Wierd results for birds in flight advice sought

I can only echo what Ed said. I use my 400mm in Av mode, AI Servo and centre point focus. Also the lens is very sharp wide open so f5.6 presents no problems whatsoever and it keeps/gets the speed up especially of birds in flight on a sunny day.
I have never used the 300mm lens but I can assure you there is still more to come from the 400mm although your second bunch of shots are streets ahead of the first bunch. No offence intended.
I could post a couple of shots but fear it may hi-jack your thread, not that they are that good, and subsequent advice you may get.
A little bit of practice mate and you will be flying !

Ed Rotberg wrote in post #2076146
A couple of suggestions that I would make with both of these combinations for birds in flight:

1) Do not set the shutter speed via TV mode. Rather use Av mode and set the aperture wide open. This will assure the fastest possible shutter speed for the ISO you have chosen, and both of these lenses are very sharp wide open. You will also get better background blur. I know that this seems counter-intuitive at first, but I have gone over this in another thread recently ( https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=218551 ). This is what is advocated by all of the bird photographers I know, Pro and otherwise.

I will use Manual metering mode more often if the lighting conditions are constant. Even in those cases, unless I specifically need a lot of DOF, I will set the aperture wide open to get the fastest shutter speed I can. Remember that 400mm on a 1.6 multiplier sensor is like 640mm. If you are trying to take a still shot 1/1000th might be enough. If you are trying to follow a bird in flight, faster is always better!

2) On a personal note, with the 20D, I will only use all focus points for in-flight shots if they are being taken against a cloudless sky or a completely featureless overcast. Otherwise it's too easy for the focus to shift off of the bird. In the other cases I will use center-point only.

= Ed =

makes sense will give that method a go thanks

Blue Deuce wrote in post #2072433
I have to take exception to Caliocats advice about using all focus points ( no offense). Sure it works if you are shooting a bird in the sky w/o any distracting objects. But most good in flight shots require you to pan and shoot with trees, brush, docks, mountains etc. in the field of view. Learning to use the center focus point sharpens your panning skills and aids in composition as well as focusing only on your subject. Selecting 4/1 in custom functions helps also.

No offense taken I do most of my birds in flight high up in the sky, so your advice makes perfect sense

snappa wrote in post #2077388
I can only echo what Ed said. I use my 400mm in Av mode, AI Servo and centre point focus. Also the lens is very sharp wide open so f5.6 presents no problems whatsoever and it keeps/gets the speed up especially of birds in flight on a sunny day.
I have never used the 300mm lens but I can assure you there is still more to come from the 400mm although your second bunch of shots are streets ahead of the first bunch. No offence intended.
I could post a couple of shots but fear it may hi-jack your thread, not that they are that good, and subsequent advice you may get.
A little bit of practice mate and you will be flying !

please post them be good to see what others are getting out of the lens

A fairly slow moving bird but nevertheless a shot I like. The Little Egret shot would have been better had I not blown out the white bits.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

thanks snappa will head over to the local lake and take some shots of these fellas myself and compare them see how mine fairs

few shots all full size with the 400 5.6 the 300f4ISL and the 100-400 with IS turnt off on the tripod with the 30d then the same shots with the 350d

as I said full size out the camera jpegs so youve been warned!
these from the 30d

http://www.natureseyep​hotography.co.uk …rge%20images/IM​G_3543.JPG
http://www.natureseyep​hotography.co.uk …rge%20images/IM​G_3544.JPG
http://www.natureseyep​hotography.co.uk …rge%20images/IM​G_3545.JPG
http://www.natureseyep​hotography.co.uk …rge%20images/IM​G_3546.JPG

these from the 350d

http://www.natureseyep​hotography.co.uk …rge%20images/IM​G_5872.JPG
http://www.natureseyep​hotography.co.uk …rge%20images/IM​G_5872.JPG
http://www.natureseyep​hotography.co.uk …rge%20images/IM​G_5874.JPG
http://www.natureseyep​hotography.co.uk …rge%20images/IM​G_5875.JPG

Exifs attached

varanus wrote in post #2077302
disapointing for me these are no better than a 100-400 is giving me allready i expected better from primes

Personally I don't buy this at all, Varanus - I've yet to see an in-flight shot from the 400mm prime that was demonstrably better because of the lens.

These are so-so shots from my 30D and 100-400mm, but there's nothing wrong with them that I can blame on the lens - I missed the focus on the curlew's eye, not the lens.

If the 100-400mm is good enough as a flight lens for Art Morris, and if my favourite UK professional Nigel Blake recommends it, it'll do for me...

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.