1D1V and 500F4 IS

I have been a member of the forum for some time but don't post as I rarely can match the quality of the shots I see on this forum. However I an passionate about getting quality shots with my gear.
I have a 1D1V coupled to my 500F4 IS and connot seem to get sharp shots. I have micro adjusted to +10 at a target distance of about 15M and one shot at various distances seems ok but AI servo is just mush.
Its rare for us to get the blue sky weather I often see on this site so to get it the other day and a chance to shoot some kites was great but I was disapointed with the results. They looked great on the camera screen but poor on my monitor.
I feel I have taken all the neccessary steps to get in the sharp zone but I am a bit disheartened now.
However I am determined to get it right and would welcome some pointers to set me on the right track if you can spare the time.
I am happy to take your advice if offered without taking offence.
Thanks
M

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M,

The first shot is not sharp, but theres nothing wrong with the second. Remember that AI Servo does not require focus confirmation to fire, so there will always be the occasional miss. With the clear sky background and the benefit of 20/20 hindsight I'd have used something like f/8 or f/11 to get a greater DoF especially given your cameras much improved ISO performance compared to mine.

You also need to bear in mind that we generally are shown only others best images, probably after suitable massaging in post processing. RAW shots straight from camera tend towards low contrast and not as razor sharp as they will look once cleaned up.

I don't use anything like as grand a camera as the 1D, but I shoot a bit of motorsport with my lowly 30D, using a 100-400L and 1.4x converter. I need to keep the AF point nailed all the time as the composition develops in front of me, if I don't, the result is a blurred image. I am always rusty at this skill early in any season, but practise makes perfect, it's less about where the AF point ended up as keeping it there all the time AI Servo is working - any wavering about will increase the cameras AF prediction workload to the extent that it cannot cope.

From my own experience of shooting BIF with a 7D and 100-400, and prior to that a 1D3 and 50D, I find pixel peeping the higher pixel density cameras to reveal far more flaws in my own skills than those cameras with low pixel densities. I don't think the issue is AF performance. It is the difficulty of panning/tacking perfectly and freezing camera shake and subject blur sufficiently.

Occasionally I shoot a blindingly sharp BIF shot, but more often than not there is a little imperfection (sometimes more than a little) when shooting BIF. It is really a question of improving my own skills and making sure I get the shutter speed high enough. Shutter speeds of 1/(focal length x crop factor) will probably not suffice when pixel peeping. For a 1D4 you should probably aim for a shutter speed of 1/(focal length x crop factor x 3).

Of course, IS may help you bring that speed back down, especially when shooting static subjects and purposely wanting to steady the lens, but when you are trying to track a free flying bird the IS may get caught out and do more harm that good. I have recently started using IS less and less for my BIF photography. The results do not appear to be any worse as a result. Unfortunately, for shooting with a 7D I need (in theory) a shutter speed of around 1/2500 or more to freeze shake/blur at the pixel level, and that's not easy with an f/5.6 lens and winter lighting.

Even with the top of the range gear and the right settings the camera can only do its best and will not nail hard subjects such as BIF everytime even if the focus point is right on the bird .
the bird movment ,your movement and the cameras time in doing the calculations or predicting the right spot as to were the bird will be will not always match up to give the ultra sharp image we are looking for.
Often it will indeed be very close.
your first shot is OOF the seconed looks sharp to me but could do with some more sharpning.
Rob.

I mainly shoot at air displays, but Just as thought, did you have "IS" turned on? I ask because at these shutter speeds I feel it may be a hinderance as I'm never quite sure how long after I start to track something, whether the "IS" has settled down into the direction of my movement.

Also I think under these conditions I would have used "Tv" priority mode.

But as others have said, not all shots come out pin sharp evertime and also technique can have a big influence. I'm always bit rusty after a winter break and find my technique gets progressively better as the season goes on.

M, I learned very early on with my 500L while shooting on an overcast day just how important contrast is to focus. In your first shot you placed the focus point in a very neutral place on the bird. In your second shot you placed it on the bird's belly, where shadow and light meet. Autofocus needs an edge to recognize and identify the proper focal distance and the sooner it has that, the sooner it can react. I'm not saying this is the only possibility for the misfocus but it can certainly be a contributor.

The 500 is an awesome lens for bird work, about 95% of my daytime subjects are birds. I'm shooting with the 1D MK II so I'm sure the MK IV blows away the AF on my camera so I know you'll be nailing the majority of yours in no time at all. Obviously practice is key here and I try to do some each time out even when I'm only ground level shooting.

This is a great conversation to start.

Good shooting.

KenTT wrote in post #9650771
I'm always bit rusty after a winter break and find my technique gets progressively better as the season goes on.

I actually find that each session I shoot I always start out a bit rusty and then improve after 20 minutes or so, if I'm able to get regular targets to "practice" on during that period. I might get the odd lucky shot, but my consistency improves after several practice runs.

Another thing to consider is that when viewing images at 100% the rule book for DOF goes out the window. The extra magnification means that what might have looked sharp as a 12x8 will not look sharp throughout the range when viewed as a 36x24 virtual image from the same distance.

Have you worked you way through this? And have you got the latest firmware installed?

1DMk4 AF/ISO Settings guide!

How are you holding the body and camera, I found that (the stubborn way) that you really do need at least a monopod, to get a better keeper rate, I found even sitting down and hand holding my 500, 1D, or what ever body, compared to using a monopod was no where near as good keeper rate, though I know it is hard shooting upwards not easy to use anything.

I agree with the others practice makes perfect, those birds are fast in any given 360 degree movement, I would be pleased to nail just a few each time I was out.

Are these screenshots telling us that you're in "All AF Points" mode?

It'd help to know your AF Custom Function settings too..

I would suggest taking a look at www.birdphotographers.​net.

Perhaps a dumb question but why low speed continuous drive? I always use full high speed for birds in flight.

Next, if using IS are you holding down the button for a little while first to let it settle down? At first, IS causes shake instead of smoothing things out.

With the AF being one point only, have you turned on expansion points at all? Are you tracking well? If you miss the point on the bird in the previous frame or two then the next frame will be soft until it locks on the bird again. What AF speed have you set for it to try and reacquire focus?

Are the birds at 15m? If not then the micro adjustment may be wrong. +10 is quite a bit, for such expensive hardware body and lens I'd be tempted to send both to Canon to get them working right. You shouldn't need so much adjustment IMO and if you need that much and the subject distance is different than the MFA distance then it may be off.

There was a thread on Fred miranda where MANY 1D4 users were having issues with their 500L's. Specifically after the 1.06 FW update.

Thanks for all the helpfull replies, some food for thought there. I shall try to summerise from the responses given.
The second image looks sharp as it is downsized but the original lacks any feather detail and is not of a level to be print worthy. Giving that image extra sharpening and noise reduction gave it that plastic look.
I tried single centre focus point and expanded focus points with about the same success or failure in this case, I had autofocus drive at one up from slow with AF priority/Tracking Priority and Main Focus Priority if i remember correctly.
I used low speed capture which i had set to 6fps as the birds glide a lot and i felt this was enough for this bird (baby the camera)
I take on board the points about the IS and I wonder if this is the root of my problem. I used a combination of shooting methods I.E resting on a cushion and handheld and I use the AF-On button to focus but i tended to pop my thumb on and off as birds came into the view finder.
It sounds plausible to me that the slight delay in IS firing up could cause this.
Given the high shutter speeds I should in theory have been able to switch IS off, I think I will try this tomorrow weather permitting.
I feel positive that I have something to try. I will let you know how I get on
M