1st Attempt at Birding w/the 5D

hello. just got my 5D yesterday and got a chance to take the 70-200 out to the lake for some birding.

all C&C welcome....

Interesting enough shots but the 70-200 just isn't long enough for bird shots IMO. I love mine but get quite frustrated at its lack of reach. But I didn't buy it for birds...

At least with the 5D you can crop a bit before losing too much quality.

Titus213 wrote in post #7607976
Interesting enough shots but the 70-200 just isn't long enough for bird shots IMO. I love mine but get quite frustrated at its lack of reach. But I didn't buy it for birds...

At least with the 5D you can crop a bit before losing too much quality.

i completely agree. i found that out when i was shooting, def not long enough.

this was my first time shooting birds and my 70-200 was not purchased for this reason.

and yes, these are cropped images.

Tell those guys to come back up here, they're missed.

My trick to birding is to use spot metering, you want that critter's exposure to be correct, background is of little concern.

And...your lens isn't long enough.

I like #4. I am not a birder though *LOL*
Nice work

thanks, i fully understand i don't have the "proper" equipment for birding....but it seem right at the time.lol

i will try spot metering, makes plenty of sense - thanks!

Bull****, you have excellent equipment for birding. Don't listen to those snobby 1D mark III users with their 10 FPS and 6500 $ lenses.

Just gotta work a little bit harder with what you have and adapt it to your needs.

5D and the 70-200 is an excellent combo; try getting closer. Try not to zoom in all the way, you lose 30% more detail than you would if you kept it below 150 and above 100. Try to work in that range; 135 mm is the sharpest. Try using a low f number when you want to isolate detail, but remember that a thin DOF like 2.8 will result in blurry images with chromatic aberration, for the most part. 5.6 is where that lens shines. 8 is absolute sharpest and if you use ISO 200 you can get pretty fast speeds in mid-day of about 1/640 of a second or so; ideal for stopping pelican motion.

I do enjoy the 70-200 for backyard birding. You can get a lot closer which is your other option. Stealth....sneak up on the critters.

It's all fun.

Karl Johnston wrote in post #7611328
Bull****, you have excellent equipment for birding. Don't listen to those snobby 1D mark III users with their 10 FPS and 6500 $ lenses.

Just gotta work a little bit harder with what you have and adapt it to your needs.

thanks for the words of encouragement! i intend to make my equipment work for me.

Titus213 wrote in post #7611335
I do enjoy the 70-200 for backyard birding. You can get a lot closer which is your other option. Stealth....sneak up on the critters.

It's all fun.

ain't that the truth! when i shot those pix above, i got close and was a bit scared they were gonna come attack me!lol

Very nice shots for your first attempt. You might want to procure a 1.4x in the future. It works great with my 70-200mm. I use manual exposure for BIF shots which means setting the exposure on a mid-tone in the light you will be shooting the birds in. Then adjust if the light changes. This will keep the birds from being a dark silohuette against light backgrounds such as the sky.

thanks John. yeah, i've started to lookinto the tc 1.4x.

MacFly, the 70-200mm can work really well under the right circumstances. Here's a few shots from last weekend with that lens with a 1.4x on a 40d. Your 5D would have worked fine as well.

highcountry wrote in post #7619684
MacFly, the 70-200mm can work really well under the right circumstances. Here's a few shots from last weekend with that lens with a 1.4x on a 40d. Your 5D would have worked fine as well.

those are awesome. can you briefly give me the settings you shot with?!

Some of the pictures have more space in front of the flying birds, but others do not. Centered flying birds do not look as good as when there is space in front of them.
Good shots taken during last week. Sharp enough to see the details in the feathers.