shot today

100%crop with my 55/250 bird was maybe about 50' away. Im thinking the ISO was set too high

Could you post the EXIF info here? I just want to know what settings were used to capture this?

ISO 400 ain't that high.

It's the crop. A 100% crop on a rebel body through the 55-250 isn't gonna look good, even if it was ISO 100, to get a nice crisp image, you're gonna have to just get closer so you don't have to crop.

You should move closer if your focus point is bigger than the bird

What have you done besides cropping?

A little noise reduction, and a little sharpening help I think.

To my eye, thats pretty impressive for a crop from the long end.

SkyBaby wrote in post #14184846
To my eye, thats pretty impressive for a crop from the long end.

I was thinking that too... good focus also.

---- ExifTool ----
ExifTool Version Number : 8.85
---- System ----
File Name : starling.jpg
Directory : C:/Users/JP/Desktop
File Size : 219 kB
File Modification Date/Time : 2012:03:30 18:58:13-04:00
File Permissions : rw-rw-rw-
---- File ----
File Type : JPEG
MIME Type : image/jpeg
Exif Byte Order : Little-endian (Intel, II)
Current IPTC Digest : cbf54d7e66beb074f89b44​39a13d738a
Image Width : 873
Image Height : 655
Encoding Process : Baseline DCT, Huffman coding
Bits Per Sample : 8
Color Components : 3
Y Cb Cr Sub Sampling : YCbCr4:4:4 (1 1)
---- IFD0 ----
Make : Canon
Camera Model Name : Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Orientation : Horizontal (normal)
X Resolution : 240
Y Resolution : 240
Resolution Unit : inches
Software : Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
Modify Date : 2012:03:30 18:58:06
Artist : unknown
---- ExifIFD ----
Exposure Time : 1/1600
F Number : 8.0
Exposure Program : Aperture-priority AE
ISO : 400
Exif Version : 0221
Date/Time Original : 2012:03:30 09:05:54
Create Date : 2012:03:30 09:05:54
Shutter Speed Value : 1/1600
Aperture Value : 8.0
Exposure Compensation : 0
Max Aperture Value : 1.8
Metering Mode : Multi-segment
Flash : Off, Did not fire
Focal Length : 250.0 mm
Color Space : Uncalibrated
Exif Image Width : 873
Exif Image Height : 655
Focal Plane X Resolution : 3954.23341
Focal Plane Y Resolution : 3958.762887
Focal Plane Resolution Unit : inches
Custom Rendered : Normal
Exposure Mode : Auto
White Balance : Manual
Scene Capture Type : Standard
---- IFD1 ----
Compression : JPEG (old-style)
X Resolution : 72
Y Resolution : 72
Resolution Unit : inches
Thumbnail Offset : 754
Thumbnail Length : 5010
---- IPTC ----
Coded Character Set : UTF8
Application Record Version : 9856
By-line : unknown
Date Created : 2012:03:30
Time Created : 09:05:54
---- Photoshop ----
IPTC Digest : cbf54d7e66beb074f89b44​39a13d738a
Photoshop 0x043a : ...printOutput.ClrSenu​mClrSRG[...]
Photoshop 0x043b : ...printOutputOptions.​CptnboolCl[...]
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Pixel Aspect Ratio : .?ð
IDs Base Value : .
Photoshop Thumbnail : (Binary data 5010 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Version Info : ...Adobe Photoshop.Adobe Photoshop CS5.
Photoshop Quality : 10
Photoshop Format : Standard
Progressive Scans : 3 Scans
---- XMP-x ----
XMP Toolkit : Adobe XMP Core 5.0-c060 61.134777, 2010/02/12-17:32:00
---- XMP-xmp ----
Modify Date : 2012:03:30 18:58:06-04:00
Create Date : 2012:03:30 09:05:54-04:00
Rating : 0
Metadata Date : 2012:03:30 18:58:06-04:00
---- XMP-dc ----
Format : image/jpeg
Creator : unknown
---- XMP-aux ----
Serial Number : 1720740773
Lens Info : 55-250mm f/?
Lens : 55.0-250.0 mm
Lens ID : 65535
Image Number : 120
Flash Compensation : 0
Owner Name : unknown
Firmware : 1.0.3
---- XMP-crs ----
Raw File Name : IMG_0120.CR2
Version : 6.0
Process Version : 5.7
White Balance : As Shot
Color Temperature : 6850
Tint : +6
Exposure : 0.00
Shadows : 5
Brightness : +50
Contrast : +25
Saturation : 0
Sharpness : 25
Luminance Smoothing : 0
Color Noise Reduction : 25
Chromatic Aberration R : 0
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Split Toning Shadow Hue : 0
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Split Toning Highlight Saturation: 0
Split Toning Balance : 0
Parametric Shadows : 0
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Parametric Shadow Split : 25
Parametric Midtone Split : 50
Parametric Highlight Split : 75
Sharpen Radius : +1.0
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Sharpen Edge Masking : 0
Post Crop Vignette Amount : 0
Grain Amount : 0
Color Noise Reduction Detail : 50
Convert To Grayscale : False
Tone Curve Name : Medium Contrast
Camera Profile : Adobe Standard
Camera Profile Digest : 076EB93F90F85BD4B92966​55584B5D05
Has Settings : True
Crop Top : 0.38501
Crop Left : 0.444824
Crop Bottom : 0.544922
Crop Right : 0.586968
Crop Angle : 0
Crop Width : 3
Crop Height : 4
Crop Unit : Unknown (3)
Has Crop : True
Already Applied : True
Tone Curve : 0, 0, 32, 22, 64, 56, 128, 128, 192, 196, 255, 255
---- XMP-photoshop ----
Sidecar For Extension : CR2
Color Mode : RGB
ICC Profile Name : Adobe RGB (1998)
Date Created : 2012:03:30 09:05:54
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Instance ID : xmp.iid:77EE14D0BB7AE1​11B0FCB4D63A2C7A41
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History When : 2012:03:30 18:58:06-04:00, 2012:03:30 18:58:06-04:00
History Software Agent : Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
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History Parameters : from image/tiff to image/jpeg, converted from image/tiff to image/jpeg
Derived From Instance ID : xmp.iid:76EE14D0BB7AE1​11B0FCB4D63A2C7A41
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Profile CMM Type : ADBE
Profile Version : 2.1.0
Profile Class : Display Device Profile
Color Space Data : RGB
Profile Connection Space : XYZ
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Profile File Signature : acsp
Primary Platform : Apple Computer Inc.
CMM Flags : Not Embedded, Independent
Device Manufacturer : none
Device Model :
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Rendering Intent : Perceptual
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Profile Creator : ADBE
Profile ID : 0
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Profile Copyright : Copyright 1999 Adobe Systems Incorporated
Profile Description : Adobe RGB (1998)
Media White Point : 0.95045 1 1.08905
Media Black Point : 0 0 0
Red Tone Reproduction Curve : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
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Blue Tone Reproduction Curve : (Binary data 14 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Red Matrix Column : 0.60974 0.31111 0.01947
Green Matrix Column : 0.20528 0.62567 0.06087
Blue Matrix Column : 0.14919 0.06322 0.74457
---- Adobe ----
DCT Encode Version : 100
APP14 Flags 0 : [14]
APP14 Flags 1 : (none)
Color Transform : YCbCr
---- Composite ----
Aperture : 8.0
Date/Time Created : 2012:03:30 09:05:54
Image Size : 873x655
Scale Factor To 35 mm Equivalent: 6.2
Shutter Speed : 1/1600
Thumbnail Image : (Binary data 5010 bytes, use -b option to extract)
Circle Of Confusion : 0.005 mm
Field Of View : 1.3 deg
Focal Length : 250.0 mm (35 mm equivalent: 1543.5 mm)
Hyperfocal Distance : 1605.37 m
Lens ID : Unknown (65535) 55-250mm
Light Value : 14.6

