What did I do wrong?

All three pictures were taken within a few minutes from the same point, with the same equipment:

Rebel XSi
Canon 70-200 2.8 IS + TC Kenko 1.4 300 pro (EXIF 270 mm for the Goldfinch, 280 mm for the Woodpecker) - AF on - IS on
Manual exposure, f/4 , 1/400 (Goldfinch) - 1/500 (Woodpecker)
ISO 400
Canon Speedlite 580 EX II, -2/3 stop, H synchro (Goldfinch only, no flash for the Woody).
For the Goldfinch, I was laying on my deck floor, the foot of the collar's lens propped on the lower bar of the deck's railing, lens pointing through the railing. I took a small series of the bird, all of them as bad as the pics shown here.
At the same time I saw the Woodpecker arrive close to another feeder, 90 degrees from the Goldfinch position. I shot him several time, sitting on the deck, elbows propped on my knees - the whole series shows more or less the same quality as this one, sharpness wise. The Woody was closer than the Goldfinch (I would say 15 feet vs 20 feet, give or take).

The pics are 100% crop of the JPEG, straight out of the camera (cropped and saved as JPEG high quality (10) with PSE6 - no other edition). Sharpness is set at +2 in camera, plus a little bump in saturation, nothing else.

What I do not understand is the obvious difference in sharpness between the the series of Goldfinch and the series of Woodpecker.

Can the shutter speed difference (1/400 vs 1/500) be enough to cause such a difference? Even with the IS on?
The Goldfinch is a nervous little bird, usually moving all the time, and fast - could it be that 1/400 is not enough to freeze this little guy?
I should say that the lens is fresh from Canon, with a new front element and second lens assembly, calibration redone, factory set up. No filter mounted.

Any explanation welcome, and thanked in advance.
Gerard

Goldfinch 1:

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HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Byte size: ZERO | PHOTOBUCKET ERROR IMAGE

Did you give the IS time to spin up, they just look out of focus to me. How does the lens perform without the 1.4

There is a possibility I did not give enough time to the IS? Sometimes you're in a hurry with these moving little things - but normally I do.
The lens is OK after coming back from the Canon spa - better than it has ever been.
Gerard

Do not expect to get any good results using a TC unless you stop the lens down 2-3 f/stops from wide open (you took these wide open.) Nothing looks to be in focus. Turn off the sharpening and color boost in camera - do all that in PP if needed. I do not understand why you are using a flash. Yes, give IS time to engage and lower your shutter speed if necessary.

gasrocks wrote in post #7806300
Do not expect to get any good results using a TC unless you stop the lens down 2-3 f/stops from wide open (you took these wide open.) Nothing looks to be in focus. Turn off the sharpening and color boost in camera - do all that in PP if needed. I do not understand why you are using a flash. Yes, give IS time to engage and lower your shutter speed if necessary.

Well, I shot wide open to gain some shutter speed while avoiding to boost the ISO too much...
And this does not explain why the Woodpecker series is far better (though no prize winning I know) than the Goldfinch series...

Sharpening and color boost: it's just for the JPEG - I always shoot JPEG + raw and use the raw files (LR2) for the good shots anyway - these were only to show two series with identical treatment for comparison.
Obviously I won't work on the raw versions of these

Thanks for the comments anyway - I'll do some tries stopped down and with more ISO.
And, I use the flash for fill in when I have a bright background - and the flash should not harm sharpness, or should it? I would not see why?
Gerard

it would be best if you could post the unaltered originals here so we can determine exactly where and how the autofocus was hitting.

other advice - use a tripod whenever possible, expect massive deterioration from cropping, shoot and recompose several times whenever possible to avoid mishaps. for small and moving birds you will often need shutter speeds nearer to 1/1000s. stationary birds can be done between 1/100-1/200th in good conditions.

davebreal wrote in post #7808864
it would be best if you could post the unaltered originals here so we can determine exactly where and how the autofocus was hitting.

other advice - use a tripod whenever possible, expect massive deterioration from cropping, shoot and recompose several times whenever possible to avoid mishaps. for small and moving birds you will often need shutter speeds nearer to 1/1000s. stationary birds can be done between 1/100-1/200th in good conditions.

The crops are taken at the center of the pics: the AF was full center of the body of the Goldfinches - more or less at the shoulder of the Woody (trust me, no other part of the pics are in focus).
True that the Woody was stationery often during several seconds before changing position.

I shot several this afternoon without TC and stopped down (5.6 / 6.3) et they were far better, even at 800 ISO. Even shot two decent Goldfinch (not processed yet). Next, I need to try this with the TC.

Thanks to everybody for the advice. Steep learning curve I guess

Gerard

GMHY wrote in post #7809130
The crops are taken at the center of the pics: the AF was full center of the body of the Goldfinches - more or less at the shoulder of the Woody (trust me, no other part of the pics are in focus).
True that the Woody was stationery often during several seconds before changing position.

I shot several this afternoon without TC and stopped down (5.6 / 6.3) et they were far better, even at 800 ISO. Even shot two decent Goldfinch (not processed yet). Next, I need to try this with the TC.

Thanks to everybody for the advice. Steep learning curve I guess

Gerard

What autofocus mode and autofocus points do you have set?

I'd recommend AI Servo w/ Center Point focus

davebreal wrote in post #7809191
What autofocus mode and autofocus points do you have set?

I'd recommend AI Servo w/ Center Point focus

Always center point focus; I normally use one shot AF - I started using AI Servo this afternoon; seems to work, although I'm not sure if it's the reason for the improvement?

I know you wanted to see beautiful Wisconsin this summer. I teach many photography classes at U.W. including one on just wild birds. Come for a visit.

GMHY wrote in post #7809310
Always center point focus; I normally use one shot AF - I started using AI Servo this afternoon; seems to work, although I'm not sure if it's the reason for the improvement?

The reason the finch images were blurry? One possibility is that you opened dyourself up to OOF birds by using one shot AF. If you locked in on a finch, and then he moved (even just an inch) before you clicked the shutter, then he'd be out of focus. Perhaps this happened with the finch, but not with the woodpecker.

Using AI focus mode all the time will eliminate this possibility. Just keep the active AF sensor right on the bird's eye at all times, with the shutter release button pushed halfway down - then click away whenever you think the bird's position will make a good image.

Were these shot through a window? I see reflections.

gasrocks wrote in post #7811749
I know you wanted to see beautiful Wisconsin this summer. I teach many photography classes at U.W. including one on just wild birds. Come for a visit.

Sorry, not possible due to family obligations - I'd love to, but I guess I will have to teach myself

Tom Reichner wrote in post #7821689
The reason the finch images were blurry? One possibility is that you opened dyourself up to OOF birds by using one shot AF. If you locked in on a finch, and then he moved (even just an inch) before you clicked the shutter, then he'd be out of focus. Perhaps this happened with the finch, but not with the woodpecker.

Using AI focus mode all the time will eliminate this possibility. Just keep the active AF sensor right on the bird's eye at all times, with the shutter release button pushed halfway down - then click away whenever you think the bird's position will make a good image.

Sorry for the delay, I've been travelling all past week.

This is indeed a possibility - I will practice this (AI focus) during my next session.

Thanks a lot.

Gerard

HeathNC wrote in post #7848468
Were these shot through a window? I see reflections.

Nope, no window and no reflections; some blurred twigs may look like reflections though.

Gerard