TC test and Black-Capped Chickadee

So, I picked up a 1.4x teleconverter to go with the rest of the gear and am taking some test shots.

This little guy stopped by to enjoy the spoils of the feeder and let me take his picture. I have noticed that I am having problems getting all the bird in focus and i do know that the DOF is very narrow especially at close range and this one was probably around 14 feet putting the DOF according to the calculator at .48 inches.

I was shooting at f10.0, but I wonder if I should be shooting more stopped down? What do most of you use when your this close??

IMAGE LINK: http://smg.photobucket​.com …lackCapChickade​e.jpg.html

I think you did quite well; details are crisp and exposure is good. Chickadees do not sit still for very long, so shutter speed is a top priority.
Your challenge may be the combination of focal length and focus distance. If your calculation is correct, 0.48" does not give a lot of room. If the bird is not parallel to your camera, you will get some out of focus. What lens did you use?

Well done, I leave mine set at f/8 and make do. Just make sure you get the eyes in focus and all will be good with the shot.

Great result with that new lens and extender, John. I'm like John above, as long as the eye closest is in focus, I'm relatively happy, unless the out of focus part is really extreme.

JGunn wrote in post #16364318
I think you did quite well; details are crisp and exposure is good. Chickadees do not sit still for very long, so shutter speed is a top priority.
Your challenge may be the combination of focal length and focus distance. If your calculation is correct, 0.48" does not give a lot of room. If the bird is not parallel to your camera, you will get some out of focus. What lens did you use?

This is the 500mm f4.0 Mk1 with a 1.4x MKIII teleconverter.

2n10 wrote in post #16364329
Well done, I leave mine set at f/8 and make do. Just make sure you get the eyes in focus and all will be good with the shot.

Wallace River wrote in post #16364896
Great result with that new lens and extender, John. I'm like John above, as long as the eye closest is in focus, I'm relatively happy, unless the out of focus part is really extreme.

Thanks guys.

Went back and looked at the grid using image browser, the focal point was actually the center point, mid body.

I was worried that I might have some front focus issues as I noticed that the branch was more in focus in front of the bird and that the head was slightly softer than the body.

Operator error ... back to more practice!!! LOL

tks for the advice

Looks good John. You seem to be enjoying that new 500!

Looks very good to me.
T.