BIF with 7Dmk2 and Sigma 150-600C struggled big time

I tried to get a blue heron in flight today using the 7Dmk2 case 1 Sigma 150-600C handheld OS on. AI servo with 8 point expansion
I was at 600mm ISO 1600 1/2000 f/6.3
I only got two keepers and that is questionable and heavy cropped. Every time I tried to get near to the bird it flew off lol Most all the other shots were blurry

Still, Very Nice.... takes quite awhile to get used to these big ol' lenses

Those look good, especially the first.

BIF at those focal lengths is very hard. I struggle with 500mm,.. 600mm is a lot harder.
I have tried to do it at 800mm in the past, and my results were pathetic. It just gets very hard, almost exponentially, as the FL increases.

I agree it was so hard to track the bird and then for the AF to keep up. I just could not get close to the Heron. It lives at the golf course so I can try again. I think the 5DsR with 100-400Mk2 IS and its crop ability may be the ticket.

gqllc007 wrote in post #17740298
I agree it was so hard to track the bird and then for the AF to keep up. I just could not get close to the Heron. It lives at the golf course so I can try again. I think the 5DsR with 100-400Mk2 IS and its crop ability may be the ticket.

The linear resolution of the 5DS is slightly less than that of the 7DII, so you will be giving up 200mm of optical reach by going with the 100-400, not to mention a slight loss in the resolution (pixels per bird) stakes. I have also just picked up the 150-600 C but to pair with my 50D. I did my first airshow with it last weekend, coming from using a rented 100-400 V1 and that extra 200mm is hard to use. I found the jets OK as I could bump the shutter to 1/1000 and with mode 2 OS I got some really great results. On the propellor driven aircraft though my usual 1/160 shutter speed was difficult. I was also using a shoulder pod to help steady the rig. I built it up from one of those 15mm rod systems that they sell of video, but in use it was very like a pod I used to have back in the 80's for my ME Super with a 400mm focal length (Vivitar 80-200 with 2× converter). I still need some practice with this setup, at the moment the success rate was still well under 50% when shooting the slow shutter at 600mm. There again I do not expect to have a hit rate much above 50% in those circumstances. At least digital lets me get lots of shots to pick from. No way would I have run through 79 rolls of 35mm film.

Alan

gqllc007 wrote in post #17740241
I tried to get a blue heron in flight today using the 7Dmk2 case 1 Sigma 150-600C handheld OS on. AI servo with 8 point expansion
I was at 600mm ISO 1600 1/2000 f/6.3
I only got two keepers and that is questionable and heavy cropped. Every time I tried to get near to the bird it flew off lol Most all the other shots were blurry

Hosted photo: posted by gqllc007 in
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forum: Canon Digital Cameras

Hosted photo: posted by gqllc007 in
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forum: Canon Digital Cameras

Curious, Were you set on Panning Mode OS on the Sigma? Also, What were the shutter speeds of the non sharp images?

gqllc007 wrote in post #17740298
I agree it was so hard to track the bird and then for the AF to keep up. I just could not get close to the Heron. It lives at the golf course so I can try again. I think the 5DsR with 100-400Mk2 IS and its crop ability may be the ticket.

That lens on the 7D2 would give about the same results. It's also a dream to shoot this combo.

Actually good point as I was on OS1 and custom OS which was dynamic OS and I think focus priority. Shutter speed was the same. The lens would only hunt focus and not lock on

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #17740293
Those look good, especially the first.

BIF at those focal lengths is very hard. I struggle with 500mm,.. 600mm is a lot harder.
I have tried to do it at 800mm in the past, and my results were pathetic. It just gets very hard, almost exponentially, as the FL increases.

That makes me feel a whole lot better. I do OK on stationary birds at 600mm but so far have this rookie has had zero success with anything moving including a fairly large and low flying helicopter.

So far I don't know how guys do it. Maybe I need more beer?

gqllc007 wrote in post #17742130
Actually good point as I was on OS1 and custom OS which was dynamic OS and I think focus priority. Shutter speed was the same. The lens would only hunt focus and not lock on

Heya,

Keep playing with the AF settings for the 7D2. The problem was not the 600mm, nor the lens. I can do BIF with a Rebel with a Tamron 150-600. Sure, there are techniques involved, but again, it's more about controlling how the AF works with the particular lens. Sure it's a ton easier with my 1D2's AF system. But my point is just that it's a lot more to do with how you setup the focus and how your technique is, versus worrying that something like a 7D2 and new 600mm lens behave for a slow lumbering large bird, which is way way capable of handling this and shouldn't struggle at all, so it's more just that the settings and all that were that would be the struggle. New systems are a struggle in general until you really get used to your camera anyways.

Herons are big and slow, so generally should be easy. This is why I suspect it's more just fine tuning and getting used to setting AF on the 7D2 and not a problem with the actual hardware or lens. Just play around some more with the different cases and the different OS settings for what you're doing (actually turn off OS for a while and stress the AF and camera a bit until you figure it out maybe).

Very best,

Long FLs are hard to control. Which is why I don't go over 400mm....I just can't hold it steady enough to get the sharpness. These two you posted are great. Especially the first one.

On the other hand, the birds down here must be more used to people or something because I can get very close to the big ones like cranes and herons. In fact, most all of them I've gotten as close as about ten feet and they just stand there and look at me. The hard part is waiting. Waiting for them to take off or do something at least kind of interesting.

I had these three knuckleheads show up at my front door. Every time I opened the door the front one would take another step closer. He probably would have come in had I let him. That would have made a great picture. But then I was thinking.....a giant four foot tall bird in my house.....how the heck do I get him out?

saea501 wrote in post #17743547
Long FLs are hard to control. Which is why I don't go over 400mm....I just can't hold it steady enough to get the sharpness. These two you posted are great. Especially the first one.

On the other hand, the birds down here must be more used to people or something because I can get very close to the big ones like cranes and herons. In fact, most all of them I've gotten as close as about ten feet and they just stand there and look at me. The hard part is waiting. Waiting for them to take off or do something at least kind of interesting.

I had these three knuckleheads show up at my front door. Every time I opened the door the front one would take another step closer. He probably would have come in had I let him. That would have made a great picture. But then I was thinking.....a giant four foot tall bird in my house.....how the heck do I get him out?

I lived in Florida for 10 years and still have a house on the West Coast. I miss that every day you walk out the door there is some amazing photo op. I have to struggle here to find anything. I started taking macro pics because at least there are bugs here in Albany NY

gqllc007 wrote in post #17743576
I lived in Florida for 10 years and still have a house on the West Coast. I miss that every day you walk out the door there is some amazing photo op. I have to struggle here to find anything. I started taking macro pics because at least there are bugs here in Albany NY

Plus you get SNOW! Ewwwwwww.........

I agree that it is probably just a learning curve with the 7D2 and the lens. I don't use my Sigma 50-500 much for BIF, but I have done a few. Here is one where I tracked a duck landing in the pond. As you know, ducks come in pretty hot when they land in water, but the 1D4 and Sigma worked well. I have also shot with a 7D (MKI) and this lens with the same results, and now recently with the 7D2. Just work through the settings and see what works best over time.

My biggest issue was the AI servo focus would not lock on the Heron in flight. It just hunted back and forth