New 100-400V2 question

I have the new 100-400 and was taking some images over the weekend with my 1DMKIV. I took some nice sharp closeups of small songbirds then noticed a hawk sitting on some bird nest boxes maybe 50 yards away. I must have taken maybe 20 or 30 shots of it sitting static on the boxes, and not one single image came out sharp. I shot at 7.1 at 1/800 shutter speed.
Not quite sure why none are sharp, anyone venture a guess why ?

Did you have your AF limiter switch set for closeups? Or maybe the AF didn't move to the distance and set before you clicked the shutter?

And if it was sitting static why shoot at 1/800?

It can be a wrong AF setting. With far static objects, I usually switch to center-only, and disable tracking (or do not recompose).
But there is also a chance your lens is out of calibration.

You should post a sample picture with full EXIF data.

I'll post an image, If I can, but why shoot at 1/800? Why not, isn't it fast enough to get a clear image? That and the aperture of 7.1 and an ISO of 400, gave me about 1 stop over.

Bsmooth wrote in post #18190806
I'll post an image, If I can, but why shoot at 1/800? Why not, isn't it fast enough to get a clear image? That and the aperture of 7.1 and an ISO of 400, gave me about 1 stop over.

First of all, how were the atmospheric conditions? 50 yards at 400mm is enough to mess up photos if the air currents are bad. However, I'm guessing it wasn't that.

I do get sharp images at your settings, but I don't have a 1DIV. Can you take shots of other stuff at 50 yards? If everything is soft, the first thing I would try is MFA the lens. You can also try IS mode 3 rather than mode 1. If none of that helps, I hope other folks have more ideas.

Ok here is the cropped and uncropped images

Looks pretty damned sharp to me.

I wouldn't be unhappy with these.

It looks good for 50 yards away. It is sharp, but it's a little "soft" in my opinion. I used Lightroom and added a little contrast and clarity to your photo to take away the softness. I'd be very happy with this shot!

So maybe a bit faster shutter speed might help then ?

I doubt it. A bipod might have helped.

Bsmooth wrote in post #18191045
So maybe a bit faster shutter speed might help then ?

I don't need 1/800 to get sharp shots of static subjects with that lens. YMMV.

How many AF points were active?

Looks fairly good, although feather detail could be better. Perhaps it is back focusing a bit, since the wood slat under the bird seems to be sharper? An MFA exercise may be beneficial.

Bsmooth wrote in post #18191045
So maybe a bit faster shutter speed might help then ?

I don't think so. 1/800 is pretty safe with the IS in the 100-400 II. If I add the 1.4x III, I go to 1/1250. In the case of your hawk, I think the lighting was such that the photo looked a little flat or soft given the distance to the hawk. That's the type of thing I don't worry about when I'm taking the photo because I know it can be fixed in post processing (especially if raw files are used). However, sometimes the lighting and atmosphere are such that the photo can't be saved. In that situation, there's always tomorrow...