-88mm lens on a 35mm full-frame camera - a useful reference point as the PowerShot A650's focal lengths are specified in these terms as 35-210mm ( http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Canon/canon_a650is.asp ).

210mm/88mm is about 2.4x: a shot with her camera fully zoomed in can get 2.4 times more pixels in each of the horizontal and vertical directions compared to your lens at 55mm: in total, 5.7x the pixels covering the subject. Makes a big difference! That's why bird photographers tend to use some of the longest focal length lenses - which are unfortunately the heaviest, bulkiest, and most expensive - but, assuming a small subject, a 600mm lens gets nine pixels of subject for every one captured by a 200mm.

These shots don't involve motion blur, so they've come out very well. Once you've got the hang of your dSLR though, and especially if you get a longer focal length lens, you'll leapfrog these results. Even the very inexpensive Sigma 70-300mm would do so convincingly. And - for better or worse - a dSLR at wide aperture will blur the background (and if you're not careful the bird) due to the much shallower depth of field.

If you eventually get your hands on a telephoto with a wide aperture - like f/2.8s - it will be easier to get both good magnification and fast shutter speed, allowing you to capture the bird in motion without too many compromises. But as you've seen before, more lighting is a valid alternative to a wider aperture - and much cheaper!

Cheers, Tony

[Crimzon]

Ok great. that explains things quite well :)

Yes lighting is good ;)

I think I exhausted this subject for the time being. Time to take other some other shots now :D