First posted birds with new to me 1Dmk4

I'm not saying your wrong, I just can't understand how at 1/8000 my body movement could make a difference. I'm not arguing just trying to learn

I had a focus issue that drove me crazy on my 40D. I was still knew to photography and kept blaming myself for the poor image quality I was getting. I finally broke down and sent it in to Canon for servicing and I can't remember what they did but it was a night and day difference in image quality after I got it back from them.

I would think 1/8000" shutter speed is enough to freeze any slight movement even on a small bird. Have you tried photographing a still subject? Like a stuffed animal or a soda can....if you get sharp images photographing those it's something you're doing.

Gary Wiant wrote in post #17432701
I'm not saying your wrong, I just can't understand how at 1/8000 my body movement could make a difference. I'm not arguing just trying to learn

Hitting the focus just right for one. The 1D focus is the best, but sometimes it might hit a spot just shy of what you think you're hitting. Very subtle movements by yourself and/or your subject can move the focus point making you think you have a soft shot.

I just took some macro shots of flowers once I get them done I'll post them. Do you think these are way OOF? I think they are pretty close but maybe it's just me not realizing how good these photos could be. Does anyone know what Canon charges for checking / fixing focus issues?

Thanks for the help

They are soft. I keep looking at the Chickadee shot and although it's cropped a lot the head looks like movement made it out of focus. Also, not sure what focus points you use but it's definitely out of the zone if you were using center point.

Do not rely on post processing to make your images sharp...they should be sharp from the camera.

Duane N wrote in post #17432441
The best way to test to see if it's you or the camera/lens not producing sharp images is to photograph a static subject using a tripod. There are many factors that come into play that will cause soft images. A moving subject, slow shutter speed, shooting from a running car, shooting from an idle car but the heat is coming out of the window, shooting through glass, handholding without enough shutter speed, the amount the image is cropped...etc.

Small birds are the most difficult to photograph in my opinion because they're constantly moving around.

I'm curious to know what your camera settings were with these images and the amount of cropping that was done.

I disagree with only one of Duane's points. Small birds are hard to photography mostly because they are small and then because they tend to be more active. All of of his other points are dead on!

Your redos are over sharpened in my opinion.

Ted

Yes that one was center point focus what saved me was the branch is what the camera picked up.

Thanks

I wish I could be of more help because I went down this road with my 40D and I kept questioning myself and I tried everything I knew at the time being new to wildlife photography. I kept saying there's no way it's the camera/lens...they're brand new but ultimately it ended up being the camera...maybe it got dropped during shipping but something happened.

I'm still going to suggest photographing some static subjects...I had originally suggested a stuffed animal or a soda can but maybe something flat like a page from a book where depth of field doesn't come into play or a side shot of something flat...piece of wood with some grain maybe?

Either way...I hope you can figure it out soon.


EDIT: What is your tracking sensitivity set to on your Mark IV? I have both my Mark IV's set to track slow...I find it helps me because even though I use a tripod 90% of the time I sometimes have a hard time keeping the focus point directly on the subject and when my subject passes behind something the camera will stay focused on the subject.

LynneVictor wrote in post #17433083
That could be very true

I have it set to 1 step above the slowest.

I'll get a photo taken and posted soon. I looked at the macro flowers I took today but being they are macro the DOF is pretty thin

That looks sharp enough to me. Did you happen to take one using the extender on the lens?

No but I will tonight after work

Your 2nd image is better than your first, but neither is as tack sharp as the camera/lens/extender combo is capable of producing.
I like the advice others have given you Gary, but I would like to take you back to basics if I could. Most here would agree that crisp focus on the eye of the bird is critical to good bird photographs. Therefore, your AF focus point should be aimed directly at the eye.
I also would agree that smaller birds are tough subjects, but would add in part because you have to be so close to get the best results. Maybe you can share the camera to subject distance with us too; and if it's more than 10-15 feet may help explain the softer results.
I have a fair amount of experience with Lensalign, but solely with prime lenses. It also takes a little while to get used to what you're seeing once you're in the process of using the product which can easily lend itself to confusion and less than accurate results. I'd be curious to know your process with the zoom and/or extender in attempting to MA your body to the lens/extender combinations. You are the 2nd person I've seen today "fishing" with Lensalign for the proper settings.
With the wealth of knowledge on this board and your patient understanding I have no doubt we can help!

I don't know if this helps at this point, but I shot this one today, at 1/1000th, thinking it was spot on.

Steve -Thanks for the reply, I'm not positive of the AF point being exactly on the eye on all of my shorts, I know the vertical shot above it wasn't for sure but I would tell you that typically I would be aiming at center mass of the bird thinking that the DOF would be enough to keep the entire bird in focus. I actually have to revisit the location I took these tomorrow so I'll take my camera again and try to concentrate on keeping the AF point on the eye. I'm not sure how to find the camera to subject distance in the EXIF. I thought that it was in there but I cannot find it on Flickr. The actual image is on my laptop at home. I can check it there if it would be on the original prior to being cropped. Can I check EXIF on a RAW prior to it being imported into lightroom?

I coupled LensAlign & FocusTune 3, so I did not have to "pick" my best image it is all automatically selected. I'm sure as you know with the 1D4 you can only select 1 MA per lens, so I performed LensAlign at maximum Zoom.

Thanks again for the help, any additional information is appreciated.