My SX10is has a problem with me and blurry birds.

Hello all, I am new to the Forum. I received a SX10is for Christmas from my wife. I was surprised and delighted. To let you all, I had a stroke 2 years ago and I am now writing some. I have a question. In looking all the photos from all of you with the SX10is, my photos on birds are blurry. I have included 2 photos for you all to see. I have read the manual and there is a lot to learn.
I have tried AF Frame, on Servo AF, the birds are to fast. On Manual Focus, this is also blurry. I also use a monopod to hold the camera steady. I am sad all the time. Please help.

Joe M

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What were your camera's settings (the EXIF data, which ZoomBrowser or other photo editing programs will report)? Were yo shooting from inside or outside? If you were shooting through window glass, that may be part of the problem.
The photo of the junco may have actually been focused on the ironwork, not the bird. It's possible to move the AF area around a little, and that might help in that case. The first shot may also be focused on the ironwork rather than either of the tube feeders, and at the longest focal length for the SX10 you'd have a depth of field of around 6" at 10 ft distance, so neither feeder would be really sharp.

Hello Jon, both photos were outdoors. These are the info that you asked for. Jon, what is,(longest focal length for the SX10 you'd have a depth of field of around 6" at 10 ft distance, so neither feeder would be really sharp.) from your report.
Thank you for help.
Joe M


1.File Name birds017in.jpg
Camera Model Name Canon PowerShot SX10 IS
Shooting Date/Time 3/17/2009 2:43:36 PM
Shooting Mode Shutter Speed Priority AE
My Colors Mode Custom Color
Tv (Shutter Speed) 1/250
Av (Aperture Value) 5.0
Light Metering Evaluative
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 80
Lens 5.0 - 100.0 mm
Focal Length 54.9 mm
Digital Zoom None
IS Mode On
Image Size 3648x2736
Image Quality Fine
Flash On
Flash Type External E-TTL
Flash Exposure Compensation +2
Shutter curtain sync 1st-curtain
White Balance Auto
AF Mode Continuous AF
Parameters
Contrast +1
Sharpness +2
Saturation +2
Color Space sRGB
i-Contrast On
File Size 3192 KB
Drive Mode Continuous shooting

2. File Name birds030in.jpg
Camera Model Name Canon PowerShot SX10 IS
Shooting Date/Time 3/17/2009 3:08:50 PM
Shooting Mode Aperture-Priority AE
My Colors Mode Custom Color
Tv (Shutter Speed) 1/100
Av (Aperture Value) 5.7
Light Metering Evaluative
Exposure Compensation 0
ISO Speed 80
Lens 5.0 - 100.0 mm
Focal Length 100.0 mm
Digital Zoom x 2.3
IS Mode On
Image Size 3648x2736
Image Quality Fine
Flash On
Flash Type External E-TTL
Flash Exposure Compensation 0
Shutter curtain sync 1st-curtain
White Balance Day Light
AF Mode Continuous AF
Parameters
Contrast +1
Sharpness +1
Saturation +1
Color Space sRGB
i-Contrast On
File Size 1255 KB
Drive Mode Single-frame shooting

Depth of Field is how wide the area in front of and behind the spot you've focused on that will look in focus. Remember, if you're focused on one spot, things in front of it or behind it will look blurry because they're not in focus. When you use digital zoom, like you did on the second shot, you'll get an even shallower DoF. At 15 ft, it'll be less than an inch. So making sure your camera is focused on the right point is extremely important. Extended zoom lengths also make your picture-taking extremely vulnerable to camera shake. The rule of thumb for hand-holding is 1/focal length; which is for 35 mm film; you'd use the SX10's equivalent focal length to find that in the second picture, you should be at 1/1500 sec. IS will give you maybe 3 stops, so around 1/350 second; you were at 1/100 sec., so you probably are seeing some camera shake. Using a tripod with the SX10 won't do you a lot when shooting birds; you need to press the shutter directly, which causes camera shake. And using the self-timer to minimize that problem means you'll usually miss them.

The other thing to remember about birds is that even when they're sitting still, they're not sitting still. There's yet another reason to use as fast a shutter speed as you can.

I've done a few bird shots with my SX10. These are probably in about the same situation you were in, except they were hand-held. But notice I made sure the birds were centered, where the focus zone was.

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Jon, I thank you. I understand what you where saying. Do you mind if I send some when I do better.
Thank you,
Joe M

Sure, post your work here! Photo sharing is part of what we do.

Hello Jon, well I am trying to do what to you said. I think it is doing better. These are 2 more pictures. What do you think?
Thank you, Joe M

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Remember too, you do not have to focus on the birds in the center of the photo. You can offset your focus point so that you can have a more pleasing composition.

Maybe a little higher shutter speed would also help. Try for 1/1000 and see what happens (in TV mode).

I thank you. With the Tv at 1,000 I get a black picture. I am new to this, I don't understand how to get the Tv high and the Av low enough to see a picture. Any help would be great. I will learn how to not but the picture in the center of the picture.
Joe M

You may not be able to get 1/1000 sec. and a decent exposure without increasing the ISO setting to 200 or 400, which introduces a different issue, sensor noise. On a bright sunny day, to get 1/1000 sec. at maximum telephoto would take an ISO setting of more than 100. Both those shots are very good though.