torkk wrote in post #14187637
---- ExifIFD ----
Exposure Time : 1/1600
F Number : 8.0
Exposure Program : Aperture-priority AE
ISO : 400
Exif Version : 0221
Date/Time Original : 2012:03:30 09:05:54
Create Date : 2012:03:30 09:05:54
Shutter Speed Value : 1/1600
Aperture Value : 8.0
Exposure Compensation : 0
Max Aperture Value : 1.8

That's a whoooole lot of Exif info. If this is the 55-250 why does it say Max Aperture Value: 1.8?

dunno what should it be

I would have assumed f/5.6, or at least f/4.0

Yeah if it was the 55-250 it couldn't be 1.8.

EDIT: Seems like some sort of bug in recording the EXIF data correctly.

Make : Canon
Camera Model Name : Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XT
Orientation : Horizontal (normal)
X Resolution : 72
Y Resolution : 72
Resolution Unit : inches
Software : Adobe Photoshop CS5 Windows
Modify Date : 2012:04:01 15:41:32
Artist : unknown
---- ExifIFD ----
Exposure Time : 1/400
F Number : 7.1
Exposure Program : Aperture-priority AE
ISO : 200
Exif Version : 0221
Date/Time Original : 2012:04:01 13:03:03
Create Date : 2012:04:01 13:03:03
Shutter Speed Value : 1/400
Aperture Value : 7.1
Exposure Compensation : 0
Metering Mode : Multi-segment
Flash : Off, Did not fire
Focal Length : 250.0 mm
Color Space : Uncalibrated
Exif Image Width : 1843
Exif Image Height : 1229
Focal Plane X Resolution : 3954.23341
Focal Plane Y Resolution : 3958.762887
Focal Plane Resolution Unit : inches
Custom Rendered : Normal
Exposure Mode : Auto
White Balance : Manual
Scene Capture Type : Standard

HTTP response: 400 | MIME changed to 'text/html'

I would expect the problem is not with the exif but rather the exif tool software.

Although my exif viewer is reporting the same max f-stop. It just doesn't report as much information.